This one just wasn’t what I was expecting. It was not bad, just not my cup of tea. Maybe I will revisit in the future but …

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't able to read this title before it was archived.

I really enjoyed Jo's journey, even as she kept getting knocked off-course, time and again. I wasn't as into some of the ley line stuff, but absolutely recognized its importance to the story. Henry showed himself to be one of those grumbly guy characters who are grumbly for a reason, but eventually, seeing him overcome that was just as important to me as Jo's resolution. I'd certainly enjoy spending time with these characters again, even as I'm not sure if I enjoyed where we ended up in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this eARC!

I wasn't sure how much I would like this book as I'm not a Beatles fan and it seemed like a significant part of the plot, but I'm glad to say I liked it more than anticipated.

The story follows Jo after the death of her father, who begins appearing in her dreams and directing her to go to London. From North Carolina originally, she enrolls in an exchange program where she meets Henry. Throughout the book, she attempts to discover the truth about what happened to her dad while wrestling with visions of him and navigating her relationship with Henry.

I was very torn on this book. I like how it handled the heavier topics like grief and mental illness, and I liked how the main character was given a chance at love and happiness despite being "broken." I liked the descriptive atmospheres. I also liked the supernatural aspect and the "coming back from the dead" trope. I loved the plot twist and I also loved the plot overall, and the pacing that made it feel easy to connect to. Overall it was good, but not great (at least for me). Originally before being able to redownload this, I was having a lot of formatting issues especially with the texts. They were often out of order and froze my e-reader entirely, and I know that's a virtual issue more than a book issue but I wonder how it would effect formatting in a physical copy. Also, a lot of the text slang felt like "How do you do fellow kids?" and it made it really awkward to read at parts. I also just don't think I connected with the characters on a deeper level. Sure, I liked them, but I wasn't rooting for them one way or the other.

However, it is not a bad book by any means, and I would still recommend it to someone for the aforementioned reasons!

This book was good. Not great, not bad, nothing I'd jump for joy for, but it was a good book. It deals with grief and learning how to live after losing a loved one. I felt disconnected from the main character though. She seemed so emotionless, and the psychic dreams, auras, and such were just a little weird to me. I enjoy reading about overcoming loss and learning to live with grief, because I feel like it can be very powerful and moving, but the random psychic stuff just took that away a little bit. I am a fan of the Beatles as well, and enjoyed reading about the connection between the main character and their music. Overall, I enjoyed the book but I don't think I would really recommend it to others.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an e-arc of this book*

I could really relate to the concept of this book as I have recently lost my father and I loved how it tied in the London aspect as well.
When Jo lost her father three years earlier under mysterious circum-stances, he began appearing in her dreams, beckoning her to London where he’d been the lead singer of an internationally acclaimed Beat-les cover band. Armed with an atlas of Britain’s supernatural ley lines and a tenuous friendship, she sets out with a new friend to uncover the truth and discover what they’ve grown to mean to each other.
It was a very unique book and I give the author a lot of credit for dreaming it up. I could really relate to Jo and what she was feeling and going through.

The description of this book was very interesting, but the book itself was not. The plot was difficult to follow; I lost interest and DNFd it at 36 %.
I was provided a free digital copy of this book. All opinions are strictly my own.

"When 17-year-old Jo Bryant lost her father three years ago, he began appearing to her in dreams, beckoning her to the grave of Eleanor Rigby. This isn’t the weird part, since he was the lead singer of an internationally acclaimed Beatles cover band. What’s weird is that she’s almost certain he isn’t really dead. Jo has long wondered about her father’s past and his mysterious death in a London hotel, but she can’t shake the feeling that something’s being kept from her. So when her mother offers to do a “kid swap” with a London friend, Jo leaps at the opportunity to go overseas for the summer, under the pretext of scoping out colleges.

Once in London, Jo meets Henry, a broody, Beatles-hating photographer who understands what it’s like to lose a parent. He gets on her last nerve, but he’s into an intriguing mix of quantum physics and pseudoscience. Soon, Jo realizes that Henry might have the key to finding her father. Armed with an atlas of Britain’s supernatural ley lines and a tenuous friendship, Jo and Henry set out to follow a breadcrumb trail to the grave, which just so happens to sit on one of the most powerful ley lines in Liverpool. But Henry’s family has dark secrets of their own, and the truths they must unravel could destroy who they thought their parents were, and what they’ve grown to mean to each other."

