The Last Days of You and Me is told from four perspectives. I have found you either love or dislike this. In this case, the author does a great job and it works. Following Forrester, Marnie, Jack and Rae on their journey through so much, was just heartwarming and heartfelt.
The characters are lovely….
Their stories will grab you….
A story full of friendship, love and most of all, healing.
A beautiful story about how others can change our lives if we give them a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This is such an emotional, yet sweet story written by Debbie Howells.

The four characters in the story are all interlinked and steer through the coming months together with each other, going through bad health, death, as well as love.

Some parts have you reaching for tissues.

I highly recommend this book.

I might be the minority here because I didn't really enjoy TLDoYaM, which shame because it has a pretty and interesting synopsis. Marnie felt like a young adult character and from the first chapters, none of them were likeable (for me). I don't get why Marnie would give Forrest a chance or why would Rae befriend Marnie. The multiple first person pov didn't work since they all sounded the same. I don't really know how to put the book in term of genre. Sure, it isn't everything, but I felt mislead all the same. I guess it isn't for me.

This is a heartbreaking story which also shows the love of family and friends who are all going through their own life journey. It is a story that will stay with me
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC which I thoroughly enjoyed

Debbie Howells writes books that I enjoy, and books set in a bookshop where books are a large part of the plot. I’ve never been to Arundell, but lived in Sussex as a baby/very young child, and always hear Arundell is a picturesque place.

It was nice to be witness to the characters who entered the shop, and their lives. I loved the insight into Marnie, the main character’s, life, her missing her life in Spain (the author captures this accurately and in a heartwrenching, beautiful way). She came back when her friend needed her help with a hotel. I was concerned about her health.

I really liked Rae’s backstory too and Birdie’s. I could imagine a little that a trip away would have taken place given how much Marnie missed Spain, but I was excited to know where they were going to go.

Forrest has his own backstory, and I was interested in that too. I was sad about Joe, and his friendship with Forrest was great.

There is a word echo (repitition of the same words close together) : pinning on a smile/I pin on a smile– but this did not affect my enjoyment of the book. Everyone has ell created backstories and I also really felt for Rose and thought Jack’s job at the hospice was very humbling.

The winter atmosphere in Arundell was very well created. There are great visuals for this and overall through the book. This will make you think. It’s emotional, realistic and so unforgettable. Life, love, tragedy. loss and more collide in this wonderful book that’s so powerful.

Thanks to Debbie Howells, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

5 stars.

3.25- I was excited to read this because the cover blurb says it’s for fans of Love, Actually and that’s one of my favorite movies. I was hesitant to read this because I wasn’t a fan of Debbie Howell’s first book It All Started With You (originally published as Wildflowers). While this one was much better than the other, it still fell a little flat for me.
Marnie is a loner working as a manager in her friend’s hotel and hating it. Forrest is a lawyer who is trying to settle with the hotel over a room his client trashed. Rae owns a bookstore and is too scared to live outside of work. Jack is a hospice nurse who is raising two goats. All of these people are complete strangers until suddenly their lives start crisscrossing and suddenly these 4 perfect strangers are helping each other learn to live, learn to love, and learn to trust.
One of my favorite things about Love, Actually is how all of the characters lives intersect and I greatly enjoyed that aspect of this book. Each character is a separate chapter and I loved how each chapter generally started where the previous chapter ended. I found this to be a very quick read, reading it in less than 24 hours. While I found myself drawn to this, I didn’t find it mesmerizing. The characters didn’t jump off the page and I felt that there was something missing; I just can’t put my finger on it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy of this book. The Last Days of You and Me hits the shelves on January 29th.

This book was utterly heartbreaking, but ultimately shows how much love and connection matter and how paths crossing can change the course of somebody’s future. All of the stories we follow with our main characters were incredibly moving, frustrating and loving. I literally finished this book with full fledged tears, but also realizing the happiness that you got to experience through this journey was super special. I would strongly recommend this for someone who can handle those joyful moments with the heartbreak. Because those heartbreaking moments are so surprising in the most gutting way by far but turn out to all be interwoven to provide the greatest happiness in the end.

“The Last Days of You and Me” by Debbie Howells is a heart-wrenching novel featuring a cast of interconnected characters. Each character is going through their own journey related to loss and grief. They each are learning and reflecting about the meaning of life. It highlights the universal need for friendship and love. It makes you think about what is important to you, the reader. I really enjoyed it and hope to read more by this author.

