What if you got to do everything in your life —twice? The heart of Mitch Albom’s newest novel is a love story that explores how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.
This is the kind of novel that a guard in a locked room must force you to keep reading ... Generic moments skim by. ... As Alfie gets older, he gets bolder, but Albom grows no more interested in making his experiences engaging. It’s as though Alfie’s ability to cheat consequences has drained urgency from the prose ... Absolved of the possibility of death, the novel suffers the ennui that vampires endure. Alfie’s memory of taking 'a bullet during a Mexican bank robbery' feels less vibrant than my memory of dinner at the Olive Garden ... The truth I learned in Twice is that once is more than enough.
Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality. Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
