Oh, how I loved this book! Dear Emmie Blue was such a fun, sweet story about friendship and love. The premise of a lifelong friendship all due to someone finding a message filled balloon was interesting enough, but the story along the way had me in tears (both happy and sad) the whole time. Reviewed on Goodreads.

I am emotional wreck! I felt like my throat not only filled with cotton balls, but it seemed like at least 3000 acres cotton land invaded my entire body! Eyes are red-rimmed, nose is like tomato juice ( bloody red and runny) and my cruel heart is broken into pieces!

Dear Lia Louis, what have you done to me? I loved this story so much and I wish it could be adapted into screen. I can already visualize the billboards at the streets chanting for “Team Lucas” or “Team Eliot”! This is one of the best second changes, facing with your past to reborn from your ashes and searching for happiness book!

There are so many great Brat Pack movies vibes (from “Say Anything” to “Sixteen Candles”), weird movie references mashes with brave #metoo movement representation.

This book is sweet, swoony and cute but it also moving, heart wrenching, soul-crushing, tear jerking. Normally I hate love triangles and characters’ indecisiveness about their own feelings, that’s why this book starts like a three stars –I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it, too- story for me but as I start moving back and forth between past and present, seeing those beautiful messages at the mixed tapes, slow burn romantic moments, past regrets, future’s stumbling, present’s struggles, the characters’ flaws, their heartfelt story start growing on me! I couldn’t put it down and I let myself get lost in their beautiful, complex relationship.

Emmie looks for a real family, neglected by her mother throughout her teenage years, abandoned by her father, outcast of her school, being judged by her friends for something she didn’t do. She really needs someone stand by her and hold her hand as a confidante, a real, honest friend. And she is only 16. It is not fair to be in some much pain in those ages, forced to face the shitty hand life had dealt you. So Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and her big secret into the sky and Lucas finds her balloon. That’s the part their 14 years long friendship started.

Now Emmie thinks she’s head over heels in love with Lucas and he meets with her to ask one of his most important questions of his life. But no: he didn’t ask to be his wife, he asks her to be his best man and Emmie accepts it. Whattttt!!! Yes, this is big mistake and I want to kidnap Emmie to prevent her obvious heartbreak and suffer!
You may think this is angsty, edgy and irritatingly torturous story and you ask yourself why Emmie accepts his offer (that was the moment I thought I should have given three stars ) but don’t you dare to stop reading till meeting with Lucas’ half-brother Eliot, always protective, kind, but also witty, sarcastic with amazing taste in music.

Emmie has always complex feelings about Eliot and she still resents him what he’s done when she was 19! But nothing as it seems! Emmie should change the way to look at you’re her life because sometimes people may be blind enough to see things in front of them.

Emmie slowly understands she is not lonely. She is loved and she is cared deeply and now it’s time to get her head out of her ass (I think this book could be named like this, because most of the characters are acting like blind, especially at some parts I wanted to scream at Emmie to open her eyes because some clues were so obvious and she was so stubborn to believe in wrong things about herself and people who deeply cared for her.)

And I adored the supporting characters, especially Rosie Kalwar needs her own book, her witty comments, carefree, artistic, genuine attitude and her honest sense of humor made me laugh and love her more. And let’s not forget the sweetpie Louise.

There are two heroes and it is obvious who I’m rooting for! Especially chapter 41 made me cry out loud! I’m not giving you the spoilers but that character I rooted for passed the best book-boyfriend exam with flying colors!
And ending was also sweet, emotional, inspiring, promising.

Overall: I’m still cutting off half star because of the characters’ obnoxious actions but this book already stole my heart so let’s round up 4.5 stars to 5 and keep smiling for the heart melting story the author created for us!

Special thanks to NetGalley and double special thanks to Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books (because I got both digital and hardcover copies) for sharing this amazing ARC with me in exchange my honest review. It melt my heart and healed my soul!

I received an email from Atria Books asking if I would like to review this book. The description compared it to a few books that I had read and loved, so I accepted. “Dear Emmie Blue” is the story of Emmeline Blue, who shortens her name to just Emmie after a horrid event in her life. The book takes place when Emmie is thirty, but flashes back throughout to earlier years. Feeling lonely and isolated at 16, Emmie writes a note, attaches it to a balloon and sets it free from the field of her school in England. Lucas Moreau (also 16), finds the balloon on a beach in France over a hundred miles away. Thus begins a friendship for the ages, one that changes both of their lives for the better, but most especially Emmie’s. Lucas’ family, his parents and half-brother Eliot, embraces Emmie as if she is one of them. I will say I had some trouble getting into this book in the beginning. Emmie seems a little too sad and dramatic, but once the story started to unfold, I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed “Evvie Drake Starts Over” or similar books. It is a great story of friendship, hope, possibility and overcoming tragedy. Thank you @netgalley for allowing me to preview this book which comes out in July.

Thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster, for providing me a copy of this lovely book in exchange for an honest review. First of all, I thought this book was super cute, it mentions parts of France that I have personally visited, it made me relive all these nice moments. The book is about Emmeline, but everyone calls her Emmie, like every kid, she loves to play. One day she was playing with a balloon, she had the wondrous idea of writing a message on it, she releases it. On the other side of the city, there was a boy playing, Emmie's ballon casually falls over him. I'm not going to let you know what exactly was in the balloon, all I can tell you is that her email was one of the contents of the message. The boy's name is Lucas Morceau, he was so intrigued by this fortuitous event that he couldn't resist sending Emmie an email. They built a very cute friendship, but maybe for one of them developed other types of feelings, beyond the friend zone. Years later one of these friends is ready to get married, feelings are going to be tested in this new chapter of their lives. I loved this book, it was a very cute love story.

This book was legit hard for me to get into. Truthfully I was worried!
I had high expectations and right off the bat I was having a hard time figuring out the writing style and pacing. It's frantic! And by frantic I mean you feel as though you're only getting pieces of the story the author is telling and you aren't entirely sure if that is a creative decision or just bad writing. So yeah, I was concerned!

However, it soon became apparent that it was a creative choice and as our main character begins to level out a bit so does the writing. It's actually quite ingenious!

I'd like to give myself a pat on the bat for figuring out a couple of the major "twists" immediately, although we'll see how other's do, maybe it's not as shocking as I think it could be!

Emmie was lovely, a total mess but lovely! She's a typical 30-year-old in away. You know where you feel like you should be farther along in every aspect of your life but in reality, you're in the same situation as the majority of your peers! I loved her relationship with Lucas, Eliot, and their family. I also couldn't get enough of her friendship with Rosie and Fox, they made me smile a lot!

The romance is quite a slow burn and while I was impatient about it I also didn't want to rush it. I think that's a good struggle for a reader to have!

I can't say much else really without giving plot points away and I certainly don't want to do that. This book was sweet but had a dark subplot that was interwoven throughout the story in an effective way. My one criticism would be that things were wrapped up a bit too quickly and too perfectly. I can go for perfect if we get more time to enjoy it before the acknowledgments I'd definitely be interested in reading more from Lia Louis in the future!

4 stars

I received a copy of this book from Atria Books & Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dear Emmie Blue is a stunning novel about relationships, friendships, and seeing what's right in front of you. The romance of the story is so relatable and innocent with a girl falling head over heels for her 'dream guy'. As the story progresses, Emmie's growth is a beauty and joy to read.

When we meet Emmie, she sends off a balloon with a letter and is received by a boy named Lucas. They become fast friends and she crushes on him hoping that one day he will reciprocate those feelings.

Lucas and Emmie are now grown and he is engaged...to another woman. They have a strong bond and I could definitely see how Lucas gave mixed signals. They were flirty with each other and were always there for each other no matter what.

As I continued reading the story, I saw how one-sided the friendship could appear. Emmie would drop everything with a single text but sometimes Lucas didn't have the same dedication. It really led up to the question of when Emmie should stop wishing for the love of a man who has only seen her as a friend.

There are lots of surprises in Emmie and Lucas' life. I was so consumed in the story and loved how the story ended.

I give Dear Emmie Blue 5 stars. It is a story that so many of us can relate to. It is hopeful and romantic and reminds readers that love can't be planned, it just happens when you least expect it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to start off by saying this book has my interest BUT I didn’t expect to love it like I do!

Emmie Blue is typically the type of character I tend to judge but for some reason I just adore her. When I think of Emmie Blue the word hope attaches itself to her just like she does to the reader. You seriously can’t help but HOPE for better for her. You hurt and ache for her in so many areas of her life that you just hope as you read somewhere something good will happen to/for her.

Emmie has found amazing friendships/family is Lucas, Eliot, Fox, Rosie and Louise. They all have entered her life at different stages but have been the family and friendships she yearns for. Lucas and Eliot have been around the longest and their have endured many challenges. Eliot and Lucas are brothers with Eliot being 3 years older than Emmie and Lucas. It was wonderful to see how their friendships started and how much they mean to each other.

As I was reading I couldn’t help but notice the dynamics of the relationships and how much each person went out of their way or not. While Lucas was her best friend my feelings for him started to change. He at one point was starting to annoy me and I was seeing him as not the perfect guy Emmie made him out for be. Rosie is a friend I think we could all use in our lives. She’s crazy, fun and definitely the life of the party. Eliot is so loyal even if you don’t see it. I know I didn’t realize the extent of it.

