A Strange Companion by Lisa Manterfield book review

Synopsis

Kat Richardson isn’t running away from grief; she’s just hiding out in a gloomy Welsh university town until she’s sure it’s gone. Now, one year, nine months, and 27 days after the climbing death of her first love, Gabe, she thinks she’s ready to venture out into the relationship world again. And Owen—a cake-baking, Super Ball-making chemistry student—appears to be a kind, funny, and very attractive option. But the arrival of Kat’s newly adopted niece, Mai, forces her home to northern England, where she runs headfirst into all the memories of Gabe she’s tried to leave behind—and discovers that Mai stirs up an unnerving feeling of déjà vu. Before long, Kat’s logical, scientific beliefs about life after death are in battle with what she feels to be true—that reincarnation is real and Gabe has come back to her through Mai. The question now, is why?

Taking on the topics of love, loss, and how we deal with grief, A Strange Companion is a twisted love triangle among the living, the dead, and the reincarnated.

Review

This beautiful, emotional tale is weaved through an immerse and rich story written by Lisa Manterfield. This book left me with so much raw emotion. (read this with a box of tissues as you will cry your eyes out) This beautiful blend of heartbreak, finding ones self, grief, forgiveness, loss and second chances, is a perfect rainy day read. This story is well written and its tale comes to life as you read each page. We follow our main character Kat  as she discovers herself, and what it means to truly let go and love again. Lisa is an excellent writer. She sets up a scene so vivid that I felt like i was pulled into the story watching it happen around me. The little girl Mai is so adorable and my heart just yearned to reach through the pages and hug her closely as Kat tries to accept the little girl in her life as she feels that her former love of her life has been reincarnated through her. It was so heart breaking to read her struggle to overcome the loss of Gabe and try to accept Owen in her life. The way Lisa wrote Kat’s emotion for Gabe and how she did love Owen but couldn’t learn to trust and let him in was beautifully written and my heart just yearned to tell Kat that it would be okay. I can not say enough good things about this book! I don’t want to give away too many spoilers so I will wrap up here saying this gets 5 stars from me and that this book has ruined me from picking something else up for a while. So don’t mind me as I sit here in a corner rocking back and fourth sobbing at its beautifully written pages and battle a major book hangover. Thank you Kate Tilton and thank you Lisa for sending me this book in exchange for my honest review.

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