In We Are Their Heaven, Allison explores both connection and communication between the living and the dead. Throughout the book, Allison explains her link with the dead and allows those she has read for to share their own experiences with us. They identify the 'calling cards' of the dead, the initial private piece of information that serves to legitimize that the deceased is in fact trying to contact their loved one. Each chapter focuses on a different type of connection and of parents, children, siblings, friends and spouses. With each reading, Allison's compassion is clearly seen. She explains how the spirit world requires a different sort of 'listening' from her. When you can 'feel' someone near you, she urges that this is not your imagination, but a heightened sense of awareness and what she calls a spiritual encounter. Her account of speaking to a group of parents of murdered children allows us to see that she sees as she walks into the room and finds each of the dead children there with their living parents.Don't Kiss Them Goodbye was a rewarding book for anyone interested in mediums. With We Are Their Heaven, Allison expands her audience. From a perspective few can offer, she shares heartbreaking and heartwarming tales of connection from the other side and provides comforting proof that our loved ones stay with us long after they are gone. Anyone who has experienced loss will find this book quenches their curiosity and soothes their hearts about those we miss.
Allison Dubois's unique story, the inspiration for the hit NBC TV series Medium, started during her senior year at Arizona State University while she was interning at the D.A.'s office. Soon after, researchers at the University of Arizona validated her ability through a series of tests. Allison continues to support research as a medium, as a member of the Veritas Research Program Mediums Committee, and as a member of the Forever Family Foundation's Medium Advisory Board. In her short career, All
I'm a military widow, but I lost my husband to suicide, 2 weeks after returning home from Iraq. This book didn't cover military deaths BUT it did cover suicide and accidents. My best friend lost her husband to drowning, 2 days after returning home from Iraq. So long story short, this book brought ALOT of closure to our lives. It's an amazing read!
I wanted to give this book 5 stars because the main message of the story is so beautiful (and true) that it warrants praise. But, the editors of this book sadly did a horrible job, and thus I felt that many concepts within were not clear due to poor editing. Mrs. DuBois is a medium after all, not a writer.
With regards to the many concepts and ideas brought forth in this book, I loved savoring every page. As a person who has lost someone immediately close to me, I found this book to be soothing, healing and enriching. I also found hope and validation while reading this book.
Numerous people hear, feel, sense and/or see their deceased loved ones. It's a common experience, and for good reason according to Mrs. DuBois: there IS an afterlife. In feeling validated of the many instances when I've heard and felt my mother present with me, I gained hope that our relationship didn't end when she died. In fact, my mother and my relationship not only continues after her death, but it thrives.
This book validates my experiences in explaining that my mother's spirit lingers with me not because of anything negative, but rather because I am her heaven. This book explains that we, the living, are the heaven for all of our deceased loved ones. The deceased continue to love us from beyond, and thus their energies linger to ensure that the relationships continue. I think this message is simply beautiful. And, I've recommended this book because of its focus on love, optimism and hope.
I purchased this book randomly and it sat on my nightstand for months. My father passed away rather suddenly and there it say waiting for me to pick it up. This book provided me with comfort that little else could provide. It put forth scientific proof of Allison DuBois's gift and confirmed many things I had hoped about life after death. I feel she presents her case well and avoids sensationalizing her gift, but instead attempts to ease the minds of grieving survivors and ignites some hope. I would definitely recommend this to anyone grieving the loss of a loved one.
This book was very interesting. I do believe people out there in this world have a special gift. As a fan of the show Medium I gobbled this book up. Loved how she covered the part about suicides and how people who commit suicide do not go to hell, they are accepted in heaven for they were not in their right minds when they chose that certain act upon themselves. I really liked reading that. Fast read.
I get much more out of a book like this than I ever would in a church. It's normal to question what our true purpose in life really is. Why are we here? Who are we REALLY, when stripped of our occupational and other earthly identities? This book doesn't even attempt to answer this, but it brings a comfort that our individual purposes are not random and that we transition to a different dimension when we "die".
I also appreciate the author's attempt to corroborate her gift by including examples of the tests she was put through to prove her abilities - including asking random people if they could identify with the information she was presenting in effort to prove that she wasn't coming up with stories that could be applicable to anyone with a deceased love one (which was proven - her visions/information were too specific).
