“When I took the pills, I wanted to kill someone I hated. I didn’t know that other Veronikas existed inside me, Veronikas that I could love.“
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I really connected to this book. It opened with a very intense subject that I am sadly familiar with: suicide. Despite this, Coelho maintained quite a funny and dry tone throughout. 

Veronika is so certain of the rightness of her choice in the beginning, and the body of the novel shows how wrong we can be about something we were deeply convinced of. 

I liked the stylistic choice to have chapter intros. I also liked how Coelho had his own moment in the narrative, making it clear that he was writing from firsthand experience. I found the meditation on how vitriol is poisonous to us to be very apt and illuminating. 

Veronika’s presence caused novel self reflection in her fellow patients. The proximity to what they believed to be certain death naturally engendered evaluation of their lives. Ultimately, Coelho makes the point that appreciation and awareness of death creates a freedom to fully engage in and appreciate life. That perhaps there isn’t one right way, and trying to fit into any mold causes us deep emotional pain. 

Having survived my own near death attempt, I appreciated Coelho’s nod to understanding that you cant ever know all possible futures. Often life surprises us when we give ourselves permission to live honestly one more day, and love for life itself is born out of living honestly and openly. 

I always enjoy Coelho’s writing, but especially this one.