What an lovely, emotional read this was. Lydia's and Jonah's grief just jumped off the pages into me. Although this book is predominantly about grief and the different paths life can take you, its also very much about family and friendships. I loved all the characters and the parts they played, including Lydia's rescue cat! Only part of the book that let me down was the ending - don't want to leave any spoilers but a bit to predictable and tied up for me, hence the 4 starts and not 5.

A super chick flick that I enjoyed immensely, I loved Lydia and all she went through is so lovely. I hoped for a good ending and you got that although I was not expecting that at the beginning. Some things surprise you but you can understand them, I could connect with the running away but what a great time she had. Brilliantly written and I will look out for more from this author.

Definitely one of my favourite reads of 2020, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is one of the most poignant and life-affirming books I've read in a long time. Lydia and Freddie met and fell in love as teenagers. Engaged and soon to be married, Lydia is blissfully happy. But as Freddie drives to pick up Lydia on her birthday, along with best friend Jonah, a momentary lapse in concentration, leads to a car crash that tragically kills him. Jonah is left with barely a scratch, but with a wound that is as deep and raw as they come.

Lydia is consumed by her grief, and 56 days after the crash, her Mum takes her to the doctor to get medication that will at least allow her to sleep. But the pink pills prescribed to Lydia have the strangest effect. When she takes one, she is able to live a parallel life, one in which Freddie is alive and well. She increasingly resents her first life, and lives only to take a pill and continue her life with Freddie. She gets to experience a trip to Paris, her hen night, and wedding in her second life.

However, in her first life, she finds that even reluctantly, she is beginning to rebuild her life. She returns to work, and after being roped into a silent speed dating event, she is even astonished to find that she is able to feel sparks with someone new. Kris is wonderful, and despite their all too brief liasion, he gives her hope of finding love again one day.

Jonah finds his healing in writing about the events and he heads to LA to talk to production companies about commissioning his script. Lydia escapes to Croatia, and herself finds a peace that she thought would never be hers again. Her heart begins to lift as she sees Jonah's name flash up on her phone as he rings her from LA. She is however, still drawn back to her second life, but when Freddie leaves her on her own on their honeymoon, she begins to realise that having to find undiscovered strength following Freddie's death, she is no longer the same person. What she might have quietly accepted, she is no longer willing to. In a heartbreaking phone call in her second life, she finally says her goodbyes to Freddie and the life they had built together.

This book will make you weep, but the ending will have you beaming through your tears. I adored this book.

I read other books from this author so i knew this was a must
I hadn't heard of this author until then, at which point I knew I had to read everything she had to offer! Her style just flows so easily.

At the start of this book, I worried about the format, and whether or not I would get confused , spending so much time flipping between Lydia's two lives. However I was so wrong, this book grabbed me.

This is a tear jerker also but all round a great read,

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is the second novel by Josie Silver. I fell completely in love with her debut last year, One Day in December so I had high expectations for this one. If, like me, you loved her debut, let me tell you that Silver delivered such a heartfelt and amazing second novel that it surpassed all my expectations.

This book is a lot more emotional than One Day in December. The main character, Lydia, is heart-broken after losing the love of her life but, somehow, she finds a way to go back to him. When she goes to sleep, she can see him again and live new moments with him, but as the story progresses, she needs to choose between her memories and dreams and her real life, an almost impossible decision.

The character development is fantastic and you can't help it but to root for them, especially Lydia. It's easy to connect with her and feel her struggles. Plus, the secondary characters are also very interesting and intriguing. I enjoyed reading about them and how Lydia's acts affected them.

Josie Silver takes the story to some unexpected surprises and delivers such a beautiful conclusion. This is a story full of emotions and with a bit of magic, which for me, is the perfect combination. I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed every single second. Definitely a very original concept that will make you think a lot too.

First off I loved One Day in December. It made me laugh, it made me cry. So I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately it just didn't do it for me. I can live with predictable but it just felt a long time to get there. I couldn't warm to Lydia or Freddie. That said Jonah is definitely my new book crush!

Lydia and Freddie are madly in love. Freddie dies.

Not the usual way for a story to begin but it clinches the readers interest.

The prose evoke the kaleidoscope of emotions woven throughout this story. The characters are relatable and the reader is drawn to Lydia’s long awaited hope in a new life.

And then Freddie returns.

A true page turner, I highly recommend this book

I had heard so much about this novel from other readers who had ARCs, and felt guilty for putting it off in favour of others once I read it. Highly romantic yet feeling so original, very strongly written and deftly crafted.

One for fans of 'One Day in December'.

