This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I’m not a romantic person, romance novels are not my thing. But for some strange reason I loved this book and could not stop reading it. The only bit I didn’t like was the letter to her son at the end, it just isn’t ring true.

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

I had seen a lot about this book on social media and although I wasn't sure if it was my thing, I wanted to read it for myself.

It is a very emotional book and I found myself stepping away from it some of the time. It is one of those books that stays with you long after you have turned the final page..

I love it when a book really pulls you in and you feel everything the character is feeling. I felt so involved in Lucy's life.

Lucy meets Gabe when she's in college in New York on the 11th September 2001. The day that changed the world in so many ways.

They have a powerful relationship and share each other's passions. Gabe decides to follow his dream and become a photographer in the Middle East. He leaves Lucy heartbroken.

Lucy struggles to move on but after some time meets Darren and her whole world changes but she still can't stop thinking about Gabe.

Their paths meet again but for how long.

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo was touted as the next One Day or Me Before You which over the past ten years have been two of my favourite books. Without meaning to start as a Debbie Downer, The Light We Lost didn’t quite hit that spot for me. I can understand why the comparisons were made but it just didn’t tug on my emotional heartstrings as much as the others.

It is not to say that it isn’t a good story. It really is. You do feel the frustration as you beg for Gabe and Lucy just to get their lives together and stop messing around but they just can’t seem to do it.

Then you get yourself all twisted up in the argument over passionate love versus sensible love. It is an argument that has plenty of positives and negatives for each side. Overall though you do feel that Lucy is her own worst enemy and that she never fully allows herself to move forward.

The Light We Lost is a really good read and one that you can finish in one sitting.

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo is available now

For more information regarding Jill Santopolo (@JillSantopolo) please visit www.jillsantopolo.com.

For more information regarding HQ (@HQstories) please visit www.harpercollins.co.uk.

What book!!!
Lucy and Gabe meet and love at the shadow of tragedy. I was irritated by Lucy all the way (but the writer made me understand her).
I didn't like how she was living in the past comparing the two men all the time,I wanted to say to her " just enjoy your life ",but I believe if book makes you feel anything then that's good one.

I hated the comparing between the guy that left you and the one that stuck by you. I understand that you can't chose who to love but you need to be more realistic, but the writer help me to understand that human natural is more complicating .
I am team Dareen all the way, gentle and loving man.

The blurb compared this book to Me Before You so I was really looking forward to reading it as I thoroughly enjoyed that book. I fail to see the comparison myself. I didn't have any compassion for the characters and the dialogue was annoying.

Although I found that was drawn to this book over and over I cannot say I truly enjoyed it . A story of everlasting love but at the cost of your partner ?
The book , however , was well written and I would definitely read from this author again . My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this 3.5 stars

Described as One Day meets Me Before you but personally I think this is better!!
Much a beautiful writer style with charismatic characters that you actually care about.
Wonderful storytelling that makes me want to read more Jill Santopolo.

The cover of The Light We Lost caught my eye first, and then when I read the synopsis I knew I had to get hold of this book. I was so happy when NetGalley approved me to read it.

The Light We Lost begins with two people, Lucy and Gabe, who meet on 11th September 2001 in New York. They experience that day together just a few miles away from where the twin towers fell, and the instant attraction they had to one another was heightened by being so close to such an horrific event. The book is then told from the viewpoint of Lucy, in short chapters as she looks over her relationship with Gabe, and all the things that have happened in their lives since that day.

‘The air was clear, the sky was blue – and everything had changed. We just didn’t know it yet’.

There is a real sense running through this book of fate and destiny. Lucy and Gabe do get together after a false start and everything in their relationship is passionate, every emotion is heightened and they fall so hard for each other. There was a sense of everything being on fast forward and it made me wonder about the nature of how we meet our partners. The idea that meeting on such a tragic and distressing day could give a real sense of needing to live in the now, of not being able to wait and see. Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11 so clearly, it’s seared into all of our memories so it’s entirely possible to see the affect it would have on two young people who met on that day, who saw it from their rooftop.

‘There is an element of peace in believing that we’re only players on a stage, acting out stories directed by someone else.’

