What an absolutely beautiful concept brought to life in a really creative and engaging way?! I loved every moment in this book and thought that the charm bracelet was a wonderful way to tell the story. Excellently done.

I had chosen the book at the time partly because I had and have a charm bracelet myself. Back in my childhood, I had a simple silver one with small charms afterwards, which, in my memory, I also received at special events. I haven't worn this bracelet since I was an adult because I found it a bit childish, but the idea of a charm bracelet with charms that you buy or get on special occasions kept haunting me. So when I read and heard about Pandora and Trollbeads, I immediately went to see if one of these two brands might be for me. I ultimately chose Trollbeads because Pandora's charms fit Trollbeads' and otherwise this would not be the case. Meanwhile, I have a fine collection of charms myself, all of which I have a memory with.

But on to the book. The book starts with an advertisement that a precious charm bracelet was lost on 31 August 2017, adding the place where it was last seen and saying there is a reward for the finder with an email address. Then follows an email from Leila to one Caitlin who found her charm bracelet and she will explain to this Caitlin the story behind each charm.

The book then starts on 30 August 2001, where the then nearly 12-year-old Leila finds a bracelet on her bed with a heart charm attached and a note saying Sorry. Her father then storms into her room and tells her that her mother, who is also his wife, has left them.

Six months later, on the day she and her father move out, she meets the new tenants of their old house: Jake and his parents. Jake has a father who changes jobs quite often and consequently the family has also moved several times. Jake gets to know Leila while she is waiting for her father in the car and they get into a conversation while she plays with her bracelet.

A year and a half later, Leila and her father move back to Bournemouth and go to live with her grandfather, who lives on the same street where they lived at the time. Jake is at the same school Leila goes to and so they meet again. Chapters are therefore occasionally written from Jake's name and in this way you see him grow from teenager to a young man.

That Jake and Leila are becoming a couple is of course obvious from the first chapter when Leila emails about her bracelet but their joint adventures and happenings you don't know yet. Nor the stories behind the various charms. That's what you will discover throughout the book, the way the charms are connected to Leila's life.

Something I found a bit strange was that after the whole story, suddenly there was another chapter in e-mail form as if the whole book was an e-mail. That felt a bit odd to me. But the way the book ends Yes, that was something I did not see coming but if you have read Me before you then I think you know.

Emotional, heartwarming, beautiful. I highly recommend everyone to pick it up if they have a chance!

Synopsis:

Leila's charm bracelet tells a story of love, loss and hope - the story of her & Jake. When Leila loses her bracelet and a stranger finds it, she has to tell the story of how she got the charms to prove she's the owner. Each a precious memory of her life with Jake. So Leila starts at the beginning, recounting the charms and experiences that have led her to the present. A present she never could have expected when she met Jake nearly twenty years ago…

Review:

I love the symbolism of the charm bracelet - don't all of us have a hypothetical charm bracelet that tells of the highs and lows of our lives? This is the story of Leila - the best and hardest parts of her life. I felt all the emotions as I followed her journey, which to me is always an indication of a beautifully written story.

This is a story of love, loss and hope
It is so beautiful. It made me laugh and cry.
This book is well written and kept me engaged throughout

From the moment I picked up this book, I simply couldn't put it down!.
I adored the characters, and thought Leila was brought to life beautifully by the Author. Following her journey to love, alongside the various ups and downs along the way, I found myself adoring more with each page I turned.
I cannot wait to read future releases by this wonderful author!.

There’s this bracelet Leila found in her room the day her mother walked away from their family. Leila thought it was from her as a parting gift of sorts. There was also a charm on it. Leila treasured this bracelet because she convinced herself it’s a sign of her mother’s love.

Charms because to show up in an envelope after significant moments throughout her life. Leila always thought it was from her mother. Each charm represented something meaningful in her life. Even the boy next door, who lived in her old bedroom when her family lived there understood her precious bracelet.

She and her dad live with her mother’s father. He’s helped them out with a home and she is very close to this grandparent. He has been looking out for the neighbor’s boy, giving him some chores to do and mentoring him as many grandparents would. Except this boy next door is living with an abusive father. He wants out of the house so badly but doesn’t want to leave his mother there at the same time.

Eventually he goes off into the Navy. Leila’s grandfather passed away on Leila’s birthday. Every charm representing something important in her life still. Every charm has a story. That’s what this book is about. I give this book 5 out of 5 tiaras. I’ll admit I wasn’t fond of how it started. But about halfway through I grew to enjoy it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for access to this work. An interesting concept for a book. Makes me want my own charm bracelet!

Unfortunately I went on a requesting spree during lockdown and my tastes have since changed.

As the book has been on my shelf since 2020 or 2021 I believe I need a cull as I am highly unlikely to ever read it.