Full disclosure I almost didn’t read past 20% (kindle) but after loving One Day In December I felt like I owed it to the author to carry on until the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a ARC.

Trigger warning: this novel has a heavy focus on grief and loss.

The book begins with Lydia Bird getting ready to celebrate her birthday when she receives a phone call from her fiancée Freddie announcing he’ll be making a detour on the way home to pick up best friend Jonah. What follows is the tragic news that Freddie never makes it to the celebrations as he dies at the scene of the car accident.

Written in chapters that represent day’s we follow Lydia as she comes to terms with her new life without Freddie. At the height of her grief she is given some pink pills from the doctor to allow her to sleep, which is where the “2 lives” aspect begins. Think the film sliding doors. It is in this parallel life that the accident never happened and Lydia and Freddie’s love story continues. These sections are beautifully written but also contain some tragedy (TW: miscarriage). Here they are able to experience things that they never were able to such as a trip to Paris, a honeymoon in New York.

A key aspect within the ‘real life’ is the friendship between Lydia and Jonah. At the beginning they struggle to be around each other as all their collective memories involve Freddie. NYE proves a challenge for Jonah and after an emotional exchange decides that being friends with Lydia is too hard. Whilst estranged Jonah begins to write a screenplay about friendship and is given an opportunity to meet with producers in LA. With this news, Jonah apologises to Lydia and they begin to rebuild the friendship they have lost.

There are so many aspects to this book as it spans just under two years. I particularly liked the parts that allowed Lydia to become another version of herself. The trip to Croatia was crucial to the grieving process and Lydia’s ability to remain in her ‘real life’

I must admit I sometimes struggled with Lydia, at times she could be quite cold and I found her slightly exhausting. I loved Jonah and wish there had been more of his story told but it was Lydia and Freddie’s this time.

I would read again but a strong 3/5

I have given this book 5 stars simply for the amount of times I cried throughout the story. The fact that I was emotionally invested in the story of the characters demonstrates to me how well the writer has done.

This is a very sad story and at points I wasn't sure where the story was leading, I enjoyed the whole read and read it as quickly as possible to know what happened to the two main characters of the story.

Josie Silver has created a wonderful character in Lydia. The feeling of loss and pain she was experiencing really touched me and made me want to reach out and give her a hug.

It’s the club that no one wants or expects to end up in - bereaved before you’ve even reached your thirties. The wild days of your youth are behind you, you’re planning on settling down and your very own Happy Ever After, but the world has a different plan for you. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird captures this experience and these moments perfectly. In true Sliding Doors style, we get to see both the raw reality and the rose tinted “what if” that grief brings.

I absolutely adored Josie Silver’s debut novel, it immediately went into my all time Top 5 and so I didn’t hesitate to read this second book. It should be noted that it’s a very different read, a lot more emotional and dramatic. It is still a beautiful story, consisting of a small group of well rounded characters surrounding Lydia in her time of need, and scattered with romantic moments throughout. If you’re like me, you’ll find it hard to put down as you follow Lydia whilst she decides which of her two lives she wishes to embrace.

Even though I can relate more to this story than that of One Day in December, it just didn’t seem to resonate with me in the same way. I could read ODID weekly for the rest of my days and never tire of it, whereas Lydia Bird is a book I’m very glad I encountered but would be unlikely to read again. Well worth a read, and tissues will be required.

She’s done it again! Josie Silver has delivered another heart-felt deep and meaningful story that will have you smiling and crying in equal measure. What a perfect novel to be stuck at home with!

‘Grief is an odd thing. It’s mine and no one can do it for me, but there’s been this whole supporting cast of silent actors around me in the wings.’

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a story about love and loss; grief and acceptance. This is a story that explores love in all its many shapes and sizes, from family through to friendship. But it’s also a story about finding your way back to yourself – and not just for our main character, Lydia Bird.

‘The human brain is wired to cope with grief. It knows even as we fall into unfathomably dark places, there will be light again, and if we just keep moving forward in one brave straight line, however slowly, we’ll find our way back one day.’

Perfectly balanced plot wise, with a cast of authentic and beautifully realised characters, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is utter perfection.

This book killed me just a little.
I had to put it down for a few days after receiving some bad news in my personal life which really affected my emotional attachment to the characters and the plot.
I finished it last night as things started to look up a bit and I liked it a lot. I prefer Josie Silver’s first book but this is still worth a read. Very sad at the start though. I empathised with the main character so much.