A comforting look at life after death from one who knows both sides intimately. If you have lost someone close to you, and you have an open mind, this book can help you see how your loved one continues to be present with you, by giving you common signs to look for and feelings to acknowledge.
Is it all real? At this point, I don't care. After losing my dad, seeing these signs, feeling his presence brings me comfort and healing. The promise of eventually being rejoined with people I've lost makes life easier to bear.
If at the end it was all a farce, somehow I don't think I'll mind...
But, what if it's not? What if when we die, we get to visit our children and grandchildren and bring them comfort during life's trials. What if we don't leave until we're ready. What if there's more to our existence than our incarnate form? What if...
I have wanted to read this book for years, and was so disappointed. It is a collection of garbled memoir rap thrown in a wordy bowl of meaningless terms. I honestly can't even read it, it is such poor writing and organization. It might as well be Dutch! What a waste of $9!!!!
Surprisingly very interesting to listen to (Book on tape) and overall very touching.
I enjoyed it and will most likely try to listen to her other stuff as well.
Apparently the tv show "Medium" is based on the life of Allison DuBois who is a real life medium who can speak to deceased souls , have premonitions, have visions of what happened and all the psychic stuff. She really helps the police in murder investigations but the show is based on her life, but of course the show is a tv show and they dramatize and create plots that are not real or that have never happened. Anyway this book is about her experiences and the experiences of the people she "reads". She also talks about her ability and the show "Medium".
Honestly i'm a skeptical believer. I know there are a lot of fakes out there trying to hustle people and overall great con artists who dupe a lot of people. But I also believe there are real people out there with abilities that don't seem to make sense and that can predict, see, feel or experience things that are real but that none of us can see or comprehend. So I was curious as to which one Allison was. Was she a great fake, or was she for real?
Anyway she's married to a rocket scientist (aerospace engineer) who is not psychic and overall a very methodical scientific thinker, and even he has come to believe that she really does have these "gifts" that can't be explained. The first time I heard her voice on the book on cd, I laughed because she has a nasally voice and sounds like a female version of Ben Stein (to me anyway). So I didn't see her as being those overly charismatic and charming people with a buttery voice that could sell you a car or make you vote for them in upcoming elections. But the other voices on the cd are more pleasant to listen to and although it is her book/cd, her clients tell their own stories through their own words and they seem very sincere. Overall her experiences seem very legit and it's really interesting to hear her view on things.
Overall i've enjoyed listening to the book. I've cried a few times listening to how people have lost loved ones and how Allison has helped them reconnect with them or help them grieve and move on. It's also cool to hear her view on life after death. She says that the spirits of the ones we loved often visit us because "We are their Heaven", and that in a way they're always with us. She says a lot about the afterlife that I won't mention here, but overall I think that it's all very comforting to hear, but also just feels right and seems on-point or true. So anyway I think that her interpretations and her discussions on life after death and spirits and such are really interesting.
Plus i'm one of those people that believes in signs, and in spirits, and in mumbo jumbo, so to speak. I think there's more out there than what we can comprehend or understand, and I think the "Stir of Echoes" movie said it best when, to paraphrase and I can't find or remember exactly what was said, but basically, "It's like we're all in the dark, and every now and then someone has a flashlight and turns it on for a few seconds and can see glimpses in the dark. Some people just have a better flashlight". So ya, I think there are some bizarre things out there that can't be explained but are worth exploring.
Anyway it's pretty cool that a real life medium helps out the police in murder and/or crime investigations, but is also the inspiration for a tv show. I like watching ghost whisperer and may try "Medium" on for size now.
Sometimes I'm inspired by the story in a fictional book and by one or more of the book's characters, or by the story of a "real" person and how that person met certain challenges in life. Sometimes I'm inspired by the beauty of language, as in a poem, or by certain skills of the author or an author's writing style. And, sometimes I'm inspired by a philosophical viewpoint in a book and by the author's ability to express it in words. But, We Are Their Heaven personally and spiritually inspired me for a different reason.
While reading this book, I felt like Allison DuBois was talking directly to me about my own heartache of losing a child. She answers many of the questions that plague those left behind when a loved one dies. Reading it assured me that my hopes to stay connected with my son were not futile.