I think that’s one of the main points of the book...seeing what’s in front of you. I think many of us can relate with this issue. Also the idea of someone or something and how huge this affects us. I found Emmie so relatable and could sympathize with/for her. I found her to be so strong even when I didn’t realize that she was. Conquering fears, setting boundaries and moving on make her a character I won’t forget! I don’t think I can see a red balloon and not think of this book!

This was such a surprise! I didn't know much about the book going in, but given the title and cover, I made the assumption that it was going to be a light rom-com. And it is, to a point... but it also goes so much deeper than that. I loved Emmie's complex character; her wanting to be strong, to not be a victim, but also her vulnerability. I thoroughly enjoyed this and could not put it down.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This was such a fun read and I highly recommend it. The story will definitely touch all of your emotions and you will be cheering for Emmie Blue. I hope Lia Louis continues to write more heart warming stories.

I fell in love with Emmie Blue and her story. Dear Emmie Blue is charming, nostalgia inducing, heartbreaking at times and truly an awesome romance book about finding love when it’s been right there the whole time! Huge thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for reaching out to me with a copy of this story. Lia Louis found a new fan in me!

Emmie, feeling extremely lonely, sends out a balloon with a message and it is found by Lucas almost 100 miles away. This forms a strong foundation for their friendship for the entire life. Now when they are turning 30, Emmie thinks Lucas is going to propose and she is on cloud nine but he ends up telling that he is getting married to Marie, his on - off - girlfriend for sometime. How then she faces his marriage and how she overcomes all the troubles in her life - personal, professional, financial, etc ?

Firstly, how can she go so wrong in thinking Lucas wanted her more than a friend after claiming to know him extremely well? I was annoyed by Emmie but I also felt so bad for her for not seeing Lucas for what he really was. Because of Lucas, she missed out so much in her life actually. But I understand how much a person can get affected by loneliness. Thankfully her friends and Louise were so good for her. Her friends at work were absolutely hoot and were hilarious. Lucas’ brother was such a huge help for Emmie in all the awkward situations in the wedding and it showed how amazing he is. She later realizes how he always had her back even when he seemed distant.

I enjoyed the book completely and devoured it in one sitting. It was interesting all the way and the writing was a breeze. Emmie keeps thinking about all her acquaintances who seem to have worked out everything in life by their 30s and that she was the only one with no purpose in her life at all. But she later finds out how people are only living in the moment and how screwed up they really are! That was something which we all need to be reminded of before we compare ourselves with others.

Hold on and hope for the best! - This is something that will stay on readers’ minds after reading this.

It was a cute and fun read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for the advance reader copy!

Thank you, Netgalley and Atria for sending me this ARC of Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis. I loved this book, it was sweet and very well written. It made me smile and cry all at the same time. It is a story about second chances and friendships and how what you think you always wanted is not what fate has in store for you.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this delightful novel. Emmie has had a rough "teen-hood" and her absentee, atrocious parents were only a small part of her issues (no spoilers here!) After Lucas finds the message attached to her balloon, Lucas and Eliot become her surrogate family. As most readers will guess, Emmie falls in love with Lucas, but Fate has a different plan in store for Emmie Blue.

Things are not as they seem, and everyone seems afraid to come out and declare themselves. There is a lot of longing and yearning in this story. I agree with another Goodreads reviewer that the story was slow going at times, but the writing was really top notch. I loved Eliot, but I'm a big fan of plain speaking. (It hasn't always worked out in my favour, but it has saved me a lot of time and heartache over the years.) Lucas, Emmie and Eliot all needed a good dose of plain speaking, but, alas, everyone was tiptoeing around Emmie's feelings and past hurts, and their own agendas.. And, of course, if all these misunderstandings and noble little sacrifices hadn't been made to there to begin with, we would have had a very short and bland novel!

I had a hard time putting this book down. The writing was witty and engaging, and the characters were all people I enjoyed spending time with. This is the author's second published novel. I suspect she will get better with each new publication. Her voice is so distinctive and charming. I'm going to rate this a 4.8 out of 5!

What a beautiful book!

Emmie, a girl with a tough family background, sends out a balloon at her lowest...which is discovered 100 miles away by Lucas. And they become best friends, along with Lucas' older brother Eliot. And eventually, Emmie falls in love with Lucas. When she finds out he's engaged, she is shattered. What ensues is a story that makes her question all she knew about their friendship, love, family and more.

I loved this book and flew through it in one setting. The characters are vivid and so full of life--even the ones who are quieter pop out of the page. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a read that makes you feel the pangs of first love, the shocks of adulthood, and the complications that can result when the two aren't resolved.

