A story following 3 people Will, Ella and Cole from teenagers to 20+ years later. An entanglement of love, misjudgement, self doubt, passion, strength and resilience which help them to work through discovering themselves through the years.

Unlike most books I couldn't quite decide what ending I was hoping for nor able to clearly predict the outcomes of the 3 main characters. It is also rare to like all of the main characters when they differ in so many ways.

The last 25% of the book I could not put down, longing for an ending I would be happy with as I had become so invested in Will, Ella and Cole.

This was an advanced copy from netgalley for my honest review of the book. My first experience of reading a novel by Emma Cooper and I will certainly be seeking out other books,

I absolutely loved this book and cannot fault it. The characters are wonderful and the complex relationships really relatable. I felt connected to everyone, and usually in books where you follow different points of view there is always one or two characters I rush through as I am not invested, but not here!
The plot is really clever and the details following Ella through her timeline truly transport you to different era's with Emma Cooper's brilliant storytelling.

This was such an enjoyable book. It hooks you right from the beginning and keeps pulling you in, more and more. Such wonderful characters and a great story. Very well written, making you feel like you are actually a part of the lives of the characters. I was not expecting the ending at all. I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend to others. 8/10

This is a book which has captured my interest from the beginning. I love how this is written. It is filled with a mix of characters and has been a book I have been unable to predict.

Ella and Will fall in love, get married and have two beautiful children. They never had much money but they had the bond between them. Or so they thought. As they reach middle age, Ella’s world is turned upside down by an out of the blue revelation.

The story follows Ella, Will and their friend Cole over the last twenty years, hopping back and forth between 1999 when Ella saw a mysterious woman in the woods and present day. Cole has been the ever present third wheel, Ella’s best friend and completely welcomed into their family. Or has he? Present day sees Cole ostracised from the family due to an ‘incident’ a few months before, although it takes a while for that to unravel.
You might be able to tell that I didn’t love this story. I was all set to, the premise sounds interesting, but it didn’t play out like I thought it would and I didn’t actually like the main characters.
I thought it would show a glimpse of what would have happened if Will and Ella hadn’t got together. A little fantasy foray into a Scrooge-ish what if – what if Ella had chosen a different creative path, if Will had pursued a career as a handsome pop star, if Cole had done something different? That doesn’t happen in the book, as the focus is on Ella working out her issues in the present day.
All of the characters are just a bit, flat. Maybe Will and Ella and Cole all sound too similar, but I spent a lot of time with these people and don’t know much more than Ella is arty, Will is handsome and Cole is an alcoholic. There is a little bit more than that, but I don’t want to post spoilers.
In the opening chapter I was taken aback by Ella talking about initiating sex with her husband while asleep – made worse by the fact that he didn’t want to have sex with her and when he woke up, he was shocked and she fell off the bed, complaining about bruising her leg. That really jarred me out of the story, if it was the other way around it would never have made the edit so I don’t see why this did. It’s not fun, or cute, or flirty to have non consensual sex with anyone even your husband of 2 decades. There’s also something a bit later where she refers to her shoes as ‘hooker heels’ which is also a bit of a clanger.
There is an interesting exploration on your own perception of yourself and the world around you, and how people see you. Ella and Will and Cole are locked into their own walled up boxes of how they see themselves, and they are not communicating properly at all – maybe they never have. The main takeaway for me was that a lot of heartache and sadness could have been avoided by them all going to therapy – individually and together. Seriously, talk this stuff through, people!
I can see it making a good six part series, especially with the late 90s stuff, that would be fun to cast teenage Will, Ella and Cole. In my head, adult Cole is Aneurin Barnard although he maybe slightly young so probably Sam Riley. I cannot see Will or Ella – maybe Billie Piper? I didn’t get a feel for Will beyond ‘handsome and blonde’ and I back Sam Claflin, so let’s do that.
Overall, not the time travelling romance story I had anticipated and to be honest, I’ll not be in a rush to spend time with the characters again. I didn’t love In Five Years either but I’d recommend that over this. A great near miss, will they/won’t they novel is Perfect Timing by Owen Nicholls. If you’re looking for long married couples finding their way back to each other, Grown Ups by Marian Keyes is great.
This book is published on September 1st 2022. Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the DRC – always appreciated!