This book isn't so much about Allison's ability to channel those who have passed as much as it is about the ability of those who have passed to find her to help them connect with their loved ones. I'm so grateful for Allison's ability to listen and channel, and for her skills to write this wonderful book. Thank you.
I'm still in the middle of the book, which means I'm reading it really, really slowly. It's a very fast read.
I take some days off from reading it, even though I LOVE it. One reason for that: I cry like a baby when I read it! I already knew there's an afterlife and that the dead can communicate to us. So as I'm reading it and getting people's stories about how their loved ones passed away and how they're still communicating with them now, I bawl! I think what Allison has put together is a GREAT thing: it's part medium coolness, but mostly a tool for healing from greif over the passing of a loved one.
This isn't superb literature, but it really is a good book.
update: I decided to just finish it last night so I didn't have to cry any more. ... This books makes you grateful to have time with your loved ones while you're alive! :) Her message is simple and powerful: Live well and you'll die well. Don't leave things unsaid. Say you're sorry in this life. Don't leave behind regrets.
Read this not for the quality of writing - but for the insights Allison brings to the table. Her advice: conduct your life as if your dearly departed are watching, because they are. They delight when you remember them and want the best for you. Hard to swallow the simplicity of her explanation that the dead communicate with us by playing their favorite song or making the lights turn on and off and also do not connect with the notion that numerology has a significant impact on our lives. However, the television show The Medium and Allison's experiences helping the living by conversing with the dead is so believable and natural and it is comforting. I would like to believe Grandma Peg, her mother and all my Irish ancestors guide me even after death. After all, I would want to help those I leave behind.
I was interested to read this book because I've seen "Medium," the TV show based on Allison DuBois's life. The book was a bit disappointing because she's definitely not a metaphysicist. She talks in straightforward, lay language about her gifts and experiences she's had with clients. There's no analysis of her gifts, or an attempt to fit them into a larger picture. That's fine - it would be like asking a great painter or musician exactly how they do their craft. Much of it is intuitive and can't be explained.
I did like her view that the dead are with us and enjoy our present-day activities. It made me want to more frequently acknowledge my relatives that have passed and celebrate their lives.
I got this book for a cousin who recently lost her husband to colon cancer, and ended up reading it before giving it to her. It is a great book and gave me added perspective as to what is happening "on the other side". One of my favorite parts is "living well is partially about perspective, and then action. If you have a moment of inspiration about how you might improve the quality of another person's life and don't act on it, then you've really done nothing with that inspiring idea. So know you're being guided, and take that next step. Not only will you be helping another, but by helping that person, you will find the true definition of who you are, one that was written long ago but is being looked at for the first time."
This is a great book about Allison DuBois, the woman who is played by Patricia Arquette on the tv show "Medium." She is a real life person who has an incredible ability to bring messages from other realms to people who have suffered a loss. She knows information only the parent or family would know and there is account after account detailing this how she went through rigorous testing with various universities arranging to have her do readings on a person and her accuracy was astounding everytime. I found this book amazing and fascinating! It talks about how those who have crossed over can reach you via electricity/energy. That must be how my grandpa who has been gone for 15+ years showed up in a photo we took of my parents! I'm definitely a believer.
This was a really cool book because I always really enjoyed the tv show Medium. It was neat to read a book by the actual Allison DuBois. I firmly believe that this woman has a gift for communicating with the dead. Her talents have been scientifically verified in many studies. The layout of this book was interesting because the subject who was read gave their interpretations of the experience and then Allison explained how the deceased came through to her and what she perceived. I was really touched by many of the stories in the book. There were chapters devoted to losing a spouse, child, and parent. For anyone who has an open mind and believes that there is life after death this is a fascinating read.
This is a great book! For those of you who watch the NBC series 'Medium', this book gives great insight of how Mrs. DuBois's gift works to a greater extent.
This is not a book for the skeptics. I admit that this is a touchy subject, but truly believe that there is life beyond what we know and to read this book is - to me - like listening to and even witnessing the situations outlined.
This book is easy to follow, entertaining, and enlightening. It is a great read for those who simply want entertainment or for readers who want a little more background on the brilliant gift of Allison DuBois.
I picked this book up at the local library. I was just starting the process of divorcing my spouse, and about to embark on returning to college to study Holistic Therapies. I knew nothing about the TV show Medium which would soon be a personal favourite!
