Ten Years by Pernille Hughes

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

They’re perfect for each other
They just don’t know it yet

Becca and Charlie have known each other for years – ever since they met at university.

And for every one of those years, they've bickered, argued, offended, mocked and generally rubbed each other up the wrong way.

Until now. Until Ally’s bucket list. The death of their loved one should mean Becca and Charlie can go their separate ways and not look back. But completing the list is something neither Charlie nor Becca can walk away from.

And sometimes, those who bring out the worst in you, also bring out the very best…

My Opinion

This is a powerful book that will play on your mind after you have finished reading. A very emotional story, with tough subjects handled in a delicate manner. This is not a light-hearted read, I read this in small chunks as it was too heavy to read in one go.

This is my first book by Pernille and it will not be my last. I really enjoyed the way that through the bucket list we learnt about Ally. There are twists throughout the book to keep the reader on their toes. This will appeal to fans of the enemies to loves trope.

Rating: 4/5

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for approving me for an ARC of this book.

Pernille Hughes certainly doesn’t hang about and throws us straight in at the deep end by opening the story with a funeral. Don’t worry this isn’t a spoiler as you’ll see if you read the synopsis. This is where we meet our two narrators, Charlie and Becca. It is clear from the start that they tolerate each other and Ally was the glue keeping this threesome together so the unexpected news of the bucket list certainly threw a spanner in the works.

I will admit that initially I wasn’t too sure what to think about the chance of a romance between these two characters. As Becca rightly says at one point there is so much to consider and girl code plays a big part in that. However I soon found myself swayed by the chemistry between these two and as you get further into the story you realise why it was meant to be.

The bucket list idea was fabulous and I loved all the little challenges the duo went on. They certainly got taken out of their comfort zones and provided us readers with some entertainment too, the tandem and the bus trip were my favourites.

This is an enemies to friends to lovers with a few twists and turns along the way. It dives into the depths of grief and how someone’s lasting memory can be seen differently to two people. Becca and Charlie are chalk and cheese but they work so well together that you can’t help but want them to find each other. I must also give a special mention to Valerie who’s final confession brought tear to my eyes. What a lovely, understanding and kind woman!

Ten Years follows our main characters, Charlie and Becca over the course of ten years. Charlie's fiancée and Becca's best friend Ally sadly passes away. Charlie and Becca can't stand each other but after discovering that Ally left a bucket list that she wanted to the two of them to complete together, they are forced to do a task each year on the anniversary of Ally's death.

This makes them spend more and more time together and realise that they don't really hate each other after all.

I really enjoyed the character growth that we saw over the years. Charlie moving on with his relationships, Becca being angry thinking he'd forgotten about Ally, I think they were two very accurate portrayals following the loss of a loved one.

The backstories, Becca's especially, were emotional and I loved the little twist at the end.

Ten Years follows Becca and Charlie who met at university. Since they've met, they've basically been enemies, constantly bickering and rubbing each other the wrong way. Flash-forward and Ally, Becca's best friend and Charlie's girlfriend, passes away and leaves them a bucket list and they have to complete one task a year for 10 years. As the years pass by, they slowly realise the person who brings out their worst might also bring out their best.

This is a classic enemies-to-lovers story focusing on grief, love and loss. However, I found this book didn't focus on the romance as much as I was expecting/hoping. And because of that, I just found the chemistry lacking between Becca and Charlie. They had great banter, but because it was a slow burn (with a slow pace) I was expecting the romance and tension to build up and I was disappointed in the end.

This is a difficult book for me to review. I didn't hate it or love it, There were lots of things that I loved about this book. However, there were also a lot things that I didn't like. The book handed grief very well and in a sympathetic way. It was very emotional in places.
I did not like Becca or Charlie very much and I did not find their relationship believable. As the title suggests this book takes place over 10 years. This is not a problem but I found that the book was very slow to start with and I struggled to read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my ARC.

This is amazing book I loved even though it does deal with grief and family issues it’s a brilliant story. Loved the characters the writing style was beautiful written. I always remember this story in a beautiful way.

Sorry to say that I really struggled with this book. I thought from the premise that it was going to be much better than it turned out to be - in my case at least. Neither Charlie nor Becca came over as nice people and I found it hard to engage with them or their 'romance' which just didn't ring true. It's probably mostly a case of wrong audience rather than wrong book as I'm sure that many readers will love it but unfortunately, on this occasion it just wasn't for me. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was very predictable. From reading the first chapter I knew how it was going to end. But did that stop me enjoying it....................................no way !!! I LOVED IT !
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

The book starts with Ally dying and her fiancé Charlie, and best friend Becca, being completely devastated. They clearly don’t like each other – and both envisage never seeing each other again after her funeral.

