Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity of reading an advance electronic copy of this book. This is my unbiased review.
Sometimes, it's very hard to put your thoughts together and write down how you feel about a novel you may have read at some point. This is what happened to me when I read When I'm Gone by Emily Bleeker. I found it difficult to understand whether I considered it a 3-star or a 4-star book. I am, by no means, saying that reading this novel was a bad experience; however, it might not have been in complete accordance with my tastes and preferences.
The book starts off with Luke Richardson, who's only returning home after having attended the burial of Natalie, his wife. Luke and Natalie have three children of different ages. They were married for sixteen happy years, and it's safe to say that Luke feels devastated for having lost her, even though when she passed away, she had been battling cancer for over a year.
When he gets home, though, he discovers a blue envelope containing a letter from Natalie. In fact, Natalie started writing to Luke long before her cancer remission and almost after having been diagnosed for the first time. The letters are comforting and make Luke dream about the happy times they spent together. The question of whether or not Natalie's best friend, Annie, is the person delivering the letters remains in Luke's mind, but soon enough he's convinced she couldn't have anything to do with it. In Natalie's letters, the husband discovers several references to a particular male character whose role is later on exposed. There seems to be a mystery that Natalie chooses to avoid unraveling to Luke, in spite of their closeness and trust in each other. Thanks to his flexible job and the help offered by Annie, who regularly babysits the children, Luke starts investigating and soon enough finds out several clues as to why Natalie chose to hide something from him while she was alive.
After reading the synopsis of the book, I had the tendency to believe it was very similar to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. After all, the letters start showing up in both novels without the husband knowing who sends or delivers them. Even so, I soon discovered that When I'm Gone is different. The book touches upon a lot of sensitive topics, from battling cancer to grieving for a lost loved one. As readers, we can eventually understand that Luke is going to move on. I have to say that I enjoyed how this book made it easy for the person reading it come to terms that life does go on after death and that husbands and wives don't have to be looked at as widowers and widows for eternity. Finding happiness is more than complicated when one is in the midst of turmoil caused by the death of a loved one, but it sometimes can happen. When I'm Gone deals with love, recovery, stress, curiosity, and a little bit of mystery.
Without a doubt, this book is worth every penny and minute. If you're reading this, you should take into account the fact that I am not a huge fan or romance in general, which is why I decided on a 3-star rating. Even so, I do realize that it's a well-written novel that deserves the amount of appreciation it has gathered on Goodreads, Amazon, and some other websites I've come across. While writing this, the Goodreads rating for When I'm Gone is 4.20 out of 5, which practically speaks for itself.
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New Releases: When I'm Gone by Emily Bleeker
Sometimes, it's very hard to put your thoughts together and write down how you feel about a novel you may have read at some point. This is what happened to me when I read When I'm Gone by Emily Bleeker. I found it difficult to understand whether I considered it a 3-star or a 4-star book. I am, by no means, saying that reading this novel was a bad experience; however, it might not have been in complete accordance with my tastes and preferences.
What's it about?
The book starts off with Luke Richardson, who's only returning home after having attended the burial of Natalie, his wife. Luke and Natalie have three children of different ages. They were married for sixteen happy years, and it's safe to say that Luke feels devastated for having lost her, even though when she passed away, she had been battling cancer for over a year.When he gets home, though, he discovers a blue envelope containing a letter from Natalie. In fact, Natalie started writing to Luke long before her cancer remission and almost after having been diagnosed for the first time. The letters are comforting and make Luke dream about the happy times they spent together. The question of whether or not Natalie's best friend, Annie, is the person delivering the letters remains in Luke's mind, but soon enough he's convinced she couldn't have anything to do with it. In Natalie's letters, the husband discovers several references to a particular male character whose role is later on exposed. There seems to be a mystery that Natalie chooses to avoid unraveling to Luke, in spite of their closeness and trust in each other. Thanks to his flexible job and the help offered by Annie, who regularly babysits the children, Luke starts investigating and soon enough finds out several clues as to why Natalie chose to hide something from him while she was alive.
Personal thoughts
After reading the synopsis of the book, I had the tendency to believe it was very similar to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. After all, the letters start showing up in both novels without the husband knowing who sends or delivers them. Even so, I soon discovered that When I'm Gone is different. The book touches upon a lot of sensitive topics, from battling cancer to grieving for a lost loved one. As readers, we can eventually understand that Luke is going to move on. I have to say that I enjoyed how this book made it easy for the person reading it come to terms that life does go on after death and that husbands and wives don't have to be looked at as widowers and widows for eternity. Finding happiness is more than complicated when one is in the midst of turmoil caused by the death of a loved one, but it sometimes can happen. When I'm Gone deals with love, recovery, stress, curiosity, and a little bit of mystery.
Is it worth it?
Without a doubt, this book is worth every penny and minute. If you're reading this, you should take into account the fact that I am not a huge fan or romance in general, which is why I decided on a 3-star rating. Even so, I do realize that it's a well-written novel that deserves the amount of appreciation it has gathered on Goodreads, Amazon, and some other websites I've come across. While writing this, the Goodreads rating for When I'm Gone is 4.20 out of 5, which practically speaks for itself.
