{"id":6003,"date":"2026-04-06T09:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6003"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:11:12","slug":"double-shot-of-living-by-natasha-von-imhof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6003","title":{"rendered":"Double Shot of Living by Natasha Von Imhof"},"content":{"rendered":"

A thoughtful, hope-filled novel about an unprecedented, wondrous second chance at living<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What would you do if you had the chance to start anew? Young again, in a different state, an unfamiliar home, and a younger body, a mysterious twist of fate has given 51-year-old Lynn either a curse or a miracle.<\/p>\n

Lynn Roberts has no idea where she is or whose body she\u2019s in. Her husband and kids are nowhere to be found and the apartment she\u2019s in is filthy, the only other person there in a vegetative state in front of the television, entirely unhelpful. The last thing she remembers are headlights coming at her. A car accident.<\/p>\n

But as Lynn investigates her surroundings, many things become clear: Lynn is now Mandy Pickard, a teenage girl who attempted suicide, living in unfortunate conditions with a mother who may as well not be there at all. The same night of Mandy\u2019s suicide attempt, Lynn was killed in a drunk driving accident. That\u2019s when it hits her like a ton of bricks: her overlooked drinking problem caused her own death.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsure what to do, Lynn attempts to make contact with her grieving family, but why would they believe that their recently deceased wife and mother is suddenly a random teenager? Eventually Lynn begins to carry on with life, deciding to combine her name and Mandy\u2019s to create the new hybrid life of Lindy, as she ponders how this could have happened and why<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was alive. Or, at least, her mind and memories were\u2026 There was a reason why she was alive, in this new body.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With the mind of a middle-aged woman and the body of a teenager, Lindy is a marvel to the people she encounters. Mandy lived a quiet life before, but as Lindy she\u2019s neat, organized, ambitious, and wise beyond her years. To the outside world, the Mandy they once knew is an entirely different person, but they don\u2019t realize that they\u2019re actually right\u2014she literally is.<\/p>\n

In her unexpected second chance at life, Lindy takes better care of her body than Mandy did, befriending and helping her neighbors and fellow students, and making leaps in academic achievement. Through it all, Lindy is a fountain of wisdom and her simple conversations and small decisive actions make huge impacts on the world around her.<\/p>\n

Double Shot of Living <\/em>features a large cast of characters, each with unique circumstances: financial hardships, abusive relatives, stagnation and confusion in life. The world feels realistically populated, the range of characters examining the gray area of good and bad. The cast feels even and full, with Lindy always at the heart, and never a wink of confusion as to who is who.<\/p>\n

Thisis a fresh, inspirational depiction of the butterfly effect, small choices leading to big impact. In succinct yet touching prose, Von Imhof wraps you up in the question: with a second chance at life, what would you do?<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes bad things happen, and sometimes good things happen. No one knows if they are connected. Or maybe it is true that what goes around comes around.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Double Shot of Living <\/em>moves you fluidly through this unusual journey. No matter how many times the Freaky Friday<\/em>-adjacent storyline is told, there will always be curiosity and mystery. Readers are enraptured in this situation. But as the story progresses, just like Lindy, we become more engrossed in the people and the waves Lindy\u2019s making in her community rather than this still-interesting happenstance mystery.<\/p>\n

With hopeful undertones, Double Shot of Living <\/em>isan evocative novel with a dash of the mysteriously mystical. It\u2019s a chance to experience and be inspired by a marvelous twist of fate.<\/p>\n

The post Double Shot of Living by Natasha Von Imhof<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A thoughtful, hope-filled novel about an unprecedented, wondrous second chance at living What would you do if you had the chance to start anew? Young again, in a different state, an unfamiliar home, and a younger body, a mysterious twist of fate has given 51-year-old Lynn either a curse or a miracle. Lynn Roberts has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}