I loved this book a lot. It was beautifully written and a wonderful story. The characters were great and the book kept my interest and was read really quickly. I would recommend to my book friends.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I so enjoyed this book! Our Life In A Day is a charming but heartbreaking read which is made even more so by how realistic the story is.

The story follows Esme and Tom as they talk about their relationship in a very frank and honest way. This is what stood out for me most about this book as too often relationships in books are all very romantic and wonderful, so it was great to read about a real relationship, warts and all. Some of the arguments that the couple have are ones that I’ve had with my husband so it was nice to realise it’s not just us that have them!

I wasn’t too sure about Esme to start with as she seemed quite bossy and had lots of rules that she expected Tom to follow, which my husband would have had some choice words to say about if I’d tried to implement them. I did warm to her though as I learnt more about her and felt quite sorry for her as the story progresses.

My only slight niggle with this book is that the events the couple discuss aren’t in a chronological order which was a little confusing at times. I found I kept having to check the chapter Headings to remind myself where I was in the story.

This is a beautifully written book which made me laugh and cry in equal measures. There were lots of recognisable scenarios which helps the reader to connect to the characters and feel sympathy with them. Its also very well plotted with lots to keep the reader interested and surprisingly gripping as it’s impossible not to get absorbed into the story.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

Our Life in a Day was a unique, refreshing love story. I may be in the minority, but I’m not the type of reader who needs the happily ever after in fiction. I am always drawn to books that have the ability to pull the good, the bad, and the ugly from real life and provide a realistic, honest view of a relationship.

This is amazing for a debut. Beautifully written, flowing so well that you just don't want to stop reading. Breaking your heart whilst also making you smile is an excellent talent to have and I really look forward to reading more from this author.

What I can tell you about #OurLifeInADay @jamiefewery is that it's a beautifully told love story with a dark of edge. Moving & ultimately hopeful, it tackles male mental health with a great lightness of touch.

Our Life in a Day is the story of Tom and Esme who are going to be celebrating their ten year anniversary. Esme is always making up games for the couple to play and this time it involves them choosing memorable moments from their lives together but not necessarily just the happy times.

Tom and Esme meet at a party and right from that night Esme has made it clear that she values honesty but can Tom be totally honest with Esme?

Our Life in a Day is a story about the relationship between two people which unlike other books deals with the warts and all side of life. It also tackles the very topical subject of mental health from a male perspective which I found made for very interesting reading. It's often said that men don't like to talk about their feelings so to get inside Tom's head was fascinating.

I'm not a fan of book comparison's as I think books are very subjective (and in my experience they are mostly wrong) so to see Our Life in a Day compared to One Day by David Nicholls, I went into this book thinking it was going to be a lot more light and fluffy than it actually was. I certainly wasn't expecting a rough ride full of tension and grit, but that's not to say that it doesn't make for a good read.

I had no idea that this was a debut novel, the author has a real talent for language and creating character's that are worthy of a reader investing time in. I really felt for Tom throughout the book, he had so many things going on in his head but he just wanted a simple life with the woman that he loved but he was always afraid that it was all going to disappear in the blink of an eye.

If you're looking for a hearts and flowers story then this probably isn't it, but if you're in the market for a different kind of love story then you might just find it with Our Life in a Day.

I finished this book a couple of hours ago and the one thing that really stands out is that I didn’t feel like I was reading a fictional story, when I finished the last page I almost felt like I had lived through Esme and Tom’s relationship with them. What an emotional rollercoaster.
Our Life in a Day tells the story of Esme and Tom, it starts with Esme surprising Tom on their ten year anniversary with a game she has made up. Tom has to chose significant moments from the ten years since they met, a moment for each hour in a day, it doesn’t matter what year it happened in as long as the time frame fits and this is how we learn the story of Tom and Esme.
Tom takes us back to the moment he first met Esme after a difficult time in his life and over the course of the book the relationship is brought to life as Tom tells us the ups and downs of their relationship.
I loved the way the story is written, each chapter tells us a memory from a certain day and year and it fits into the time frame set out by Esme. It’s a really unique way of story telling and it worked brilliantly. Toms words really got to me at points, it was like he was telling his story to me and only me.
Both characters, Tom and Esme, were really easy to like. I couldn’t help feeling for them both, they truly love each other but like any relationship it has its difficulties but maybe more so for this couple. Tom really does try his best but what he believes is the best often isn’t.
Our Life in a Day really is a rollercoaster of emotions, some points I was laughing and others I was feeling a lump in my throat. Jamie Fewery really knows how to tug at those old heart strings and as a debut novel (I still can’t believe that) I have to say it was fantastic.
Perfectly paced and plotted, Our Life in a Day is a heartfelt and honest look at a couples relationship and I was totally hooked. It’s really not what I expected when I started the book, it’s so much better and I’ll definitely be recommending it.

