Thought-provoking, tender, and beautifully written 💌💫. Loved One is a moving exploration of grief, family, and the bonds that transcend loss. Aisha Muharrar writes with sensitivity and insight, crafting a story that lingers long after the final page. I adored the emotional honesty and the hope woven into every chapter. A powerful, compassionate read for fans of character-driven, reflective fiction.

I felt let down.
Intriguing book Aisha Maharrar explores the relationship between grief and love. She does this through the viewpoint of the main character Julie, from when she learns of the death of Gabe. He was her first love, and after the breakup of the relationship, the relationship evolved into a lifelong though sometimes long distant friendship. He had become a successful singer and musician, and after his death, Julie helped his mother, Louise, retrieve some of his belongings from various people. At first, Julie and his latest ex girl friend are antagonistic to one another.
The grief that comes through in this book is palpable but stammered by the love being shown by many people and also by the humour that the author skillfully introduces.
All has the makings of a great book are there, but there are so many jumps in the disjointed timeline that made it very difficult for me to keep track of when the story had reached. Further parts it came over as rambling into cul de sacs.
It disappointed me, and my rating is based on the aggregate of my review.

I loved Loved One. It's beautifully written and handles grief and relationships in a touching way. I've never read anything quite like this, but it was so well done. It was easy to connect with our FMC, Julia, as she struggles with grief and the many complexities that come with losing someone you love.

Loved One by Aisha Muharrar convincingly portrays love and loss and friendship and the dynamics in relationships.

I loved this book!

It was in part an immersive travel diary then a complex, yet fun exploration of grief and getting things (as well as yourself) back.

I’m lucky to have not yet experienced grieving a friend but I could relate to the ebbs and flows of grief explored - how it’s sometimes nice looking back, how it’s sometimes more heartbreaking exploring the loss and how everybody’s grief isn’t the same.

I loved the twists and turns this one took and I could feel myself with the characters every step of the way.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this author goes next.

i really liked this one and how grief changes yourself and your relationships with those around you. i liked the descriptions of the settings and the friendships made, really recommend

A realistic look at grief and who it belongs too - who has ownership over someone when they pass? Mother, siblings, friends, lovers. You mean something different to everyone in your life and so whose grief is most valid ? This was a well written book that I enjoyed a lot.

Aisha Muharrar’s Loved One is a quietly powerful exploration of grief, memory, and the deep emotional currents that connect — and complicate — our relationships.

At its heart, it’s a story about loss, but also about identity, intimacy, and the imperfect ways we hold onto people we’ve loved and lost.

The novel centres on Julia, who first meets Gabe as a teenager abroad in Barcelona. What begins as an intense romantic spark evolves into a long-standing friendship that never quite loses its emotional charge. Years later, when Gabe dies suddenly, Julia finds herself reeling — not just from his death, but from the realisation that the version of him she carried all those years might not have been the whole picture.

Muharrar deftly handles this emotional terrain, bringing together Julia and Elizabeth — Gabe’s more recent ex — at his funeral, then again under more intimate circumstances. Their interactions are complex and compelling, revealing how two people can grieve the same person in different ways, and how memory and meaning shift depending on perspective. The tension between them is delicately written, filled with moments of discomfort, revelation, and unexpected connection.

What makes Loved One stand out is its emotional precision. Muharrar doesn’t rely on melodrama; instead, she allows the characters’ pain, anger, confusion, and growth to emerge gradually and authentically. There’s humour and tenderness woven throughout, softening the sharp edges of loss without diminishing them.

This is also a novel that understands the ripple effect of death — not just on the closest relationships, but on the periphery too. Gabe’s presence lingers not only in Julia’s memories, but in the lives of his other friends, his mother, and Elizabeth, who each carry a unique, valid experience of grief. The story acknowledges these emotional overlaps and conflicts with a maturity that’s both honest and compassionate.

Muharrar’s writing is assured, clear-eyed, and emotionally resonant. She captures the contradictions of grie f— the selfishness, the yearning, the guilt, and the grace — in a way that feels both personal and universal. Loved One is a remarkable debut that stays with you, a layered reflection on how love and loss intertwine, and how understanding someone often means accepting what you’ll never fully know about them.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

i was hooked from the first page, but I found the changing timeline to be quite tedious by the end. I felt the same way about most of the characters. I did love how realistically the author described grief and the grieving process.

Loved One is a tender, quietly powerful exploration of love, grief and memories. When Julia's best friend—and once first love—Gabe dies suddenly at 29, she helps his mother retrieve some of his belongings.

For me, Loved One was a slow burner—until Julia's trip to London. From that point on, the story found its emotional stride. The evolving dynamic between Julia and Elizabeth (Gabe's recent ex-girlfriend)—particularly the question of whose grief is more valid: a lifelong friend or a recent lover—was absorbing and thought-provoking. It invited a reflection on how we measure the depth of loss and how different types of relationships carry equal, if not different, weight.

