I rarely rate a book 5 stars but this read was so heartfelt, raw and emotive that Kate Hewitt's writing deserves the award. A Hope for Emily addresses the lengths parents will go to save their child. When Rachel and James' daughter, Emily is diagnosed with an unknown illness, they watch their precocious child slip into a coma.

As the years go by, Emily conditions remain the same but James and Rachel's marriage is torn apart. While James moves on, Rachel remains transfixed, unable to separate her life from Emily's. When Rachel is gifted a chance to improve Emily's life from an unexpected source, an emotional tug-of-war ensues. Does she keep fighting or when is the right time to say goodbye?

“You were the best mom”. Words that will rip your heart out. Hope for Emily is a gut wrenching, beautifully written story of hope and letting go.
If you know a mom, have a mom or are a mom, this story will touch your very soul. Written in differing perspectives, the story explores the impact to a family dealing with a chronic illness. 5 stars.

Beautiful, heartbreaking story. Told between Rachel (Emily's mother) and Eva, (basically Emily's stepmother)… Loved the bond between the two women and their fight for a common cause (finding a treatment for Emily). Story of moving on after a devastating loss. Kate Hewitt is an excellent author. This is the first of her books I've read and certainly not the last.

What can I say about this book only that Kate Hewitt just knows how to write these wonderful, heartbreaking, emotional reads. So well written that held my interest throughout and kept me on the edge of my seat engaging with all these different characters who had their own story to tell.

Can thoroughly recommend this book, you will not be disappointed and I will be recommending this to my various Facebook Book Groups.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic book.

Fantastic heartbreaking read, i devoured this book. I loved the style of writing switching between Eva and Rachel and it was never repetitive. Really enjoyed this book, yet again Kate Hewitt knows how to connect with the reader.

This is a story that alternates between Rachel, the mother of Emily and ex-wife of James and Eva, who is James’ new wife. It certainly is a tale of an unlikely friendship but I loved getting to know these two women better and getting to know in their own words how someone handles an issue like both women are faced with.

For Rachel, my heart absolutely broke. To have given birth to a happy, healthy baby and then a few years down the line, to have your world ripped apart as your child starts to lose the ability to do things. Whats worse is that there is no real diagnosis. I admired her strength of going to the hospital without fail each day to sit by her daughters bed.

Eva on the other hand, is helpless as she watches her husband trying to cope with what is happening with his daughter, of which he has resigned himself that there is no more to be done and is reluctant to speak of his daughter with his new wife. She is very much torn when Rachel asks her for her help.

The bond between these two women was so heart warming. I could see things from all sides and I doubt that any of us would truly know what we would do in their situation unless the worst was to happen in our life. As lets face it, a child dying should never happen. Sadly it does though and this story is a reminder of how precious life is.

A Hope For Emily not only broke my heart but shattered it. Whilst the majority of the story did pull on my heart strings in places, overall it was an endearing and powerful read. When the tears did come though, they didn’t stop. It is such an emotionally charged novel that you would have to have a heart made of stone not to feel something for these characters and feel for what they are going through. An absolute tear jerker of a read of which I highly recommend having a box of tissues on standby.

Not a huge fan of this one, although to be fair to the author, I was trying something I don't normally read to try something new. This was an emotional book and premise and I can see many people liking it.

I thought the pace was very, very slow and was often repetitive with information. I didn't connect with any of the characters and was frustrated with their lack of communication and shallow relationships. Also, people don't use each other's names that often in conversations.

This was well written and a certain demographic will love it, unfortunately, I am not part of that group.

Heart-breakingly sad and yet uplifting in a strange way. This book resonated with me for personal reasons and whilst it was desperately sad at times the overall message was of love and being able to move forward after a loss.

A very emotional heartbreaking read which left me feeling bereft. No one could possibly be able to comprehend the fear and anguish of a mother with a child who the medical profession have all but given up on. The doctors have done all they can and they want Emily to have palliative care and die peacefully, this is also what Rachels ex-husband thinks is in Emily's best interest. Rachel thinks that they are giving up when in her opinion there is hope, she wants to take Emily to Italy for experimental treatment. Will she get her husbands permission and will she raise the funds she needs?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 amazing stars!

I love this author, her books are brilliant, you get so immersed in the characters and story.

I whizzed through this in a day.

The story is heartbreaking and yes I shed a few tears at the end which is not like me at all!

Even though you pretty much know how it will end, you get drawn into the lives of Eva, Rachel, James and Emily and share the same hope and sadness as they do.

Highly recommended.

Omg, what an emotional journey of a parents fight for her daughter. Had me in total tears in the end. Written beautifully. All you can do is hope for something to work.

This was such a heartbreaking story about Emily, who suffered a seizure which reduced brain activity baffling the doctors as to the cause, I felt every emotion that her mum felt, such a heartbreaking thing to go through. Another amazing read by Kate Hewitt.

