This was a bit of a gamble for me. I'm not usually a huge fan of contemporary fiction - especially with such a modern, wry voice. It took some getting used to but I'm pleased to say I was ultimately charmed by I Love You, I Love You, I Love You. Not least for the noughties nostalgia and the narrator's amusing frankness. A great holiday read for anyone craving a juicy (cringe-inducing) love story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I was looking forward to a modern, light hearted, will they/wont they story and this was perfect for that! I'm going with 3 stars because I did question how much I liked both the lead characters in the love story at various points!

The main thing I did love about this book was the nostalgia. For any readers born in the mid eighties to mid nineties in the UK - this will bring back some memories for sure! It was uncanny just how many of my childhood memories were right there!

Thank you to @netgalley and @hqstories for the opportunity to review.

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This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Thank you for the free arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this when I heard about it at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately it was a DNF around the 20% mark. The writing style was very reminiscent of early noughies chick flicks, but I didn’t vibe it with. At times I found the writing and the language too cringe and it kept putting me off reading further or picking it back up.

I may give it another go in the future, but for now, it didn’t hold my interest long enough to enjoy it.

This is how it’s done. Laura Dockrill writes romance like someone who remembers exactly what it’s like to be in like and in love for the first time . It’s full of brilliant observations and pitch perfect pop culture references and reads like a letter from your best friend. Written with Dockrill’s beautiful kitchen-sink poetic voice, it’s a love letter to love but even more - to being young and in love. I chewed through it like a Kinder Bueno.

This book was such an enjoyable read. Relatable and funny, with a character and romance you are bound to root for. I really enjoyed Dockrill's distinctive writing, humour, and perspective on relationships. Definitely recommend this!

The description of this book really called out to me and I felt like I could relate to the FMC so much!

DNF

I'm torn on this one honestly. I ended up grabbing the audiobook, which I think is why I was able to last as long as I did before DNF'ing. It felt familiar in the way it was written and I was certain I must have listened to the author narrate something else but it seems I haven't, though I definitely would like to again in future.
However I did find it a little jarring the way it felt like an attempt at lite-slam poetry and I just couldn't settle into it. Perhaps it was the added setting of the 00s that put me off, I don't know.

I feel like 2 stars is harsh but given I felt it wasn't worth bothering with I can't really rate it any higher.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Cantering on Ella and Lowe, two teenagers who when they meet instantly have a connection/attraction. Staring in the early 2000’s, I felt I could really resonate with the characters and references of that time, being of a similar age.
Ella’s excruciating self doubt was extremely relatable, combined with Lowe feeling similar, we see the two characters becoming instant friends, but never crossing the threshold into a relationship. The bond was undeniable and the twist and turns throughout the years, where we wait with bated breath for them to get together, yet always somehow just falling short!
This book was sweet and charming and I can’t recommend it enough. I loved the characters of Ella and Lowe, (though there were times when I just wanted to shake Lowe!!)
Ella’s friends are also great in this, especially Aoife!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this! Such a beautiful read! I love that it was based on a true love story! Thank you again NetGalley for sending me a copy

I loved the nostalgia of this book being a similar age to the main characters it was like i was being thrown back to my teenage years.
It did give a lot of vibes from other authors and books especially one from the early 00s and a few similar friend to lovers books.
I felt like there was a lot of build up over the years, a lot of tension and then the ending was very rushed. I would have really liked maybe 3-4 more chapters of them actually being together and the ending where she is picturing her writing with their baby to have actually been reality rather than just her creating it in her mind. I wanted wedding, i wanted a personal, romantic engagement, i wanted baby and all those romantic perfect things that most little girls dream of. Ella and Lowe would have given that whole heart melting vibe but the reader didn't really get to see it- it was just always an idea. I felt like their love story just properly started and then the book came to an end.

I loved all the characters in it- real mismatch group of friends which is pretty much what a real group of friends are. I loved Bianca the most- she was wild, opinionated, life loving and a bit crazy. Her character made me laugh the most.

This book needs to be a series on TV. It gave one day vibes but in my opinion it was better. It was a story about Ella and Lowe but it wasn't just about them. The character building for all of the characters was brilliant and i found i really liked all the characters and was invested in their involvement in the story which is usually rare for me- i often lose interest in the extra add ons.

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You by Laura Dockrill is a love letter from the author to her partner.

Fiction, but inspired by the author's own experiences - this is the story of True Love.

