This book was beautiful. At the heart, it was about love, loss, and learning to love again. It was about the power of music and the randomness of life, and how a world can be so big yet so small at the same time. There were several mini-stories playing out at the same time, and I was impressed by how the author pulled everything to together so seamlessly and left no stone unturned. I really enjoyed the author's debut novel, Star-Crossed, but her sophomore release really demonstrates her depth and development as an author. This novel is perfect for fans of Josie Silver, Lia Louis, and Beth O'Leary.

This book broke my heart then slowly put it back together again. What an absolutely magical love story! The couples in this book are connected through one song that Diana writes for her fiancee Arie. The Last Love Song is an amazing love story that deals with love, loss, grief, and young love. I loved the cast of characters and each adds their own story to this amazing book. I loved this book and have to say it is truly one of my favorite books of the year! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Dianna has come to see Arie. I liked the connection. I liked the characters. I liked the dialogue. The tone and pacing was okay.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was a nice easy read, although the beginning starts with a tragedy that threatens to destroy one of the main character's lives. The story continues on, and shows us that life must still go on despite how we feel inside.
The story starts out with Arie and Diana, and we get to see what true love can be like. Then Diana is taken away from Arie in an unable way, and leaving Arie feeling as though his world has crumbled. One of the last things that happened between them was an argument. Now Arie will never have the answer he needed, and his life as he knew it is gone. Little did he know that before she died, Diana was working on a song for Arie to show him how much she loved him. Someone else heard Diana playing it, and that's how the story begins to unfold.
The song is passed from one person to the next over the years, and it brings people together. The love in the song never dies, it just spreads and creates joy wherever it is heard. Arie never knows of the songs origin, however it does change his life, and ultimately plays a large part in helping him to find happiness again. It's almost as if Diana has never left his side.

Arie can't believe his luck when they concert pianist Diana falls for him. In the seven plus years they are together Arie pushes for marriage and feel she should comply. after all they have moved into a home she loves as her piano must have its own bay window. She leaves him to tour the world and so when he gives her what borders on an ultimatum she agrees and starts to compose a love song just for him. But before she can finish she and the song are lost. Or is the song out there for someone to find and play.
Different reasons people fall in love is a theme explored in the novel. along with moving on after heartbreak. and tackling the facts of what make you worthy of love.
The story starts with being told in Arie AND Diana's point of view. The way they fall in love, the way they place each other up on pedestals no one can topple. The way the color red seeps into everything "Diana" is just an absolutely stunning literary masterpiece of a tragic love story.

This book follows many different people but it follows one song. It’s hard to picture how it would all come together but the author does a fantastic job of weaving it all together.

I did like some of the characters stories more than others. Aries and Evie being my favorite. I would also say that they are the main focus.

Aries has lost a lot when it comes to losing Diane. You don’t just lose out on the love from that person but also the life you were planning to share together. I could only imagine losing my husband. I would be losing a rather large part of me. Aries doesn’t know where to go even after it’s been awhile since that fateful day. His story of finding himself after loss was one that I enjoyed reading about even if it made me all emotional.

When it comes to Evie, she is living a much different life. She is living the life of a drifter and traveling to wherever feels right at the moment. How freeing would it be to be able to drop everything and go somewhere new? She hasn’t had the best of luck with relationships and wants to find someone who will do anything to make sure she is a top priority. I like her character a lot. It takes her some time to realize what she wants and sets out to hopefully find it.

The plot is filled with love, first times, loss, and being found. There are different things going on in each person’s life but yet that one song brings them together even when they don’t realize it. It’s an emotional ride that’s hard to put down because you want everything to work out for the best even though you know how cruel the world can be.

Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s hard to write a review for it without giving away more from the story and my words seem to be failing me. I do know that this book will stick with me for awhile. I’d definitely recommend this one!

The Lost Love Song follows Arie Johnson, a man grieving after the loss of his fiance, Evie Greenlees, a woman searching for a place where she belongs, and Diana Clare's lost love song that always finds its way to where it's needed the most. That must seem like a vague synopsis, but I find that the less you know going into this book, the more magical the journey you follow becomes. So I'm keeping it vague. Sorry. Just a little.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a quiet, character driven novel that explores grief, loss, and relationships in such an intricate way. The way the lives of these characters are intertwined was beautiful, and I must commend Minnie Darke's prose for allowing me to become encapsulated into the story. I really did enjoy seeing this relationship blossom between two older characters, and felt it captured all its awkwardness and beauty quite well. The structure of the novel felt like a musical number - starting with a prelude, seven parts with inteludes dispersed among them, and ending with a coda. The strength here really is in the writing. While occassionally I found some of the descriptions a bit excessive, they ultimately helped craft a picture of these characters and their lives before we got the chance to meet them, as a sort of inisight into their actions.

I really did enjoy following the journey of Diana's song throughout the interlude chapters. The first time I encountered one it took me out of the story a bit, especially when those characters did not appear at the start of the next section, and I think it took me going back through the chapters after completing the novel to really appreciate both their placement and what they added to the story. I loved how the lives of some of these side characters affected our main pair, while others were just a means to an end, bringing the song and all of its glory to the places where it needed to be. It may be jarring for those reading it for the first time, and I can completely understand that criticism.