I can't get the song "Eleanor Rigby" out of my head - thanks Jen Marie Hawkins!

I'm not usually a reader of young adult fiction but the title and cover photo of All the Lonely People - attracted me to this book. The interesting characters, charming locations, and mysterious plot kept me turning the pages!

Jo travels alone to London in the hopes of finding out more about her father's mysterious death. She stays with a family acquaintance and his (good-looking) son Henry and works part-time in their record shop. Her premonitions and dreams eventually lead her to Liverpool, where both her father and the Beatles were born. Could her dad still be alive?

Jo continues to correspond via email with her boyfriend and two best friends back home in North Carolina. I was thrilled when she dumped her boyfriend and took up with the brooding young man in the next bedroom.

Just a few minor complaints. I wish there were more Beatles references. Other than the summary mention, not much is written about her father's "internationally acclaimed Beatles cover band". Also, Jo was on some type of medication but since her luggage was lost for several days, she stopped the meds cold-turkey with no repercussions? And, save the ley lines for another book - I don't think they added much to this story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was released in August 2021.

#netgalley #netgalleyarc #bookreview #allthelonelypeople #JenmarieHawkins

3.5/5
I'm not sure what I expected when I started this book but I really enjoyed it. The characters, plot, and writing were great and it grabbed my entrance from the start. Jo was amazing and I really loved how she grew as a character throughout this book. Overall this was a great read and I would most definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I was really drawn to the premise and the characters, but I did not connect enough with the book to choose to continue on. I think a lot of people will love this book (clearly from the reviews), but I chose it based on the Love & Gelato comparison and I think this book was much heavier than that one and was not what I was expecting. I DNFed, but not because I didn't like it, it just was not the right book for me right now.

⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3 out of 5


This is a tale of a girl named Jojo and her journey on closure and discovery. Jojo is from North Carolina and gets invited to participate in an exchange program in London the city her father was raised and died. We see how she comes to London shoeless and nervous. Upon arriving she meets Henry. We see how she struggles with navigating through London and how she deals with the new people. But when secrets are hidden there's bound to be problems. Throughout the book we see Jo try to piece together what happened to her dad as she deals with dreams of her father. We later come to see how she and Henry become friends over the loss of a parent. They eventually fall for each other as they work together to try to communicate with the other side. We watch Jojo try to grasp at strings on her father's death and the fact that he may still be alive. We later find out the truth about who Jojo's father was and turns out she has a brother named Patrick. Deep betrayal, Friends turned lovers, and hidden family secrets. I do have to say im not a big fan of the end of this book just sorta left a load of questions unanswered causing me to rate this 3/5

If You're looking for a good Ya Coming of self-discovery this is a good pick.

Content Warnings: suicide, substance abuse, toxic relationships, mental illness

All the Lonely People follows the story of a young teenager who struggles to cope with and accept her father’s death. She’s persistent to prove that he is still alive, and in order to do that, she decides she needs to go to the place he loved: London. Jo (the main character) who lives in North Carolina does a switcheroo with the son of a family friend who lives in London. On her journey, she becomes close with the person she least expected, and eventually unravels a web of secrets revolving around her father’s death.

This book stood out to me because of the way it handles serious issues like mental health/illnesses, toxic relationships, and grief, while also incorporating humor, romance, and mystery into the plot. The writing also made it easy for me to read and process, and it kept me hooked throughout the entire book. I thought the plot was very well paced, so I never really felt bored at some points or confused/rushed at others.

Another special aspect about this book is how it added some scientific and supernatural aspects. This gave a twist to the story that made me even more inclined to read it, and I felt like I was actually learning something too. The scientific parts didn’t make me feel like I was reading a dull nonfiction book, I felt like I was still submerged in the story and hearing the character themself tell me the theories. Unfortunately, there was a lot of science and supernatural stuff in the first half of the book but then it became irrelevant closer to the end, which I was a little disappointed about because I thought that plotline had a lot of potential.

