A review by lovelymisanthrope
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I selected this as one of my Book of the Month picks.
"The Last Love Note" is a devastating novel that follows Kate, a young, grieving widow who two years after the untimely death of her husband is still trying to feel like she has her life back. Due to an unfortunate flight problem, Kate and her boss, Hugh, are left stranded on the east coast of Australia, and Kate finally has the time and space to fully process her grief of everything she has lost.
This book was a lot heavier than I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a heartbreaking love story between a husband and wife, and to an extent, it was. But this book ventures to explore so many different avenues of grief, and continually broke my heart after every turn.
Kate is immeasurably strong, and her resilience is admirable, but what I enjoyed seeing more from her were the moments she fell apart. She lost her husband, in the most unexpected and heartbreaking way, and she was left to raise their very young son alone. She was left broken, and she did not recover from losing the love of her life so easily. I felt like this was so relatable, especially as someone who recently got married.
Kate has a bit of a connection and a romance with a character in the book following her husband's death, which I think the author handled with respect and care. This character was a good friend to Kate's husband in his final days, and I was rooting for him and Kate throughout most of the book.
Had I known more about this book, I probably would not have picked it up at this specific time in my life, but that is a me opinion and should not reflect negatively on the novel.
I did enjoy this novel overall, and I am curious to keep this author on my radar in the future. 

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