Member Reviews

Poppy, a soon-to-be-sixteen year old girl, recently lost her mum. And whilst we never find out exactly what happened to her, we do know that she has left Poppy ten letters to remember her by - one intended to read for the next ten of Poppy's birthdays.

As such, we take a look at Poppy from 16 to 26, where each chapter represents a year of Poppy's life, and a new letter to open. I expected the letters to be heart-breaking, hard to read and big tear-jerkers (maybe I was channelling a "PS I love you" vibe!) but actually, Poppy's mum tells her about small things that happened to her in her own life, and almost gives Poppy little pieces of advice rather than making her (and you!) feel sad. She absolutely fills Poppy with a passion to enjoy life, but also not to accept something you're not entirely happy with.

This is by no means a fast-paced or action packed book. In fact, it basically showcases Poppy as a pretty ordinary person going through mundane, ordinary things. But the author does so in such a way that I think most readers could identify with an element of Poppy's life. It might be that relationship that you regretted, that job you couldn't get fulfilled by, losing a family member or watching your friends lives propel forwards as you kind of stand still. I think most people can relate to something that happens to Poppy along the way, however ordinary it might be, and that's what makes this book so gripping when really nothing major actually happens! It's very clever, very powerful and definitely made me feel better about those totally human moments that make each of us feel rubbish from time to time.

This wasn't the emotional rollercoaster I expected; it was better. It's definitely something a bit different from some of the more intense books of this nature.

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Wow! This book! I have read and loved this author's Jessica Daniel series and was looking forward to this and wow! Such a stunning book! Every word perfect and there for a reason. So beautiful. Such amazing writing. LOVED Poppy, her dad, Madeline, Mark and even Freya. I fell in love with the village in Bristol that Poppy, Mark and Freya are from. From the first work to the last, I loved everything about this book. All the characters, the village, this book, will stay with me for a long time. Five stars are not enough for this brilliant masterpiece. One of my favourite reads this year!

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