Our Life in a Day has an interesting premise. Tom Murray’s girlfriend of ten years, Esme Simon, has come up with a game for him for their anniversary. This is not that unusual. This time the game is to pick the standout moments from their relationship for each hour of a day but from different years. So it might be 4-5am from 2007, 10-11pm from 2015 for instance. You get the idea, right? It forces Tom to look back and dissect their time together, particularly as this is not about picking all the best bits and forgetting the difficult ones, but a warts and all examination.

It’s a beautiful read. Each chapter gives the month and year of a particular memory and the hour in the day it relates to. I loved the whole idea of this way of telling a story and I thought it was clever and pretty unique. Tom is a fantastic narrator, quite honest about his foibles even though he wasn’t necessarily filtering that honesty through to Esme. Nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes, and none more so than Tom who seems to have a bit of a knack for doing the wrong things.

Our Life in a Day is a really moving and emotional read. I found it bittersweet in many ways, especially the ending which although quite real and true to life, wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. It’s a love story about the ups and downs of life, about trying to make the right decisions and sometimes not succeeding. I applaud the author for not always taking the easiest or most obvious routes for his characters.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. It’s perfectly plotted and I loved both of the main characters. It made me smile and it made me sad – the perfect combination.

I would not say this is an uplifting book but it is definitely a sad one. Tom and Esme have been together for 10 years, Esme plans a game that Tom will write down significant events in their relationship, one for each hour of the day. We then have each of these hours revealing how the relationship started and continued.
Whilst a story that unfolded and flowed well I actually felt desperately sorry for Tom, in my mind too much was expected from him in view of his debilitating relapses of depression. I could understand why he was so reticent
My main problem, and I think there will be many other readers that will disagree with me, is that I really found I couldn’t take to Esme and understood Toms point of view.
Very sad at times but an ending that has some small beams of light at the end of a dark tunnel for Tom.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

I loved the concept of this book - to celebrate their 10 year anniversary Esme asks Tom to think of 24 moments, one for each hour, that characterises their relationship.

I had high hopes of a One Day type story but I found this to be much bleaker as the majority of Tom's moments have negative undertones, and it just made me think this couple aren't right for each other.

Also, the narrative structure wasnt as expected because it doesn't deal with their relationship strictly chronologically as there are some flashbacks, nor does it deal with a day chronologically as it jumps about from hour to hour. That said, the timeline of the relationship is adhered to in a general sense so as not to confuse the reader.

I like that it deals with male mental health as it is often ignored by society.

An interesting book but it left me feeling a little sad and unfulfilled.

Heartbreaking, Raw and Real

I have always been a great believer in the idea that the universe gives us things and people when we need them the most. Situations are drawn towards us when we need to learn lessons and friends are brought into our lives when we most need a particular personality to help us through tough times. I also believe there are certain books that are put into your lap for a reason. Certain authors, you are drawn towards to help teach you a lesson or learn from their stories.

This book is a perfect example of that for me.

I was invited on this blog tour a fair time ago. The book sat on my Kindle for quite some time. Other books were read first, their blurb more inticing maybe, their cover more appealing. Thrillers were my chosen genre for quite some time, I needed books that would take me away from my own world. Escapism.

This is a book I put off reading until almost the last moment. Not because the cover didn't appeal (I actually think it is really quite beautiful) and not because the blurb didn't excite me, but because I expected it to be a predictable love story. This is the perfect example of why you should never ever judge a book by its cover, or blurb!

I was expecting a cute, loving and happy romance novel, especially as I knew this was a debut. What I experienced was a raw and emotional magnifying glass held against a truly real relationship - and one that I could almost certainly relate to.

This accomplished piece of writing plays with structure and emotion and is not written in a linear fashion. For those who want to just dip in and out of a book, this may not suit you. The structure means you move back and forward in time and instead of being linear, it jumps between emotions and memories - and just like real life, we don't recount our memories in a biographical way - some memories are harder to admit, harder to face. Sometimes life itself is hard to face. Using the 'game' allowed Fewery to really explore the characters fears and failures. It's a technique I think brought a unique dimension to a book that could have been boring, and instead is fascinating.

