Natalie Winters writes really beautifully and The Moments is the story of Matthew and Myrtle- two halves of a whole but they don’t know it yet.

The story starts off at their birth and charts key moments throughout their lives, it was very easy to become invested in Matthew and Myrtle from this perspective as the chapters were short and snappy and switched between them. However a lot of these moments were negative and especially when they are adults it was difficult to keep track of the timeline.

The supporting characters (there were a lot!) not so easy as we don’t get to know them, to enjoy them and by the end you were starting to tick off who was left.

Overall the story was bittersweet and overall I was disappointed with when the ending arrived. I was waiting a very long time to get there thinking this is it, this is the moment only for time to move on again. I was expecting more of a “Sliding Doors” experience but the main theme to take away from this is that all our lives are formed by moments and it is what we do with them as life doesn’t go the way we expect it to.

DNFd at 25% - I was provided an ARC copy by Netgalley. It does not influence my opinion.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. At 25% of the book there just this much of awful life I can take. It's depressing. I don't read books to get depressed... Life is enough for that. Also why all the violence against animals? Do you really need to be so graphic with the fox, the pig, the cows?! C'mon. Totally DNF. No thank you.

Not a bad read, very easy to follow and liked the fact it was told from two different points of view in different time frames. Found parts quite drawn out but apart from that an overall enjoyable read

What a lovely and uplifting novel. I really liked the characters and thought it was well written.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This is the story of Matthew and Myrtle's life where they both feel they don't fit in and wonder if there is someone who also feels like this who they can feel complete with. This book was interesting and enjoyable. It was however a little long winded and I found the timeline a little off. I liked reading about their lives.

The moments in Matthew and Mrytle’s life that lead up to the moment they met. I really wasn’t sure about this book for the majority of it and it wasn’t until part 5 that I finally enjoyed it. There is no question that the author is passionate about M&M’s story. It felt like they threw every idea at it but only scratched the surface. Characters were suddenly born or married or died and those moments felt like they came out of nowhere especially for significant characters throughout most of the book. The time jumps lost me several times as well. I’d almost want this in a different format or in a trilogy - the Ms with separate books and a third book of them together. The story felt like it should be a saga and I would have happily read a much longer book with every moment dug a bit deeper. However I do appreciate that this would have taken away from the whole point of “moments” which is clear in the title.

This is an amazing book.
This is a deeply moving book as two people live their life’s through the pages
Life affirming and well written. The ending was amazing but I read it through the tears
A must read book

The concept of the book - missed moments, glanced encounters - is what first drew me to it, but unfortunately it didn't work for me

The short chapters, changed perspectives, and massive time jumps was jarring to me and didn't let me get into the story

This isn't a bad story by any means, it just didn't work for me

The story of Matthew and Myrtle. A series of moments when they almost meet but don't. Will they eventually meet or does fate ahve other things in store for them?

The Moments by Natalie Winter is a captivating, powerful and poignant read that pulls you in right from the minute Matthew and Myrtle make their way into the world. Both born on the same day we grow with both characters as each chapter alternates between them both as we follow them through their life, watching their struggles through grief, romance, friendships and every eventuality that they both face.


Every step of the way I was hoping their paths would cross but the author keeps us on edge waiting to see if the moment is ever going to come as with each challenging situation in their lives they would have been the perfect support for one another.


It is a beautiful story that has so much depth and emotion, because we follow Matthew and Myrtle through their whole lives we form such a strong bond with the characters we are desperate for them both to find happiness and comfort after all they have been through. There was a number of points in this book that really pulled at my heart strings and this made me connect so much more with both Matthew and Myrtle, they were both so strong even if they didn’t realise their own strength they never moaned they just ploughed on through.


The ending of this book is so touching and tied this emotive storyline up perfectly. I was so mesmerised by these characters and the struggles and battles they faced that I couldn’t leave them for a moment so I ended up reading this storyline in one swoop. The authors writing style is so effortless and smooth leaving no points in the book for your attention to waiver she had my attention captured the whole time with this believable storyline.


This is a definite recommendation from me and I am pleased to have found a new author whose future releases I look forward to reading in the future.

What a wonderful life affirming read, moving through the lives of the characters was so wonderful and I haven’t read a book like this in a long time. Such a unique book and way of feeling the story, I absolutely loved it. You will fall in love with the characters and even their pets, pick this book up, you will not regret it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Huge thanks to Alainna Hadjigeorgiou for the blogtour invite, this is a really, really special book.‘The Moments’ by Natalie Winter is published in hardback,audiobook,and ebook formats by Orion and available where all good books are sold.

