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A review by lara_ayrolla
The First Day Without You by Melissa Hill
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Before anything, I would like to thank Melissa Hill, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, this was a great read, very entertaining and kept me engaged, almost unable to put it down.
I kept wanting to tell someone about this story and these characters because it was too interesting to just keep it to myself.
There were a few details that I would either remove or change but they didn't stop me from enjoying the story.
Positives:
The multiple storylines to follow (Leonie's, Alex's and the letters') kept the book interesting in a multidimensional way.
The story kept me curious from the beginning to the end, since everything was slowly unraveling throughout the chapters, leaving me to want more and more.
I loved exactly how the 3 main storylines ended, with everything unfolding beautifully exactly the way I expected.
Negatives:
I don't like how Leonie blindly believes every man throughout the book, even the one who hurt her friend Alex despite Alex telling her what she felt about him.
Grace's trip to the US felt useless to the plot and not very fun to read about, a little like Grace's character itself.
Nathan's letters weren't all that special. In fact, they seemed very cliché and uninspired. I don't know why Leonie or anyone else could be so infatuated with them.
Details I hated in Leonie's ending scene that stopped it from being a very good one — these might spoil the book a little bit:
- I hated that Leonie didn't write a brand new letter inspired by the original one but instead copied it fully;
- The use of the same words to describe what had happened between them (upended my/his world) by her and the male love interest broke the immersion of it being two different people speaking;
- Despite what he said about their fight, Leonie hadn't just insinuated what she thought. She said it straight up, even if it was after his angry reaction.
Overall, this was a great read, very entertaining and kept me engaged, almost unable to put it down.
I kept wanting to tell someone about this story and these characters because it was too interesting to just keep it to myself.
There were a few details that I would either remove or change but they didn't stop me from enjoying the story.
Positives:
The multiple storylines to follow (Leonie's, Alex's and the letters') kept the book interesting in a multidimensional way.
The story kept me curious from the beginning to the end, since everything was slowly unraveling throughout the chapters, leaving me to want more and more.
I loved exactly how the 3 main storylines ended, with everything unfolding beautifully exactly the way I expected.
Negatives:
I don't like how Leonie blindly believes every man throughout the book, even the one who hurt her friend Alex despite Alex telling her what she felt about him.
Grace's trip to the US felt useless to the plot and not very fun to read about, a little like Grace's character itself.
Nathan's letters weren't all that special. In fact, they seemed very cliché and uninspired. I don't know why Leonie or anyone else could be so infatuated with them.
Details I hated in Leonie's ending scene that stopped it from being a very good one — these might spoil the book a little bit:
- I hated that Leonie didn't write a brand new letter inspired by the original one but instead copied it fully;
- The use of the same words to describe what had happened between them (upended my/his world) by her and the male love interest broke the immersion of it being two different people speaking;
- Despite what he said about their fight, Leonie hadn't just insinuated what she thought. She said it straight up, even if it was after his angry reaction.