It's rare that a book lives up to my own personal hype for it. It's also rare that I get to the end of a book and immediately want to re-read it. This managed both. Despite looking forward to it, I didn't know what to expect going in and was worried at first that it would be too slight to be substantial and, given the opening, be too obtuse to enjoy. Thankfully those fears were dismissed rapidly. The book manages to be both smart and literate without ever feeling pretentious. A big part of that comes from how full of heart it is, and that it never seems to want to impress you, only tell you the story in a way that makes sense to the characters involved. There's a very human soul running throughout the text and it's packed with sorrow, beauty, humour, anger and everything you would associate with the grieving process. Every word is selected carefully so that none are wasted and the end product is succinct, powerful, and probably the best thing I've read this year. It might even join my favourites of all time given the amount I've recommended it to people already, but time will tell on that one.