Early Review – Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis (4/5 Stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Release Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1982135911
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars
“At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.
Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off from her job. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I got through Amazon Vine to review.
Story (4/5): This was a really good contemporary fiction read. The whole background to this story is very cute and I enjoyed it. The romance in it is just perfect as well. This was a very emotional read and had me crying and laughing sometimes very close together.
The premise is that many years ago Emmie sent up a balloon from her home in the UK, then it touched down in France and Lucas found it. Since then they have been fast friends but just when Emmie thinks Lucas is finally going to propose to her he ends up asking her to be his “best man” at his upcoming wedding to another woman. It was adorable and had some nice twists to it.
Characters (5/5): There are a ton of amazing characters in here. I really loved Emmie, she is so lost, yet so determined to find her way through life. She’s had a pretty bad hand dealt to her throughout her life and I admired her strength to really work to get through it and try to be a good person. The side characters were really well done too. I especially enjoyed the older woman who Emmie was renting a room from and Lucas’s brother. Really all of the characters were incredibly well done.
Setting (4/5): I loved the international setting and the glimpse into life in a London suburb. I also enjoyed all the traveling back and forth between France and the UK. Very fun read, especially during a time when I can’t go anywhere!
Writing Style (4/5): This was a story that was very easy to read and well paced. There are a lot of twists to the story that really kept me engaged and reading and this was a very hard book to put down. No complaints at all about how this was written
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this, it was just a cute and fun contemporary romance read. This has a lot more meat to it than other contemporary romances I have read. I would recommend if you are looking for a fun and heartfelt read about a 30 year old trying to sort out her life and find love. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by Lia Louis.
