Reviews with content warning for Death - The Last Love Note

This is a book for grievers written by a griever. Regardless of your loss, you will feel seen by this gentle, beautiful book, which handles the aftershocks of grief, loss, and moving forward so well. I cried a lot.

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

SYNOPSIS:

Kate is a widow & a single mom. Her husband, Cam, passed away, and she’s understandably struggling.
She has a great support system. Her mother, her best friend, Grace, and her boss, Hugh, are her inner circle.
She works at a university fundraising job, and she is traveling with Hugh for work. Due to some in flight issues, Hugh and Kate end up having a weekend on the east coast of Australia when the plane reroutes. With this weekend, she finally has some time to figure out what she wants in her life.

MY THOUGHTS

Full disclosure: this isn’t my usual genre, so I do think avid readers of romance genre will enjoy this more than I did.
I give the author major kudos for writing a story that is so personal to her own journey. In the acknowledgement section of the book, she mentioned she is a widow herself.
The book covers some tough topics, like being a widow, grief, and learning to love again.
The writing was okay, but overall, the story felt predictable & had a lot of cliches. I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of character development, and they felt very one-dimensional.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️decent read. not my usual genre. predictable with lots of cliches.

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beatyjulia's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Headlines:
Sad
Witty
Hopeful

I devoured The Last Love Note in 24 hours on audio thanks to some commutes and a deep desire to know what was in store for Kate, the protagonist. The book appealed to me on the blurb but once I'd dipped my toe in, I could not put this book down.

There was a hilarious start to this book with lots of excellent and witty banter-ish dialogue that set the tone for things to come in the book. Kate was endearing, relatable and loving. There was however, a sad story within, one that made me cry and choke up on a few occasions but the author gently led the reader to those difficult bits in a manageable way.

The characters beyond Kate were wonderful and compelling, especially Charlie, Cameron, Hugh and Kate's mum. It didn't take long for me to adore both Cameron and Hugh. I don't want to spoil a thing but Hugh was all the things to Kate in terms of friendship and loyalty; he wore a cape in a realistic way.

The story felt somewhat roller coaster-ish but that was its appeal; the ups and downs and then the hopes that crept in. It's a story of loving deeply but the hurt that can come with it.

This debut was fantastic. Emma Grey's writing reminded me of Katherine Center's whilst still being all her own signature. I will be following this author to look for future releases and I recommend to all my contemporary romance loving friends.

The narration was excellent and the narrator embodied Kate so well. Dialogue was good and I just slipped into this drama as it played out.

Thank you LibroFM for the review copy.

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thebookishmama's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Oh my heart. It is both shattered and swelling at the the same time. This is exactly my type of book. It’s a beautifully written story of life, real and raw, relatable and emotional. I went into this blind with only the expectation of there being a bit of a sad storyline. It’s there, oh boy is it there. And while it’s a central part to the book there is so much more as well. There is friendship, motherhood, identity, and finding yourself. And of course there is a love story, and a beautifully painful one at that. Kate and Cam have the type of love you long for and once you find you hold on tight and appreciate every single moment. Grief is a central point to this story and while I haven’t experienced what the fmc does (and hope I never have to) Grey wrote it so well that it felt personal to me and made me feel all the emotions. There is apart of this story that I really identified with, and as painful as it was to read, it also helped me to handle my own pain and grief. The ending was so beautiful. I want to say exactly why but I don’t want to take that journey away from those that haven’t read it so I’ll just say that I really appreciate what Grey did. Okay, I’m gonna cry just thinking about this book again so I’ll wrap it up here but if you enjoy emotional love stories or relatable life stories, this one may be for you!

*triggers*

-terminal illness, miscarriage, death of a loved one

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