Jamie Fewery has created characters that are incredibly relatable and honest. The dialogue is so effortless and makes you feel like you are sitting in the same room watching their life unfold. Their relationship is far from perfect, Esme is bossy and can sometimes read as a little controlling (can't we all be?) and Tom feels so incredibly vulnerable. As the novel develops we learn why.The way Fewery highlights mental health issues is what struck me the most. Suffering from anxiety myself, I can honestly say I felt my heart pounding harder during certain chapters. The descriptions of anxiety and depression are so acutely real that for the first time in a long time I feel like I have read a true, honest and raw depiction of what true mental health looks like.I love a book that make me cry. I love a book that drags out the emotion in me. This book did that and more. I hadn't realised how much I needed a good cry and this one felt almost cathartic. I hadn't realised how much I needed to address some of the situations brought up in this book until I saw the writing on the page, and I have a feeling I won't be the only one thinking that, so many people will be able to relate to - both males and females!

Life is not all hearts and flowers, relationships are not always easy and Fewery balances expertly on the really thin line between a book that could be sad and painful to read and one that ends up being honest and endearing.

The ending (don't worry, I won't be giving any spoilers) is utterly perfect. It left me wishing I could hunt each of the characters down and hug them close. Esme and Tom's journey became so real for me, one that I felt privileged to have joined them on. For a debut novel, Our Life in a Day has set the bar high. I look forward to seeing what Fewery comes up with next and will make sure I stock up on the tissues ahead of time.

Heartbreaking, Raw and Real. A truly honest look at the ups and downs of real life and real love.

Reviewed by EC Wilson for The Glass House Book Club

I came to read this fresh having not read the blurb for a while. It's very different from my usual read, but was a very welcome change from the murder and mayhem of crime and psychological thrillers! I had no idea it was a debut, and would never have guessed.

This is a love story about Tom and Esme. We join them as they are about to celebrate ten years together. They are going away to celebrate, but the night before they go, Esme cooks a special dinner and presents Tom with a gift - a pad of sticky notes each one with a clock face and an hour on it. Twenty four of them, one for each hour of the day. She wants Tom to come up with a significant moment in their relationship which corresponds with each hour of the day.

We then get to share the moments Tom picks - some are obvious, like when they first met, but others are not so obvious, and not always good ones.

I really liked both the main characters, but later in the book Esme made some decisions I didn't agree with, although I did understand why she made them. Esme is bright, funny, optimistic and sure of herself. Tom is shy and unsure of himself, although he does have a huge supporter and cheerleader in the form of best mate Annabel, who I absolutely adored. Anyway, our two lovebirds fall for each other quickly and settle into a routine.

The moments Tom picks aren't linear so the story does jump around a bit, and you need to stay with it to keep up. But we discover that he hasn't always shared everything with Esme, and his mental health issues keep cropping up.

Romance isn't a genre I read much of, it's just not for me. For me to enjoy a love story, it needs to have that 'je ne sais quoi', the X factor. And for me Our Life in a Day has that. It's a 'real' love story, in that it feels very believable, between two flawed individuals. And it's a love story for our time, with its honest and open look at, and portrayal of, male mental health problems. As someone (although not male) who has struggled with her own mental health, this really spoke to me.

It is beautifully written, with all the moments, good and bad, described with delicacy and emotion. In fact, this is a book full of heart. The ending, though beautiful, is bittersweet, and it broke me. I cried proper ugly tears and am still thinking about it now over a week after reading it. But it didn't make me love the book any less - a beautiful and accomplished debut.

In the early 90’s there was this really popular American sitcom starring Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser, that I really loved, called Mad About You. For some reason, Our Life in a Day reminded me of that!

Tom and Esme are your average “noughties” couple. They meet at a party, get to know each other, and their relationship progresses as these things do. And then … on the 10th anniversary of the day they met, Esme proposes that they play a game of her own creation. She presents Tom with 24 Post-It notes and tells him that on each one he must write down the most significant events of their relationship, roughly to the hour that they occurred. They don’t necessarily need to be the happiest ones – just the most meaningful ones. It seems simple enough doesn’t it?

