The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - Book Review

“The Next Person You Meet in Heaven” is the sequel to “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. Due to success of the previous book it’s only natural to read this one. You don’t have to read the prequel to understand the second one, but it still makes more sense if you do.

A newlywed couple, Annie and Paulo, are on a balloon ride hours after their marriage. The ride takes a tragic turn and Paulo throws Annie out of the balloon to save her. Paulo needs a new lung to live and Annie gives him one of hers.

The book revolves around the notion that everything happens for a reason. Our life isn’t haphazard, even though it might seem like that often; neither are the people we meet throughout our life, nor the mistakes we make.

What we don’t understand here on earth, Mitch Albom gives us hope that we will understand it in the afterlife. Circumstances of events will be explained to us by people who passed away, some we know, some we don’t; all impacting our life.

Perhaps the biggest meaning you could get out of this book is that everyone’s life has meaning no matter how trivial you might view your own life.

When you begin to realize that, you start living your life, if not in a better way, at least in a different way. As with any book that deals with life and death, everyone will come out with something different that hits home.

If you liked the first part, it’s highly likely you will like its sequel, which came out 10 years later. It’s not easy to make a successful sequel, but with Mitch Albom’s easy writing style and his unique storytelling ability, the book holds up pretty well.

If you’re an avid reader, you can read it in a sitting or two. It’s a soulful book, suitable for people who ponder about life and death and what it means to them.