Travis has an unusual job. Outwardly, he’s an unassuming, attractive young man. He’s quiet and keeps to himself. He moves around often, and travels light, carrying with him only the photographs he spends his spare time restoring. But he is Death, or the human incarnation of the process of Death. He is the one with the dying in their last moments, and he makes the crossing over, whatever that is, easier.
Sometimes, it is a good job, for the
people who are ready, who’ve been left alone or in pain. For others, it’s
tragedy, leaving life too young, too unfinished, or too heartbreaking. These are the ones who stay with Travis, and
usually he’s able to separate his emotion from what he knows is vital work.
Then he meets Dalia, and her young daughters and gets a taste of what “life” is about.
This is a beautiful book. It is told from Travis’s point of view, but we meet all sorts of people in their final moments, and even some whose time isn’t yet, but who wish it was. Sometimes, it gets a little slow, but I’d encourage the reader to linger there. Don’t try to zip through this book in one setting. We get to see the world not as an idealized fairy tale, but in all its messy human glory, from the grease of takeaway to the cold scent of dew from unseen grass. Any book written “by” Death is bound to cause reflection in the reader, but this one goes further…it asks us to imagine our own final moments, and if we were allowed to go back, how would we wish to spend a few minutes reliving one thing. It broke my heart, made me cry and made me see the world around me in a new light. That’s an awful lot to get from one book.
This author goes on my must-read list, especially when I want more than simple entertainment. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt will be released July 7, 2026, by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.
