Book Review: The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

 GOODREADS SUMMARY:

What’s the point of giving someone a beautiful death if you can’t give yourself a beautiful life?

From the day she watched her kindergarten teacher drop dead during a dramatic telling of Peter Rabbit, Clover Brooks has felt a stronger connection with the dying than she has with the living. After the beloved grandfather who raised her dies alone while she is traveling, Clover becomes a death doula in New York City, dedicating her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process.

Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a forgotten love story––and perhaps, her own happy ending. As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.

Probing, clever, and hopeful, The Collected Regrets of Clover turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

" BUT THE SECRET TO A BEAUTIFUL DEATH IS TO LIVE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE "

This is a hard one to write, I loved the book, but it is hard to really explain and not give so much away, but let me try here...

Clover Brook is a death doula in NYC, she helps people pass on to the other side by staying with them and comforting them, hoping to keep them calm and unscared. She also keeps notebooks of their last words, which are usually regrets, she hopes to learn from them so she doesn't make them in her own life.

As a character Clover was likable, she was compassionate, and caring, but she was also a bit like me, she was an introvert who would rather read, she might have even been described as strange or quirky, but considering her occupation that might have been expected. She lives alone in her dead grandfather's rent-controlled apartment surrounded by things from his life and nothing from hers. Many times I felt she was so busy helping the dead pass that she herself forgot to live. Her one good friend, an elderly neighbor woman named Leo was even a good friend of her grandfather

Clover is good at her job, she takes it seriously and tries not to get attached to her patients, but that all changes when she meets terminally ill Claudia.

Claudia was probably my favorite character in the story, she had a good life with only one big regret she had kept secret for her lifetime. I love the interaction and the relationship between Clover and Claudia. They are only together for a short amount of time, but within that time Clover discovers the secret and goes against her rule of not getting involved. From Claudia, Clover learned so much, mostly how to live, something she needed.

Despite this book being filled with death and dying, it is not morbid, or sad, in fact, it is the total opposite, it is a beautifully written book about the celebration of life and the living. I love a book that when you close the cover on it you take a bit of time and think about what you read, and The Collected Regrets Of Clover does that, it makes the reader think, am I loving my best life and will the impression I leave behind make a difference.

Great book!