Josh and Lauren are very happy newlyweds when Lauren begins to not feel well. She goes to the doctor to find out she has a terminal illness called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, basically her lungs fill with fibers, making it very difficult to breathe. They try to make the best of their lives together, but Lauren tragically passes away just after their third wedding anniversary.

To help Josh with his grief, Lauren has left monthly notes for Josh with tasks for him to complete. He has to host a dinner party, find a hobby, get some new clothes since she’s not there to help him. Lauren also writes letters to her father who also tragically passed away young explaining her how her illness has progressed over the whole story. These notes got me personally as my own father died when I was in my early 20s and I miss him everyday.

It took a long me a long time to pick up this novel, but it’s truly a beautiful and heartfelt book. It has hard parts, but lots of humor too. I have a few more of Kristan’s books and I’m really looking forward to them. Thank you @bookswithnopictures and @just_talking_to_my_shelf for the buddy read and wonderful chat with @kristanhiggins!!

This book is one of the most romantic and easily the saddest book I’ve ever read. I do not recommend reading this book as you commute to work because you will be crying in public at 7am.

PACK UP THE MOON is both wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I was moved to tears, yet smiling and laughing throughout. By the end of the journey I was emotionally but pleasantly exhausted. I would call this book, women’s fiction with substance. Kristan Higgins never fails to write authentic characters who are relatable to all of us. Keep your tissues close by as you are going to need them through this heart tugging story. Im not ashamed to admit that I cried my eyes out. PACK UP THE MOON is such a heart wrenching story that you will absolutely love.

PACK UP THE MOON is the sixth book I have read and enjoyed by Kristen Higgins. I totally cried my eyes out for the last ten percent of this story. I love when an author can do that to me! To be honest, I don’t think Kristan Higgins gets the amount of attention she deserves among women’s fiction writers. Her stories are just that wonderful and if you haven’t read at least one of them yet, you are truly missing out. I like picking up her books when I am feeling stressed out. I also have quite the backlist of her books to get caught up on and that makes me happy.

While reading PACK UP THE MOON I became emotionally invested in all of the characters. They are all flawed, real and lovable! Josh can’t imagine a life without Lauren and totally unknown to him, in her final months, Lauren was thinking of his future too and she leaves one letter a month for Josh, to help him survive his first year alone as a widower. Each letter has a task designed to encourage Josh to continue moving forward. Some are simple, others require more thought and effort. Once I started reading, I was instantly hooked. I devoured every page and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

Do yourself a favor, grab this wonderful book, your favorite drink, and get on your couch and read it. It’s the perfect way to spend the day!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What an absolutely beautiful book about a subject we are all faced with in life--grief. Beautifully written, tear-jerking, and just an amazing story. Even amongst the sadness of the story, there was laughter, as well. This is the first book I've read by Kristan Higgins and it will absolutely not be the last! This book drew out so many emotions in me! I loved it!

Absolutely love this book. Anything by Kristan Higgins is an automatic read for me. As usual, I laughed at some parts and cried at others.

Really good read. This one took me quite a while to get through because it was so emotional. In a good way though! Highly recommend this author.

Audiobook

Phenomenal narration! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This was a very sad book and might be difficult for some readers. The depth of heartache was emotionally draining. It’s hard picking up a book that just makes you so dang sad. I wish this was a bit more original. The dead spouse letters is very PS I Love You and nothing in this book was new or a surprise. It was paced about the same as PS with different “tasks” for the survived spouse to do throughout the first year after the funeral. I really liked Joshua’s character and appreciated the journey he went on after Lauren died. The ending with Lauren in the hospital was hard to listen to. 💔 Terminal illness of a loved one is something I hope I never encounter in my lifetime.

If this is still something you want to read, I strongly encourage the audio!

I tried this but this was too sad for me - my fault but I just can't review. I love her other books though!

Pre-publication ebook read
Josh, a recent widower, receives letters written by his wife in her last months of life. The letters sustain and help him move forward. What could be a sappy novel is instead humorous and insightful. The characters are well developed and likeable, despite flaws, with the exception of the perfect late wife. However, her perfection may be more perception through the eyes of her loved ones. The author seems to do her research about medical conditions.

Oh my heart. This book has completely wrecked me and it deserves all the stars and more!

PACK UP THE MOON shows the personal trauma that terminal illness and grief has on a person, and author Kristan Higgins writes with such raw honesty through this story.

Where there is darkness, you will often also find the light, and hope, and she’s written a beautiful love story.

*many thanks to Berkley/Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Loved this book!

Description
They used to joke about it. Like many brilliant scientists, Josh sometimes had trouble remembering things that needed doing in the “real” world—like buying groceries, eating regular meals, and talking to people. But he was happy to have his beloved wife, Lauren, remind him with her “honey do” lists. He just never realized how much he would need one when she was gone.

Being a widower is not something Joshua Park ever expected. Given his solitary job, small circle of friends and family, and the social awkwardness he’s always suffered from, Josh has no idea how to negotiate this new, unwanted phase of life. But Lauren had a plan to keep him moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him, giving him a task for every month in the year after her death. A plan that leads Joshua with a loving hand on a journey through grief, anger, and denial.

