Live Your Life
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4.6 • 145 Ratings
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Performed by the author featuring original music by Nick Cordero.
Amanda Kloots bravely reflects on love, loss, and life with her husband, Broadway star, and Tony Award nominee Nick Cordero, whose public battle with COVID-19 and tragic death made headlines around the world.
In March 2020, Broadway star and Tony Award nominee Nick Cordero was hospitalized for what he and his wife, Amanda Kloots, believed to be a severe case of pneumonia. Entering the hospital, they had every reason to believe that Nick—a young father and otherwise healthy man—would return home. After an eventual diagnosis of COVID-19 that led to Nick’s being placed on a ventilator, Amanda took to documenting their journey on social media, showing the dangers COVID-19 posed to everyone, regardless of age. Her updates quickly captivated millions, inspiring people around the globe to dance each day to Nick’s song “Live Your Life” and offer positive thoughts and prayer. When he passed away after ninety-five grueling days in the ICU, the world grieved for Amanda, her infant son, Elvis, and the future COVID-19 had snatched away from them.
Live Your Life is the story of Nick and Amanda’s life together—of their beautiful relationship, of Nick’s dramatic fight for survival, of those sudden tragic months that permanently changed her world and ours—and of their interrupted future as a family. From the confusing early days of his illness to searching for signs of hope in every update from the doctors to the healing sound of Elvis’s laughter, Amanda details how she approached even the most devastating moments with the personal optimism and faith that have shaped her life. Written with her sister Anna Kloots, who was with her every step of this journey, Live Your Life explores how Amanda’s willingness to accept help from an entire community of people—friends, family, and even total strangers—played a vital role in enduring this hardship. In the process, she offers a touching meditation on how even the worst times have silver linings that deepen our connections to the world around us and to the people who matter most.
What emerges is an inspiring and unexpectedly uplifting message for life in the time of COVID, a vision of courage for anyone coping with overwhelming loss or the collective trauma of what the pandemic has taken from us. A poignant reflection on love, hope, motherhood, and the transformational power of music, Live Your Life is a love letter to Nick and a reminder that, sometimes, celebrating life today is the only path through tomorrow’s darkness.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The COVID-19 pandemic left many of us with a lot of feelings to work through, and Amanda Kloots’ deeply moving memoir is a perfect place to start. Kloots, the wife of deceased Broadway star Nick Cordero, captured the hearts of thousands when she began documenting her husband’s battle with the coronavirus on social media (he passed away in July 2020). This audiobook gives Kloots the opportunity to reflect on her story of pandemic fear, hardship, and loss with new depth and candor. We didn’t know from her Instagram stories, for example, that the ICU personnel regularly bent the rules to allow Kloots and her co-author sister, Anna, to visit Nick. She brings us intimately into her world, recounting her and Nick’s inspiring love story from the day they first met through the birth of their son, Elvis. There’s so much visceral emotion in Kloots’ narration—she tears up more than once, and so will you. Live Your Life is more than just an exploration of grief, it’s also the celebration of life and community we need right now.
Customer Reviews
Review
I’ve been following Amanda on Instagram since Nick was in the hospital. I’ve been wanting to read this book since the moment it came out. I’m currently in quarantine after testing positive for covid (I’m a breakthrough case) & thought there’s no better time than now. This audiobook made me smile, cry, laugh, and cry some more. So much us followers didn’t know, and so much more love for the Kloots/Cordero family.
Must read
I followed Amanda and Nicks story very early on. Amanda and Anna you both are rockstars and amazing women! The book is very emotional and one I couldn’t put down. I bought the audio version which was read by Amanda and was so beautifully told.
Beautiful and Heartbreaking
Watching along with the rest of the world as this family went through this it was beautiful to hear the full story. The strength Amanda has is beyond inspirational and has completely changed how I look at living my life to the fullest!