If I could give this book 10,000 stars I absolutely would. I devoured it in a 5 hour reading sprint and I already want to read it again.

This is the story of Emmie Blue who sends a red balloon out into the world and it makes its way across an ocean and 100 miles away to Lucas and Eliot Moreau in France. Emmie and Lucas become best friends and later Eliot fits into that puzzle as well before a fallout that will last more than a decade.

The book opens on Emmie meeting Lucas for dinner because he has a question to ask her and she's absolutely sure it's the question she's been waiting for him to ask for their whole 14 years of friendship... only it ends up being very very different than what Emmie had in mind.

Thus begin's Emmie's story, told in alternating timelines from age 16 when she sent the balloon, to present day just after Emmie and Lucas's shared 30th birthday.

The characters in this book are particularly wonderful and I would sacrifice sleep a million times over t0 spend more time with them. This book feels like an exceptionally warm hug but not after wading through some serious PTSD d/t sexual assault and subsequent bullying, feelings of abandonment and isolation, and discovering just who Emmie Blue is and what makes her happy.

Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis 4 stars
Dear Emmie Blue is the story of Emmie, a lonely girl who releases a balloon from England into the air reaching out for someone. Lucas is the boy who finds the balloon on the shores of France. There begins a long-term friendship. But the story opens with Emmie getting her dreams crushed, and her heart hurt. She and Luke share a birthday, and on their 30th, while his life is taking off, hers has stagnated. She thought by 30 she would know who she was and where her life is going. Her mom is very emotionally unavailable, and her father is unknown. She’s also been traumatized in high school by a male teacher, and has let that trauma stunt her as a person, being unable to move past it, and hiding herself from the world because of it. But as she is influenced by others in both hers and Luke’s life, she begins to discover the truth about her parents, her friends, herself, Luke and his family, especially his brother, Eliot. And there’s a wonderful, older woman, Louise, who I just adored and who also adores Emmie, which just made me love her more!
This is a simmering story. Meaning, it doesn’t boil with passion, but it’s emotionally on a simmer through the whole story. If at times, Ms. Louis turns the heat down just a little, and the story becomes a little slow, it soon heats back up again. I was so entranced by Emmie and Luke, that when I realized what was going on with Eliot, I was just so thrilled!
This isn’t a rom-com, although there are some funny parts. It reminded me a little of My Best Friend’s Wedding, but there was something off from that that just didn’t ever sit well. When I realized what it was I just fell head over heels.
If you are looking for a good, light-ish, book, good for reading at the beach, in the pool, on the couch by a fire, this is the book for you!
Thank you to #Netgalley and Atria books for the advanced e-copy of #DearEmmieBlue. I look forward to reading more from Lia Louis.

Happy #BookBirthday to #DearEmmieBlue 🎈 #bookreview ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars!
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I absolutely ADORED this book! I fell in love with Emmie Blue and was rooting for her hard. I thought the writing was great, the story pulled me in right away and I was hooked. It gave me all the feels and I’m so so sad it’s over. I can’t even believe this one wasn’t on my radar... I’m SO happy the publisher reached out to offer me this #arc - it ended up being one of my favourite reads from 2020 so far! ❤️ I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list and getting to it ASAP!
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Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In DEAR EMMIE BLUE, Lia Louis tells the story of Emmie Blue, a woman who grew up with no home, no family, no one to love her as her full, buoyant, and loving self. Years earlier, when Emmie was 16, she tied a note to a balloon that told the truth about her current life and horrific tragedy--and that balloon was recovered one hundred miles away by a kind, big-hearted 16 year old boy. They became the best of friends -- and now, 14 years later, Emmie is confronted with the life she has made, the stories she has told, and the life that she wants to live, with love, home, and family. Louis evokes characters that I want to know in real life, events that feel as palpable and true as the coffee I sip as I smile over this incredible read. It's fast, marvelously charactered, and surprising in the best of all possible ways. A stunning debut and marvelous escape into a terrific world.

Emmie Blue is stuck - her mother is disinterested, she's renting a room from an elderly woman she barely interacts with, she never knew her father, she doesn't have many friends. She enjoyed her job but was laid off. Her one true friend that makes her feel loved is Lucas, and she's been in love with him forever. Time spent with him and his family has mostly been the bright spots in her life.
I felt like the book started off a bit slow, with many scenes and conversations being interrupted to cover a lot of backstory. Once things got moving, the book was really sweet. Emmie was able to deepen and establish relationships with other people beyond Lucas, and she learned a lot about herself.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Emmie Blue blends an original concept with refreshing storytelling into this new rom-com offering.
Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for my eARC for review!
Teenaged Emmie releases a balloon with her email address on it, and a secret revealed within, to see how far it will travel before someone finds it. Across the ocean in Europe, Lucas finds her balloon and messages her, kicking off a long and solid friendship. When adult Emmie learns Lucas is getting married, her hopes of their relationship turning into something more does not go as planned. Especially as she is asked to be in the wedding party as "best woman".
It's a sweet story of friendship and love, with a betrayal from years ago looming in the background to be revealed. Effortless writing from UK author Lia Louis, with charming characters and a plot that went directions I wasn't expecting, I will definitely be checking out other books of hers in the future. Recommended!
For release on July 14, 2020.

