THE THINGS WE NEED TO SAY by Rachel Burton is a powerful, emotional, heartbreaking, and inspiring story about love and all of its complications, and about life when it doesn't turn out as planned.

Fran and Will love each other, of that there is no doubt. But after the heartache of the last few years, especially this past year, they are struggling to reconnect and recover who they used to be together. And when Fran discovers something that Will has been keeping from her, it is the final straw, and she is happy to leave for Spain where she is teaching at a yoga retreat as it will give her the time and space she needs to figure out her life.
While Fran is gone, Will is forced to really look at himself and everything that has happened to them both in a different light. He loves Fran but he is terrified that too much heartache has happened for them to ever really recover but how could he ever live without her? Is it possible that love is not enough?

Now I'm warning you that there is a very high chance of tears when you read Fran and Will's story and the heartache that they have endured, and as I hugged my kids goodnight after reading this story I definitely held them for a little bit longer than usual. The characters are relatable, flawed, and oh so very human and you cannot help but care for them as their story captures your heart and attention. Mistakes are made, grief is shared, and friendships are solidified in this beautiful story about finding your way in life when your future takes an unexpected turn, and I could not put this book down until I knew how it ended.
​
THE THINGS WE NEED TO SAY by Rachel Burton is a stunning novel that brings grief, hope, strength, and love to the surface and I highly recommend it to fiction fans everywhere.

The Things We Need to Say is a gently paced, thoughtful novel about a couple who have reached the point in their marriage where they need to decide if what they have is worth fighting for, or if the time has come to walk away. They have faced so much heartache over the years and in their grief have become isolated; two people living in the same house but not sharing their lives. Fran has accepted a position teaching on a yoga retreat in Spain but on the eve of her departure learns some devastating news about her husband. Will begs her to stay but she realises she needs the space to decide what to do next. The story is told from both Fran and Will's perspectives, with occasional chapters set in the past which gradually let us know how their relationship progressed from falling head over heels in love to crisis point. It was fascinating to see both sides of their story but I think I knew Fran more by the end of the novel. I felt she developed separately during the course of the book whereas Will was perhaps still defined by his relationship with her.
I'm not going to give too much away about the plot suffice to say that is an emotional, honest and empathetic look at issues which affect many couples. As the novel progresses the truth about just what Fran and Will have endured is slowly revealed and it is heartrending. There are moments in the book where it would only be too easy to blame Will for their problems or to become infuriated with Fran for her failure to communicate her fears to her husband. However, this is a novel about forgiveness and acceptance, about the need to be truly present in a marriage and the importance of sharing every emotion - even those that are perhaps easier to put a brave face to.
Much of the book is set in Salou in Spain (Or Catalonia to be more precise) and this beautiful setting gives the story a lovely summery feel which contrasts poignantly with the often sad themes in the novel. As Fran shares her yoga knowledge with the other people on the retreat we learn their stories too and follow their journeys as they face their personal issues and begin their own healing processes. I found it particularly refreshing to read a book where there is no-one who could be considered a negative character. There are moments when somebody may be off-hand, or even rude and there's one particular relationship which I definitely had conflicting feelings about but each character shares their hard won experiences and in doing so they help each other to decide what they want next in life.
The Things We Need to say is a touching and very relatable novel and although the themes may be upsetting, it's a book about forgiveness, communication and ultimately about hope. It is undoubtedly a tear-jerker but it is also a life-affirming read and a rather beautiful, very honest love story.

The Things We Need To Say introduces us to Will and Fran. To outsiders, they looked like the perfect couple, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. Their marriage has been slowly crumbling for years. Then a tragedy hits which pushes them further apart more so than ever before. When they finally start to reconnect and explore the love they both still had for each other, a secret is revealed that could have a devastating effect on their marriage. This secret comes at such a bad time as Fran is about to embark on a week long retreat to Spain to teach a yoga class. Fran and Will do love each other, but could this secret have the potential to split them up for good?

The story alternates between the present and the past and we really get an insight into Will and Fran’s marriage. A marriage that is filled with love, heartache, and pain. I could not help but empathize with Fran as she struggles through infertility issues and how much of a strain it put on her marriage. Fran really needs this retreat. It is a way for her to reconnect with herself and to reflect on what she wants out of life and especially her marriage. I feel that the story really opens up once Fran arrives in Spain. It is here, with the help of others at the retreat, that finally opens Fran up to who she is and what she has become. It is also here that she can finally open up about her marriage and the losses that she has gone through. She becomes a new person while she learns how to love herself and to let people in. But, with this realization, is it still too late to save her marriage?

