These Are Not My Final Words. A Book Review.
- Claudia
- Oct 30
- 2 min read
Funny, sad, and heartfelt. 'These Are Not My Final Words' is an honest account of grief and how it can affect different people. Every chapter brought something new and unexpected. And while the theme is grief, this novel is so much more: it's a story of love, self-exploration, and acceptance.
These Are Not My Final Words follows Jonathan (Johnny), a screenwriter whose best friend, Jace, passed away suddenly. Johnny finds it incredibly difficult to move on – to accept that, from now on, he has to live his life without Jace in it, because, well, who is Johnny without Jace?
Johnny starts to see the animated Duck they created, Dick, AKA Jace, making him wonder whether he’s having a mental breakdown or if it’s normal to start hallucinating when grieving someone who was so close to you.
I opened my eyes wide enough to see what was causing the problem and was staring straight at Dick, settling his feathers into the chair where Blake had been sitting only an hour before.
Samantha Ryan has written a sad but also funny account of the grieving process. It is messy. It is heartbreaking. But it can also be beautiful. The interactions between Johnny and Dick are hilarious, as Dick is, well, a dick.
In These Are Not My Final Words, the reader has a front-row seat to how grief works: how it can impact someone’s life – their relationships, work, and overall well-being. Samantha Ryan did an amazing job with this novel. While the theme may be considered dark, this novel is very uplifting.
I turned to her, watching the tears welling up. I didn’t cry when Jace died. I hadn’t cried about any of it. It was too sad to make me cry. Instead, I had been numb, stumbling around, observing it all without participating.
The way Samantha used her quill is magnificent. This novel was easy to read and easy to like, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys modern literature or has recently suffered a loss and needs a reminder they’re not alone – that ‘it’s okay to not be okay’.
You can find These Are Not My Final Words here.
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