What an emotional rollercoaster of a book! A tale of love, loss, friendship and relationships . The book is told in 2 phases ‘asleep’ and ‘awake’ which I thought was a very unique way and written very well. It’s told over an 18 month period so we get to see her initial stages of grief as well as happier times when she is building her life back . The first half of the book was quite depressing and as a result I liked the second half more . I also enjoyed the sub characters particularly best friend Jonah who struggles with his own grief. A really good read , thank you netgalley for this ARC .

At the heart of this book is the sad story line of loss. Lydia loses the love of her life when her boyfriend/ fiancé dies in a car accident. Lydia manages to then go and spend time with Freddie when she takes sleeping tablets. But this ends up hampering her actual life.

It's a lovely feel good book. that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Books UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
A fabulous new book from Josie Silver I loved Lydia as a character and could empathise with her..
The story tells how on her 28th birthday her fiancé, her beloved Freddie is killed in a car accident, what could be more heartbreaking? Lydia shuts down and withdraws from those close to her, her mother and sister are worried about her, encourage her to take sleeping pills which cause Lydia to dream so vividly, to be with Freddie and for them to carry on. so she lives for the time she can take her pill and slip into her world where Freddie is still very much alive.
We are taken through Lydia’s grief journey, her slow progress when she is awake, her relationships with her mother, sister, friends, work colleagues and the very difficult relationship between herself and Jonah who was Freddie’s best friend. She and Jonah had been friends before they both met met Freddie but now they are struggling to communicate with one another as they both work through their heartache.
It is a story full of emotion as it deals with grief, relationships, family, moving on and love.
I did guess where the end would be from early in the story but I still thoroughly enjoyed the read. 4.5 stars

Last year Josie Silver burst onto the scene with her bestselling novel One Day in December and now she's back with another poignant read of loss and love that will certainly pull at the heartstrings. How can you go on living when the love of your life has been killed? That is the situation that our central character Lydia Bird has to face as one minute she was looking forward to a future with Freddie, the next she is struggling to cope with her grief and the thought of spending the rest of her life without him by her side.

We follow Lydia on her journey as she struggles through the various stages of grief and rebuilding. Although I've not had to deal with the death of a partner, I know only too well the pain of losing someone special in my life and like Lydia I knew only too well the pain and despair of trying to get through each day.

The story is narrated through the two stages of the day; 'Awake' when Lydia is mainly getting through the day on auto pilot, living but not really living the life she had planned, and 'Asleep' where she desperately wants to fall into that deep sleep stage where her dreams are filled once again with a life with Freddie still very much alive. This was very much a rose-tinted version of what life could have been like with Freddie and not the warts and all version of who he really was and the little things he did that used to annoy her.

As we all know when dealing with the death of a loved one, it's a slow process and a case of taking one day at a time. And that's what I enjoyed about The Two Lives of Lydia Bird in that the story is told over a period of 18 months, and not just the initial days and months after Freddie's death, so we get to see Lydia rebuilding a new future for herself and become a stronger person as a result of everything she has had to deal with.

Initially I favoured the 'Asleep' sections more even though I knew that this wasn't a healthy situation long-term for Lydia imagining what her life with Freddie could have been like. But over time I began to much prefer the daytime sections of the book as as she took her tentative steps to move forward and rebuild a life for herself without Freddie.

Although this is naturally Lydia's story, the secondary characters all played their part too. From her family, her over-protective mum, sister Elle and her husband, who all want to protect her, to her long-term best friend Jonah who was struggling with his own grief and survivors guilt as he came out of the accident with barely a scratch. As for the Freddie of her dreams, he really was a loveable rouge and you could see why Lydia fell in love with him.

Once again Josie Silver has written another fabulous book and I can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve next!

What a perfect book this was, sometimes very sad and with lots of funny bits and happy endings. All the ingredients I love in a book like this.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this book so I was very keen to read it, and I’m glad I did. Although it was tear jerking in lots of chapters it also made me think about loss of a loved one and coping without them.
I will be looking forward to Josie Silver’s next book when it comes out.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Having read One Day in December, I was intrigued to pick up Josie Silver's latest book and see what she had followed it up with. This tells the story of Lydia Bird, who on her 27th birthday finds her world come crashing in when her fiance and childhood sweetheart, Freddie, is killed in a car crash. The book charts Lydia finding her way in the world, with the help of family and friends, and we are taken through the stages of the grieving process in a moving and at times heartwrenching way. The twist is that in order to deal with her sense of loss and bewilderment, Lydia finds a way to live a parallel life to her real one, one in which Freddie is still alive, and that ultimately helps her to find a way forward. As a story of love. loss, friendship and family, it is both heartbreaking and heartwarming and beautifully written.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.