The Best Days of Our Lives: the big-hearted and uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of Anything Could Happen

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The Best Days of Our Lives is one of those books that makes you reassess how you live your own life. They were only a couple of years apart in age, sharing everything including a penchant for attempting to fly with the aid of their Grandma's fanned Peacock 🦚 feathers. But overall I feel it’s a story about hope and joy, about redemption and family, about second chances, and about how important your loved ones are to you. I expected a sad story but instead Diamond wrote a story which was honest, witty (I particularly enjoyed the stories from a Leni growing up). This brought tears to my eyes a few times (I've also lost a sibling) and made me resolve to spend more time with my own family.

I think because at this point things started to happen and the secrets and issues that each person had been hiding started to come to the fore.After Leni McKenzie died in an accident, we follow the McKenzies navigating through life in which their beloved sister and daughter no longer exists. Shortly after her 35th birthday, Lina is out riding at night when she's knocked off her bike and instantly killed by a passing car.

Evolving from distant and uninvolved to becoming Father of the Year over the course of a book is an impressive feat.It was heart breaking and moving to discover how this fictional family handled one of the worst curveballs that they can ever be thrown. We are provided with a satisfactory ending with many explanations given and loose ends tied up which I was glad we weren’t provided with an ambiguous ending. As you would imagine the whole family have been deeply affected by the loss of their sibling/daughter/friend as each attempts to come to terms with their grief in different ways. Although the stories are fiction, they are still someone's imagining of how a situation would play out if they were in the midst of it. I absolutely loved the author's writing - her words are fluid and poetic, which makes the story engaging and deeply passionate.

He can’t deal with the emotions her loss has stirred up and instead he spends his days selling knock off gear on the beaches of Thailand. Providing readers with a glimpse into the world of bereavement, close family relationships and the impact when life deals this card.But I found this one to be just ok, I didn’t love it and I didn’t dislike it so I guess I’m somewhere in between. She is also finding out lots more about her sister things she kept hidden from people and what happened to her in the last week of her life. Seeing the McKenzies finding their way in this new reality, experiencing happiness again and creating ways to honor the Leni they loved and miss so much in their lives - I think I’m going to water my eyes all over again for each and every one of them. This is a masterpiece in how broken people negotiate and ultimately survive the worst that life can throw at them.