Twice by Mitch Albom review
I finished The Brothers Karamazov, and like with any book, especially a long one, I needed something to detox me from it. Otherwise, I start writing like Dostoyevsky until his voice fades from my head.
This happened to me after reading The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. At the time, I was still working on Finding Alberta. There’s a chapter in my book called 1986, and it is one hundred percent written in James McBride’s voice. Eventually, his voice faded and mine returned. Now that chapter stands out to me like someone else wrote it.
Mitch Albom’s new book Twice was my rebound.
It’s a one-day read, although it took me two days because life kept calling me away. By the second day, though, I was fully locked in. I was strolling through Sam’s Club (shhh, don’t tell Costco) when I saw the book section. In my defense, Costco did away with theirs, so a girl has to do what a girl has to do.
Sam’s actually has a decent novel section. And even though I knew I didn’t have much time to read, and even though I had just finished a book that took me over a month to get through, I still bought Twice. I also threw in a Jojo Moyes book (The Giver of Stars) while I was at it.
Mitch Albom books don’t require a back-cover read. As soon as I see his name stretched across the top, I know it’s safe. I know it won’t disappoint. After The Little Liar, I had already braced myself for tears. And sure enough, they came.
You won’t get much from me in the way of details, since this is a new book and absolutely worth reading for yourself, even if it only takes a day. I will say this: we love to say things like “you only get one shot” or “you only live once.” Well, Alphy gets two shots.
The book takes you on a quiet but remarkable journey through what it might feel like to dial time back just a little. To redo some major oopsies. I couldn’t help but ask myself what I would change if I could do it twice.
Strangely enough, as tempting as repeating and fixing might be, the deeper question the book asks is whether you can be content and appreciative of the life you were given. At least, that’s how it landed with me as the story unfolded.
I thought about how Siafa and I are always striving, always pushing for the next level, but not always stopping long enough to appreciate what we already have. A love that comes once in a thousand years. Four beautiful kids. A state that beams with sunshine. We don’t have much, but what we have is good and rich.
And I wondered, if I could go back and fix those small things that still nag at me, would it unravel everything we’ve built? Everything I’ve become?
I tried to read the book casually, picking it up here and setting it down there. But the last quarter had me frozen in a rocking chair on the front porch, unable to move until I reached the end.
Mitch Albom did it again.
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Martina Griffin is a Catholic convert, writer, wife, and mother of four. She writes about faith, motherhood, beauty, books, and the quiet ache of transformation. A lover of popcorn, deep questions, and old classics, she shares her heart at Big Bowl of Popcorn—one post at a time. Instagram | Facebook | Email Me |
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