All the Perfect Days - Michael Thompson - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Michael Thompson

NARRATOR: Ryan Ennis

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism

PUBLICATION DATE: May 21, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary magical realism. Also tagged as romance but I found it tilting more towards general fiction. Good characters, though a bit cookie-cutter. Interesting magical realism. Heartwarming and emotional. This was a fairly strong read for me until the final quarter or so. Still, a good option for those looking for somewhat bittersweet reads.

Plot Preview:

Dr. Charlie Knight, 38, has spent many years as a GP in the same small town he grew up in. Just as he decides to take a step in a new direction, his life changes. He is suddenly endowed with a mysterious gift, that of knowing exactly how many days his patients have left to live. While this gift is helpful at times, Charlie does not want to know the death dates of his loved ones, and of his ex-girlfriend Genevieve who has just returned from London. Will this new insight turn out to be a boon or a bane for Charlie? Will it affect the way he practices medicine?

The story comes to us in Charlie’s third-person perspective.

I opted for this book not for the romance but for the potential magical realism. Luckily, it wasn’t the other way around because the romance content was not dominant. Most of the novel went quite well for me, but just as I thought it might end up getting four stars, some plot choices brought my rating down.

Bookish Yays:

🗓 The magical realism. Interesting to read how Charlie’s gift suddenly activates and how he feels while viewing the number. I like that there’s no justification provided for Charlie’s new ability. It keeps the magic magical! (Then again, this might not satisfy those who need to know why it happened.)

🗓 The thought-provoking experience of seeing Charlie process the numbers and take action accordingly. It captures all the issues that could come with foreknowledge of death. I began to wonder what I would do if I were in Charlie’s position – not an enviable situation at all!

🗓 Charlie as a man and as a doctor. He’s a good character for this genre. I love how easily he bonds with his patients no matter their age group. Even more impressive is his sensitivity.

🗓 A male author writing a likeable and relatable male lead without turning him into a typical alpha male specimen – this deserves a separate Yay!

🗓 The character-oriented nature of the story, which helps us know Charlie and his reactions intimately. This makes the progress a bit slow and introspective, but not boring.

🗓 The use of the small-town setting, which adds further drama in Charlie’s life. A very good portrayal of life in a place where everyone knows everyone.

Bookish Okays:

🔢 The understated emotions. Surprisingly for a storyline with such immense potential for emotional intensity, the book ends up quite muted. There are some heartwarming as well as upsetting scenes, but the feelings rarely hit as hard as they should have.

🔢 The romance. To be clear, this isn't a new romance but a second-chance romance. So when the couple reconnects after many years, the love story is more about a mature bond developing from a place of closeness and friendship than about physical attraction or longing. This, I appreciate. However, knowing how much they had been through during their initial time of togetherness, their reconnection feels overly drama-free and their communication, full of avoidance.

🔢 The character development. The secondary characters, especially some of Charlie’s patients, were amazing. The lengths of their role varied, but most of them were memorable in some way or the other. However, many of the characters were there only to fulfil a niche role. There was no depth to their personality or behaviour. I especially wish Charlie’s mum had been better sketched; her antagonism and the reason for the mother-son rift never felt convincing.

Bookish Nays:

🧮 The final few chapters are where the book lost a lot of my points. I don’t want to go into spoilers, so I’ll just say: I didn’t find these chapters realistically convincing. A certain event should have triggered some deep emotions, but the only dominant thought in Charlie’s head at this time was romance. Not a believable reaction, considering the people involved.

🧮 The incident connected with Theo (also in the final quarter of the book) – utterly unnecessary for this genre. There were other ways of adding tension and drama to the plot, then why do this? It was out of character for the otherwise reserved and clueless Theo.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 8 hrs 48 min, is narrated by Ryan Ennis. He is brilliant in all his voices, making the characters sound distinct without feeling like caricatures. I especially love how he performed Charlie, conveying his various moods effectively. One particular character’s laugh is a bit grating on the ears, but that laugh is supposed to be annoying anyway as per the book, so I cannot deduct points for that. The audio will be a fabulous option for most readers. However, Charlie has the habit of speaking to himself, and at times, these inner monologues (obviously written in first person) come in between or just after spoken dialogues. If you think you might be muddled about when Charlie is actually speaking aloud and when he is just thinking to himself, better stick to actual reading.

Overall, this book does pretty well as an emotional palate cleanser. It isn't a romance for the most part though it has romantic elements. Better if read as general fiction. Had the last few chapters and the secondary character development gone better for me, my rating would have been higher. But a major chunk of the book did suit my mood.

Recommended to readers preferring general fiction with some interesting magical realism and emotional introspection.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing the DRC and to Tantor Audio for providing the ALC of “All the Perfect Days” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.