I LOVED this book. That’s my four-word review of The Collected Regrets of Clover which received one of my elusive five-star ratings and was definitively my favorite read of 2024.  I found myself screaming laughing at this because it was so good. It has a bit of the flavor of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine without the deep dark tragedy mixed in. Just a weird girl in New York trying to be a little less weird so she can find a boyfriend (sounds about right).

Clover is a social recluse who only comes out of her apartment to perform her duties as a death doula, which is in fact a real thing, and attend death cafes. She is hired to sit with the dying for anything from a few minutes to a few weeks/months and usher them gracefully into death. She collects her client’s profound last words which she sorts into Advice, Confessions and Regrets.

What makes this book so good is Clover’s voice. I am drawn to books about characters that are a bit unhinged and was amused by how much Clover’s thoughts and actions resonated with me. At one moment she says, “I managed to go the next five days without interacting with a soul. At first it soothed, swaddling me from the chaos and expectations of being human. Then, in an instant, it shifted from rejuvenation to numbing isolation.” Clover beautifully captures the very fine line between an introvert’s joy of being alone and the despair that comes with being lonely; two moments that are identical on the surface but feel completely different. There were times throughout the book where I asked myself, did I write this? (I wish).

The frustrating thing about Clover is that she doesn’t seem to be doing anything that will move her closer to the thing she wants. She spends days losing herself in romantic movies and TV but when a real-life boy tries to talk to her, she runs in the other direction. She wants friends but literally hides in her apartment timing her movements to avoid her neighbors.

Clover learns many things along the way. How to get over her fears in order to experience more of life, how to deal with loss appropriately, how to live in reality instead of a fantasy world. Ultimately she uncovers, “The secret to a beautiful death is to live a beautiful life. Putting your heart out there. Letting it get broken. Taking chances. Making mistakes.” It’s something that we all know but perhaps need to be reminded of when we’re being overprotective of ourselves.

This is one of those books you go running home to because you can’t wait to read more and also savor because you know you’re going to miss it when it ends. What a great debut novel from Mikki Brammer.