However Ally – assisted by her Mum – had other plans! Ally has a bucket list of things she wanted to do – and she has tasked Becca and Charlie with doing these things. Their love for Ally – despite their loathing of each other – means they agree to do the tasks around the anniversary of Ally’s death.

I have to say, you can probably guess how this is going to end after the decade of tasks – but it isn’t a straightforward rom com. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way – both in what is happening in the present day – but also in unravelling the past too.

The tasks are all different – so give lots of varied settings for the plot to develop.

Whilst Becca and Charlie both have their character flaws – fundamentally you are rooting for them both.

I really enjoyed this book – and devoured it really quickly – and would definitely recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Aahh I really enjoyed this book! I've just finished it as part of the One More Chapter readalong.

Charlie and Becca hate each other. But Ally, Charlie's fiancé and Becca's best friend isn't bothered about that. When she passes away, she leaves behind instructions for them to complete her bucket list. They decide to complete the challenges annually on the anniversary of Ally's death. After all, in Ally's memory they can just about tolerate each other for a day, surely.

It's no shock that these two end up together - we know that the trope is enemies to lovers, but you could never have guessed the journey to get there. For a long time, I found Becca that unlikeable that I didn't WANT them to get together. But it all comes good by the end. As they grow up over the course of ten years, they both become more likeable.

I really like the breaks in time - it kept the novel pacy and it was nice to catch up with both Charlie and Becca once a year.

I'm not usually a romance lover but I loved this one!

1.5 Stars. This book has an identity crisis. I doesn't know if it wants to a piece of literary fiction about grief or a rom-com filled with banter and because of this it fails at both. Neither Becca or Charlie were particularly likable, which fine, Sally Rooney's books are full of awful people but at least the stories are interesting, however Becca and Charlie had nothing compelling going on that had me invested in their story. All they did was insult each other and act like children. There was nothing believable about them falling for each other and it just felt forced. The writing style desperately wanted to be literary fiction filled with exposition, but the dialogue sounded like twelve year olds with an affinity for the f-word. On top of that the book was just boring. I skimmed sever of the chapters and did not miss a single thing. This book was just an overall miss for me.

Plot
They’re perfect for each other
They just don’t know it yet

Becca and Charlie have known each other for years – ever since they met at university.

And for every one of those years, they've bickered, argued, offended, mocked and generally rubbed each other up the wrong way.

Until now. Until Ally’s bucket list. The death of their loved one should mean Becca and Charlie can go their separate ways and not look back. But completing the list is something neither Charlie nor Becca can walk away from.
And sometimes, those who bring out the worst in you, also bring out the very best…

Over the course of ten years, Becca and Charlie’s paths collide as they deal with grief, love and life after Ally.

Review
I’ve just finished this book and I’m a blubbering mess!

Death and the ongoing stages of grief isn’t an easy subject to write about but Pernille Hughes does this with the right amount of sensitivity and humour. Charlie and Becca are both flawed which makes them in my opinion more realistic and their ways of dealing with the grief over what could be considered for both of them, the love of their life, is done brilliantly.

I loved the changing timelines and the developments in the lives and personalities of both Charlie and Becca and those around them. You feel for both of them and what they are going through and yes you do want to bang their heads together and say “Ally saw it why can’t you!”

The writing flows with ease and honestly it did not take me long to finish this book as you feel caught up in the storyline so much you just have to know what’s going on. Shout out to Ally’s lovely mother who’s a sneaky devil I’ll give her that.

All in all, I adored this book and could totally see it as a TV series one day.

Rating
5/5

Recommend
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Thank you to One More Chapter and Pernille Hughes for an advance copy as part of the read along. Even though I was gifted the book, all opinions are my own.

I tried so hard to like this book. I'm not the biggest fan of the 'dead best friend's boyfriend' trope, but it seemed interesting, so I decided to go with it. Unfortunately, I almost stopped reading twice because the plot dragged out and I felt absolutely no chemistry between Charlie and Rebecca. For a book that is marketed as a romance, it fell flat and was disappointing.

A brief plot: Rebecca and Charlie hate each other. The only connection between them is Ally, Rebecca's best friend and Charlie's girlfriend. When she dies, Ally leaves a bucket list for Rebecca and Charlie to complete. They do one task a year.

The thing is, the chemistry really had to be there for this case, more so than in any book, because they met only a few times a year. It was an enemies-to-lovers trope with plenty of reasons for the 'enemies' part, but it was not convincing enough for me to believe that they actually moved to the 'lovers' part.