In this book, Allison bravely opens her world, that is what it is like to see spirit as clearly as she does! She shares revelations about life beyond our 'normal', conditioned perspective. She also discusses a little bit about the television show.
I found this book eye opening and easy to read. Allison writes well and has a broad life experience to share with us.
Like her first book, this book is written in overly simple language. Her husband is an honest-to-God rocket scientist, so I truly expected her books to read more intelligently than they do. This one is actually more of a mess than the first one, since it includes paragraphs written by some of the people she read for. There is no warning or introduction when the narrative switches, so it was sort of confusing when changes happened. Nonetheless, for anyone who needs comfort about the afterlife, this book will provide it in spades.
I like Allison Dubois very much (have you ever seen "Medium?" It's based on her life). The book is very nice, but I found it to be a bit elementary. That's not a comment on writing style (which is lovely). I guess I was looking for something different, but it's very much in the same lines as John Edward's work (also very nice) and not really anything I haven't heard before.
If you're new to stories of after-life communication, it might be a great read. She's likeable, tells a good story, and is a very compassionate person.
Honestly, I read this because I like the TV series and thought it would be interesting to know more about the lady who it was based on. The stories are uplifting, but they don't come with any hard evidence that these people are real or any of what is being told is true. I guess that is what I was looking for. Maybe it just wasn't my cuppa? I don't know. It was OK. It is nice to imagine our loved ones are still around after they die. I've lost enough people to appreciate and wish to believe this idea.
This is the second book by Allison DuBois, the woman who inspired the TV show Medium.
I find her life and experiences fascinating, and this was a great read. My only criticism of the book is that her writing is poorly structured, and the chapters are not well organised. This was the same with her last book, but this is one author I will forgive without question, as she has an amazing gift.
This book will bring comfort to those who have ever wondered about the other side, or who have lost someone special to them.
I was drawn to this book because of my friend, who is a fan of the T.V. show Medium. The premise is interesting, but the book did not grab my attention. I have difficulty believing this supernatural talent of hers. If she is truly helping people of criminal and traumatic loss - well, more power to her.
While I have experienced death of loved ones, I feel like my relationship with them is personal, and I would not welcome her interpretations. Somehow, the expression from the Wicked Witch of the West seems to apply - "All in good time, dearie, all in good time".
I bawled like a babe and felt inspired throughout reading this book. Allison makes you feel like we are never truly alone and our loved ones and ancestors in the spirit world are always guiding us along in the physical world. It made me realize that we must cherish every waking moment we have and understand it is truly a gift. I will forever look at the small details in life as the moments that truly matter. Easy read and well worth the time. I highly recommend.
There were times where she seemed to ramble but still a beautiful read.
Grateful for understanding the feelings of those who have died.
There are so many insights I have experienced with this book. Oprah calls them "a ha moments. " My precious daughter died in an accident & she & I shared a belief in mediums. Without the detailed readings I have received, I would have continued in the depths of depression. Reading how Allison reasons helps me to understand how my daughter communicates with me.
I enjoyed this book but did find it very similar to her first one, Don't Kiss Them Goodbye. I suppose this is inevitable as this is what she does. The part that I was less keen on was the section where people who have had readings with Alison related their experiences, although interesting, they did come over as being a little bit like testimonials for Alison.
Started enjoying the book then sadly came across an article where it was stated that her assistance in cases was not quite truth. Checked out her Facebook page and discovered she is currently publicly having a fall out with eldest daughter. I finished the book but the enjoyment was gone. I want to believe but now unsure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Love the series "Medium," which is based on the author's life. However, she REALLY needed a "ghostwriter" (pun intended) or at least a better editor. Yowza! Most high school students could write better than this...
Iloved this book. Alison's down to earth style of writing makes it easy to read and there are so many life lessons and aha moments you can't keep track. The storyof her life interwined with her work makes you think, slow down and take in everything she has to say. Loved it!
I have actually never watched the show "Medium", but I found this to be an enjoyable book. The book is very simply written so it was a fast read. I was not very familiar with the work of mediums before reading this so I found the work of Ms. Dubois intriguing.
Quick read; sad at times; talks a bit about the first season of Medium; experienced supernatural things during this time period; comforting; talked about it with someone going through recent death of a friend.