This is an absolute gem of a book, it is like a snowglobe that the author shakes every other chapter,and as the snow settles, it exposes another moment in the life of either Matthew or Myrtle. Beginning with their births, you follow each of them as they navigate childhood, puberty and adulthood, seeing through their eyes the moments that create them even as you look inside yourself at the moments which made you. Are you defined by these chance points in time,or are they opportunities to take your life down a different path? Are they steps along the path of our lives or is there a set plan in place where deviations from the norm are seen as a waste? For example, the decisin to have children(or not),going to university and then deciding not to do the thing that you went there to learn how to do-necessary turning points or life lessons?

All I know is that this a deeply moving and affecting story as two people live their lives in these pages, they live and breathe and love and lose, recognising these moments and making the most of them. As they grow older, loss inevitably intervenes and how they deal with it is beautifully conveyed. They nearly meet but it wasn’t the right time for them, and when they do, it is everything.

Lifeaffirming, well written and heartwarming with a ending I struggled to read because something was in my eye, blurring the words,this is so worth the time reading. Please read it, it will make your heart happy!

The Moments was an emotional, powerful and compelling story that will stay with me for a long time.

The story follows two families from the birth of their child through all the ups and downs life can throw at you. I think it’s fair to say that these families have their fair share of bad luck and it was quite heartbreaking at times to read about all that they go through. This was especially true when you realise all they have gone through by the time they reach their teenage years, as this is always an awkward and difficult time so I felt that the events had more of an impact on me.

The story is written in such a way that the reader feels like they are experiencing everything as the characters so feels everything they are feeling more acutely, like it’s happening to them. This along with the different writing style made me feel very involved in the story and my heart broke for Matthew and Myrtle as they grow up. I kept wishing I could reach into the book and give them both a huge hug.

I found this story to be a very absorbing, compelling one that I found hard to put down at times as I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters. Matthew and Myrtle’s story is told in alternative chapters which often finish on a dramatic moment meaning I was desperate to get back to their thread, only for the other story to also end dramatically so I had to keep reading! I loved watching the two characters grow and develop throughout the book with both feeling like old friends towards the end so I was sad to leave them. I will be recommending this book to everyone! If you loved Kristin Hannah’s, The Night Road, then I think you’ll like this one as I felt the styles were similar.

Huge thanks to Alianna from Orion for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

I have been racking my brain all day, trying to put my thoughts of this book into some sort of order. I don’t think I have managed it, but I’m giving it my best shot!

Have you ever wondered how your life would pan out, what animals you would get, who you would fall in love with? Of course you have, we are only human and the beauty of this book is that it puts characters loves and losses into the spotlight in a way which really makes the reader stop and think.

‘The Moments’ switches between various characters of various ages, however it starts off with two new lives being brought into the world. Two happy families, two new babies, two worlds being their oysters. Matthew and Myrtle are the ‘main’ characters of the story and we get to watch them grow up and find their feet. Obviously life is uncertain, and the two characters aren’t always surrounded by positive energy and happiness. In fact, a lot of what Matthew and Myrtle endure, and their loved ones endure, is relatable and incredibly emotion.

As a child you’re constantly wanting to grow up, whilst disbelieving the adult who tells you, ‘don’t waste your life away, life is too short’. But it really is short, even more so when someones life is crammed into 400 or so pages.

If you’re an animal lover, you will fall in love with the dogs that feature in this book. Yes, even the animals reach their end in the book and as bad as this sounds, I was more emotional about the demise of say, Worzel, than the demise of several of the characters. Please say I’m not the only one who gets like this?!

‘The Moments’ is such a unique story. I have never read a book told in a similar manner and yeah, it was a teeny bit confusing at first, but once I realised what the author was trying to achieve with the fast forwarding of life so to speak, I was more able to go with the flow.

Something which really hit home for me was how the author made every little moment, seem the most important thing ever. And they should be, because every moment in our lives got us to where we are now. Why should we settle for second best? Why should we just do things because other people are, even if we know deep down that it isn’t our destiny?

Like I say, I’ve never read a book like this before, and I don’t think I ever will. ‘The Moments’ and Natalie Winter, truly are one of a kind – i was mesmerised by the poignancy of the storyline and the way in which it made me think from deep within.

The premise of the book is deeply moving, raw, and sometimes unsettling due to the harsh reality of the situations, however Natalie Winter has created something incredibly special.

#TheMoments blew me away and even made the deepest part of my soul emotional! Such an incredibly beautiful, raw, insightful, and highly emotive read which will stay with me for a very long time. Please, please do put this on your wishlist as you will not regret it.

It's not my cup of tea, I didn't feel involved in the story and couldn't connect to the characters even though they're well written.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I did not like this at all. It jumped around too much to enjoy. It became a job to read this book. It was not one you could sit back and relax with.