Where is Emma Butler’s Life Plan? by Julia Wilmot.
Available to buy now from Amazon UK & Amazon US.
‘Emma Butler doesn’t know it but she is about to get bit more angelic help than she was banking on.
Someone has messed up, or have they?
It appears that Emma is about to be ‘recalled’ to heaven but has completed none of the tasks she had set herself for this life time. They must be completed before she is recalled and time is running out. Arch Angel Gregory decides to take over. He will be her Guardian Angel to ensure it all gets done.
There’s a lot to do and a very short time to do it in. Gregory is determined that it will all be completed by hook or by crook. But where does that leave free will and what about Jack who has been chosen to be Emma’s love interest? How will this impact him? Jack and Emma have no idea what is going on, but it’s not going to be plain sailing.’
How exciting! Today it is TWG’s turn on Julia’s blog tour for her debut novel! Big thank you to Julia for allowing me to read her book in exchange for my thoughts, and a huge thank you to Jenny at NeverlandBT for inviting me to take part.
Lets get down to what I thought, shall we?
‘Where is Emma Butler’s Life Plan?’, such an intriguing title don’t you think? I definitely thought so because I said yes to reading the book based on the title. I was so curious! A life plan? I know people sometimes have a ‘five year plan’, but I wasn’t entirely sure what a ‘life plan’ actually entailed. Luckily, not long into reading the book things began to make more sense. Only on the title front though, I was yet to delve deeper into life as an Angel.
The book is quite heavily based on the spiritual life because of the Angel’s, Heaven and what people might believe to happen after their own ‘recall’. You don’t need to believe in it to enjoy the story because it is such an extravagantly fun read, you’ll no doubt be laughing yet questioning your own life plan at the same time. I definitely did!
As the story develops you’re introduced to various Angel’s in Heaven, as well as multiple Guardian Angel’s. Every person in the story has a Guardian Angel to guide them through life and keep them safe without interfering in their life. I must say though, one Guardian Angel in particular, Brian, was described exceptionally well. His personality had such sass. I could imagine his stance and facial expressions as various situations unfolded. Very cleverly written.
‘Where is Emma Butler’s Life Plan?’ is a very well thought out book, which actually makes this review quite tricky to write because everything in the book linked to the final scenario. Nothing bad about the book, just the fact that I am being careful to keep the surprises for when you read it yourself!
I loved the diversity between the characters. Each one had such a memorable personality, several of them have stayed in my mind since I finished reading the book (I finished it 3 days ago). Although, as with any book, there is always one or two characters that you don’t quite ‘gel’ with, this book was no different. One in particular got me rather annoyed as his attitude was appalling. However, he made the book, if that makes sense?
In the book, Julia describes how everyone has a ‘life plan’, and the aim is to do everything that you set out to do before you get ‘recalled’. I’d be lying if I said that that didn’t get me thinking. Because it did. The fact that anyone could get ‘recalled’ at any moment, without so much of a warning is quite scary. But to go through life with the attitude of ‘ahhhh, I’ll do it later, plenty of time.’ is much scarier. Later could be ‘too late’ and unfortunately we don’t all have a Julia Wilmot to write us a different recall date on our life plans.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Emma Butler and her life plan. It was such a different type of book compared to anything I have read already. It put a fun spin on the dreaded ‘D’ word and everything associated to it. The Angel’s were brilliant and the storyline ticked multiple boxes for me in such a positive way.
Do I believe in Guardian Angel’s? I don’t know, 50/50.
Do I believe in Julia Wilmot and her debut novel? Yes, I do. It takes such talent to write a story involving such a diverse and maybe ‘taboo’ (in people’s eyes) subject, yet still make it an enjoyable read. I am rather looking forward to see what Julia has up her sleeve (or under her wing) for her next book!
Julia began this novel in 1995 but it remained in a drawer for many years. She came across it again in the early 2000s and fitting in with becoming a mother in 2002 it took until 2015 to finish it.
Julia’s Website
Fancy your chance at winning 1 of 3 copies of Julia’s book? Luckily for you there is a giveaway —>Enter here<—
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