The Things We Need To Say is an emotionally filled story with unimaginable grief, but it is also a story filled with love, hope and redemption. Rachel Burton takes on some heavy subject matters, but does it in such a compassionate way that shows the real struggles that women are faced with and the emotions they go through at times of adversity. I highly recommend you read this story as it has such a powerful message and Fran’s story needs to be shared.

Heartwrenching, touching, and undeniably affecting!

The Things We Need to Say is an absorbing, character-driven novel that highlights the emotional, physical and mental strain infertility and the loss of a child can have on a marriage.

The writing is vivid and eloquent. The characters are raw, consumed, traumatized, and real. And the plot told from dual perspectives is a beautifully written tale about life, loss, heartache, infidelity, friendship, yoga, introspection, and second-chance love.

Overall I would have to say that The Things We Need to Say is an immersive, warm, thought-provoking novel that reminds us just how important trust, communication, honesty, forgiveness, and love are to the success of a relationship and thus ultimately our own happiness.

This is a book about life. A book about about problems. About heartache and fear and secrets.
And there is yoga. It is also a book about strength and bravery, about facing fears. Looking at life as it really is, in this moment. And dealing with it head on. About acceptance and forgiveness.

Beautifully written. At times cryptic, with purpose. Everyone has baggage, a past, and a future.
No one has all the answers. We need to remember to have hope.

It is a love story, a story about heartache and betrayal. A story about self questioning and being honest with your answers.

I am looking forward to more by this author.

My Rating:

4.5

Favorite Quotes:

Midlife crisis? … Couldn’t he have just bought a Porsche or something?

His family were of the traditional British stiff-upper-lip variety; tall and robust with good bone structure – the kind of people who could drink all night without appearing inebriated and still be up at dawn to feed the dogs and shoot the pheasants.

My Review:

I surprised myself with the level of engagement and I experienced with this insightfully written, melancholy, and slowly developing story. I have no personal interest and typically avoid or don’t relate to the main issues at the foundation of the storyline, but the emotive and well-crafted words chosen and artfully arranged by this talented author required that I stop and reevaluate my opinions. Most of the characters were facing life-altering transitions and several were living in significant turmoil caused by messes or their own making, yet I couldn’t look away. I am usually annoyed by the avoidance tactics, extreme waffling, and flight tendencies displayed by the character of Fran, however, Fran was so endearing and making such an effort to put herself back together, I could easily forgive her shortcomings. The storyline was evocative, unpredictable, and intriguing; I remained engaged and speculative from beginning to end. Ms. Burton’s writing was superb throughout, and the characters’ inner musings were profoundly insightful, observant, and thoughtfully executed. This book is a cautionary tale to remind us what happens when people become so entrenched in perfecting and achieving their goals that they lose sight of themselves and everyone/everything around them. Been there, done that, bought that shirt. Though thankfully, not the same shirt as these characters.

Well done novel of a couple- Fran and Will- struggling with so many things that they lose sight of what's important. When Fran discovers what Will has done she takes off for the yoga retreat she's long planned to attend. She's not running away, she's giving herself time to think. I enjoyed the Catalan setting and the other people she meets there. Fair warning that this is told in alternating voices and time lines, which worked for me because it allowed me to see things slowly. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Nicely written and plotted and I even felt some sympathy for Will (although not for what he did.).

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the Publisher, HQ Digital for this review copy given in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for organising the Blog Tour.

My first book by this author. For information, the book is based mainly in Spain. This is a story of love and loss. It does have references to infertility and miscarriage which whilst may be upsetting for some, it has been written very sensitively.

Fran and Will have the perfect marriage, until one day when Fran finds out about something that Will has done and everything changes. Going off on a yoga retreat in Spain which Fran has been booked to teach gives her the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate her life and make some very important decisions.

Oh my goodness, what an emotional story! This is definitely one where a box of tissues nearby would be handy! Thankfully, it’s not all sadness. As the book moves on you realise it’s also a story of hope and forgiveness and becomes quite uplifting. Fran is a very likeable character and you certainly feel her pain, loss and grief. I have to admit I initially found Will selfish and annoying, but as the book moves on I began to understand that perhaps he wasn’t really, it was just a reaction to what he and Fran have had to cope with.