This is a gripping read. Should be very sad but it sort of was but not. Told by different people in chapters but there is a link which slowly comes together. You have a lovely book shop, goats, parents who don’t care and ones who have died. It is very moving story and a neat ending. Great for a book club. Made you think you have to make the most of every day. The “ C “ word is there and I learnt more about hospices. Read it

This is an absolutely beautiful book that has some heartbreaking moments as well as some heartwarming ones. This is a story about relationships, friendships, self discovery, love and loss. All are very emotively and sensitively written. Marnie walks into the bookshop that is owned and run by Rae. Neither of them knows that this meeting will change their lives. There is also Forrest, an arrogant lawyer whose out look on life changes after being involved in a car crash, and Jack who is a nurse in a hospice. I loved how everyone was interlinked in some way. This drew me in and is a book that will stay with me. I can’t recommend this enough. Thank you to Boldwood Books, Netgalley and Debbie Howells for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Days of You and Me is an original and emotional story of four people brought together by circumstances and fate. Marnie is new to town and unsure what comes next, when she meets local bookshop owner Rae. Both young women are feeling adrift in their lives when they cross paths and become friends. Jack is a hospice nurse who is having trouble moving on from his past relationship. Forrest is a ruthless attorney who wants to be a better person after a car accident changes his whole perspective. An extraordinary story about friendship, love, life, fate, and second chances.

Thank you to NetGalley and Debbie Howells for this eARC. The title doesn’t prepare you enough for how sad and moving yet sweet and inspiring this would be. These four characters all become connected somehow and navigate the coming seasons with each other. They experience terminal illness, death but also love together and it’s so beautiful how they rely on each other for strength. I can’t say too much without spoiling it but if you’re emotional it may jerk a few tears. It’s out on January 29 so make sure you get your copy then. It’s so worth it.

A Beautiful and brilliant story about friendship, lost, death, grieve. Rae, Marnie, Jack and Forrester’s lives change forever when they and their stories intertwine helping each other even in the saddest and tough moments.

Rae runs a bookshop; she meets all kinds of people. One day a young girl who clearly has things in her mind comes into the shop; and Rae meets her again a few days later. Meanwhile, Marnie is running a friends hotel and unhappy with her life; she meets Forrest ; who she takes an immediate dislike to until she finds out more about him. Marnie and Rae become good friends and they help each other through difficult times. This was an emotional beautiful book. Would recommend.

This was a very moving, emotional book that I really enjoyed.

Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

This book was so unlike anything I have ever read. Reading the stories of loss made my heartache along with the characters. This book captivated me from the start. Love, life, and death are interwoven as the characters learn about themselves and the meaning of living.

Another beautiful, thought provoking read from Debbie Howells, one of my ‘must read’ authors.

This is the poignant story of four young people: Marnie (a travel writer); Rae (a bookshop owner and guardian of Birdy, her younger sister); Jack (a hospice nurse) & Forrest (an arrogant solicitor) who are all facing life after a loss. The characters are crafted so well that each rises clearly from the pages as a fully formed individual.

The story is told from their alternating perspectives, which makes for fascinating reading, seeing how their lives begin to entwine and overlap. The sensitive subjects raised are handled with great care, understanding and compassion, whilst provoking thoughts about the transience of life and the importance of living it. Stop and listen to the birds, don’t wait - live.

It seems strange, in a book where death features so largely, that it is actually a life affirming read, covering the importance and enduring powers of love, friendship and belonging.

Debbie Howells has carefully crafted this plot so that it weaves and turns, fascinating me with the invisible connections reflecting the six degrees of separation in society.

An emotionally charged, empowering read! I was left dwelling on this book long after I finished reading and will certainly return to reread passages that particularly resonated. I definitely feel richer for having read it.

This was a touching story told from from four different points-of-view. There is Rae, the bookshop owner, Marnie, the travel writer, Forrest, the attorney, and Jack, the hospice nurse. The story winds all of their stories together throughout the timeframe of about one year in a small English village.

There is love, romance, tragedy, sickness, and even death in this tale but all are handled skillfully by the author and make this a work of hope and light, not darkness.

I highly recommend this story by author Howells.

I received this Digital Review Copy from Boldwood Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review. This is that review.

Such a beautiful book kind of hard to get into at the beginning but once you get to meet all of the characters is so beautiful how we get to see how they affected one another.
Loved that it had multiple POVs it made it all feel like a movie, I wasn't expecting much going into it, I loved the cover and tittle it made me feel nostalgic, this book makes you think about the things you would do with your life and I definitely could see myself in Marnie and it was so beautiful see how much her life changes throughout the book. Definitely a book that left a mark in me.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this book in exchange of a honest review

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I just finished this book and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I liked the idea of finding friends in a bookstore, where Rae helped Marnie with that first book that brought them together as friends.

I always felt like something was off about Forrest and the reveal didn't surprise me. There's a few movies I've seen with this theme and that kept pinging in my mind when reading his story.

I love that though they were new friends, Marnie, Rae & Birdy were GREAT friends, there for it all. And I do mean, IT ALL!!!

I'd like to recommend this book but it was confusing and didn't necessarily leave me feeling good in the end. The story was good though so I'll keep that in it back of my head when recommending. Although, I love Jack's character so much!!

Arundel sounds like a lovely little place to live. I don't know how to properly say the same but in my head it's like from the movie "Frozen."