To be fair to the author I have star reviewed based on the average.

This book will give you hope, tears, a story about friendship, about family, about grief and losses. You will smile, you will laugh. There will be happy and sad moments, you will discover things and go on some trips. You will discover a story from two point of views: Leila and Jake’s ones. Both characters are super sweet and you get attached to them so quickly. You’ll get addicted to the story from the first line you will read, I personally got so curious about what wa’s coming next as soon as I read the first line. I knew I would want to keep reading and reading and reading, this book.

I absolutely loved the idea of this book and the synopsis of this made me so excited to read it but I just did not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. There were definitely times in this book where I was dragging myself through the book as I was quite bored throughout. I did enjoy the characters though and the overall plot was definitely interesting and one of the main reasons why I kept reading until the end.

I absolutely adored this book from the beginning. Made up of many episodes, this book details the story between Leila and Jake, represented by the charm bracelet that was left to Leila by her mother. It is an emotional story that had me balling like a baby by the end, but that still didn’t stop me from falling in love with the two protagonists.

This book has really lengthy chapters, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. Each chapter is the story behind the charm on Leila’s bracelet. It is a journey of her life milestones and the charms each represent something significant in Leila’s life. Sometimes the story switches to Jake’s perspective and I loved how Allbright does this. It made me feel more connected to Jake’s character, rather than just accepting Leila’s interpretation of events.

From the beginning, Allbright tinges the narrative with sadness and also hope. There is hope for the future and taking control of your destiny and I think this is completely symbolised by Leila’s bracelet. I loved how the story follows the two characters from when they are teenagers to adulthood and from the beginning, I thought that the writer’s characterisation was vivid and realistic. From scenes in the classroom studying GCSE English (a personal favourite!), to becoming increasingly independent, readers grow with Leila and Jake. Leila’s experiences are relatable to Allbright’s readers and I think this is what made this story so appealing.

Leila and Jake’s relationship is never constant: this book covers many years and there are often months of separation between the two before their paths cross again. I was obsessed with seeing how their relationship alters at every chapter and whether the truth would ever be revealed about the charms Leila frequently receives. Indeed, Leila and Jake’s connection receives so many set-backs that I did wonder if there would ever be a happy ever after for this couple.

This was an absorbing story that felt so well-written and was very enjoyable. I felt like I was growing up with Leila and revisiting some of my own past memories from reading this novel. I love that this is Allbright’s debut book and am excited to see what is next for this author.

With thanks to One More Chapter, Harper Collins and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An emotional, heartwarming and endearing read with a wonderful ending and brilliant characters. Enjoyed this one.

This was such a beautiful and emotional story and I adored the premise. The characters were perfect and I thought the end was very fitting

Unfortunately I could not get in to this one. I think my reading tastes are changing. I will update my review if I try and read again.

A very emotional read, that was so well written it literally dragged the tears from you! I loved how unique the storytelling was (using the charms to explore key moments and relationships) and thought it was really well done. A lovely read even if it does end up as a tragic tearjerker at times!

3.75 stars rounded up.

I love charm bracelets! I have two of them, different kinds, and love them both! I wished there was a special memory connected to every one of my charms, just like in The Last Charm.

In this novel, Leila lost her bracelet and tells the story of each of her charms to a stranger to prove that she is the rightful owner. Hence, the story consists of a huge number of throwbacks into Leila’s past, starting when she is a young girl.

It took me a few pages to get into the book because there were multiple stories within it that I needed to relate to in order to fully grasp it. Once that happened, I could barely put the book down, because I desperately wanted to know how the relationship between Leila and Jack would unfold.

The book is beautifully written. It would be an easy, light read if it wasn’t so moving and thought-provoking. I would recommend having some tissues close by when reading this!

Perfect for fans of One Day in December and One Italian Summer: this surprising look at love and fate is a beacon as well as a warm blanket.

What a beautiful love story. Full of emotion, this had me in tears many times. I loved the idea of charms on a bracelet telling the story of a persons life. Such a personal and evocative way of retelling memories or a time or a place special in someone’s heart. Just beautiful.

This one was an interesting read. It definitely was a bit slow to start, but I enjoyed the premise. I didn't really care for Leila, who didn't really grow at all as the novel went on. She was immature, irresponsible, and a really crap friend. Jake was solid, extremely considerate, and grew a lot as a person. She absolutely didn't deserve him and I don't get why he kept putting up with her. I certainly cried for some of the characters but I honestly couldn't say I would recommend this to folks. I found myself more annoyed than loving the book, although I ultimately did finish it and was glad I did.

Good book with interesting plot and characters. I’d recommend this for a weekend read. It’s not something that I’d usually pick up but the blurb appealed to me and I wasn’t let down.