We're in London, in the year 2000, and Ella Cole has just met her true love, Lowe. She is head-over-heels in love with him, but she's convinced he'd never feel the same. Determined to keep him in her life, they become best friends - but every time Lowe gets together with someone else, Ella dies inside.

Now thirty, Ella has tried to move on with her life. She and Lowe have fallen in and out of touch over the years, but now, Ella has the chance to finally leave him behind and move on. She's not a fourteen-year-old with a crush anymore - and besides, Lowe never even saw her like that, did he?

Parts of this book were so on-the-nose for me that I had to take deep breaths. It was like the author was inside my brain. I really do think you'll get the most out of this if you were a teenager in the early 00s, but I also think it'll be really relatable for any fellow graduates of the University of Intense Crushes with a degree in pining.

It did put me in quite funny headspace at certain times - particularly during the chapters about Ella's home life, and the way she felt that her love for Lowe would never be reciprocated. It really, really hit a nerve and took me right back to moping over a copy of J17 magazine.

I feel like Ella is a representation of all of us former 00's teens - and I was cheering her on throughout. I absolutely adored this book, I thought it was so heartbreakingly honest and raw, and really captured the emotional turmoil and intense longing caused by wanting to be loved by a particular someone.

It's bloody hard to be a grown-up - moving on, facing trauma, making tough decisions - this book nails all those things while also being a really gorgeous tribute to not only the author's own love story, but to every teen girl who wanted her own happy ending. Nostalgic, heartfelt, beautiful.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Slightly spoilery:

There was a phase heading into the last quarter of this book where I was getting genuinely angry because I was imagining Dockrill pulling the kind of ending that didn’t see Ella and Lowe get together. I saw these beautiful, flawed characters be too stubborn or too foolish to actually let the other know how they really felt. The agitation at realising Ella may never get what she wanted, may never be truly happy, whilst also knowing that Lowe definitely felt the same way, was almost too much to bear. So I ended up speed-reading the end because I was feeling so anxious and desperate.

Well thank goodness Dockrill stuck the landing because otherwise I’d be rioting.

This book is an explosion of feelings told in words that fly past you like a speeding train. A rollercoaster of hijinks, torment, fun and liveliness. I knew who Ella was. For a brief moment in time I was Ella. I’ve never read a crush conjured with ferocity like it.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.

At first I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the story, I wasn’t sure I was the right audience, but a few chapters in and I was totally hooked! Whatever your age, you can relate to Ella’s first love, her teenage angst, that fumbling around with how you really feel and not managing to say it to the one person you love and somehow know is your destiny. I loved the throwbacks to the early 2000s too. My daughters will adore this book. A really great story!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, HQ for an arc in exchange for a review.

3.5⭐️

‘30 is the biggest disappointment since sea monkeys’ - couldn’t be more relatable!

I really enjoyed the nostalgia at the beginning of this book, for probably the first 25% and then I really enjoyed the last 20% too. However the middle bit was dry and just felt like reading a teenage girls diary going on and on about the same boy.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great book. Anyone who reads this will become nostalgic and definitely taken back to their teenage years
It was emotional, funny, light-hearted and above all so realistic. Ella and Lowe were wonderful characters

I have recommended this book to anyone and everyone who will listen. A fantastic story with heaps of heart, coupled with the most beautiful lyrical prose. Highly recommended!

Love You.

My first thought about this book is that the cover & the promotional imagery is stunning! I read the ebook and I’ve ordered a hardback copy because it’s beautiful! Fortunately so is Laura’s writing. As much as I loved this story it really is the delightful writing that stood out most to me - charming descriptions, honest reflections & genuine relatability. We go back in time with Ella & see her fall in love for the first time - with Lowe Archer. Laura takes us back there so well & the memories come flooding back for me reading this. Her friendships with Aoife, Bianca & the gang, her family drama, dealing with exams, leaving school, college, uni & never feeling quite like a real grown up. Ella loves Lowe - and we suspect Lowe loves Ella too - and yet neither of them focus on this love - they keep it secret & remain best friends. Ella’s life moves in a completely different direction to Lowe’s.
A real trip down memory lane - I really loved it.

The greatest almost love story ever told! Lowe and Ellie met as teenagers. Ellie fell in love immediately but for years they were just the best of friends. Ellie never fully gave herself emotionally to any one else as they never compared to Lowe who remains in her life; sometimes close by sometimes at a distance. Will they ever have their happy ending? This was such a great read.