But the devil’s always in the details, isn’t it? And Fewery cleverly unravels Tom and Esme’s relationship in selecting the most noteworthy episodes of their 10 years together. He lays bare all the details for his readers, and in so doing, displays exactly who his characters truly are, in all their flawed glory. He doesn’t shy away from major issues – although I did feel that he could have delivered more depth when it came to dealing with a mental health crisis. No real detail was given at all, other than a minor mention of seeing a therapist, but other than that, nothing else. I do think that if this is one of your underlying themes it needs to be dealt with to a much larger extent.

I really didn’t like Esme at all. To me (and this really is only my personal opinion), it seemed that the entire relationship ran on her terms alone with very little regard for what Tom wanted or needed. She seemed very selfish and self-absorbed. In her defense though, this is shown very early on when she announces that she will never ever be the first one out of bed in the morning and that Tom will always wake up first and make her a cup of tea! I think my jaw dropped at that! Jamie Fewery – did someone in your distant past hit you with that? I couldn’t help thinking that they probably did!

What starts out as a hopeful outlook to a fresh new future for a young couple, slowly becomes a much more serious analysis at the challenges that are faced when entering new relationships – of any sort really – not only romantic ones. The question always remains: how well do you really know a person? What secrets are they hiding? How do their upbringing and their parents’ influence impact their own adult behaviour and opinion? You just never really know when deep-seated angst can surface, and how it may do so.

The structure of the story is interesting and makes the reading a bit stilted and not so easy-flowing. I kept trying to figure out the timeline and struggled with that a bit. But this shouldn’t deter you from reading this as it’s a really thought-provoking commentary and conversation starter on the realities that are faced when wanting to meet a partner.

It’s a 4-star read, although not a light one.

When Tom and Esme meet in 2007 no one would have thought they would have lasted 10 years. Even Tom's mate discouraged him from pursuing her as she was 'out of his league'.

What I loved about this book is that it's a warts and all account of a relationship. Not everything has been rosy or plain sailing and it made me love it all the more. Did they handle all of their trials in the right way? No. But this was the brilliant human aspect of the story. Esme and Tom were both flawed. I did become frustrated with Tom and wanted him to be honest but this shows how much I was invested in their relationship.

I thought the tackling of mental health (and in particular with men struggling) was brilliant. There aren't enough stories that take on this sort of struggle and I applaud anyone that does.

The ending was refreshingly different too. Some might find it frustrating but I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end this story.

A 4 star read for me.

On the face of it, I’ll admit that this didn’t look like book I’d enjoy – the unusual structure driven by the game and the pile of post-it notes, the hours selected for their significance to Tom and Esme’s relationship, the focus on alcohol and male mental health. And have I ever mentioned how I just didn’t get on with David Nicholls’ One Day? I couldn’t help thinking that I’d probably feel the same about this book, as I picked it up with a sigh, prepared to try to find some positives to include in a review.

But that was until I put it down at the end, a few hours later – with a feeling of loss, like saying goodbye the closest of friends, people who’s lives I’d been part of, having experienced every possible emotion, and more than a little tearful. This book is simply wonderful – an emotional experience I’m unlikely to forget, and an absolute triumph in every way.

The writing is superb – the characters are real people, living their lives, feeling their moments of joy and anguish – and it was something rather special, and immensely uplifting, to be allowed to share those moments. And the structure really works, in a way I never imagined it would – almost a series of linked shorter stories, snapshots from life, slowly revealing a tangled web of secrets – and it’s even more impressive from a debut novelist who entirely owns the story he tells.

I don’t think I need to go into any more detail – read it, feel it, and I promise you won’t be disappointed. One very special book.

(Review copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available)

To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Tom and Esme are planning a mini break away but on the eve before they go, Esme presents Tom with a game – a stack of Post-its with a time noted on them and a drawing of a clock.

He has to pick the most significant moments from their relationship for each hour of a day, but over different years. This is how we see their relationship from his perspective from the moment he and Esme first met at a party in 2007.

Tom and Esme’s relationship wasn’t all hearts and flowers, they loved each other and had many happy times but each had their flaws and baggage and their relationship was complicated. Esme came across as being very bossy and wanting things on her terms whilst Tom seemed to be the more submissive one of the partnership and there were times when I wished he would stand up to Esme more.

There was one thing that Esme insisted on and that was total honesty. Tom however wasn’t always honest with her on a number of fronts – for his own reasons he felt that he couldn’t be, and this is where I found the story most powerful as it was a continuing thread as we follow this couple through the ups and downs of their relationship. Something in Tom’s past was hinted at from early on and although I wasn’t surprised when it was revealed, I was willing him to be upfront about it instead of things being left unsaid and causing misunderstandings and hurt.

