This book is an entertaining story, however I found the book quite dull and boring. Im not an avid romance reader, so I feel this is a very on a personalised level of a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC of "Ten Years" by Pernille Hughes.

Sadly, I really disliked this book. I found that the plot of "fell in love over a death" wasn't for me and that the dead main character, Ally, wasn't even mentioned for half the book. For a bestfriend and ex boyfriend who claimed to be grieving heavily, she was almost an afterthought. I feel like there's probably an audience out there who would adore this book but sadly, that audience isn't me. I did enjoy Hughes' writing style so if there's a more me-appropriate plot out there by this author, I will definitely try that one.

A great opener which really grabs you. The death of their person in common sets Becca and Charlie on a long journey of annual meeting ups to fulfill the bucket list she could never do. Some really daft things in there but ultimately we really get the emotion, the hurt and the stages of grief of Becca and Charlie. The ending is never certain and the depth of feeling explored is just lovely.

What a book! It was so well written. It will definitely make you laugh, cry and get frustrated with the characters. I kept reacting to what I was reading out loud so much that people started looking. A definite must read, a definite emotional read with a gorgeous story.

I found this difficult to get into initially as Becca was a difficult character to get into and Charlie was an understandable mess, I found Becca’s character did evolve as the book went on and after a couple of times of Charlie and Becca meeting it’s story started to come together more. The dual perspective worked well but I’m not sure I properly got to the heart of either character however each meeting did feel more relaxed and you could see how they started to change towards each other. This wasn’t an especially romantic read but the story was solid.

I think I needed half a box of Kleenexes reading this well-written book. Not to say that’s all there is. I laughed with & cursed under my breath @ the characters plenty, too. The funeral scene literally made my heart ache. The fight scenes made me gnash my teeth. Lots of scenes made me smile. Even though I could guess where the story was headed, there are twists & turns I didn’t expect along the way. The memories & stories of Ally as they are shared over the years made me feel like she was there in the story, even when she physically wasn’t.
This is sort of a ten year look into coming to terms with messy “real” adulthood, gaining perspective, defining relationships, & the very different ways people deal with grief. It was easy to feel like I knew these characters, good traits & bad. Such good descriptions of Becca’s anger, confused feelings, & self-loathing over her failures. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to shake her or hug her sometimes. I rooted for Charlie as he has to pick himself up & move on, again & again. I think there’s one undeniable truth throughout. The people you feel the most for can definitely bring you the most pain & the most joy.

I received an ARC of Ten Years via NetGalley & am happy to leave this voluntary review.

The story starts right away with the funeral of Ally in 2011, first I thought is such a sad start really the beginning of a romcom book? However, after the sad event of Becca and Charlie’s loss of Ally, you quickly learn more about them. On the first anniversary of her death, they both visit Ally’s mother as they have received a message to do such. There appears to be a bucket list Ally had and she wants her two most loved persons to take care of this list together. They decide to start doing one item of the list around her birthday for the next coming years.

Over the cause of the next years, they share experiences together and you learn to know Becca and Charlie quite well. The various items from the bucket list have Becca and Charlie to work and do things together, which is something they never did; there was always Ally who was their binding factor.

In 2016, they finish the fifth and last item from the bucket list, the book then continues in 2017 with some encounters between Becca and Charlie and you just cannot help thinking please guys….
The last chapter in 2020, was a little surprise to me.

A different book than others as it spans so many years and touches only a few days of these previous years. For sure a romcom book, perfect to make into a movie.

Characters 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Writing style 8 | Plot 8 | Intrigue 8 | Logic 7 | Enjoyment 8 | Score 7.86 = 4 stars

This was a strong enemies-to-lovers story, with a twist of devastating loss thrown in.

Ally and Becca had been friends forever. At university, Charlie joined their little group, despite the fact that he and Becca couldn't stand one another. That didn't matter though because they both loved Ally.

But when Ally died of cancer, Charlie was devastated over the loss of his fiance, and Becca had to figure out how to live again without the only person who had ever loved her.

A year later, Ally surprised them both by sending a pre-scheduled email asking them both to look after her mother, especially on the anniversary of Ally's passing. That led to the revelation that Ally had left a bucket list, and she wanted Becca and Charlie to fulfill it, scattering her ashes at each stop along the way.

Although neither of them wanted to do it, they both relished just a little more time with Ally, so agreed to the odd arrangement. As the story proceeds from there, the years go by and one more item is ticked off the bucket list each year on Ally's birthday. Enemies turn to acquaintances, then slowly to confidentes, and finally to something more. But they both have a lot of demons to overcome before the story ends.

