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A review by bookishpatricia
Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major
5.0
Maybe Next Time is an emotional, moving, heartwarming, and reflective novel. Emma and Dan’s marriage/relationship is a rare one. Seldom you would see a love so pure and genuine that, despite their differences and life’s challenges, they would continue to choose each other over and over again.
Over Dan’s multiple deaths, Emma underwent all stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance - and they were all called for. Putting myself in Emma’s shoes, I wouldn’t also know how to keep going on with my Mondays either knowing my husband will die that very evening - and that I would have to go through it again and again, indefinitely.
I can understand Emma’s drive to be constantly preoccupied - I suffer from that, too. So in between listening to the audiobook, I would ask myself, am I being present enough? Am I making conscious effort to take care of myself? To cover tasks for the benefit of long-term goals? Or am I just driven by temporary and short-lived wins, to say that I’m productive or have achieved something while neglecting bigger and more important things?
Objectively, I believe Emma’s character is not likable but she’s not despicable either - she simply does her best be it for work or for her family. However, once she accepted her tentative fate and embraced the “curse” of repeating her days as a “gift,” I appreciated how she worked on improving things little by little, even when she had to do it again the next day. And she would always come up with ways to see things at a better light. She couldn’t control the days, but she could control how to spend them.
Emma's husband Dan is a side character in the story, but he made a huge impact through the letters he wrote to Emma yearly on their date-versary. And surprisingly, his is the biggest plot twist in the novel.
The ending was a bit confounding (and a small part of me hated Dan for it). It was also a massive cliffhanger, but I LOVED it.
Had I not been in the dining area, I would have bawled listening to Dan’s last letter to Emma. It was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment. I knew right then and there I found another well-deserving 5-star read and a hidden gem.
Personal relevance/takeaway:
Just like Emma, I tend to preoccupy myself with tasks, even with non-urgent ones, just so I could fill up my time and pretend to be productive. A lot of times, it doesn’t go well for me. When I push myself too much, I end up burnt out, disoriented, high-strung, and in need of rest - STAT.
But in life, it’s better to have a life you don’t need a break from. To give yourself breaks regularly enough so you don’t get filled to the brim and burst over the most trivial things.
Over Dan’s multiple deaths, Emma underwent all stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance - and they were all called for. Putting myself in Emma’s shoes, I wouldn’t also know how to keep going on with my Mondays either knowing my husband will die that very evening - and that I would have to go through it again and again, indefinitely.
I can understand Emma’s drive to be constantly preoccupied - I suffer from that, too. So in between listening to the audiobook, I would ask myself, am I being present enough? Am I making conscious effort to take care of myself? To cover tasks for the benefit of long-term goals? Or am I just driven by temporary and short-lived wins, to say that I’m productive or have achieved something while neglecting bigger and more important things?
Objectively, I believe Emma’s character is not likable but she’s not despicable either - she simply does her best be it for work or for her family. However, once she accepted her tentative fate and embraced the “curse” of repeating her days as a “gift,” I appreciated how she worked on improving things little by little, even when she had to do it again the next day. And she would always come up with ways to see things at a better light. She couldn’t control the days, but she could control how to spend them.
Emma's husband Dan is a side character in the story, but he made a huge impact through the letters he wrote to Emma yearly on their date-versary. And surprisingly, his is the biggest plot twist in the novel.
The ending was a bit confounding (and a small part of me hated Dan for it). It was also a massive cliffhanger, but I LOVED it.
Had I not been in the dining area, I would have bawled listening to Dan’s last letter to Emma. It was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment. I knew right then and there I found another well-deserving 5-star read and a hidden gem.
Personal relevance/takeaway:
Just like Emma, I tend to preoccupy myself with tasks, even with non-urgent ones, just so I could fill up my time and pretend to be productive. A lot of times, it doesn’t go well for me. When I push myself too much, I end up burnt out, disoriented, high-strung, and in need of rest - STAT.
But in life, it’s better to have a life you don’t need a break from. To give yourself breaks regularly enough so you don’t get filled to the brim and burst over the most trivial things.