Sixteen years old Emmie Blue is feeling alone in the world when she releases a balloon with her contact information and a secret. When Lucas Moreau finds it, it seems like fate. Fourteen years later it seems all of Emmie's dreams are about to come true, but first she needs to learn to believe in herself and in her ability to make her own happiness.

Emmie was a woman who had experienced heartbreak and tragedy. This story was her journey of learning to believe in herself and of finding the love and family she always wanted. She was an enjoyable character to watch grow and change. There was a very good supporting cast of characters as well. While there were some serious topics covered, this was a charming story that I read in two days. I especially recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories with friendship, romance, character growth and humor. Big thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for an e-copy of this book.

When Emmie was sixteen years old she released a balloon that had her name, email, and a secret she wanted to let go of. Lucas found her balloon, hundreds of miles and an ocean away. They start to email and become best friends. It’s now 14 years later and they are out to dinner together, Emmie hoping he is going to ask her to be his girlfriend because after all this time she’s fallen for him. Instead of this being the best night of her life it becomes the worst; Lucas tells her he’s getting married and wants her to be his best woman at his wedding. Emmie is heartbroken, but he’s her best friend so she says yes.

As it gets closer to the wedding Emmie struggles with her feelings for Lucas, who is oblivious to them. She relies on her two other friends/coworkers to help her figure out what to do and how to cope. Her friend Rosie is a hilarious character who I loved getting to know!

Emmie grows as a person so much throughout this story. She is wounded, insecure and just wants to be loved. She doesn’t have much of a family either; she doesn’t know her father and her mother has barely been there for her. Lucas has been her family for 14 years, but she soon realizes he isn’t the only family she has. The friends she has and the family she finds are all so amazing.

I thought this was going to be a heartwarming girl and boy finally find each other story, and it is, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s about family, friendship, love, growing up and finding yourself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely wonderful. I loved Emmie Blue and all of her quirks and flaws. I absolutely love when characters have depth to them, and all of the characters in this book were very well developed and had their own voices.

I absolutely loved the relationship development between Emmie and Eliot, and I loved that the relationship with Lucas was well fleshed out and, at times, problematic. I love how they weren't these perfect people, but instead were very relatable. The writing style made it very easy to get into this book, and I read it over the course of 2 days. It was a beautiful journey that had me both crying and cheering for Emmie Blue! I look forward to adding this title to my physical bookshelf soon!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for an ARC of Dear Emmie Blue! This book was such a nice surprise and brought me out of a book rut. I adored Emmie and her friends Rosie and Fox and couldn't wait to find out if Emmie's life would turn around.

The book begins with Emmie devastated that Lucas, her best friend/love of her life, is getting married, and he asks her to be his "best woman." On top of that, her mother has basically abandoned her and she has wondered about the identity of her father for 30 years. Emmie’s low paying job is barely enough to make ends meet, but at least she works with Rosie and Fox, who keep her entertained and help her solve life's problems.

I don't want to give any more away. This book has it all - a love story, strong friendships, betrayals, and a complicated and heartbreaking adolescence. Weaved in is a lot of humor, inappropriate language and lovable characters. This is a great novel to pick up when it releases on July 14!

ALL of the stars!!! This is one of those books that you just don't want to end but can't stop reading. I fell in love with Emmie Blue and rode the roller coaster of her life right along with her. I love her resilience and her ability to keep-on-keeping-on even when nothing is going the way she'd like it to. This will definitely be one of my favorite reads this year.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read a pre-release of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I thought this would be a fun romcom. Light and easy. Instead it was so much more!! This book definitely pulls the heart strings and brings out the tears. It was so much more than I expected and I loved it.

Wowza!!! I absolutely loved this book!! Talk about a one-sitting read - I literally couldn't put this down!! At first, it opened up a little slowly, with the titular character totally keyed up to hear a long-awaited for question at a big restaurant... only to instead be thrown a total curve ball. And while this book moves in familiar rom-com territory, there are definitely some unexpected twists and turns to the storyline (but nothing too crazy, either). Parts of the plot do fall into more predictable paths, but it is fun to cheer along to be proven right! I laughed out loud (even the secondary characters shine here!), I cried (in more than one place!) and I absolutely loved every page of this one!! I hope that someone buys the film rights so that my rom-com loving husband will watch it!

Louis brings all major and minor characters completely to life here. I totally loved them all! And it's a great love story - of unrequited love, of recognizing your own faults and finding the people that reflect back to you your very best self. It's a terrific book and definitely in my top reads of 2020! What a talented author and what a great US debut novel!

