Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Last Love Note

I can see why so many people have liked and resonated with this book. I kind of expected it to be a little more cheerful (based on the cover), but it was 90% about grief. I love that the author is sharing her experience of her own husband’s death and imagining a bright future for someone else going through the same thing. This is the story of that process - going back to the diagnosis, through the difficulty and then the airplane trip (a small percentage of the book that is weaved throughout the book but mainly toward the end).

Thank you to libro.fm for the audio copy (for librarians). The audio was fantastic. I loved the Australian narration and the way the phone calls were done!

There were many beautiful lines about grief. Some of my favorites:

“You’re fragile.
Fragile? Doesn’t he mean “strong”? Everyone else tells me I’m strong! I don’t know how you do it! You’re amazing! I could never be as strong as you! It’s an exhausting reputation to uphold.” Track 22

“It’s a lot like grief, standing here (in cold water of the ocean). You’re dragged from the shallows to the depths, where it’s dark and heavy and you can’t see or hear or breathe.” Track 23

“The bigger risk is not taking the risk.” Track 27

“Hough is the lighthouse, never the storm.” Track 28

“The emptiness of that blank page that was so confronting two years ago is starting to feel like this delicious invitation to write the next part of my story.” Track 29

“Grief is absorbed into its [NYC] story and it’s extraordinary.” Track 43

“…even in loss, there is much more to life.” Track 44

Content Warnings

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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