The Collected Regrets of Clover Paperback – 1 January 2023

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer, I did not expect to like this book so much. I went in blind just knowing the fact that it had to do something with death and grief. But the writing style and our protagonist took me by surprise.You must have heard of a birth doula, but here we deal with Clover Brooks, who is a death doula. Her job is to give comfort and peace to all her dying customers and patients who hire her for this. You must think about what's the need when you have family by your side but trust me you'll be surprised to know that there are many who die alone and need someone like her during their final days.I'm sure each one of us must have thought at least one irrespective of our age about having a regret-free life and having someone by your side in your final days to hold your hand and bring comfort to you as well. This book brings out the beauty of death (yes as harsh as it sounds!).It's a very different read from your everyday fiction and trust me it won't disappoint. Along with the way we see Clover change so much as a person and her character development is phenomenal. The side characters do a brilliant job at making the plot more interesting and engaging.Dealing with her own grief, Clover usually portrays the strongest and mostly prefers living alone. But along the way when she comes to New York after her grandpa's death, she meets Sylvia and Sebastian, and finds her new friendships and personal growth amongst them.

Name : The Collected Regrets Of CloverAuthor : Mikki BrammerGenre : Contemporary fictionOh my god 🥹. This book! It made me laugh, cry, giggle, brood, sad, hopeful and feel all possible types of emotions available inside me. My best read of '23 and one of my all time favourites 💯.Generally I pen my thoughts immediately after finishing a book. But finishing this book brought up so much inside me that I had to sleep it off to arrange my thoughts well enough to jot them down. Is it JUST an inspiring upbeat book? No. This book is a cathartic experience for the readers. Both inspiring and realistic. I mean, have you ever read a book that made you pause and ponder on EACH sentence? This book is a treasure trove for people like us who are still searching for the meaning of life and death.Certain beliefs and life rules of Clover made me self reflect and I realized I agreed with it. For example, I like spending time with people but then I will be the person to avoid plans with them, does it make any sense? Clover's words and actions and her whole life brought up SO many unresolved conflicts from my early life in my mind that I had repressed completely. Clover has broken through the fiction-reality boundary and helped me acknowledge my regrets and my gratitude towards the good I have in my life now.Nothing I can say will be enough for this book. I just learnt that this is the author's debut work and I am stunned. The storytelling, the character development, twists, everything was 👌. It's noteworthy to mention how New York became a part of Clover's personality and how she seemed like a different version of herself whenever she visited other places. It's pure genius.The other characters in this book were equally as lovable as Clover. No big bad villains or shiny knight heroes in this book. Just normal people going about their lives until their matches are burning. Every character in this book has a lesson to impart, be it full of life Claudia or reliable larger than life Clovia's grandpa or golden toothy Len to hip urban Sylvie and forever allergic Sebastian and upbeat Hugo. 🤎I had never known about death doulas before reading this book. After knowing what an honour it was for Clover to guide a worn out soul to pass peacefully, I will definitely be researching on this profession and read interviews with irl death doulas.Okay my review is turning into an essay 🙈. I will just conclude saying that I had the best 24 hours getting to know Clovia and how she broke out of her shell and landed into a beautiful corridor of life. I am not yet ready to get rid of the green corduroy armchair, but I will make sure to list down my regrets so far in my life and never to repeat them. This is a one of kind type of book and I will definitely be coming back to it every few months (or days 🤭) to draw inspiration from, in order to live a life I don't regret. Because, as Len said, "The secret to a beautiful death is living a beautiful life."