Name: Dear Emmie Blue
ISBN: 9781643589114

Lia Louis

I think of my balloon, and how far it traveled across those inky waves. I think of the wide world out there and all its possibilities. Maybe one day I'll see the northern lights. And someday I'll fall in love. Years ago, Emmie Blue released a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky. Now, in her twenties, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone for good, and everything she planned is up in the air.

Dear Emmie Blue

In this charming and poignant novel, teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it; now, fourteen years later, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone for good, and everything she planned is up in the air. 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? Emmie Blue is about to learn everything she thinks she knows about life (and love) is just that: what she thinks she knows. Is there such thing as meant to be? Or is it true when they say that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans? A story filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

A Novel

I’ve been waiting to grab my hands on this book, mainly because I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and this is in the same niche genre bracket.

I was in so much pain starting this book and I cannot tell you how warm hearted this book was to me; a balm to soothe my wounds. Tear jerking, laugh out loud moments, and sweet sentiments, Lia Louis beautifully and delicately writes about love, family, and community. 

It’s a lovely mix between your favorite romcom and contemporary drama film.

Jawahir M

I’ve been waiting to grab my hands on this book, mainly because I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and this is in the same niche genre bracket.

I was in so much pain starting this book and I cannot tell you how warm hearted this book was to me; a balm to soothe my wounds. Tear jerking, laugh out loud moments, and sweet sentiments, Lia Louis beautifully and delicately writes about love, family, and community. 

It’s a lovely mix between your favorite romcom and contemporary drama film.

In this charming and poignant novel that “oozes charm and wit and speaks beautifully about friendship and love, and the differences between the two” (Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know), teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it. But fourteen years later, everything Emmie has planned is up in the air. 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 address, 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. 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? Filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue “beautifully captures the heartache and frustrations of carrying our teenaged selves with us wherever we go” (Anstey Harris, author of Goodbye Paris) that is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

This might be my favourite book of the year so far. I had read a review for it last year and luckily it was on offer at the same time and it seemed like fate! I then foolishly put off reading because it was apparently an emotional read and who wants to be crying on the bus? I am an idiot, it was amazing. I’m so glad I pulled my head out of my arse and read it. I have a reading challenge to thank for it. 

Emmie Blue spent so much of her life feeling alone. So to have a friend arrive in her life when she felt at her lowest felt like fate. And after all their years of friendship she loved him and she believed he was the one. So when he asked her to be best woman at his wedding you can imagine where this book would be going. This wasn’t just about her broken heart over her friend though. This book was about her finding her family, herself, and realising exactly what made Emmie Blue such an amazing person. 

When she was called a closed book at one point I really related because I don’t always let people in. Not because I don’t want to but simply because I don’t think people care. But when Emmie began to reach out to people and strive to make those connections I was loving life. 

This book was emotional. I did have a few tears but I finished this book with a smile on my face and that satisfying warm fuzzy feeling you get when you finish a truly good book. I recommend it to everyone.

Becky

This might be my favourite book of the year so far. I had read a review for it last year and luckily it was on offer at the same time and it seemed like fate! I then foolishly put off reading because it was apparently an emotional read and who wants to be crying on the bus? I am an idiot, it was amazing. I’m so glad I pulled my head out of my arse and read it. I have a reading challenge to thank for it. 

Emmie Blue spent so much of her life feeling alone. So to have a friend arrive in her life when she felt at her lowest felt like fate. And after all their years of friendship she loved him and she believed he was the one. So when he asked her to be best woman at his wedding you can imagine where this book would be going. This wasn’t just about her broken heart over her friend though. This book was about her finding her family, herself, and realising exactly what made Emmie Blue such an amazing person. 

When she was called a closed book at one point I really related because I don’t always let people in. Not because I don’t want to but simply because I don’t think people care. But when Emmie began to reach out to people and strive to make those connections I was loving life. 

This book was emotional. I did have a few tears but I finished this book with a smile on my face and that satisfying warm fuzzy feeling you get when you finish a truly good book. I recommend it to everyone.

Janna Niemi

Emmie Blue has always been more or less alone. Well, until Luke found her balloon. But now he is getting married and she is once again losing everything. But what if things are not quite as they seem and there is someone who will never leave her. 

I had no expectations for this book. The cover just looked nice and the description was interesting. It turned out this book was perfect for me. I could not stop listening to it. From the first word spoken, I was hooked. 
The whole story plot is so interesting and so gripping that I was a bit dazed when the final music was playing. The story is beautiful and I feel like thinks went exactly as I wanted them to go. In the end, everybody are happy, more or less. 
I don't this book would not be as good as it is, if Elliot and Luke and all the other characters were not in it and I simply love every single character in this book (well, maybe there are few that I hate a little bit) and I especially like Elliot. He is such a good human being it's unreal. And I'm so happy that he ends up where he ends up. It just makes everything so much better. 