Putting aside the obvious theme of the book, the setting of the Yoga retreat in Spain sounded perfect. Whilst Yoga isn’t my kind of thing, and I certainly wouldn’t ever have considered a Yoga Retreat, it certainly opened my eyes as to how relaxing it appeared!

A sensitively and well written book, which will stay with you even after you’ve finished it. Recommended!

A very well written honest book portraying the emotional rollercoasters of infidelity and infertility, of loss and grief. A writer able to weave a silver strand of hope even when taking the reader into the inner thoughts of characters tormented by the past. #netgalley We are reminded how important not to be afraid of #TheThingsWeNeedToSay

Poignant, honest and beautifully written, I instantly connected with Fran and Will as they stand at a crossroads in their once secure, loving marriage. This book makes your heart ache with emotion as the story unfolds.

Well - the title says it all. It truly is an emotional and uplifting story. There isn't a huge plotline or action or romance. It is just a story of life - the good, the bad and the ugly. This amazing couple suffered so much loss and grief, and instead of coming together to weather the storm, they turned away from each other and stopped communicating and just even simply hugging. This is a story about whether love truly is enough to hold on to so that you can pull yourselves back to each other when life's storms pull you apart. My heart is happy and hopeful after reading this.

Fran and Will have had their fair share of heartbreak, with the fertility issues, the loss and the overwhelming grief they’ve suffered, and Burton take us through their gut wrenching story.

This couple of has been through the ringer, and their pain was palpable and I don’t know hw many times I had to wipes tears from my eyes. Having multiple miscarriages is such a painful loss, and when couples go through what these two have, they sometimes forget what how their spouses might be feeling through all of this. Not talking about it can hurt a marriage, and this is what Fran and Will are going through.

I enjoyed the dual narrations between Fran and Will, it was a prefect way to see the story from both sides. The fears, the feelings they felt and how they dealt it all. It shows us the good and bad times and sometimes the “ugliness” that sometimes comes with betrayals.

While some of things that that Will did through his grief and the growing distance between from Fran, I didn’t understand and I felt so much frustrating towards him. So, I understood why Fran kept her planned trip to Spain to teach yoga. Maybe distance is what they needed. Fran had some things that she did while is Spain that kinda irritated me too, but I pushed those feelings aside and just hoped that this trip would be something that would make her see things differently, maybe both of them see things differently.

I really liked getting to know some the people in Frans yoga class, too. Especially Elizabeth and Constance, they were two feisty women, and I think they could certainly cause a ruckus hopping around Spain. But they would be two women I would definitely want as friends. We all need a little bit trouble sometimes and what a gorgeous place like Spain would be to cause some too.

Fran and Will have a lot of pain and sorrow, they have a lot to move past and work through. Their journey was a roller coaster of emotions for them as well me reading it, with the ups and downs, and seeing the hurt these two have gone through was so heartbreaking. One thing that I loved so much about this was the message of hope and the ending was filled me with happiness for them. It was so worth the frustration and tears I went though while reading their story. The writing was truly wonderful, and it was so easy to get swept up in the story, and it was one that I will stay with me. I can’t recommend this enough.

From the description of this book it sounded very good but for me, it didn't live up to it. I didn't like all the jumping back and forth between the year and to be honest was quite bored and gave up on it.

This has everything that you don't need in a marriage.
Affairs, lies, infertility, lack of honesty and being open about your thoughts and feelings and sharing them.

I felt so bad for the pair of them.
They were such a great couple, then the not being able to have a child curled herself into a ball, loosing her Mother was also in the mix.
Its very hard to judge another for withdrawing as we all deal with trauma and hardship in different ways and not necessarily with the one you should be communicating with.

I could understand Will wandering for attention on the night they both argued., not saying I condone it, but I understand why it happened.

When Fran finds out about the fling he had she is more than devastated.

She had a Yoga retreat planned so she headed off without looking back.
Us the reader are left wondering if she will return and so is Will.

The story is told in both viewpoints and also goes back in time, you get the whole big picture of their relationship.

So well written, so sensitively put and with the most basic of emotional behaviour raw and open wide for all to see and judge.

I loved it.,

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. I liked how Fran and Will grew and learned about themselves through the novel. This novel can be tough to read if you or someone you know has dealt with infertility and miscarriages.

