The narrator of this audio book was excellent and able to consistently voice each character individually so that you could follow who was speaking. The story is told through a series of flashbacks so it was important to be able to tell who was 'speaking; as you listened and built up the story.

I was really caught up in the story of Will, Ella and Cole and loved the parts where Ella reminisced about how she and Will got together in the first place. Cole was an unlikely character and didn't seem to quite fit. He has history with Will and I'm not surprised that Will asked Ella to choose between her husband (Will) or good friend (Cole). I wanted to shake Willa t times for not being honest with Ella about the difficulties he was having.

This story included a 'timehop' episode which I am a little sceptical about. Flashbacks is one thing, time travel was a little too far fetched for me.

However, this book is beautifully written with a twist I did not see coming. Have the tissues to hand!

Absolutely loved this heart warming yet heard breaking. Fabulous characters honestly just amazing I would highly recommend this to anyone.

What an ending! This book kept me awake long into the night unable to put it down until I'd read the final few chapters and it was this that made me go back and read the first half again, wanting to revisit parts I may have missed the first time round when I wasn't quite so invested in the storyline.

Friends Ella, Will and Cole are great characters, they aren't perfect and neither are their lives. They have flaws, doubts and worries and their story told in a dual time-line is an immersive look at how events can shape your future.

This is the first of the authors books I've read and she's a very talented writer. I loved the insight, the humour and feeling of nostagia I got from this novel. There was something very visual about the writing making it easy to depict the scenes as they unfolded, it would make a great movie. A great read, perfect for losing yourself in.

I'll come clean - I read the novel and listened to the audiobook with this one. I enjoy both reading and listening to books and wanted to hear it brought to life by a professional narrator. Helen Keeley didn't let me down her excellent narration brought the characters of Ella, Will and Cole to life.

Audiobook review.

Oh wow this is an emotional story - I was torn between the three main characters from the start! Ella, Will & Cole and not knowing where the storyline was going kept me intrigued throughout. I do not want to give to much away, so all i will say is this book is powerful, immersive, absorbing, nostalgic and it will break your heart, well it did mine !
This is a first for me by Emma Cooper and definitely will not be my last.
The narrator had a good voice to listen to, which was perfect for the this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for ARC of this book for an honest review.

This was my first Emma Cooper book and I LOVED it!!! From the first page to the last! It kept me guessing the whole way through - who was going to be her Always You?!
I grew attached to Will & Ella, I was willing their story all the way through.

It has made me question recent books I've rated as 5 star as this was so much more!! Easily a 5+ rating!!
Can't wait to find another Emma cooper book!!

What an amazing story, I listened to the audio version of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

At the begin I thought it was simply a pleasant romantic story, but the surprising ending really brings it to another level.

The narrator does a great job and makes for very pleasant listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Audio for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, the narrator was great and I really connected with the characters

Ella and Will are childhood sweethearts, married for 25 years with two kids. Until their youngest leaves for university and Will thinks they should consider getting divorced. Ella goes on a journey to finding herself and truly understanding the people in her life.

This story is beautiful and the narration of the audiobook was top notch - I loved the accents and different voices used for each character. It was a little hard to follow all the characters and the time hops initially but I got into the flow of it really quickly.

The only reason I can’t give this 5 stars is because of Ella’s clinging on of her vision of her past self and thinking she can time travel, it would be a beautiful, incredibly well written story without that part of the plot. The depth of each of the main characters and the backstory to every relationship is amazing and so well thought out. The issues each character faces and the problems they work through and they way the other people handle them feel really realistic and well considered,

I would highly, highly recommend listening to this audiobook and I look forward to reading more by Emma Cooper!

I read It Was Always You by Emma Cooper back in February and really enjoyed it, so when I saw the audiobook on Netgalley, I requested it straight away.

I love seeing how an audiobook compares to a physical read as I often say that a narrator can make or break a book. Now this is a great book so it didn’t need a narrator to “make it”, but oh my days, Helen Keeley is taking it to another level as she reads this!!
Emma Cooper managed to rip my heart out with her writing in this book, but Helen Keeley not only rips it out, she also stamps on it for good measure.
Her retelling of this beautiful story is outstanding due to the emotions that she manages to bring to life throughout it.
Helen Keeley is certainly a narrator I wouldn’t hesitate to listen too again.

I found this a decent little read but unfortunately nothing more than that - the characters didn't quite grip me, and it potentially could have done more in terms of sliding doors 'what if'type futures.

That said, it kept me interested and was a sweet enough read (/listen!)

I really enjoyed this book. I was given an audio copy to listen and review and also bought the ebook so I would always have a copy. Its a love story, but a little bit different from what is out there. I enjoyed it a lot

This book really got inside my brain. It’s such an inspiring and thought provoking read/listen. I adored the story and was genuinely gutted when it came to an end.

I was intrigued to read It Was Always You by Emma Cooper. I loved the opening descriptive statement: Would you choose a different life if you had the chance?

