Title: The Love of My Afterlife
Author: Kirsty Greenwood
Genre: Romance, Romantic Comedy
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date:  July 2, 2024
Format: Paperback
Length:  384 pages

Read if you like: enemies to lovers, quirky humour, eccentric characters, magical elements, strained family relationships, found family

Rating: 

I don’t read many romance novels because I find them hard to get invested in, so it means something when I say The Love of My Afterlife is one of my favourite romances ever. I loved the sound of the premise, which is that a woman meets her soulmate in the in-between after she’s passed away, but what I didn’t expect was how much humour the story would be told with. Delphie was such a weird and cringy FMC, like a car crash I couldn’t look away from, and watching her develop and overcome her core issues was a hilarious delight. 

The Love of My Afterlife was such a well-executed romcom that even though I’m admittedly writing this review months after I read the book, it’s still fresh in my mind. I’d highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a romantic comedy full of quirk and fun. 

The Book: The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, but now she’s standing in her ‘shine like a star’ nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife. 

When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to earth and reconnect with the mysterious stranger, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start at life. But in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind…

The Review

Oh my goodness I loved this book. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and for the full duration, I couldn’t put it down. 

Delphie is such a wonderful character. She’s so awkward and weird and totally endearing, particularly given that her trauma feels uniquely relatable, even with the infusion of uniquely magical elements. I was initially cringing almost constantly at how embarrassing she was at all times, but I quickly came to love her for it. I loved seeing her grow and thrive and felt like her arc was perfectly paced.

The plot of the book was SUPER fun and had me laughing out loud, while somehow also taking me completely by surprise. I thought it seemed straightforward as I watched relatively common tropes play out, but it quickly grew to be wonderfully layered in the best way and by the end, I literally could not put the book down. I was eagerly turning pages wondering how Delphine’s fate would ultimately play out, and what hijinks she would have along the way. 

While there were a lot of tropes here (in particular, enemies to lovers), it didn’t feel obvious or predictable. This is easily one of my favourite romance novels of the year and I would definitely read other books from this author based on this experience alone.