The Things We Need To Say tells the story of Fran and Will a married couple who are struggling to save their marriage. From the very start of the book it is obvious there is a distance between the couple, however it isn’t clear what the cause of the division is until much later.

Fran is a yoga teacher and has been employed to run a week-long retreat in Spain. She views as a welcome break allowing her to take some time away from her everyday routine to help gain some clarity about her relationship and life with Will. However, her world is turned upside down when she discovers a text on Will’s phone the night before leaving for the retreat. When confronting Will he admits to having an affair sending Fran’s whole world into a spin. Despite the turmoil of her home life Fran makes the decision to travel to Spain, putting some much-needed distance between Will and herself.

What follows for Fran is an emotional journey of self-discovery where as a reader we are drip fed information about the heartbreak the couple have had to endure. Having experienced recurrent miscarriage the pair have emotionally withdrawn, each shutting the other out and driving a wedge in their relationship that can only be broken down by opening themselves up and facing their fears.

This story is fantastically written, as someone who has had very similar experiences with fertility and miscarriage the heartache, grief and loss the couple experience is so honestly portrayed and relatable for me. It really helps highlights the importance of communication in any relationship, a pertinent reminder for all couple in any situation.

I really enjoyed the way the story alternated between the past and present as well as being told from different characters perspectives. I felt I was given a well-rounded insight into their thoughts and feelings making them much more real and believable.

This book is an emotional roller-coaster filled with loss, grief and fear mixed together with a message of change, hope and love. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this novel, I was hooked and finished it in two days as I was keen to find out how it concluded!

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this novel and for the first quarter I was wondering if I had made the right decision to read it, purely as I was exhausted and not thinking straight. However a few pages later I started to really get to grips with the book and over the course of the next few hours lost myself between the pages of Fran and Will's story.

I suspect that if I had been through any of the things Fran has been through then I would have been in floods of tears for large amounts of the book as it is emotional, but it is also beautifully written, and really makes you think too.

The story is told in the present from both Will and Fran's perspectives and also in a series of chapters set int he past slowly chronicling all the highlights and lowlights of their marriage together up to the present. To start with you are given the bare bones information as to their current situation, but as the book progresses gaps start to be filled in, and with it your opinions may alter.

Most of the present day of the book is set in Salou, Spain on a yoga retreat that Fran is the instructor on, the trip has not had the best timing in terms of a revelation the day before Fran flies out but it gives the pair a chance to think and reflect on how circumstances have got to this stage.

I loved the bits where Fran was out and about in the local area and got a real feel for the Catalan area of Spain, complete with its own language and references to current events from the last year or two out in the region.

The other people on the yoga retreat we get to know really well too and I loved being drawn into their stories too, as they are allon the retreat for different reasons but feel that yoga will help them out with their personal situations.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a book that will stay on my mind for a while, I'm not sure what I would have done in Fran's position but it certainly gives food for thought. This was the first book I had read by Rachel Burton and it certainly won't be the last, as I found the story incredibly well written and full of emotion, with believable characters and situations.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

The description of this book sounded very good but for me, it didn't live up to it and I didn't finish it.

I wanted to love this book, a tale of love, grief, loss, and other such emotionally-charged topics. I read a lot of psychological thrillers and so thought this would be a welcome break from that genre. Sadly, I found that this book REALLY dragged. I don't find the idea of a yoga treat all that interesting in real life, so to read about one I found pretty dull. The to-ing and fro-ing of Fran's emotions drove me mad, and in the end I just got fed up of all the maudlin subject content. I didn't find anything within the plot which really held my attention, and it honestly was a slog to get through it.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I don't have a great deal of time to dedicate to reading which is why I am a big fan of Audible audio books. After a few pages I made sure to carve out some time to read sit down and read/devour it. It is a realistic look into a relationship. It tackles real issues that couples deal within an honest way while taking you along the journey with them. Is love always enough? What happens when a couple stops talking and start to lose each other? When they are afraid to tell each other their own fears and truths. Can find their way back to each other while dealing with the pain of infertility, infidelity, and physical distance? Is taking some time away from each other the right thing and if so, for one or both of them? It takes you on an emotional journey that is well worth the ride. It is written with kindness and honesty, but does not hold back. It is my first novel by Rachel Burton, but surely will not be my last. If you are looking for something that is more than a quick beach read (which I also love) with some characters that will stay with you for this is the book for you. It offers great deal to think about. It gives hope, which is something sorely lacking in todays world.