There was a lot more exposition in this book than in most romance books, which made it feel more like a work of literary fiction than a romance book. I really think this book would have been better if it was marketed more as a lit fic on grief and moving on rather than a pure romance book, because everything felt forced. It felt like the author was giving us reasons and trying to convince us that they were meant to be because there logically just wasn't any chemistry.

On top of that, I found Rebecca and Charlie very dull and uninteresting, and just so unlikeable.

Ally dies young & leaves her fiancé Charlie & her best friend Becca devastated by her loss. A year after she dies, an email arrives to Charlie & Becca from Ally to visit her mum Valerie. There was no love lost between them, & they were surprised to find a bucket list from Ally for them to do & also scatter her ashes.
I loved the characters, Charlie & Becca, & following them through this book showed their blind love for Ally. So much happens to them as individuals & together. Made me laugh, made me cry too. Such a good book.

The premise of this novel is a fabulous one, Becca is Ally’s best friend but loathes Ally’s fiancé, Charlie. When Ally dies, both Becca and Charlie can go their separate ways and never have to interact again. But it is Ally’s wish that Becca and Charlie meet every year and carry out an activity to remember her by.
With Ally’s mother Valerie on board, neither Becca or Charlie can say no and are forced together in a series of comic yet endearing encounters. We watch each character grow and slowly realise there may be more than Ally that bonds them.
The book itself is executed beautifully, and the growth of each character over the years is wonderfully charted as their lives evolve and the bond between them deepens.
The novel digs deep into the emotions of Becca and Charlie and Pernille Hughes writes about grief, guilt, loss and love with poignancy and insight which she balances with humour and romance by the bucketful. A fabulous book, warm, witty and wise and highly recommended.

Thank you to @onemorechapterhc and @pernillehughes for inviting me to read this book as part of a readalong.

Becca and Charlie have very little in common other than the fact that they are both grieving for the most important person in their lives, Ally. Best friend to Becca and fiancé to Charlie, Ally is cruelly taken from this world before her time, leaving Becca and Charlie heartbroken.

Over the span of ten years, we see Becca and Charlie get together on a yearly basis to honour Ally’s memory and complete the bucket list that she was never able to complete herself. Their relationship is an absolute rollercoaster and there are many ups and downs as we go through the ten years with them.

I grew so invested in both of the main characters and I so badly wanted things to work out for them, both on an individual basis and for them as a couple. Becca in particular got under my skin in the sense that I could not stop thinking about her even when I wasn’t reading the book! Initially, she came across as brash and defensive and as if she had a bad attitude. But we soon learn that Becca’s default setting is to put up that wall because she has been through so much. She constantly presses that self destruct button because in her mind she’s not worthy of anything good. But she is, she so is! Becca is possibly one of my favourite characters ever. So complex and with so many layers that you just have to strip back to see who she really is. I really enjoyed going on the ten year journey with her and seeing her find herself.

This book tells the story of how people grieve in different ways, and how the loss of someone can impact you in ways that you never expected. But it also gives hope and shows how moving on is possible, even when you think it will never be possible again.

I thought that this was a really well written book and some of the messages that it portrayed will stay with me for a long time.

I really wanted to like this book but just couldn’t get into it.
I didn’t take to either of the main characters and found them childish. The chapters were also so long and it felt like a labour to finish it.

This is the first book I have read from this author not sure I’d try again.

Ten Years by Pernille Hughes is a book I wanted to love based on the premise but I couldn't get into it. The book was slow moving. The characters were not relatable and frankly they were way to winey for me. I don't like giving negative feedback to any author as they put their heart and soul into their works. So while this may not have been a book for me, someone will definitely love this book.

This book gave me all of the feels. Having to spend time with someone you dislike so much, because someone you love, loves them. It is messy and dramatic, yet so beautiful. 10 Years seems like a long span for a book - but it was perfect. Being committed to do what your loved one wanted is hard at the best of times, let alone doing it with the worst person possible. I really enjoyed this one and was kept on my toes.

**Listened to audio book and read via kindle**

The premise of this book sounded epic, and right up my street. However, for me, the book didn't live up to the premise.

I found the book to be really slow, and I think the characters were very moany and unlikeable. By the end I just didn't really care what happened to our central characters - I wasn't routing for them. I was just frustrated by them.

The narrator of the audiobook was great, but I think it would have been better if it had been multiple narrators.

I would like to read what Pernille Hughes does next, as I did like their writing - just don't think the plot or the characters worked for me with this one.