A beautiful sad love story with three amazing and very likeable characters. It’s the sort of book that immerses you in the lives of these characters and you devour the book to see what happens next. I can see that this would make an amazing film too.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the e-advance review copy.

2am. Tears damp on my pillow. Why Emmacooper just why? I haven't felt this way about a book in such a long time. Heartbroken. Beautiful story.
I honestly never expected to feel so sad but the author is like a magician weaving a spell with her words. How she managed to make me care so much for these characters is beyond my comprehension
The tension at the end was so heightened that I couldn't stop reading and just broke.
A gorgeous novel with stunning prose that often made me pause and ponder on its beauty.

I adored this book.

A little slow start, but once it got going I couldn’t put it down. Loved all the characters, and I wasn’t sure until the very end how it was going to go. Suspenseful, a little bit magical, and a beautiful love story.

Loved it. Thanks so much for my copy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.
This was a heartwarming and enjoyable read by Emma Cooper. The story centres around the relationship of Ella, Will and Cole, switching between the present and the development of their relationship. This was well written and did an excellent job of immersing the reader in the complex family dynamics of these characters. The emotions and plot were realistic and believable and had me rooting for a happy ending for all the characters.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a emotive and enjoyable read.

A read that was easy to get engrossed into and sucked in. My first by Emma Cooper and certainly not the last!

This was a wonderful and gripping story. Centred around Will, Ella and Cole and the mind blowing idea that someone could be in love with you for 30 years, be around you constantly and you could be absolutely none the wiser! Ella felt she didn’t deserve Will, Cole felt he deserved Ella and Will felt like he’d trapped Ella. A recipe for disaster you might think but actually it all came to a head much later on in their lives than when they first met as teenagers.
I was completely taken by surprise by the ending but it felt right, and was (oddly) a lovely way to finish their story. Would definitely recommend.

Would you choose a different life if you had the chance?
Two people. One chance to turn back the clock. Begs to be read in one sitting… really tugs at your emotions, one minute I was breathless with anticipation, the next I had tears running down my face…

I really loved this book and will look out for others by Emma Cooper. It was warmly written and I was completely engrossed in the story. Thank you for the advance copy.

I eagerly anticipate the release of Emma Copper's books. Each one surpasses the one before it. Her penmanship is magical, her characters are so richly and wonderfully detailed that each one makes you feel that you personally know them.

It Was Always You begins with Ella and Will, who are teens sharing a night - drinking - with their respective friends around a bonfire, incorporated into the story is Cole (Ella's best friend) - an almost loveable rogue who adores Ella (she can't see this as she only has eyes for Will.)
An incident occurs which leaves Ella stumbling, slightly inebriated through the trees only to see a woman dressed in a green coat and a red scarf who uncannily looks like an older version of herself.
The story moves between time periods where Ella and Will's love story begins and a time when Ella and Will are married and have children of their own.
Ella thinks she has the ability to change her future - if only she can go back in time to change the events of the evening when as a teen she met an older version of herself.

I adored this book and I devoured it one night.
I recommend all of Emma Cooper's novels to friends and family and I can't wait for her next release.

I won’t go in to the plot line for this book, as I’m sure other reviewers have. However, I will say, WOW. I am immediately heading to my kindle to purchase the rest of Emma Cooper’s novels!

This story has such a moving storyline, totally relatable and with likeable main characters. My allegiances did move throughout the book in terms of Will and Cole, and I felt that Ella was portrayed beautifully. This book could easily not have ‘worked’ if not for the amazing character development and authenticity of their ‘real life’.