A Hope for Emily was a heartbreaking, emotional, "all the feels" kind of book. So many emotions were poured in to this story. Kate Hewitt tells her story through Rachel and Eva point of views. Rachel is now a divorced single mom, trying to do everything in her power to help her daughter, Emily, recover from a mysterious illness that has taken over her brain and left her in a state of unresponsive wakefulness. Emily's father, James, is on the sidelines playing the part of reason and devil's advocate-because is Emily ever going to get better? Eva is James' new wife and she struggles to find her place in the story. I didn't expect the most unexpected to happen, Rachel and Eva bonded over Emily and a new friendship blossomed. This story was much better than I expected and didn't make me cry as much as I thought I would. The story definitely pulls at your heart strings and makes you feel that sadness for any mother and family going through this situation. Overall, very good writing, flows very nicely in between Rachel and Eva. I read this book in a day in a half. I would highly recommend this book to others and I will be looking for other works by Kate Hewitt. Special Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the special advance digital copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.
#AHopeForEmily #NetGalley

This is a heart wrenching story about a couple and their daughter Emily. Emily is sick and the doctors can not figure out what is wrong. James and Rachel’s marriage is pulled apart, Rachel devoting all her energy to her daughter. James needs to move on and divorces Rachel. It is a short period of time and he marries Eva. Eva is on the outside of James life with his daughter Emily and his exwife. when Rachel find an experimental treatment for Emily in Italy James says No. what will Rachel do? Will Emily get better?
Thank you to Netgalley for complimentary copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.
Well written heart breaking story.

So here is my issue with this book. The title says "HOPE" for Emily. However there was very little "hope" found within these pages.
Emily is Rachel's only child. At three, she suffered her first grand mal seizure. Doctors were baffled as to how quickly her condition deteriorated from there, and also were unable to come up with any set diagnosis. Emily sits comatose with very little brain activity. Her doctors seemingly want to give up trying, but Rachel will stop at nothing to find out what is wrong with her little girl and try to help her.
An unlikely ally, Eva, (Rachel's ex-husband's new wife) joins the fight, helping Rachel raise enough money for Emily to undergo an experimental treatment in Italy. While there, Eva discovers she is pregnant but is concerned about telling James due to the current state Emily is in. **SPOILER WARNING** While the treatment (to Rachel at least) appears to be working, we soon realize that Emily's condition is not getting any better, in fact she is worsening by the day. Rachel and James must make the painful decision on whether to keep their daughter alive by any means possible, or allow her to die in peace.
This is a heartbreaking story of a mother's love for her child and the lengths she will go to in order to protect her

This heart-breaking story is a very emotional book! Rachel and James have a daughter, Emily, who has an undiagnosed disease slowly eating away at her life. Rachel will do anything to save her daughter’s life. James believes he has accepted Emily’s fate although he will not talk about it with anyone. Together they must make decisions in the best interests of their child. This is a fast-paced book with skillfully developed characters. Everyone should read this tear-jerker book. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A beautifully written novel of love, hope, fear and heartbreak.
"No parent should ever have to give up on their child, not when there still might be some hope left, no matter how small. No matter how slight."
Rachel will never let Emily go! There has to be something that can be done to help her little girl get better.
Rachel gives up her job, her friends and even her marriage in an attempt to find treatments and to continue to advocate for Emily every single day through the years.
What she finds when her heart opens- is love and friendship in the most unlikely person.
This is an amazing journey and I promise you will need tissues close by while consuming the pages in this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read A Hope For Emily in exchange for an honest review.

A Hope For Emily tells the story of two women, Rachel and Eva, who find themselves conflicted with the pressures of being "good" wives and mothers. For Rachel, the fear that she is not doing enough to save her daughter, Emily, from an unknown nuero-degenerative disorder has disrupted her life so drastically that it is debatable whether or not she even can function outside of her daughter's hospital room. Likewise, Eva is constantly questioning whether or not she is a good wife to her husband, James, who also happens to be Emily's father. Eva is struggling to conceive a child and worries that an event in her past may have made her unworthy as a woman to be a mother. Through desperation and hope these two women come together to tackle some of the most prominent hidden struggles that many women throughout the world face on a day to day basis.

Gripping and heartbreaking all at once, I found the themes displayed in this book to be refreshing in a world where women are often pitted against each other as the protagonist and antagonist. I enjoyed how these women were so clearly from different worlds socially and economically, yet they found common ground in the desire and need to support one another in their times of need. I felt that both characters grew throughout the novel and displayed admirable changes as they learned to accept their past and present, while planning to embrace the future. The author really did not shy away from exposing the raw emotion that comes with an ill child, but also displayed it in a compassionate and understanding way. I feel that any woman could read this book and relate to an aspect of the story. It's content is thought provoking and current, but most of all it is important.

I am rating this book as 4 stars. There are a few aspects of the story that I wish were elaborated on a little further. I feel that the time spent in Bologna was a little rushed especially after the build up of what it took to get there. I appreciated that reality of clinical trials was depicted in the story as I feel all too often these storylines opt for the magical happy endings instead of showing the devestation and let down that often accompany such programs. I have a background in science and anthropology, and while the people/human aspect of the novel was hit on very effectively, I found myself hoping for a little more of the science aspect that was touched on throughout the story. Of course, this could have been done intentionally as we do not know what Emily actually had. It would have been nice to just have a little more of that medical history before Emily entered into her coma.

Overall I enjoyed this novel and look forward to recommend it to others who I believe will enjoy it as well. I am grateful for the chance to discover this new-to-me author and anticipate reading more of her work.

A really emotional tearjerker heartbreaking read! Told with compassion and feeling, detailing a situation that any parent would dread finding themselves in and discovering that there are no right or Wrong decisions to be made in those circumstance only decisions made with love and the intensity of a parents feelings!
Rachel and James have a four year old daughter Emily and although they are no longer together they share all the decision making re Emily as she has rare auto immune illness that has left her in a coma, as her condition deteriorates hard complex difficult decisions have to be made the dilemmas Rachel and James face are totally devastating and heartbreaking and will pull at your heartstrings, a truely heartbreaking read that will have you in tears right till the end!
Thank you net galley for this early read.