By the end, I was completely drawn in and was eager to finish the book.

I was recommended this by a friend, and I would never have known about it otherwise - so was really glad it fell onto my radar as it was a lovely read.
Julia is left devastated by the sudden death of her best friend Gabe. Gabe was originally her first teenage love, but their relationship had moved on to friends.... although only a month before his death unbeknown to anyone else they had got together one weekend for more than friends activity! At his funeral she meets Elizabeth, his last girlfriend, who seems standoffish and rude.
Julia and Gabe's mother, in the midst of their grief, are trying to locate some of his most treasured belongings. And suspecting they might be with Elizabeth Julia flies to London to track her down in the hope of retrieving the lost possessions.
And there, in London, they meet and get to know each other properly. Both hiding from each other the depths of their relationship with Gabe, they try together to navigate the grief they find themselves in.
I thought the ending rambled on a bit. But that was the only negative in an otherwise lovely read.

Loved One is a beautiful, reflective story about love, loss, and the kind of friendship that leaves a lasting imprint. Julia is grieving the death of Gabe - her best friend and first love - and as she helps his mother, Leora, sort through his things, we begin to piece together the story of their relationship: messy, loving, complicated, and enduring.

Told in first person, the narrative feels very personal and honest, like we’re right there with Julia as she tries to make sense of her grief and everything she didn’t know about Gabe. I loved how the story unfolded gently, with memories woven into the present, showing how deeply connected they were and how hard it is to let go of someone you never fully had.

Some of the character dynamics were hard to sit with - especially Leora. Her coldness and detachment didn’t quite make sense to me at times, especially for someone who raised Gabe on her own. I kept wondering if her behavior was meant to reflect her own way of coping, but it did feel jarring alongside the warmth Gabe seemed to give others.

Still, this was a moving and tender read. It captures that strange, raw space between heartbreak and healing, and I really appreciated the way the author let things stay a little unresolved - just like real life often is.

I requested this on the strength of the Maggie Shipstead recommendation on the front but it was too lightweight for my taste, I can definitely see that others might enjoy. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Give me any book about love and loss and I will treasure it.
This book looked at those friendships
where maybe in another universe, it could have been something different.
I loved the flashback scenes about Gabe and Julia's past.
Truly heartbreaking wonderful read.

Funny and touching exploration of grief and trying to make sense of losing someone important to you when you were also estranged. Loved how well this novel sketches the strangeness of realising you might not have known a person as well as you thought after they're gone and no longer around to ask them.

4.5
A tender, emotionally resonant read that explores love, grief, friendship, and the complexity of loss with honesty and heart. The story thoughtfully asks who gets to claim grief and how well we ever truly know someone. The musical backdrop adds a lovely touch, and the writing is engaging throughout, though the shifting timelines can occasionally feel disorienting. Still, this is a moving, memorable story that lingers long after the final page.

This story was an exploration of love, loss and jealousy, with Gabe at the center of it. Julia and Gabe first meet when they're in Barcelona. Julia's there to study and Gabe is there with his mother, who is teaching at an art school. He's trying to figure himself and his future out when he meets Julia, but nevertheless their relationship begins. A relationship that lasts a lifetime.

Then Julia meets Elizabeth, who is Gabe's latest ex, and the two women begin a journey of discovering themselves and the man they both loved. They're full of questions, concerns, jealousy and (white) lies, but have to work together if they want to put the puzzle pieces of Gabe's story together.

I think love and loss, especially grief, is depicted well throughout the story - it forces people into awkward situations, fuelled by a range of emotions. The characters are well constructed - they feel like real people. Like you or me. People you'd meet at a party or standing in line at a museum. There's humour, sadness and comfort throughout the pages and I really enjoyed it all.

What a beautiful exploration of grief, friendship and love. I absolutely loved this novel which felt like an American version of Sally Rooney’s normal people (if one of them died).

The characters were perfectly crafted and felt so real, and their relationship was messy, fun and heartbreaking. I loved the multiple settings across the US and Europe, and the twists were well executed. Would recommend!

Absolutely loved this book! This is all heart and touches the right chords. It makes you smile and feel the impact of a loss.

The book has themes of love, friendship, loss, grief, family and rivalry. A sudden death and its impact on the lives of people around. How much do people belong to us and is there a degree to it. Can someone claim more of a loss than the other. And a feeling of who knew them the best. It is all realistically done. The book connects since it feels real and relevant. Also liked the touch of the music world here.

Absolutely recommend this one. The book is about love and loss and friendship in a beautiful amalgamation. It does a brilliant job of showing love in the backdrop of grief. The writing style is brilliant and catches attention from the beginning.

Thank you 4th Estate and William Collins and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

I felt the book went on a bit and veered between past and present in a sometimes confusing manner. However, overall it was an insightful look into first loves, relationships and grief. I enjoyed it.