Publication Date: 24th Jan 2025
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
3 Stars
One Liner: heartwarming, but didn’t like the ending
Emmie Brown knew her mum, Nellie Brown, adopted her as a baby and gave her the best life she could. Now, two years after Nellie’s death, Emmie is begging to feel the burnout of the routine she still follows. Running Parsley Pasties at the airport with the same menu and no inclination for a social life starts to weigh her down.
An impulsive decision reveals a box in her mother’s wardrobe and a stack of letters from someone named G from Siskin. Emmie does the unexpected and travels to the Isle of Siskin, a beautiful island with around three thousand population. Pip Hawkins, the handsome agriculture student, and her crush may also be a reason for this trip, but Emmie wants to find out who G is.
Can this trip help Emmie find her true self as well as some answers?
The story comes in Emmie’s first-person POV.
My Thoughts:
This is my first book by the author. I quite enjoyed most of it, especially the descriptions of the island and Emmie’s growth up to a point.
Though there’s some crushing and romance, this is not a love story. It is women’s fiction focusing on the MC making changes to her routine and learning to be herself.
Despite the rigidity and routine, there’s no denying that Emmie’s mum loved her. It’s evident throughout the book (and there’s a valid reason for why she became this way).
The way the letters were incorporated into the narration is beautiful and just right. The letters are spaced apart and provide character backstories and support the plot.
Some of the side characters are cool. I just love the kids and their diverse personalities. We also see how not everyone being nice to someone is a good person and vice-versa.
There’s a sort of mystery where the FMC is targeted by someone with a grudge. This blows up quite a bit, and therein lies my problem.
The last 20% covers months of progress, while the first 80% deals with a couple of weeks. This doesn’t really help, but okay. I can see why it was necessary.
However, the last chapter doesn’t sit right with me. It’s like all of Emmie’s growth has been overshadowed by a side character. Where is consent? What about setting boundaries? What about letting someone make up their mind even if it took them a few months? Ridiculous!
This might have still worked if the drama wasn’t exaggerated in the middle. Acting like nothing’s happened after that level of unhingedness is insanity. How would she even feel safe with them? How to trust someone like that?
The rating was close to 4 stars, but the way we reached the conclusion, I cannot rate it more than 3. I’m surprised no one (until now) found it odd. I love HEA more than anything else, but not like this. It needs to be better. And there’s no epilogue either, so we don’t know how they handled it afterward.
To summarize, Have I Told You Lately has a lovely premise and some good themes to think about, but it left me dissatisfied with how the issue was handled at the end.
Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for eARC.
#NetGalley #HaveIToldYouLately
No comments:
Post a Comment