Book Review: Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

☊ Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson
★★★★

Plot Synopsis: What if you could live again and again, until you got it right? On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war. Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can — will she? Darkly comic, startlingly poignant and utterly original — this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best.

What I Enjoyed: I really liked this novel. I've never anything from this author before. I like how she weaves a story. This is a story difficult to write, too. Overlapping timelines are difficult to put together without seeming too linear. Kate's style was very nice to read, and the plot was very good. I haven't read a historical fiction novel in such a while and I've never been much into reading about World War Two. Most times I've read or watched something about World War, it was about the American soldiers, Pearl Harbor, or about the Concentration Camp. I never really thought about how British and German civilians suffered, they tend be overlooked in the history books. It was really interesting to read about the War from those points of view.
What Was Confusing: The jumps back in time to new timelines were really confusing at times. I kept thinking that I should go back and create a guide for myself, showing how each timeline deviates. My brain just wants to organize and sort all the information and patterns, and there was a lot of information to process in this book. I got used to it eventually, but it took a while.
Overall: It's a confusing, sometimes an overwhelming book, but it's still a really good book. I think I will eventually read it again.

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