There was such a sense of yearning running through this book and from very early on it gave me the feeling that something awful was going to happen. The way it is told, with Lucy going back and forth in time in the way she tells her story, gives the feeling that something has already happened and we, the reader, just don’t know what it is yet. This book made me feel so many emotions – it made me feel hopeful and happy, it reminded me of that awful day in 2001, it made me cry, and it made me want to reach out through the pages to give Lucy and Gabe some advice, to make them see what is important in life.

There is so much love between Gabe and Lucy but it’s often so raw, and intense it’s still complicated and messy and not always how they want it to be. The novel explores how we have different relationships with different partners over the years, and there is a real sense of how it must be if you feel that you met the right person for you at the wrong time in your life.

This book is beautifully written, and it’s gorgeous to read. It’s one of those books that you want to read slowly and savour but at the same time you don’t want to be pulled out of this world. I felt such a connection to this novel, and I feel really quite bereft now I’ve finished reading it. I think this is a story that will stay with me, and this is one of those rare books that I’m sure I will re-read in the future.

The Light We Lost is out now!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'd read so many amazing things about this book, with praise for its beauty and intense emotional impact. It sounded very much like my perfect type of read, but there's always that concern when you've built up your expectations that reality won't quite live up to it. So, to make it clear right away. This book completely lived up to my expectations and I absolutely adored every single word.

The beauty is in its simplicity really, the story of falling in love and developing a connection to last a life time. It happens all the time, every day the world over, unremarkable to others while being sweepingly huge and all consuming to individuals. What's special about this book is how Jill Santopolo sweeps the reader along with Lucy and Gabe's romance, intimately inviting them to share the intensity of it all. The book is narrated by Lucy, speaking in an almost confessional style to Gabe, so that all the emotion, excitement, disappointments and dreams are first hand as she spills her heart, leaving nothing unsaid.

The book spans over a decade, as the couple's lives take them in different directions yet remain connected. Lucy and Gabe meet on September 11th 2001, as terror and tragedy unfold around them, and while the book isn't really about the attacks themselves, I thought the author conveyed the rawness of emotions and intensity of connections made in the face of such tragedy, and how the experience influences their future choices and direction, convincingly and honestly.

Jill Santopolo's writing is beautiful. It just flows. Reading The Light We Lost is effortless, despite the emotional journey of highs and lows. Her portrayal of relationships is exquisite, depicting strengths and flaws, generosity and selfishness, happiness and heartache. As Lucy tells her side of this story of enduring love, there's a feeling we're heading to an inevitable, without knowing what it is. When it came though, it rocked me - leaving me to pick up my broken heart and put it back together again. The Light We Lost is simply stunning, every word of that early praise I'd read is true, Romantic and emotionally intense and written with the most beautifully effortless prose, I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

A very striking opening to a story when set with the Twin Towers collapsing while two people seal a long and eventful relationship. I read this during a business trip and was in NYC and visited the 9/11 Memorial which made reading this book even more poignant. A love story that should be but is not happy ever after. Two people with different goals and geography however, always hold a place in their heart for each other. Written as a letter to Gabe it takes you through the relationship over the years with the mystery of where is Gabe? Frustrating at times as Lucy gains a wonderful New York man and life but never quite embraces it because of Gabe. However, a great read and loved this book.

The Light We Lost would not be my usual choice of reading but I thought the premise was good and I was in the mood for a love story. This is a must read for fans of One Day and Me Before You, as the publicity already states. In my view, it is better than both of those books, even with a few cliches popping up here and there.

Lucy and Gabe meet at university and fall in love, as many young people do. But Gabe needs to follow his heart which is photojournalism and they split up. So far so normal for many relationships. Throughout the years that follow they remain in touch and occasionally their paths cross even after Lucy falls in love and marries Darren, with whom she has two children. Gabe's life is spent travelling between war zones but the love of his life remains Lucy and she is torn between her love of both, very different, men.

It is unusual that a book makes me cry, old cynic that I am, but although the ending of The Light We Lost wasn't entirely unexpected to me, it still moved me immensely. A box of tissues should be given away with each copy. It's a book I wish I could have written myself and I am sure it will be a huge success.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin/Random House for the opportunity to read and review The Light We lost.