Who hasn’t daydreamed about choosing a different life, if you only had the chance? I think perhaps my expectations of this book led me in a different direction than the way the book was headed.

The story centres on Ella, Will and Cole and moves between ‘Then’ when they were teenagers and young adults to ‘Now’ the present day. The narrator Helen Keeley managed to create different voices for the younger and older versions of characters which made the audiobook much easier to follow.

I enjoyed the first part of the book whilst the protagonists were teenagers and young adults, I loved all the cultural references being of the same generation myself. I have to say that I grew increasingly frustrated with Ella as the book progressed and by the end of the book I rather disliked Ella. I do think I was expecting something different from the book…..

This was my first Emma Cooper book and I would certainly take a look at other books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Headline Audio, for making the audio-ARC available to me.

I listened to the audiobook.

I didn’t like the narrator much and as young Ella she was very whiny. When writing this I am 37% in and I don’t care about any of the characters. The story is slow. The beginning was confusing as there were too many characters and skipping of timelines. I was disappointed when the story took a turn to time travel/hypnotherapy as I recently read a book similar to this which I also didn’t like. There is so far no build up or anticipation for what Ella will discover in hypnotherapy.

55% in and I like Cole and the hypnotist, Robin. I’m not sure if we are supposed to believe in the time travel element but this book doesn’t feel fantasy but this idea of her travelling back doesn’t feel realistic either.

SPOILER - hated the end. The only likeable character sacrifices his life for two people, Ella and Will. Both unlikeable characters, I suppose they deserve each other but I wanted Cole to be happy and content at last. This book is not for me. It wasn’t uplifting, there were no funny moments.

What I did like was the events of 2000 being mentioned, like Big Brother, Oasis and Blur.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

At least 4 stars, maybe worth 4.5 for making me cry! I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll try to keep this brief.

Things I loved:
The two timelines to see Ella and Will’s relationship from day 1 to today
The nostalgia of 1999 and so many great references!
The flawed but lovable main characters (one in particular stole my heart)
The great friendships

One thing I loved a little less:
As someone who has been in a relationship for 18 years, I wanted to shake Ella and Will and tell them to just bloody talk to each other (how did they make it to 23 years?!)

There are some funny scenes and many beautiful moments throughout this book. But also, be warned, it’s likely you’ll need tissues at some point(s) and may lose a little bit of your heart.

I received a copy of the audiobook via netgalley and it was in my ears (and for the 2nd part of the book) in my heart all day. These opinions are my own.

Would you choose a different life if you had the chance??

This story had me captivated from the beginning. Great story line and such relatable characters. I found this story to be very moving and had a tissue close by and the time. #imnotcryingyouarecrying

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Headline Audio for approving me for an ARC of this book.

This is my first dive into a book by Emma Cooper but it certainly won’t be my last. It Was Always You was a page turner of a read. Filled with loveable characters and a mystery that you want to see solved you can’t help but find yourself fully immersed in this book.

Our protagonist Ella is everything you would want for a leading character. She’s fun, witty and completely loveable but she’s also has her flaws. Form the start I couldn’t help but feel that she was always trying to please everyone else and took a lot on when it came to supporting Will and Cole. I adored the relationship she had with her two children and her ability to strike up a conversation about anything. There were one or two moments where her mad and nervous ramblings made me chuckle.

As Ella’s life starts to spiral it becomes clear that the answer lies in what the lady in the red coat said to her back in 1999, if only Ella could remember it. I loved this part of the story and the mystery surrounding it. I’ve often wondered what hypnotism is like and as Ella began to explore this world more I was excited to see what she uncovered.

The two leading men of the story, Will and Cole, also have an interesting backstory. Once again you can feel the friction between these two and it becomes clear very early on why this is. I found there were parts of both these characters that I loved and hated. The were both deeply flawed but it made them even more relatable. The connection between these two characters was so emotional and heart breaking.

I started to wonder very early on if I had figured out the twists in this story and whilst I had with some of them there were a few surprises towards the end. This story certainly kept me on my toes and lets just say the ending was an emotional rollercoaster!

I love a good audio book when I'm pottering around the house doing chores, but it's not very often they get me to stop in my tracks. There were moment during It Was Always You that I had to just sit down and catch my breath because the emotions instilled by this story just knocked me off my feet. It Was Always You is so beautifully written it's a true sucker punch to the heart. Fantastic book I didn't want to end

Emma Cooper had this knack to write stories about real life and then to write the characters and then turn your heart into mush as you can’t help but fall in love with them yourself!
This story left me smiling but a little bit bruised and battered.
The narrator did mostly a fabulous job but felt she struggled with the male voice tones.

Alternating between the past (the last night of October 1999, as the clocks go back) and the present (when he asks her for a divorce, we follow the love story of Will and Ella.
It was a dramatic and fantastical story that kept me guessing and rooting for them till the end.
Loved it.