Veronika Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho

[goodreads]

Title: Veronika Decides to Die
Author: Paulo Coelho
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 210
Date read: October, 2015

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for: youth and beauty, pleny of attractive boyfriends, a fulfilling job, and a loving family. Yet something is lacking in her life. Inside her is a void so deep that nothing could possibly ever fill it. So, on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up.

Naturally Veronika is stunned when she does wake up at Villete, a local mental hospital, where the staff informs her that she has, in fact, partially succeeded in achieving her goal. While the overdose didn't kill Veronika immediately, the medication has damaged her heart so severely that she has only days to live.


I've only read two Paulo Coelho books so far, but my impression of "Veronika Decides to Die" is much the same as my impression of "The Alchemist": I'm not entirely sure what I think of it, but it's so well written that I'm glad I've read it all the same. The writing style is so subtly captivating that I found myself devouring the book without really being able to make up my mind whether or not I actually like it.

"Veronika Decides to Die" had the option of being a really depressing book, but instead turned out to be life-affirming and optimistic.

I don't think it's a book I'll ever reread, and I'm no closer to rushing out and reading more of Coelho's books than I was prior to reading this - but I'm glad I've read it all the same, and would recommend it in a heartbeat.