• Veronika Decides to Die

  • By: Paulo Coelho
  • Narrated by: Fran Tunno
  • Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (549 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Veronika Decides to Die  By  cover art

Veronika Decides to Die

By: Paulo Coelho
Narrated by: Fran Tunno
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.79

Buy for $19.79

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills, expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that she has only days to live.

Inspired by events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers normal. Bold and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.

©1998 Paulo Coelho (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

More from the same

What listeners say about Veronika Decides to Die

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    295
  • 4 Stars
    122
  • 3 Stars
    94
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    235
  • 4 Stars
    129
  • 3 Stars
    49
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    11
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    255
  • 4 Stars
    92
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    17

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Different

Well, that certainly was original take on ideas of love, death, sanity and finding meaningful purpose in life.

It started off intriguing, became quite thought-provoking, veered into bizarre, detoured into WTF!, then back to interesting again.

I liked it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love it

This girl thinks like me
I can hear myself agreeing with every word she said since the start
And the ending is amazing
Brilliant doctor
Every character in this book is amazing
But in real life i thing edwardos are rare
I wish to find someone like him in life
And the ideas and statements in this book are just what i needed to hear in my life
Saving life by intelligence is our only salvation
I am in love with this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Can't stand this narrator

What did you like best about Veronika Decides to Die? What did you like least?

So far, I don't think this is the best Coelho I've read yet. The text gets repetitive and jumps from one point to another. Frankly though, this animosity is largely because of the narrator of this book. I should've stuck with reading it instead of listening. What a disservice to Paulo Coelho. I like the existential questions though and am curious to see how it unfolds.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Fran Tunno?

This narrator sounds like a robot. You know those corporate videos that you have to watch at orientation before you start a new job? That's how the narration and the dialogue sound like here, it has that sing-song lilt that's supposed to keep new hires from falling asleep on their first day. It doesn't work here. Not with Paulo Coelho! Goodness. I am returning this audiobook and just reading the text from the book. I think American female narrators in general need to listen to English narrators, they seem to know what they're doing. I would rather listen to Juliet Stevenson or Susanah Harker.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Very hard to get through

I usually love Paulo's books (The Alchemist is my all time favorite!), but this was hard to get through.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Who is crazy?

This book explores sanity as a construct and as a choice. The characters were a little distant to me. The narrator was pleasant, but not really engaging. Good but not great imho.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Recommend overall

Interesting social commentary on finding meaning in the seemingly mundane. The ideas don't seem extremely profound, but they definitely resonate with me and I'm glad to have heard it.
I enjoyed the narration. She acted out the characters and flowed in and out of the dialogue well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing,life lesson

was the best one I have reading. I feel myself like a hard person,but this book makes me enjoy and cry,as if I was in it. really loved it and wish lots of people can experience those feelings.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Something's missing.

I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's in Veronica's treatment. Maybe it's in the why and how her attitude changes. Perhaps it's the lack of connection Veronica has with others, or that it was just a bit too sparsely written.

It's not bad. It's just not quite as good as it could have been. The ending becomes obvious about 3/4 of the way in, but it's not a bad way to end. It just doesn't feel cathartic or as satisfying as it should.

Or maybe it's just me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not worth it.

I got this book on sale originally. I saw a lot of good reviews on it and decided to give it a try based on that and thinking I liked the sound of the woman’s voice doing the audio for this book. The story is dragging. Nothing interesting enough to take away from this book. I feel asleep several times listening to it. Just don’t do it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • rb
  • 03-30-23

No plot twist

The character development was so bad that I was hoping to find out that Veronika had split personalities.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!