It was a well-written and engaging story that I really enjoyed. I was a little disappointed that the only parent of the three friends who really seemed to care about their kid was Ally's mom, Valerie. Becca and Charlie's parents were all self-centered and distant, which didn't help Becca or Charlie at all. It's kind of amazing they didn't turn out more messed up than they were!

Anyway, thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy. I truly appreciate it!

Great premise, and really well-drawn characters, although honestly did not love the final twist (but perhaps it just emphasized that all of the characters are complicated and flawed).

What an absolute page-turner!

Ten Years is the ultimate enemies to lovers read. With so much animosity between them, and so many unexpected twists and turns, I could not work out if or when Becca and Charlie would finally hit it off. These two were sizzling, in so many ways.

Pernille Hughes cleverly keeps you guessing, before pulling off THE PERFECT ending!

So many 'wow - I did not see that coming' moments! I loved every minute.

A year after her death, Ally’s best friend and her former fiancé are both tasked with completing the bucket list she never got to finish. The only problem? They can’t stand each other.

The book takes places over 10 years, navigating the relationship between Becca and Charlie as they deal with losing the person they loved most.

Unlike it’s synopsis suggests, this is not really an enemy to lovers romance, or even a romance at all. It is definitely slower plot-wise, and hard to get into. Though the emotions felt tangible and relatable, I so wished I could’ve connected more with the characters. I feel like I only know them surface-level, and the time jumps are probably a pretty big reason for that. I also felt like the enemy trope got tiring, and the dislike between the two felt overdone and silly after all the time that had passed.

That said, the author beautifully and deftly handed the hard topics of grief and loss, as well as healing and finding love after loss. Overall it was pretty heavy throughout, but the writing was quite lovely, so I would only recommend it if you’re not expecting something lighthearted or a romantic love story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book took a little while to get into but it was worth it. It was sad, funny and poignant as the characters remembered their friend Ally. The tasks on her bucket list were fun and the development of the romance between the two main characters was nice

I had really high hopes for this book, but it just fell a bit flat. The ups and the downs in Charlie and Becca’s relationship were interesting the first few times and then grew exhausting. The tasks that they were sent on were also cool (the festival, the bike race, the gin bus), so it was strange that the author just stopped at year four with it. The ending pulled me in a bit more, just to make me furious at the end with how it actually fully ends.

This book was an okay read. I was excited when I began to read as the trope was an interesting one and I thought that I might enjoy it. I did love the way the author wrote, so I'd like to read more by Hughes. However, I did find this really hard to get into and I also found the conenction between the leads to be lackluster.

Overall, the book was a okay read, but I'd definitely like to read more by this author, as I did enjoy her writing style.

The publisher kindly provided ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a lovely read. Following 2 very different characters bound by the death of a firned it follows their journey through grief to a happy ending. Really lovely.

Thank you @netgalley, @onemorechapter and @pernillehughes for an advanced copy of this book.

This was a lovely but heartbreaking story following Charlie and Becca following the death of Ally, Charlie’s fiancée and Becca’s best friend. Charlie and Becca hate each other but when they are tasked with scattering Ally’s ashes, they find themselves spending time together for a day every year. 

At first, I wasn’t sure about the dynamic between Charlie and Becca, but as I saw them interact more without the snide insults, I began to really like them both. 

This book was a nice easy read but also dealt with important themes of grief and how it affects those close to the person who has died in different ways. Becca and Charlie both reacted very differently after Ally’s death, and a great source of tension for them is that they think the other ‘grieved wrong’, and they must explore this together to understand why the other reacted in the way they did.

Highly recommend when it comes out in August!

I have decided to dnf this one I'm just not a huge fan of the trope in this one and felt a little weird reading it just my personal opinion.I did however like the writing and I would try another book by this author in the future

By the time I started reading this book I had forgotten what it was about and I’m glad I had. If you don’t read the blurb it keeps you guessing more. It’s not very often that just a few pages in, a book makes you feel tearful but this certainly did! I enjoyed the characters and their journey and would recommend as a feel good read. Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for this ARC copy

I found this book initially difficult to get into, perhaps due to the heavier emotional beginning than I had been expecting. However, once I got past this I enjoyed the story. It was well written and did an excellent job of tacking emotional topics such as grief. The relationship development between Charlie and Becca was a nice slow burn.
Overall this was an enjoyable and emotional read.

I received this book via NetGalley and give it my honest opinion.

This book was difficult to get in to but about half way through it was better, an emotional story about grief and friendship. If you persevere with it you may enjoy it. Not my normal read but ok in places.