Dear Emmie Blue was a story that I didn't expect to hit me as it did, it is a story of second chances, hope, and friendship. It's about acceptance, about being true to yourself no matter how much the world is trying to tell you a different story.

Dear Emmie Blue made me feel, joy and sadness but at the same time made me feel hopeful that there still love and wonderful friendships out there.

Emmie, a beautiful character trying to find herself in a world so cold, full of lies and a gossiping "town" that keeps breaking her heart over and over again. She only wants to have a home, a family, someone to hold her and make her feel loved, it was her dream and only dream. Sending her balloon away, she didn't expect that her life was about to change bringing everything she ever wanted and wish for.

Lucas, a boy that has everything in life, a beautiful family, a warm house, and a brother that made his life easier. until the day, a balloon showed up, bringing a new friend into his life and family.

I really felt in love with Lucas, Emmie and Eliot their friendship was very beautiful, something so rare to find nowadays, they protect her so much no matter where she was, she was their everything, they will keep her safe and shield her from anything or anybody who tries to hurt her.

The secondary characters were amazing, they gave so much depth to Emmie's story. Louise was a blessing balm in her life, someone who gave her love and hope when she needed the most. Rosie and Fox those two made me laugh at every turn with their shenanigans. All the people that never left Emmie and were always, a constant support for her. Always seeing her for whom she was, an empathic, sensible girl who only wanted love and the warmth of a family.

A rollercoaster of emotions, many situations that you won't see them coming and will make your journey even more enjoyable, I truly believe, it is best if you read this book without reading any reviews and going in blind, you will experience the story better.

This book is going to stay in my heart for a long time, the story really hit close to home, I identify so much with Emmie, I cried, I laugh and felt so much loved reading her story.

I'm looking forward to reading more books and stories by Lia Louis.

I was completely absorbed by this story from beginning to end. It explored serious themes yet was interspersed with such humor at times that I found myself laughing. The characters were nuanced and engaging - and unlike many books in the women's fiction category, the plot was not predictable. Thank you for such a good read!

Emmie Blue is your regular girl next door. Now Emmie is not different like Eleanor in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The thing is, she's just lonely, lonely with an unbearable secret.

One day she sends up a balloon with her story. The balloon finds a boy across the channel in France who actually writes Emmie back. Emmie loves this boy who'se become her anchor and best friend.

But things aren't always what they seem and Emmy must learn to listen to her heart.

The story was fine, albeit a little predictable but with a few surprises. Definitely not a clean read, with the F-word liberally strewn throughout.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. Emmie Blue releases a ballon from her hometown in England after one of the toughest years. Across the ocean in France, Lucas finds it on the beach with her email address inside. They quickly become best friends. Flash forward to the night she thinks he is going to propose when he in fact asks her to be his best women for his upcoming wedding. This book, in some ways reminds me of “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and in some ways completely different. Really great story! #dearemmieblue #lialouis #july2020

Such a cute read! I felt a rainbow if emotions reading this! Emmie Blue's story will make you cry, smile and not want to put it down! I highly recommend!😍

I had the privilege of reading this book, thanks to Atria books and Netgalley. This was such a sweet love story that you can really relate to. Lia Louis’ style of writing has me feeling what Emmie is going through, the lack of relationship with her mother, the loss of a friendship with Georgia- the only family you had considered- because of what her father did to her- and the person who you thought you were in love with.. falls in love and is about to marry someone else. You walk with Emmie through these trials and all these emotions, but as you get further into her story, it’s quite beautiful. How this one person who was haunted by her past and had a hard time moving on, finally finds herself. I loved how Emmie found herself. I loved how she found true relationships with her existing friends Fox and Rosie, Louise her housemate and ultimately found herself not giving in to the demands of being someone’s beck and call. I like how she allowed herself to find love from someone she knew has always been there from the beginning, and I love how Eliot took himself out of the equation to allow Emmie to hang on to what she thought was her only friend.

One of my favorite sayings in the book was when she was talking to Louise during the thunderstorm. Louise says “Do you know why I like the storm?... They are a little reminder that We’re not at all in charge, but Mother Nature is..and while the world may not look exactly how we’d prefer it to, it is enough, if we just stop and look. The whole sky lit up, The smell of the rain. Safe inside. What more could you need?”

I give this book 4/5 stars. It is such a cute love story, but it was slow going for me at first until things started to actually happen. I felt that the beginning of the book was more of a pity party for her, and I kept thinking.. what the hell are you being so naive and gullible around Lucas? And the part when Ana found Lucas and Emmie on her balcony kissing.. it was so predictable what was going to happen. Definitely a very cute book to read- especially with Valentine’s Day right around the corner. Book reminds us that true love could still be found after so many years.