I am glad I was able to read a copy of this book early, because I'm sure I'll be thinking about its intricacies all the way until its release. I highly recommend anyone pick this up, especially those who have experience in music (as there are several nods to the artistry throughout the novel). *Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Ballantine Books, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own. *

I don’t have many thoughts other than wow. This book is an amazing read. It touches on loss, on love, on finding yourself, on moving on, and on starting over. It also puts emphasis on the way music entwines our lives across the globe, how one song can elicit so many emotions, and how beauty is recognized and adapted throughout the world.

I loved this book! I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did because it is about death and moving on after death and love. But it was well written and kept me reading! I want to read more of the authors books!

I had discovered Minnie Darke last year around this time and fell in love with her debut novel, Star-Crossed. I was excited for the opportunity to read this new novel (thanks, Netgalley!) and was not disappointed.

If you have ever been moved by a song and transported back to another time and place then you will connect with this book. For me, music brings up so many memories so I really understood the characters. This would be a perfect book if you are looking for an escape into the lives of some rich characters who will quickly feel like old friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Diana is a concert pianist and sweeps Arie into a romance. Just before she leaves for a tour, she finishes a love song for Arie to give to him when she returns. However, the plane crashes and she never comes home. Little did anyone know, she left her love song on the piano at the last hotel. The song takes a life of its own. LOVED this story. So sweet! #thelostlovesong #minniedarke #oct2020

The Lost Love Song sings a song of love, loss and hope. We first meet Arie, in love with his famous fiancée Diana, and quickly experiences great heartbreak. Readers follow along with Arie as he tries to navigate a new world and decide if his broken heart is worth mending or will forever be cracked. Simultaneously, author Minnie Darke writes of Evie. A loveable and lost young woman, globetrotting the world, writing poetry and looking for her own love. Spun around their two stories are other small glimmers of how a song wrote by Diana, but never produced, travels between characters and seals strangers together. As a reader, I occasionally struggled to keep up with the slew of characters. But, each story was so sweet that I wanted to keep going and discover how the song continues to change lives with a melody of unknown origin.

A sincere thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautifully written book. I really enjoyed the characters and a nice light read. I highly recommend!!

Stunning tale of love and loss, and of people across the world affected by one love song.

The best way I can think of describing this beautiful book is that it's perfect for fans of Jill Santopolo and Josie Silver. It's got the same class and literary magic as their books do.

"The Lost Love Song" is based around the song that a world class pianist Diana Clare had composed for her long term paryner, Arie Johnson. They are on separate continents, so before the song can make it to Arie as a recording, it is overheard, and so a few other characters hear and pass it on. The novel explores their bittersweet stories as well.

I enjoyed Minnie Darke's very well written novel and can't recommend it more if you love the most romantic kind of romance.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Love Song, is all about these different couples coming together because of one love song. It kind of reminded me of Love Actually which is one of my favorite movies ever.

I really liked this book but it wasn’t perfect. I think like Love Actually all the stories that are intertwined would be less confusing on a movie screen than in a book. Some parts were murky for me and I had to go back to re-read some parts because I was confused. Although it all pulled together at the end, it was a bit of a rocky start.

“The Lost Love Song” is an adult novel centered around Arie, who is grieving the loss of his now ex-fiance (Diana), and a world-traveling woman named Evie. Diana is a concert pianist who works on a love song for Arie before passing away, and this song (and music in general) helps bring together the characters in the story.

I was a little bit confused at some points when reading about all of the different side characters, but that aside, I thought that this was a pretty good book. I really liked the writing style, thought that the story contained a lot of emotion, and (especially as someone who is also very passionate about music) I loved that this book shows just how powerful music can truly be.

Rating: 3.5/5

A lovely, evocative love story. Very compelling.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars. There's a lot about this book I liked. The writing style itself was lovely, I felt connected to all the characters and liked how their stories all came and weaved together. It was just very slow, particularly the first half. I wish the (main) romance was stronger and we got to see more of it play out. Overall I liked the plot, and it was a very sweet book, but reading through it felt difficult at times and I just wanted a little "more" to be happening.

There is a sense of our world shrinking - this book plays with that extremely well. After the tragic end of love, only to watch the expression of that love travelling from continent to continent, we are given an impression of hope in the face of all adversity. We are reminded that love comes to us in hundreds of different ways - family, friends, romance - and the reminders of those loves are all around us, even when we think we have forgotten them.

*** I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. ***

This is an intricately woven story about seemingly unconnected characters, loosely coming together through the power of song.

In the beginning of the novel we met classical pianist Diana Clare and her fiancee of many years, Arie Johnson. On the eve of embarking on a world tour, Diana pens a song that takes on a life of its own, long past Diana's own existence. This story follows the song's journey, mainly through the eyes of Arie and Evie, although other important people of note make cameos here and there.

The bits where other people become intertwined with the song are what made this book a bit murky for me. In the end I understood the significance of their presence, but I had a hard time keeping some of the standalone chapters (and their characters) straight.

What I did like about the book was how it emphasized the power of song. I've been down the road before of trying to find the name of a good song that haunts me. Years ago it was easier said than done to find songs you heard by chance, but when it happened, it was a remarkable feeling. The Lost Love Song manages to capture that feeling, as well as the powerful emotions that one might not be able to express, but that a song can do for them.

Musical lovers, and those who are drawn to stories about second chance love, might want to give this one a spin.