This was a great nostalgic read, following the story of Ella and Lowe as they connect and have missed opportunities over the years of their adolescence and young adulthood.

This is a really lovely, light-hearted read - especially for the millennials! I enjoyed the way the characters were developed, and Ella’s thoughts and actions took me back to being a teenager and then a young adult again. It’s definitely a different kind of love story, but worth reading.

I loved it, it’s such an intense emotional story . The all encompassing power of first love pours off the page, the unrequited feeling was so strong and real. The storytelling is honest, powerful and so beautifully written. I love the narrative voice and the feeling of anticipation at what may lie ahead. Brilliant

A book for anyone who wants a nostalgic visit to their first love and teenage selves. The book is set both in the present and the past. It follows the life of Ella, her friendships and relationships. I was roughly the same age as Ella was as a teenager so the things her and her friends liked, disliked and referred to took me back to a time of my first love and navigating my teenage/early adult years.

This came along on holidays with me based solely on the cover and the blurb, with me thinking it was going to be a fairly light read. I started it with some dubiousness, thinking perhaps this might be too fluffy and not for me. How wrong I was.

Cut to a couple of days later. I’m sitting by the pool with tears streaming down my face as I finish it. Almost despite myself, I fell for this book in a big way.

Ella and Lowe have been best friends since childhood, having clicked almost immediately. As they grow up together, Ella’s love for Lowe goes deep but she harbours it secretly, burying it deep inside.

As the years pass, while their friendship ebbs and flows, Ella’s feelings do not. Will she ever get over her first love? Will she ever find out if he feels the same? Is it True Love?

What differentiates this book is the humour. It is so funny and so sincere, Ella is impossible not to love, as is Lowe. It’s empathetic and warm-hearted and I defy anyone not to laugh and cry out loud at least once. I thought I was too old for this, how wrong I was.

This is very much a book for fans of David Nicholls and Nick Hornby. It’s as nostalgic as Talking at Night, but it’s so much sharper and funnier and more joyful and life-affirming. Loved it. 🫶 4-4.5/5⭐️

Many, many thanks to @harpercollinsire @courtneysbooks for the advance reader copy. 😘

Thank you As always a fantastic book by a consistently brilliant author. I always regret their ending and always look forward to the next book thanks

I DNF'd this book.

I couldn't get on with the main character. I was hoping for more nostalgia - which was the best part from me. But it was too sweary-sweary and not very relatable.

I have enjoyed the author's other books!

I was really excited to read this book it sounded right up my street.

I expected it to be light hearted and funny, a little when Harry met Sally type of thing but it was quite slow paced and much deeper than that.

I enjoyed the book but it wasn’t what i expected

I love this book, I love this book, I love this book.

This book really does have everything. characters that you just want to be happy, get really frustrated they cant work it out and get it together , and a beautiful firendship that these days feels so rare.
Built on their past Ella and Lowes friendship is a mystery but also solid. The nostalgia moments are really relateable to anyone who grew up in the 90s making it fun to read as well as addictive and teasing.

Can you ever really be just friends with the love of your life? This is the question which has haunted Ella for fifteen years - since the moment she first set eyes on Lowe. They have an instant connection but, when Ella's friend announces her intentions to pull Lowe, Ella dutifully steps back, appointing herself to the role of his best friend instead. As the years pass and they see each other through family breakdowns, grief, and plenty of teenage angst, Ella's love for Lowe never wavers, and the pain of seeing him with other girls never lessens. I Love You, I Love You, I Love You is a coming of age story which beautifully captures the singular pain and delight of first love.

Laura Dockrill is better known for her YA fiction, and it shows in the best way. The dialogue - and young Ella's high speed, neurotic inner monologue - feels very authentic to this millennial reader, and this book provides a hit of pure nostalgia for those of us who were teenagers in the aughts, but in a natural, unself-conscious way that many authors struggle to capture. Through Ella's story, I was drawn right back to being fifteen and my world revolving around my friends, music and boys, torn between wanting desperately to fit in and navigating my own emerging beliefs, ideals and idiosyncrasies. Though not the main focus of the story, Dockrill portrays the magic of teenage girl friendship - and the wonderful weirdness of all girls schools - with a warmth and humour reminiscent of the great Louise Rennison.

Though the cover and the title might imply romance, this book is so much for than that.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I love this book with my entire heart.