Jen Marie Hawkins included text messages in the book as well, which I liked because I felt like they mixed up the book a little. However, the texts were out of order sometimes and would disrupt the chapters which made it a little difficult to read. I think that’s just an ebook formatting issue though. More on the texts, the main characters are teens, so the author tried to incorporate “teen slang” and popular culture things to make the texts sound like how teens really message each other. Though I don’t speak for all teenagers, I thought most of the texts were pretty inaccurate and they sort of made me internally cringe. Additionally, some scenes in general just felt very cliche or out of character (obviously I didn’t create these characters so I wouldn’t know- it’s just what I think based on how they act in the rest of the book).

As for the ending, like I mentioned before, I thought the pacing was good all throughout, including the ending. There was a huge plot twist that I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting, and the author wrote it so that the twist unfolded throughout the course of multiple chapters, which made me eager to read faster and finish the book so I could find out what exactly happened. I don’t really think I had any unanswered questions by the end of the book, so it was a pretty satisfying ending.

Now for the romance part. I’m a total sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope and the bad-boy-who’s-not-really-bad trope. This book had them both. I felt the tension throughout the entire book and it was so good. I think it did all move a little too fast, but maybe that’s just because I normally read super slow burn books. Something that made me a little uncomfortable is that one romance was a little like relatives-in-love. They weren’t technically related, but they shared a sibling which was really odd and unnecessary. Petition for no more Jace-Clary type romances!!

Lastly, one issue in this book that I feel should be discussed is how Jo goes off her meds and there aren’t really any repercussions. There were comments on how the meds “dulled her senses” or “were useless”, which I think are dangerous messages to send, especially since this book is targeted towards young adults and adolescents.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it was a relatively quick and easy read.

Do I recommend All the Lonely People? Yes
Rating: 3.75 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Owl Hollow Press for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

~*~ 4.5 stars! ~*~

After reading Jen Marie Hawkins' debut novel last year , The Language of Cherries, and completely falling in love with her lyrical, descriptive style of writing, I was very eager for this book, but at the same time trepiditious about it because I wasn't sure if she could make the same magic happen twice. Cherries was an extremely unique plot, sprinkled lightly with mysticism and very romantic. I felt everything the characters were feeling and swooned hard for them. All the Lonely People is a completely different story, but contains a lot of the same elements, just with a bit of a darker feel and lots of mystery woven in.

I've written and rewritten this review several times, trying to outline the plot, but to be honest, I think its better for the reader to just dive in blind. There is a lot going on in this story and it is all blended together in a way that is just too difficult to explain without giving away too much. There is romance, loss, self-discovery, mystery, adventure, and mysticism and the author is able to make you feel all of it with her wonderfully descriptive writing style. I became deeply invested in the main character, Jo, and desperately wanted her to find love and peace with her life.

There is a twist towards the end of this story that I did not see coming at all, which is rare for me, and I thought it was perfect for the story, but once it was revealed, some of the momentum was lost. The ends tied up a little too quickly and the explanation of it all felt a bit unrealistic and rushed, hence 4.5 stars instead of 5. I also kind of wish this author would have made Jo a few years older. The chemistry between Jo and Henry was palpable and I was secretly hoping for some steamier scenes between them. ;-P

Overall, though, this was a great book with a lot of feeling. It alternated between being dark and heavy and light and romantic, which was a good balance given how serious some of the subject matter was. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author because I just love her writing style.

All the Lonely People by Jen Marie Hawkins.
Since I am old enough to remember seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964, this was very nostalgic for me. And like Jojo, I loved Paul then too. This was a very good YA book but also perfectly good for adults, even for those of us who can barely recall being a teen. Her teenage trials may include more anguish than some people experience but it was all very relatable. All the characters are fully fleshed out, even the ones we really only get to know by text. A quick read but the feelings evoked are very real and the ending was well executed.
Thanks to Netgalley.

One of the best YA novels I’ve read. Absolutely could not put it down. The perfect mix of teenage angst, tension with Mom, escaping reality, handsome college guy and overprotective boyfriend. What surprised me was the extremely real and relatable way she handled grief. I was rooting for our heroine the entire way. I am so happy for this to get published and for everyone to read this fantastic book!