As a huge fan of Dani Atkins who often writes in a way that you maybe have to suspend belief in a small way, I can fully recommend this book for anyone who wants a real, raw and moving story. If you are someone who reads the blurb and thinks ‘I don’t believe that could happen’ then what I will say is that this book explores that disbelief and how it couldn’t possibly happen… but can it?!

Two words for this book: MUST READ!

On the last night in October 1999 the clocks went back, and Ella and Will's love began.

Well Emma Cooper literatly destroyed my heart with this book, written so beautifully it pulled right on my heartstrings. While the emotional parts of the story don't come till about 4o-50% in, Emma's clever writing gets you there breathlessly.

Everyone in this story seemed very likeable and enjoyable to flesh out. Emma does a great job at narratives making sure the reader knows well who each person is and I felt everyone in the book served their intended purpose.

A funny, sad, lovely book that I really reccomend

This is the 1st book I have read from Emma and its so good I was hooked from the start and definitely needed a few tissues in places. It's funny, cute and very sad in places, I loved all the characters they are very likeable. Thankyou to headline and NetGalley for allowing me to read this early can't wait for it to come out so I can buy it and add it to my shelf

Thankyou so much for giving me the opportunity to read this before release day. Omg I need tissues, I have never sat and cried like this over a book. This is the first book I have read by Emma and omg I was not disappointed, I couldn't put it down even when tears where streaming down my face, still are whilst writing this 😭😭. It pulled so many heart strings. I will definitely be purchasing this book for my shelf. (Pre ordered now 😄) Definitely deserves my 5 star rating. * Off to cry some more 🥺 check out my Instagram and tiktok for my full review and book opening on 1st September

All is right with the bookish world, another publication from Emma Cooper is coming… I have loved Emma’s books since I first discovered them, giving a very swift five stars to her first and second publications. Her third publication slipped a star rating down to four, because I’ll always have a favourite and that didn’t top it. But nevertheless it was still an absolutely stunning book. It did mean that I opened the first few (digital!) pages of It Was Always You with a slightly nervous feeling. Would it be the best of Emma Cooper’s publications? Would it be something different? There will always be a special place for The First Time I Saw You – but there’s a new space in my bookish heart for this one. Another firm five stars… read on to find out why…

Emma creates characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. Meet Ella, Will and Cole. The three main characters within this book that you can’t help but like, flaws and all. Emma Cooper has an incredible talent for weaving ordinary characters into storylines that will grip you from start to finish. She writes about their ordinary lives but in such a way that it’s fascinating. In the middle of these incredible characterisations, Emma drops little references to childhood, times gone by and… AND… music. Oh yes indeed… the big music references that made The Songs of Us so beautiful are back sprinkled throughout this novel and I loved those so much.

I never like to rehash the blurb in a review, and to give away any of the plot would spoil it. For me a review is firmly about how the book made me feel and what I loved about it. So to sum it up… this book is powerful, immersive, absorbing, nostalgic and… it will break your heart. Probably a few times, but it will put it all back together again too. Emma’s good like that.

I have literally just finished this book and still have soggy tissues in my hand due to being dragged through the mill emotionally. Emma Cooper absolutely grabs your heart with her writing and twists it until you feel like it’s going to break in two. There’s a particular character in this book that I just totally fell in love with and was just so invested in their story that I had to stop and breath because the emotions I felt were just too much. I can’t even begin to describe the power that Emma’s words have in the most heart warming and heart breaking scenes. The writing is just beautiful. There’s also some great humour in this book so don’t think you need tissues all the way through it… but you will definitely need them at some point!
I didn’t actually get the “feels” for this story until I was about halfway into it when something just clicked, and from then onwards I was just hooked.
The thing that is giving me the dilemma about the review is a particular theme I struggle to believe in but that really is just a personal thing as I just can’t think out of the box enough, to totally get on board with it.
Having said all that, I just loved the fact that this style of writing and where the story headed managed to move me so much so I am therefore giving this book 4 stars.

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