As a thirty-two-year-old woman, I definitely felt the nostalgia with this one. The story follows Ella Cole in dual timelines; when she is a teenager and meets Lowe Archer for the first time and in the present when she is in her early thirties and has just bought a house with her partner Jackson.

Teenage Ella has a 'love at first sight' moment with Lowe but in order to protect herself, she puts herself in the friendzone. The two are the best of friends over the next decade, always there to support each other, but each time he gets a girlfriend, Ella's heart breaks a little. Their story is absolutely beautiful to read.

Lowe's band that he plays in becomes more and more famous and something happens (no spoilers here from me!) and the two don't speak for a ten years. Following his band's break up, they then reconnect.

The way that this book is written is stunning. There is real depth when it comes to teenage Lowe and Ella's families which adds another dimension and Dockrill's humour just bounces off the page. I really resonated with Ella's teenage years and this novel encapsulates what it's like to have a first love.

I love that all of the male love interests of Ella's were genuinely nice, no villains in this story, they just weren't Lowe. I cared so deeply about these characters. I laughed and even shed a tear at some parts. It gave me everything I want in a novel.

As I always do, I did a little research on the author after reading and discovered that there are autobiographical aspects in there with Ella and Lowe's relationship and Dockrill and her husband. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was in The Maccabees as I played 'About Your Dress' on a loop as a teenager in 2007 and I'm pretty sure I had a line from First Love as my MSN screen name for a while. CRINGE.

Anyway, read this book. It's bloody brilliant. I will 100% be buying a physical copy too.

I went into this read just expecting a typical rom-com but it was so so much more and I could not put it down.
Amazing characters that were so relatable, strong & resilience you can't help but be transported back to your own teenage years.

It's the perfect mix of romance, an emotional rollercoaster but with funny and lighthearted aspects.

A simply beautiful story that you will struggle to forget.

I thought this was going to be a light and easy read but it was not the fluffy, holiday read I expected. It's actually a deep and sincere book that is written super well and is very warm hearted all the way through.

I absolutely loved this book. It took me right back to my teenage years ad was such a trip down memory lane. highly recommended.

What an absolute belter of a blast from the past! Crammed with nostalgia, teenage angst and the most perfect will they won’t they plot. One of my favourite binge reads of the year so far - is it too soon to want both a tv adaptation and another book by Laura Dockrill?

💭 If you are a fan of One Day or Normal People you will love this book. Ella and Lowe meet when they are teenagers. Over the next 20 years their lives take many twist and turns. The novel takes us along on this journey. The phase of awkward teenagers, to the mistakes of their 20s and eventually catching up with the pair in their 30’s. The relationship of Ella and Lowe is complicated, frustrating and beautiful and it was utterly brilliant to read.
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What I would say if you are going to read this book is stick with it, there are horribly frustrating parts to this book, those who are not a fan of the miscommunication trope may struggle ( I did) but I am so so glad i preserved. Laura Dockrill has created a very beautiful and emotional story. Highly recommend.

This was fun to go back to the 90s & 00’s for the references that were noted & a love story that transcends over time. A cute love story with a good ending.

I loved how this book truly captured the angst of being a teenager, as well as the feelings people in their late 20s/early 30s. Some quotes felt like they could’ve been taken from my own brain. The ending felt rushed; I would’ve liked that to have been explored a bit more. However, overall I enjoyed it.

Ahh, this book was so enjoyable. It was a massive nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. Being a teenager in the 2000’s I can relate to so many of the little gems of references to the time. To glitter and body sprays coming free with magazines, making mixed tapes, and calling your friends using the house phone that your parents could pick up on the other handset.

The story encapsulated first love so well. The intensity of all encompassing feelings for someone when you are a teenager. The fear of them knowing, not knowing if they feel the same. The deeply felt pain when you hear they kissed another girl.

A poignant and lovely story of the friendship of these two characters spanning 15yrs of them growing up and following their dreams while staying in, and losing touch with each other.

Would recommend you read this if you want an emotional nostalgic and bittersweet read. This is not a fluffy romance book!

Thank you to @netgalley and @hqstories for a copy of this book for review.

Very reminscent of One Day in that the main protagonists, Ella and Lowe meet unexpectedly in 2000 as teenagers and the novel follows their friendship/relationship over the next 15 years
The journey is both physically and mentally draining - fruity and emotional in equal measure
So nostalgic - pre-dating before mobile phones and the internet
This novel would work amazing as a TV adaptation
Fall in love with Ella and Lowe
Thanks @lauraleedockrill @hqstories & Netgalley for the amazing nostalgic read