The past 2 months have been extremely exhausting for me due to having to deal with several major crises at work. Things have been rough and even though we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I anticipate that it will take several more months for things to truly settle down. I mention this because, as much as I tried to prevent it, the physical and mental exhaustion from work unfortunately seeped into my personal life as well. Over the past couple weeks especially, there were way too many moments where I struggled to summon up enough energy (both physically and mentally) to pick up a book and just read — either my mind would wander (inevitably to something related to work) or I would be so tired physically that I would doze off after a couple pages. Normally, reading is a "de-stressor" for me; it's something I look forward to after a long, difficult day filled with more challenges than I feel I'm equipped to handle. Because of this, my current circumstances of not being able to concentrate as much as I want to on something I love and enjoy is extremely frustrating, to say the least. Having said all this though, one thing I do know is that this situation is only temporary and I'm pretty confident that, in the not too distant future, I will be able to emerge from this difficult period and get back into the groove of my usual reading routine.
Part of the reason I decided to start this review with the above (aside from me just needing to vent so I can finally get this off my chest), is because going through what I did the past few months helped me to better relate, on some small level, with the main characters in this book (though of course, my situation pales in comparison to the truly "life and death" struggles that the characters face). Nova Huston is an end of life doula whose job is to help the terminally ill who are seeking to make peace with their impending deaths. Mason Shaylor is a singer-songwriter facing the grim prospect of a debilitating condition not only putting an end to his career, but also to life as he knows it. The two cross paths when Mason hired Nova to help him come to terms with his decision. As they spend more and more time together, Mason and Nova find that they have more in common than either of them expected, and when a connection forms that deepens their relationship, that makes it all the harder to let go.
Truth be told, prior to reading this book, I had absolutely no clue what a "death doula" was. With the marketing for this book comparing it to Me Before You (which I personally feel is unjustified, as both stories are nowhere near similar), I had the misconception at first (as it seems many other readers did) that a doula was someone who helped with assisted suicides. That's an incorrect assumption of course, and the story goes to great lengths to explain what a doula actually does. In this regard, I felt that the author, Jessica Strawser, did a good job shining a light on a profession that few people know much about. As I'm usually big on learning something when I read, I definitely appreciated this aspect of the story and Strawser's efforts here.
Overall, I liked this one quite a bit — it was a solid story with an interesting premise that was well-written and obviously well-researched. Having said that though, the story itself was the slow-burn type and also meandered a bit at times, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did leave me wondering at some points where Strawser was trying to go with the plot and characters. I felt that the structure of the story was interesting as well, with the narrative alternating between the perspectives of both the two main characters as well as a few others — though with that said, the timeline jumping back and forth between past and present as often as it did made parts of the story a little hard to follow at times.
Ever since her debut novel 5 years ago made a pretty big impression on me, Strawser has become an auto read author for me. While not all of her subsequent works were "hits" for me, most were enjoyable enough that I would say my overall experience reading her books has been a positive one. One of the things I really like about Strawser's books in general is that she does try to reinvent herself every so often by attempting different genres, often while exploring difficult themes. I continue to look forward to Strawser's upcoming works.
Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley
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