It’s a journey that will take Joshua from his first outing as a widower to buy groceries…to an attempt at a dinner party where his lack of experience hosting creates a comic disaster…to finding a new best friend while weeping in the dressing room of a clothing store. As his grief makes room for new friendships and experiences, Joshua learns Lauren’s most valuable lesson: The path to happiness doesn’t follow a straight line.

Funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, and always uplifting, this novel from New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins illuminates how life’s greatest joys are often hiding in plain sight.

This is a story that will bring you in and make you feel like you want more! Loved the flow and emotions that made me understand how loss and love are heartbreaking but survivalable.

Recommend.

Joshua and Lauren are the perfect couple, and they balance each other out. Joshua is a technical and methodical kind of guy. Shy and awkward. Lauren is the outgoing, creative sort, who designs public spaces. They met once in college, but it was at an opening for a passion project of Lauren's that they met again and their life together started. And then Lauren was diagnosed with a terminal disease. And their perfect world comes crashing down. Together they fight the disease and come to grips with their future. And after Lauren is gone, there are monthly letters for Joshua. Letters to help Joshua get past the death of his wife. The letters are meant to push Joshua out of his comfort zone and force him to live life again. Will it work, or will Joshua succumb to the depths of his grief?


Pack Up the Moon absolutely gutted me. At first, I was a little defensive about the premise, I mean, P.S I Love You was one of my all-time favorite books. As much as I love Kristan Higgins, how could she write a book with a similar premise? Only it wasn't exactly the same. Lauren and Jerry were two different people. And Joshua was waaaay different from Holly. The more I got into Pack Up the Moon, the more I was invested in Joshua and his happiness. As the book continues, you see Josh growing. Not just managing his grief, but seeking out new experiences that he would have never likely encountered without Lauren's guidance. But like I said, this book absolutely gutted me. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.



Bottom Line - Pack Up the Moon was such an emotional read for me, I had to add it to the "Best of 2021" list. How could I not?


Details:
Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins
On Instagram
Pages: 464
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 6/8/2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for a review.

I just wansn't in the right head space to read or really appreciate this book. Its a shame but its just not the book for me. Maybe another time

Well, that was quite the sob fest!!! Not much different than a story we've read a hundred times, (boy meets girl, they fall in love, have the perfect life, wife has terminal illness and leaves her husband letters to help him get through her passing) but yet it was very well done. None of that kept me from crying into my pillow and shaking my fist at the sky at the unfairness of it all!!

Josh and Lauren are happily married with a near perfect life....until she passes away from a terminal illness. Pack Up the Moon alternates between Lauren, who tells their story before her death, and Josh, who is trying to process his grief and forge ahead with living. I'm not going to lie- it took me a month to read, mainly because I couldn't stop crying, but this book isn't maudlin. Instead, Higgins shows the reality of losing a spouse at a young age and trying to figure out how to move forward. This is sad and hopeful, heartbreaking and funny and, ultimately, cathartic. This is easily one of the best books I've read this year.

Another tear jerker five star read!

Not only will you need tissues nearby it will also it make you smile.

Lauren and Josh have been married for less than two years when Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Lauren is a sensitive caring soul and she says “get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’ “ as she accepts her fate, she also wants Josh and her loved ones to move on.
To guide Josh through his grief she has left 12 letters, one for each month. In these letters she has tasks for him to do as she guides him through his grief.
The letters and the flashbacks are weaved beautifully through the present timeline.
Just a wonderful heartbreaking lighthearted. I highly recommend.

I’m pretty sure this was my first book by Kristan Higgins and the first book that has made me bawl my eyes out in years. You guys, have some Kleenex ready when you read this one, you’re going to need them.

Newly married couple Josh and Lauren are madly in love and are both very successful at what they do. Then Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness and their lives are thrown to shambles. But Lauren has a plan to keep her husband going after her death, a letter given to him every month after she dies that will give him a task to do every month for the first year. She hopes that it will help Josh cope better with the loss while also learning valuable lessons about himself.

This book absolutely gutted me but also made me laugh more times than I can count. The personalities and quirks that the author gave to each character fit them perfectly but it also broke up the saddest parts of the book in the best ways. Reading some of Josh’s chapters had me laughing with tears in my eyes and then crying the next minute because it was so sad. The ending of the book is what really got me though, Josh reliving Lauren’s death but also finally feeling free and learning about himself, gosh it was so good.

*Many thanks to Berkley for the free copy for my honest review*

This was a very touching and tear filled novel. I loved the emotion behind it and really had to know what happened to Josh in the end. It was a little too sad for my taste but I did still thoroughly enjoy it. Thank you netgalley for my free copy.

I love Kristan Higgins - I’m pretty sure I’ve read everyone of her books. Pack Up The Moon is her newest book, and this was one was so good. This definitely had some PS I Love You Vibes - Josh’s late wife, Lauren, leaves him one letter (with a challenge/task) a month for the first year after she passes away. Josh’s journey through his grief is so real, but there is just enough humor to keep this from being a sad book. I listened to the audiobook, and I’d highly recommend.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Berkley for my ARC!

I adore Kristan Higgins; her early works are some of my favorite romances. In the past few years, she's moved towards more serious topics. While I still love her writing, reading is an escape for me and heavy topics are not really my favorite.