I definitely put this down as a beach read; perfect to enjoy on a summer holiday on the beach! The plot/ storyline is very much original and the characters are well-developed. The combination of the supernatural and the discography of The Beatles is quite an unusual blend but it ultimately worked for the whole story.

I really enjoyed All the Lonely People. As a huge Beatles fan, I loved how their music was woven into the plot. The characters were intriguing and I found myself completely engrossed in the plot. The slight supernatural element was a lot of fun, and though it’s not usually something I enjoy in books, I think it was done really well and definitely added to the story.

The plot twist at the end was great, although I had predicted it a little earlier on. The way it was all explained was wonderful and I enjoyed reading Jo’s reaction as the truth came out.

I loved reading through Jo’s growth as a character. She really came into her own over time, and the story didn’t shy away from the tough details and mental health difficulties that come when losing somebody close to you. Her reactions were incredibly valid, and I liked that her grief stayed with her and didn’t magically disappear X amount of months/years later.

I read All the Lonely People as an e-book, and unfortunately several of the texting chains were out of sequence, most having to be read backwards. Other than that, the novel was clear and well-written and edited.

Overall, I would highly recommend All the Lonely People. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of All the Lonely People in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book so much. It made me laugh, it made me smile, it made me cry. I couldn’t put it down. One of the things I love most about reading a book is feeling like you’re actually there with the characters. I felt like I was there, walking around tourist spots in London and seeing different parts of the Beatles history with Jo and Henry.

I loved the chemistry between these two characters. I flew through page after page needing to know what was happening next in their relationship. I definitely felt invested in this love story. I found Jo to be such a relatable character. She travels to London to find answers about her father who passed away and falls in love along the way. She deals with so much pain throughout the book; when she drops her father’s urn into the river, when she reaches Eleanor Rigby’s grave in hopes of seeing him, and then when she realizes he had a whole other family in London that she didn’t know about. I went through so many emotions while reading this book, but loved every minute of it.

I really enjoyed how each chapter was titled after a song from the Beatles. It connected back to Jo and her father, and their love of the Beatles. As a fan of the Beatles, I loved all of the mentions and the trips to see the different landmarks that were important to how the Beatles came to be. I’ve always wanted to take a trip to the UK to see these places myself, so it was fun living these moments through Jo and Henry.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. The plot twist at the end broke my heart and left me in tears, but the book was wrapped up beautifully. I can’t wait to purchase an actual copy to add to my collection. This is definitely one of my favourite books I’ve read so far this year.

I’m not sure what I expected when I started #AllTheLonelyPeople, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the characters, the plot, and the writing style very compelling. As a mom to daughters, I found myself wanting to give Jo a hug, cheer her on, ground her to her room. But I was really proud of the realizations she came to regarding her boyfriend, her friends, and herself. I could totally see myself reading this again in a few years with daughters who are a little older and having great discussions about the book (and about ourselves). The Mists of Avalon is one of the first novels I fell in love with as an adult, so I loved the ley lines and mystical elements.

And the Beatles! It’s like a built in soundtrack. Highly recommend reading with the relevant song playing.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oh, how I enjoyed this book! It has a touch of supernatural, a love story and I could practically hear the Beatles singing as I read through the book. All the makings of a good YA read.

All the Lonely People is the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old who travels to England in search of answers about the mysterious and sudden death of her father. Along the way, she makes new friends and learns more about herself as she continues to deal with her own grief over his loss.

There were so many things that I liked about this book.

As a Beatles fan, I really enjoyed all the nods and references to the Beatles and reading about the band's famous locations in England (Eleanor Rigby's grave, Abbey Road, etc).

I also loved watching the friendship and love story develop with a character who, at the start of the story, was aloof and distant.

It was also nice to see that the book touched on mental health issues -- this is something that needs to be discussed more openly in our society so I was happy that this theme was prevalent throughout the story.

Also, I had never heard of ley lines before and they were interesting to read up about. If you have also not heard of them, they are lines that connect landmarks, religious sites and man-made structures around the world with some people believing that the lines are not accidental and have spiritual significance. True or false? Who knows. But it was fun googling and reading up on them.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book by Jen Marie Hawkins and am now interested in reading her first novel The Language of Cherries.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jen Marie Hawkins and Owl Hollow Press for the e-ARC and the opportunity to review All The Lonely People in exchange for an honest review