It was Tom’s narrative that I found the most moving. It’s not often you get a male’s perspective on such deeply personal mental health issues and here his character was beautifully written.

Our Life in a Day is a brilliantly written debut with wonderfully developed characters that you can feel for. Even though I felt frustration and even annoyance at times towards both characters, I cared for both of them. It’s a powerful and emotional story and I loved it. And it made me cry.


My thanks to Tracy Fenton for the invitation to take part in the tour and to the publisher for providing a copy to review.

I had seen a few reviews where other reviewers had said that tears had fallen when reading this. So about 80% in I was feeling quite cocky, I normally cry at everything and nothing was happening yet…….Well! I got to a point in the book and it just started to break me, and it was not until the final chapter that I finally stopped. I could read the epilogue ok, but after I finished reading, my tears started up again.

This story reminds me of all the films that I love to watch because I know I will cry, ones like One day and About Time. Mainly because of the way they jump about in the timeline of relationships. Our life in one day could most definitely be on the big screen, Lily Collins would have to be Esme. (I have such a girl crush on her and she rocks the pixie haircut). The story had all the feels, but what I loved the most it did not focus on just the love and happiness, the excitement of relationships. It did, however, highlight the struggles that people do go through in relationships and also how tough life can be with someone who suffers from mental health issues.

I thought that when the focus had been on depression and anxiety and alcoholism had been handled so well. I can say that talking from experience first and third hand with some of the above. I think it was necessary to have contrast because real life is not all hearts and flowers.

The game that Esme sets Tom is a clever idea, although I have no idea if I could play it, but a block of post-it notes each an hour of the day. 24 post-it notes, all Tom has to do is pick out what stands out to him in their 10 year relationships good and bad and write it down. Revisiting certain parts of their relationship in each chapter allowed us to see the couple at different points, high and low and see why they were significant to Tom.

I thought the ending was perfect, I can not say why because it would ruin it, but it was perfect as it was true to life. Gah! I am just welling up thinking about it!

For a debut novel, all I can say is WOW! You would not expect it, he is like a seasoned writer already. The writing is beautiful, mesmerising and flows so easily from page to page, making you not to want to stop reading. He seems to have worked out a formula to pull the heartstrings and yet make you smile at the same time! I am excited to see what he comes up with next!

I devoured this book Esme and Tom about to celebrate their ten year anniversary of their relationship..A game Esme creates to celebrate this occasion.A-game that covers the years he special days .days moments lies truth celebrations and sadness.Esme and Tom come alive drew me In I cheered for them and at the end was sad to close the book on their story. #netgalley #orionbooks

To be honest I’m struggling to know what to say about this stunning book! It’s just so beautifully written with such raw emotions that it’s one that will stay with me for sometime. And shockingly it’s a debut novel! Also, I have to applaud Jamie Fewery for writing about men’s mental health issues within a book that spotlights the relationship of one couple in a unique and meaningful way.

It may sound like a sweet and innocent game that Esme has devised for their anniversary meal but it’s going to be a long and tough virtual day for their relationship. Tom has a post-it note for every day of the day but he needs to write on it a moment that actually happened in reality in that hour. So there isn’t a chronological order to those 24 hours of their relationship but I thought this was a brilliant way of seeing those moments that defined the key points for them during the last ten years.

I found it strange how completely and utterly involved I became in this book from very early on. Both Esme and Tom were delicately drawn characters who felt so realistic with both having flaws and strengths to define them as a couple. This meant that I wanted their relationship to work through those lows and learn from their mistakes as they dissected the key moments of their time together, examining them with a brutal honesty.

By the end I think I was a little in love with Tom myself. But I wouldn’t class this as a romance. It reminded me of One Day by David Nicholls (which is one of my most favourite books ever) mainly due to that ever present worry and fear that something big is about to happen but you just don’t know what-you just hope it’s something good big and not bad big!!

By the time I came to the end of Our Life In a Day I was absolutely sobbing. I wasn’t affected so much by the culmination of the the storyline but by the fact that I now had to say goodbye to Esme and Tom, that that was it and I would never know what they were doing nowadays and if they were okay! It’s not often characters become so real to me that I miss them when I close the the last page but this couples relationship really did speak to me with a must trusted sincerity from the author and I really didn’t want to let them go.

Our Life In a Day was a sensitively written joy to read and I adored every single page. Please write another book as soon as possible Jamie Fewery!