Unique and lovable characters with a heartwarming message. The summary drew me in and did not disappoint. I will definitely recommend this book to others. .

What does it mean when you spend an entire book wishing Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were younger and could play the main characters in the movie adaptation of a book you are reading? Probably that I am old. And that the book is one of those romances that has some meat to it. (Though maybe this one is more similar to Meg and Billy Crystal in When Sally Met Harry.) I am not a full on romance fan, but a good story is a good story. Here we have Emmie Blue who has had some rough turns in her life. Really! It is fate when a balloon she sends off as part of a school project nets her a best friend, Lucas, and the man she wants to spend her life with. Thankfully, since this isn't a plain old romance, things don't go so smoothly and I loved it! This is a great summer read for those whole enjoy indulging in a sweet romance as well as those who are not keen on too much sweetness.

As a teenager, Emmie releases a balloon with a message, which is found by Lucas. Emmie is a bit lost, trying to find her place in life. Lucas has become her best friend over the years and seems to have a great life - family, career, fiancé, etc. They have grown up together and are each other’s one true friend.

I give this book 3.5 stars. It’s a great story of friendship and unrequited love. It bothers me that it seems that Lucas doesn’t place the same value in the friendship as Emmie does. I did love the character of Elliot. Regardless, the writing style was easy to read and it was an enjoyable, quick little read.

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.

Friends, I had no idea what I was diving into when I started this book! I thought it would be a cute likable Romcom but instead I got SO much more!

Emmie Blue has had a rough life. One day at sixteen she decides to send a note with her biggest secret tied to a balloon into the world. It is found by a sixteen year old boy thousands of miles away and the two quickly become best friends. Now on the eve of their 30th birthdays, Emmie is deeply in love with her “balloon boy” but he’s engaged to be married to someone else. How will she ever manage to stand by him on his big day?

This book had me in tears and tugged so tightly on my heart strings! There is such a emphasis on love, family and friendship. Dear Emmie Blue is about finding someone who can take away your loneliness. All of us have a little Emmie in us wanting to be loved!

The plot goes in amazing directions and I couldn’t put it down. We start with childlike wonderment and end with the realities of what it means to grow up. I couldn’t believe how much character development Emmie goes through and her whole story is incredible. She may be one of my new favourite literary characters!

The book deals with big topics (TW for sexual assault) so be prepared for a lot more then a simple romcom story. I truly loved it and I am going to be on the high of this book for a long time!

Lia Louis is a new author for me. Dear Emmie Blue is her 2nd book, though for me it got off to a slow start, it turned into one of my favorites for 2020.

Emmie Blue is a complicated character, impulsive, insecure and a loyal friend. At first I kinda thought meh but as I got to know her, meet her mother, friends and find out what made her tick I didn't just feel compassion but wanted to reach out and give her a hug and smack at the same time. Her upbringing shaped her in so many ways, as did her friendship with Lucas - finder of Emmie's balloon.

Dear Emmie Blue is a well-written coming of age story for a 30-year-old and that's a good thing. As Emmie deals with things (the blurb doesn't specifically say what it is, so I won't either) she is forced to deal with the past as it takes her on a journey of self-discovery. This journey was a pleasure to read as the author wove the past with the present seamlessly. It's a book that made me smile, laugh and shed a few tears. There were serious issues relevant today there are triggers as well as healing.

Though some things might be predictable it was a pleasure to read about Emmie. Lia Louis's debut, Somewhere Close to Happy is already in my TBR pile and I look forward to what she has coming out next.

My thanks to the publisher for an advanced digital copy (via Netgalley) in exchange for an honest review.

From the cover to the last page, I loved this book! The main character and narrator, Emmie Blue, has just turned 30-years-old, and everything she has been counting on is gone.

The start of the book is melancholy, and I deeply felt each of Emmie’s losses and disappointments. Author Lia Louis made me completely empathized with Emmie’s insecurities and feelings of being “less than”. Her lack of a stable family and parental support have colored her every action and response. While Emmie feels inadequate and alone, each step of her journey shows her inner strength and resilience.

The story toggles between the past and the present. Emmie Blue tells us how she was rescued by an email from the boy who found the balloon she had released. The sweet serendipity of their eventual meeting is balanced with the ongoing love and support she gets from Lucas, “Balloon Boy”, and his family.

Emmie is one of those characters that make me want to jump into the story and shake some sense into them. She has coworkers who she likes but keeps at arm’s length. She and her landlady are silent ships that pass in the night; neither is very talkative and both are fairly introverted. It takes Eliot’s (Lucas’ older brother) re-entry into her life to shake everything up for Emmie. Even then, Emmie’s friends and landlady really have to push to get her to open her eyes to the truths that are oh-so-obvious to the reader.

Does Emmie Blue get a happily ever after? Oh yes, and in more ways than one, but there are bumps in the road and hurdles to jump. Dear Emmie Blue is an endearing story of Emmie’s journey from feeling empty and alone to being open to the love and support around her.