Official Review: The First Phone Call from Heaven

[mmandy38]

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom is the story of a small-town getting national headlines from many of their citizens receiving calls that they believe came from their deceased family and friends. The main characters have no idea how the can get a phone call from their mother who had died years earlier, but know that it is her voice.

I love the idea of this story. It was cute to see these people carrying their phones everywhere- just so they wouldn't miss the opportunity to talk to their loved ones. The real question though is are these phone calls real? If not, who is making them? That is exactly what Sully, a young father, intends to find out.

Sully lost his wife in the previous years, and is now the single parent of his young son, who believes that if he can get a phone he can talk to his mommy once again. Sully does research for days in and days out to find out the meaning behind these calls and convince his son and small town that they are trying to reach the impossible.

The end of the story was full of twists and turns that I was not expecting in the least, but at that point, I thought the novel had turned from a heartfelt drama to a mystery.

I also listened to this book through audiobooks, and I don't think I enjoyed it as much through there. I didn't like that there were no words that I could read along with (or even go look back up later). I was also unsure of how I felt about the reader. It was read by Mitch Albom himself- which I thought would be a brilliant idea, as he would put all his emotion into it, but think that he fell short because all the characters were the same voice. The men and women were voiced by the same person, and he didn't even pretend to change his tone to differentiate the two most of the time.

I did, however, like that there were sounds that were put into the audio, such as a dog barking or phone ringing, to make me feel as if I was actually in the story, and not just in a book.

I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars, and would recommend it to anyone, regardless of their religious beliefs.

[kderse]

I gave it the same amount of stars Here is my review:

In the book The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom residents of a town in Michigan start receiving phone calls from Heaven. From relatives that they miss who have died and gone to Heaven. Is it a hoax or a miracle? Sully a grieving single father is set on finding out.

I recommend this book for teenagers and adults.

I really enjoyed this book it was a page turner for me. The reason I picked up this book was because of the author. I have an emotional connection to this author. When I was in high school I struggled a lot. I had recently became a christian and I often felt alone in my walk. I loved to read and often used it as an escape. My english teacher noticed and invited me to help her during study halls if I had the time. I started going in and helping her with little things like organizing things and helping with bulletin boards. One day I was looking through her books and she offered to let me take any of my choosing. I picked up this author as we were also reading another one of his books in class. We also watched the movies based off of these books in class. They were thought provoking books just like this one. Whenever reading from this author I feel like I am in high school again sitting in her classroom. A place that I always felt safe to share my opinion and my faith and know my grade wouldn't be affected nor my relationship with this teacher.

One thing that was challenging for me in this book was the amount of characters and story lines. I often found myself mixing up the story lines. As always though Mitch's writing leaves you breathless and captivated. It takes you into another world entirely. I always enjoy reading his books because they make you think about God without shoving it into your face. For instance this book the subject of after life and heaven. At every funeral whether the family was christian or not will say at least they are in a better place. Heaven, a better place, something almost everyone can agree upon. Interesting thought right? His books always make me think. What would I do if the loved ones I have lost called me on the phone one day. Would I believe it? Would I enjoy talking to them or would I investigate and try to see who was trying to pull something on me.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars.

[DennisK]

Thank you both for bringing this book to my attention. I believe I would enjoy reading it. I see that it is in Kindle format.

[LivreAmour217]

Awesome review, I especially enjoyed your opinions on the audio version of the book. This sounds like a charming story, and I look forward to reading it!

[mmandy38]

Thank you very much and I hope that both of you enjoy reading the book as well!

[srawls89]

This sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. I love spiritual, supernatural type books. Heaven is For Real is one of my favorites. I'll have to read this one. Great review!

[mmandy38]

Thank you and I hope you enjoy it and let me k ow what you think. I also loved Heaven Is For Real!

[T0neil01]

This book was very uplifting and made me feel many different emotions. I was very pleased with the book until the end which actually frustrated me a lot.

The plot of the book is that a few deceased people are calling their loved ones from heaven. The town then makes national news and many people from all over show up to witness these miracles. I felt really happy when I started reading this book because although I knew it was farfetched it was amazing thinking about the possibility of hearing from loved ones who have passed. My mother passed away from cancer last summer which made me a little over-sensitive to the topic.

**SPOILER ALERT** - It really upset me when I found out that the phone calls had been fake. I think it upset me because I like believing that the impossible can happen and I really felt like if my mom could call me she would be telling me similar things to what these people were hearing. I know that I should have been happy that Sully then saw his wife in his dream and received a real call from her, but I could not get over the shock. I probably should have known it was coming but I guess I was just hoping that it was a real miracle for these people. I did really enjoy that the miracle was supposed to be the fact that all these people had come back to God because of all that was going on. After having some time to stop being frustrated about the fake phone calls I really was happy with the ending because I liked that there was so much good that came out of everything.

I really enjoyed that everything seemed to tie together really well. I felt lots of emotions while reading this book. Happiness for the people who got to hear their loved ones voices one more time, sadness for Sully's son as he sat and waited for a sign from his mother, and anxiety as Sully searched for an answer.

I think this is a book that definitely makes you think.

[Stephanie-Ann]

Thank you for these reviews! I think I will be looking for this book! And definitely NOT the audio book - I have yet to feel like that is "reading"! Although with aging eyes audio may someday be the way to go! In the meantime, I love holding a book and still can't truly fall in love with reading books on my phone, but (sigh) it does come in handy when traveling and I can't carry 10 books in my luggage

[ashnance]

This sounds like a fabulous book! I'm already so curious about these phone calls - I can't wait to read it now!

[mmandy38]

I hope both of you get to enjoy this book as much as I did and please let me know your thoughts on it.

[Michael Kevin]

I really enjoyed reading this book and had read it few times. The phone calls from heaven had changes the life of all the residents of Coldwater. It ended by reviewing the mystery behind all these calls, but left the readers wondering how Sully's deceased wife called him.