Twice - Mitch Albom - ★★.½

AUTHOR & NARRATOR: Mitch Albom

GENRE: Magical Realism

PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A magical realism novel about a man who gets two chances at everything in his life. Intriguing storyline, decent exploration of human psychology. Flawed lead character, too many plot holes. Needs much suspension of disbelief. Not sure if I can recommend this with gusto, though it will certainly work for many readers. This is an outlier review.

Plot Preview:

When senior citizen Alfie Logan is apprehended in the Bahamas for allegedly cheating at a casino and winning a huge amount, Casino Detective Vincent LaPorta isn't prepared for Alfie’s explanation that he gets a second chance at everything in life. The detective obviously doesn’t buy such a nonsensical explanation, but Alfie is determined to prove his claim, handing the detective a composition book that tells the story of his life, and of how he simply needs to think of a past time and say the word “Twice” to go back to that point. Is Alfie delusional or does he actually have this magical ability of living through moments ‘twice’? What does this have to do with his casino winnings?

The story comes to us from Detective LaPorta’s third-person perspective and Alfie’s first-person narration directly and via his composition book.

PSA: Don’t read the GR blurb. It reveals almost the entire story.

It is said that our choices reveal who we are and our choices also make us what we are. But what if you get two chances at every choice? This is a great concept that deserved a more cohesive story with fewer logical inconsistencies.

Bookish Yays:

✌🏻 The exploration of human psychology through Alfie’s and other characters’ personalities. Many situations might lead you to wonder what you would have done in their place. (In most cases, I won't have done the same thing as the characters.)

✌🏻 The indirect message that redoing something doesn’t necessarily offer the desired result.

✌🏻 A few thought-provoking quotes: simple language, but deep impact.

✌🏻 The cover. Perfect for the story.

Bookish Okays:

🤞🏻 Alfie. A complicated character. It’s not that he is unlikeable (which would have been fine), but rather, he is presented as likeable despite his red flags (which feels like a glossing-over of his behavioural issues). Some of his stupid decisions can be pardoned, but some feel like major flaws. I guess your liking of him would depend on how you feel about his actions. I found some of them tough to ignore.

🤞🏻 The multiple narrative perspectives. Offers an interesting variety, but the POV from Alfie’s “composition book” is almost as elaborate as a novel, albeit addressed to someone specific. This person is only called ‘Boss’, but after a point, it is easy to guess their identity.

🤞🏻 The mixture of multiple genres: magical realism, time travel, drama, and romance. Not perfectly executed, but keeps things interesting.

Bookish Nays:

👊🏻 The concept of saying ‘twice’ to return to an earlier time point. I could write an entire essay on the logical loopholes in the implementation of this idea in the book. Of course, one does need some suspension of disbelief in SFF genres, but in this case, the plot keeps contradicting its own claims.

👊🏻 The “romance”. A lot of rubbish gets done in this story in the guise of love. We barely get to know Alfie’s love interest Gianna as we see her only through his smitten eyes. But even the limited glimpse of her personality made it tough for me to root for them to be together. Gianna deserved better.

👊🏻 One key scene involving someone’s passing and someone’s resultant grief. Alfie doesn’t redo it ‘twice’ (for his own reasons.) I just didn’t agree with his rationale and found this selfish choice impossible to forgive.

👊🏻 A small scene involves a therapist revealing intimate client details to an outsider. Unethical, unpardonable, unrealistic.

👊🏻 The ending. Twisty, but has such a giant plot-hole that the entire premise collapses into itself.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 6 hrs 24 min, is narrated by the author himself. While I am not usually a fan of authors narrating their own books, Albom is an exception. He does a commendable job, and after a point, I even forgot that he was not a professional narrator.

The author’s note is a treat to read. Mitch Albom is a gem of a human being, and his notes are always straight from the heart. I am happy my audio version included it.

Overall, the concept is definitely intriguing, even if it isn’t a unique one. Unfortunately, my experience of its execution wasn't as enthusiastic as I thought it would be. I could have let go of some fallacies, but when the entire premise stands on a shaky foundation and self-contradicting construction, the structure is bound to collapse. I would still have rated it higher, but the ending sullied even the positive feelings I had.

Almost all of my friends who’ve read this book have rated it 4+ stars, so I am very much an outlier in my opinion. Please do read other reviews before you take a call on this book.

I have often struggled with what I call ‘heart books’ – books to be read strictly with the heart after turning the head off. If you can do this easily, if you can enjoy emotions and ignore logic, this book is for you.

2.5 stars. (I would have rounded up wherever applicable if the ending were better.)