If you were a heart wrenching story then this is the novel for you.
Meet Lucy and Gabriel, both at University in New York.
They meet on that fateful day, September 11th 2001, when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers. As they watch the dust rise from Ground Zero, there lives become forever intertwined in a love that will never die.
Their initial relationship falls apart when Gabe leaves for foreign shores to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer.
Lucy slowly rebuilds her life, Gabe ever present in her mind. When fate intervenes Lucy must make a choice, a choice that could alter the rest of her life.
Narrated by Lucy as if she is talking to Gabe, we get the sense that something has happened but we are not sure what. I thought this was a great device used by the author to entice the reader, make them guess and keep them reading.
The whole novel was a little like being on a roller coaster, one minute the emotions high and happy the next plunged low into the dark depths of unhappiness.
The characters tugged at your heart strings, and you could not help but get emotionally involved with Lucy and Gabe., such is the quality of the writing.
I will admit to shedding a few tears, so be prepared and have those tissues ready. because this is one novel that will stay with you long after you read the last page.
Thank you to HQ Stories and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Light We Lost – it’s a real change from the many thrillers and crime novels I often read (but not exclusively), focusing on the relationship – and lack thereof - of Lucy and Gabe, the main characters. It’s important to note, though, that other characters play a key part in the novel too, without giving anything away.

The fact that the novel is described as “Me Before You meets One Day”, which are two novels I absolutely love, means I knew I had to read this!

At the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it; there were parts which felt a bit over the top, but you soon come to realise that this is just Lucy and Gabe’s relationship. They are hugely passionate and they love each other so much that every feeling, every sticking point, is amplified. For this reason – and various others that you’ll see as you read The Light We Lost – I struggled to really gel with the characters. As I continued reading, though, I saw that actually there are reasons for some characters behaving the way they do - and I always enjoy stories that don’t paint one person as perfect. When Lucy is considering various people she can imagine ending up with, she admits that there may not be one person who’d be perfect in every way – because people aren’t perfect! I liked that Lucy was self-aware of the fact that she perhaps expected too much at times.

The story itself absorbed me more and more as it went on. I absolutely loved the way it mapped history from 2001 onwards, with key events that I remember taking place, some like it was only yesterday even though I was quite young, for example, when the Twin Towers went down. It felt very poignant and emotional to read about these events and, with many, remember them, as you see how Lucy, Gabe, and other people experienced it and what they meant to their lives. These events alter the course of history but also Lucy and Gabe’s, and every ‘what if’ that both characters think about is like a pierce through the heart because if one thing or the other hadn’t happen, everything could have been different.

I really enjoyed this novel, and anyone who loves an emotional read is likely to as well. There are parts which are a little cheesy, but hey – this IS, after all, romantic fiction, and I raced through it to the end, where it stayed with me for quite a while after I’d finished it!

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
I really liked the way this book was written, as a sort of diary of memories. The relationship between Gabe and Lucy was intense and full of emotion. However Gabe was selfish and quite self absorbed in his own future, which made me question how much he truly loved her. I also really empathised with Darren who seemed to be second best, without knowing it.
A book that left me thinking "what if"..... and how one's actions at any stage could change the direction of your life.
3.5 stars

Thank you to the publishers Harlequin UK and net galley for the arc of this book in return for an honest review.

Jill Santopolo perfectly captures the intensity of first love and the nostalgic hold it has over us. Lucy and Gabe's love is made more intense because of tragic world events happening in their city and the after effects this has on both of them. The book is an exploration of fate and choice and acceptance and whether perfect love really exists as it tracks Lucy's life over the 13 years since the pair met

Through Lucy's eyes we see how she is loved by both Gabe and later Darren. Her physical relationship with Gabe burned bright and quickly, and because there is no definite ending, continues to have a powerful hold on them both. There is the constant allure of the "what if" in her relationship with Gabe.
Her relationship with Darren is more mature, but Lucy continuously compares him to Gabe, Through her eyes he seems more controlling (even though it is Gabe who compares her to his Pegasus) and less accepting of her own needs.

The book is beautifully written and full of emotion (that ending!). The literary quotes used are beautiful, and I'm going to go and invest in a book of e.e. cumming's poetry now.

Thanks Netgalley. What a wonderfully sad and beautiful story. I absolutely hated and loved the ending

Was really looking forward to this and thanks to netgalley I got to read it just now. However it was very disappointing. I thought it was going to a modern day epic, but no. The main characters were annoying and the time line flitted far too quickly along. Could have been brilliant but was unoriginal and uninspiring.