The narrator of this book is simply brilliant. I really enjoyed listening to the clear, somewhat soothing voice and it was especially great when I was listening this book during the evenings, just before bed. I feel like the narrator really brings out Emmie. Her fragility and her loneliness. And then her happiness and everything else. I wouldn't mind listening to other book read by her. 

All in all, this book is brilliant and it touches on some serious issues and how girls might be treated after rape or other types of assaults. And I really like how it brings out the struggle years and years after the actual situation. Lovely, lovely story!

*ARC received from the publisher via Netgalley

Sheena

‘Dear Emmie Blue’ completely blew me away with it's captivating writing style that pulled and tugged at my heartstrings, vibrant and real characters readers are able to relate and sympathize with and an engaging drama that makes you want to root for the heroine and her happily ever after. It was an unforgettable story that left me an emotional wreck. It’s been a long time since a book hit close to home, driving me to ugly cry so hard you would’ve thought someone died.
 
It’s not to say this book was perfect. There were a few questionable scenes and actions that made me want to wring the neck out of Emmie, Lucas and Eliot. Moreso, when reaching the conclusion of the story and how a particular life changing incident from Emmie's past came to light, I was more than frustrated with the heroine's reaction to this character's deed and how easily it was pushed aside and not really addressed. Despite the long history between them, forgiveness came too easily and I wished their actions would have had repercussions. Vague, I know. But going further into would only spoil what transpires. 
 
In the face of those underlying issues that I was able to push aside because it made the characters far more real and raw, ‘Dear Emmie Blue’ kept me spellbound and I was so compelled to read this, I finished it in one sitting with frequent breaks to wipe my tears and to reflect on the magic of the story. It’s evident that I'll be thinking about 'Dear Emmie Blue' for a long time to come.

Aleena Korell

Still trying to decide between 4 and 5 stars but I stayed up past 2am to finish this in one sitting, so for now I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Katy 

Allyson Marrs

I echo this book's early praise. It is indeed charming! The story is sweet and serendipitous, but still has that conflict we all need in a good story. I’m also a sucker for any English setting, soooo that may have helped hook me. But really, this story has a cast of great characters, and touches upon really relevant themes for anyone newly 30, with some added drama to keep it spicy.

Amy Arthun Lorton 

Renee Blankenship

I loved loved loved Emmie Blue! She was such a great character, trying to find herself and her place without the picture perfect family and a LOT of past baggage. This was really such a sweet story at heart, I loved the fated friendship between her and Lucas. That balloon! I think her feelings about him moving forward in his own life and finally getting rid of the "perfect" image she had of him felt incredibly real and honest. I loved the way the story turned and that it allowed for her to have a little space to really figure out what she wanted, before finding the love she needed. I read this one really fast and found it easy to love! Highly recommend if you are looking for a sweet story about love and friendship!

Irin 

ONE OF MY FAVES OF 2020
I was expecting to laugh, smile and be totally fluffed-out by Dear Emmie Blue, cause the book cover is so adorable and it's a story about best friends, right? But here's what happened instead : There were tears, tissues, awwws and oh nos (so many of them) involved. But again, there are two important questions to ask here. Did I feel happy after finishing the book? YES. Was I an emotional mess? YOU BET I WAS. 
The heart of Dear Emmie Blue beats with one very important message throughout the entire storyline : Never stop clinging on to hope, even when everything around you tells you that nothing will ever be okay. It is, in short, a beautiful story about the purest form of love. The plot and characters -both the main and supporting ones, were so perfectly written. I was hooked from the very beginning of the story, and couldn't keep it down at all. 
This is for the author : Lia Louis, you're a wonderful person, and I've fallen head over heels in love with your writing. I need to get your other book as soon as I can. Please gift the world more amazing books like this, I WANT MORE AND MORE AND MORE.

Nicky Reid

arzoe kaur 

Pamela Byrne

Tiffany LeMasters

Taylor Jones

Jenna Moore

Rikke Lohse

Brian Hill

Nicki 

'Sweet, sparkling and heartwarming' LINDSEY KELK 'The British Marian Keyes' LAURA PEARSON 'A sweet, poignant tale of love and friendship. I loved it' BETH O'LEARY 'The new Eleanor Oliphant. I loved every moment' BELLA OSBOURNE 'Funny, clever and romantic' STACEY HALLS 'My heart felt too big for my chest the entire time' LOUISE O'NEILL 'Beautifully captures the heartache. Loved it' ANSTEY HARRIS Emmie Blue has a secret... A long time ago, Emmie Blue released a red balloon with a secret message hidden inside - and against all odds, across hundreds of miles of ocean, it was found on a beach in France by a boy called Lucas. Fourteen years later, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Emmie hopes that Lucas is finally about to kiss her. She never expected him to announce that he was marrying someone else! Suddenly Emmie's dreams are shattered and the one person in her life she can rely on is slipping through her fingers. But what if Lucas isn't her forever? What if her love story is only just beginning... Don't miss the love story that everyone is talking about this summer! Perfect for fans of Beth O'Leary, Josie Silver and Cecelia Ahern.

Dear Emmie Blue

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