Now Read This: “The Next Person You Meet in Heaven,” by Mitch Albom

In “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” Mitch Albom introduced the world to Eddie, a World War II veteran who did maintenance work at an amusement park. In the beginning of this story, Eddie traded his life so a little girl could live. Readers were able to follow his journey into heaven as he met the five people meant to teach him truths he never realized about his life. Albom’s second book in this series, “The Next Person You Meet in Heaven,” is the story of Annie, the little girl who got a second chance at life.

Sarah Vohsen

And although Annie survived, she was not unscathed. She couldn’t remember anything about the accident except the major changes it brought to her life. She’d lost her left hand and had it surgically reattached. Her mother moved them to a new state and changed their last name. Even her relationship with her mother became distant. But what unsettled Annie was that she never knew why.

“The Next Person You Meet in Heaven” begins on the day Annie is marrying her childhood sweetheart Paolo. When Annie is once again involved in an unbelievable accident, she takes her own trip through heaven to learn about her life and the ways she mattered to everyone around her.

I enjoyed that the prologue shared all of the context needed to read this book without having indulged in the first novel. It also explained Albom’s understanding of heaven and gave readers a bit of insight about the author’s motivation; it made Annie’s journey feel more significant.

I also liked seeing Annie’s backstory intermingle with the conversations she had with her otherworldly mentors; it made it feel less like a backstory and more like they were reliving these experiences. There was a lot of good character development in both Annie and the five people she met, because Albom showed the past right next to the present and showed the ways the characters’ views changed.

I listened to this as an audiobook through the Libby app, and I really enjoyed the narrator. He made the story easy to listen to, especially for someone who prefers to have the book in hand. However, the library also has this title in print and ebook formats.