The classic marriage pact between platonic friends gets a modern makeover in this delightful story. The characters are relatable and warm and the writing is emotional and well-paced. I really enjoyed this one!

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

Kate and Paul are childhood friends who make a pact to marry each other if they are still single when they are 30. A pact I am sure so many people have made with their friends as they grew up.

Their story is told through different eras, and moved fluidly between them all without confusion or losing the point of the movement. Kate we learn comes from a financially wealthy family but has the atypical absentee parents, whereas Paul has loving parents but their dysfunctional marriage impacts on him.

Now, on the eve of their 10th wedding anniversary, troubles begin to unravel and there is a big secret that as a reader we are being made to be part of without knowing what it is and as we go backwards and forwards with Kate and Paul, it’s not easy to choose a side or know what outcome would be best.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Holly Seddon is a nice gentle read, reasonably predictable and not too challenging.
Kate and Paul have been friends since they were small children. Between them they have made a pact; that if neither was in a serious relationship by the time they were 30, then they would marry each other.
As the two friends approach their 30th birthday, having experienced a few broken relationships along the way, Kate and Paul are ready to fulfil their pact.
Finally, 10 years down the line, readers must decide whether they did the right thing or not!
I did enjoy this book and give it 3 stars.

I loved ‘Don’t Close your Eyes’ by this author (review here) and I also love ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division so I had to read this!
This is a very different novel to ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’ in terms of story and ‘feel’, but the characterisation, attention to detail, storytelling skill and ability to capture a mood, a scene, a nuance of character are all there.
Childhood friends Kate and Paul (two children from very different backgrounds) make a pact that they’ll marry each other when they’re thirty if they’re still single – and they do, the story moving back and forth between their tenth wedding anniversary and their childhood and teenage years.
They grow up in the eighties and I was transported back to my own teenage years by the references to music and TV and clothes shops. The detail is spot on and very well done.
The chapters focussing on the past were the highlight of the novel – and I thought these were very much stronger than the chapters dealing with their marriage. It felt as though the author really enjoyed writing the earlier years too, more so than the later years.
And I did feel as though the ending was a little flat.
That said, this is a really enjoyable book, and the author is a great writer. I didn’t enjoy this as much as ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’ but I’ll certainly read more by Holly Seddon.

This beautiful story about childhood friends who grow up, marry and have a family, whilst keeping emotionally resonant secrets from each other was a wonderful read

I have really enjoyed Holly’s previous books and was looking forward to this one. I realised recently I hadn’t reviewed it. The reason for that? I was, sadly, disappointed with it...
I liked the concept, a promise of friends, Kate and Paul, to marry if both are still to marry if they are both still single at the age of 30. I also really like the format of the book going back and forth in time from the main characters teenage years up to their current day, ten years post marriage. But, the book as a whole was just a bit flat.
Sorry, certainly not what I have come to love about Holly’s books.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feeling about this one. I enjoyed the writing style and the storyline set in the childhood / teenage years of Paul and Kate, their friendship as well as the relationship the author managed to portray between Kate and her parents and Kate and Paul’s family. However, I found myself losing interest in the present day part of the story and I felt that at times this dragged and the big built up throughout the book didn’t quite match the end revelation.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

So happy to be given a whole budget to replenish our senior shelves in the school library. The books in there are far from appealing at the moment and I have been delighted to find books here that will intrigue, captivate and engross my senior students.

This is a fantastic read with characters they will be able to connect with, a great premise and an ending that will provide plenty to talk about.

It's great to read a book that does not feel formulaic and gives some credit to their reader's intelligence too. Young people are very fussy about the books they choose to read and in this time-precious day and age it really has to be something above and beyond the ordinary to get them to put down their devices and get their noses stuck in a book.

I think this is one book that will capture their imagination and keep them turning the pages until the end. This is definitely going onto my 'must-buy' list and I really look forward to seeing what the young people themselves think of this thought-provoking and engaging modern novel.

This was an everyday story of a couple who are friends from childhood and eventually marry when they are 30 years old. The story progressed with the usual ups and downs, happiness and sadness but with an undercurrent. The conclusion was a masterpiece, making sense of everything and ending on a high note.

A good beach holiday read. It was enjoyable but not mind blowingly memorable. I read it yesterday and am struggling a little bit to recall stand out moments. It shows promise but lacked real depth. Sorry

Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Not usually a fan of romances but this was sweet and interesting and kept me reading and routing for the couple in question.

The premise of this book sounded great and greatly appealed to me. 2 old friends agree that if they're not married by the time they are aged 30 they will marry each other. Unfortunately, however, this book fell a little short and I was just a bit disappointed with the story. It just didn't hold my attention and grip me like the author's previous book 'Don't Close Your Eyes'. 3.5* from me. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

What an excellent book such a lovely easy read that just keeps you turning the pages

I was thrilled to get this for review and devoured it in two sittings

Follow the romance between Kate and Paul which starts in their teenage years and continues

But are they as happy as they seem?

Keep reading for a final explosive couple of chapters

Highly recommended

Paul and Kate first meet at primary school and become firm friends due mainly to the fact that their schoolmates seem to find them a bit odd. They make a vow to marry each other if no one else has come along by the time they reach 30. This was a very easy to read story which flicked there and back in time but it was a bit slow, so would have benefited from being shorter to give it a bit more of a punch. Interesting idea though and some good descriptions of places and the dog eat dog world of some workplaces.

Kate and Paul have been friends since they were children, seeing the best and worst of each other but ultimately always been there for the other. As teenagers, they vow if they are both single at thirty they will marry. When thirty rolls around, sure enough, they're both lacking in a partner and get married. The story is told in a series of flashbacks by Kate during the days leading up to their tenth anniversary, knowing she has to confront Paul with a secret he's been keeping from her.

Holly Seddon books usually make me think instantly of psychological thrillers so this was a surprising change in pace. It's quite hard to categorise it as it's sort of a romance without much romance, with a bit of coming of age thrown in. Whatever it is or isn't it is most definitely very good! Kate is an easy character to relate to and despite her sometimes foolish choices also easy to like. If I had one criticism it would be the reveal at the end. After a lot of hand-wringing by Kate throughout the book, you imagine it to be something huge but when it is revealed it is a bit of an anticlimax. But nevertheless, it still ends up being an extremely enjoyable read that was nigh on impossible to put down.

Kate has something she is going to tell her husband Paul on their 10th wedding anniversary, it is breaking her up knowing what she is going to tell him. This is how Love will tear us apart starts and to start with I thought there was something sinister that was going to happen. However reading this book there were no sinister endings, the secret was a burden to Kate that she needed to unload.

Both Kate and Paul were childhood friends and they made a pact on stormy night in their teenage years that they would marry each other if they were not married by the time they were 30. They do marry each other and Paul saves Kate from her self-destructive ways as a consequence, however is Kate truly happy?

I quite enjoyed this novel from Holly Seddon even though I was lead to believe that there may be something terrible underfoot from the beginning which didn’t pan out the way I thought it might. This novel is about trusting each other and being able to communicate and be honest with each other you might drift apart and be unable to save yourselves.

Beautiful and nostalgic, I was hooked on Holly Seddon's book from the first page. I found myself immersed in the story and characters and was genuinely sad when the book ended. Would highly recommend.