This made me a little uncomfortable as it was dealing with a terminal illness. I found it very sad but uplifting at the same time. Nit really sure how I feel about this book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Tragic and beautiful all in one. Having seen the hype around this book I just had to read it. While it was good it didnt quite grab me like I had hoped for. At times I felt the plot could of been rapped up a little sooner. I did love how different the two main characters were to each other, the complete opposites which really gave a boost to the whole story.

I loved this book! It’s been compared to One Day by David Nichols which is a very bold statement as that’s one of my all time favourite books BUT it totally lived up to it!

Ten Years follows Charlie and Becca who are forced to come together after Becca’s best friend and Charlie’s fiancée Ally tragically passes away. She was very young and still had a bucket list of things to do, so she asks Charlie and Becca to continue her bucket list and scatter a little piece of her along the way. The pair then meet up once a year every year and the book catches up with them then.

This book was such a brilliant representation of how messy grief is and how there is no one size fits all way to grieve a loved ones death.

I adored Becca’s character, she is incredibly flawed and makes stupid mistakes but I loved how human she was. I couldn’t help but root for her and what her to succeed.

This book was so brilliant but also very sad in parts and definitely made my heart hurt more than once - but the sadness is worth it in the end!

My first DNF. I just couldn’t get into this book at all. After hearing about it from @natasha_notes and how she was reading it as part of a book readalong, I requested it from @netgalley and started it right away.

The storyline I thought to be a good idea but for me, it was a slog. The storyline line was too drawn out for me and the characters very annoying.

For me, it didn’t hit the spot and I’m super sad about it but I just couldn’t face picking it up. It took me 3 days to read 25% and that’s when I knew I had to stop. As sad as I am and I don’t have many positives (which is unlike me) I’ve had to put the book down.

I am not sure how I really feel after reading Ten Years. What I did feel was that it dragged on just a bit too long and a bit of a slog at times. However there were some bittersweet moments.
Thanks to the author and Netgalley for this ARC

I raced through this book and really enjoyed it. Obviously having a best friend and a fiancé who has died is heart-breaking and this is how the story starts out but its written so well and is the basis to the whole story. Following Becca and Charlie over the years as they come to terms with Ally's death and the journey it takes them on was both infuriating but fun. Infuriating because you just know they belong together but they don't see it. I've never read a book like this before and I look forward to reading more form this author.

In TEN YEARS, Pernille Hughes shares the story of Charlie and Becca. Enemies as well as Fiancé and best friend to the remarkable Ally, they mourn her death each year by completing tasks she asked them to do each year following her death. Together, they brave the world without Ally as best they can, hating and loving and encouraging one another only as sworn best enemies can do. I rooted for them individually and together, loving how the story unfolds in natural, beautiful rhythm. I received an advance copy of this novel and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

3.5⭐

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from One More Chapter to join the readalong for this book!

I found it very slow to start with. It didn't really pick up for me until the second wedding of the book. I found it very hard to like Becca, Charlie or even Ally (not wishing to speak ill of the dead!) Both Becca and Charlie were clearly heavily affected by their upbringings, but there were few redeeming features in my opinion. The epilogue just added to my feelings of manipulation by the characters!

Sadly this definitely wasn't "One Day" for me but an enjoyable enemies to lovers story.

This book had me laughing and crying from start to finish and by the end of it, I was an emotional wreck. But, as heartbreaking as I found some aspects of the book it was equally funny and uplifting.
Grief is never easy to navigate but trying to do so with someone you don't like makes it a tumultuous journey. Becca and Charlie bicker nonstop but interspersed between arguments are some of the sweetest moments you can have between frenemies. The little considerations they had for each other spoke volumes. They knew each other inside out and when it truly mattered they were there for one another.
The annual bucket list tasks were tinged with sadness but quickly overridden with humour by their snarky one-liners and madcap ways. They were actually a joy to read and I couldn't wait to see what they get up to next.
Despite the heavy theme of loss, every page is enthused with humour. Becca is hilarious without even trying to be and I couldn't help but laugh at some of the things she said to Charlie to get on his nerves.
I loved watching the pair develop a friendship over the years and eventually find a HEA with each other.
A brilliant book that will stay on my keep shelf.

Ten Years by Pernille Hughes is described as a romance, yet I feel that its strengths lie elsewhere. If you go into this read looking for the classic enemies to lovers it may not ring true for you. However, if you choose to view this story as one that deals with grief you are in for a special tribute.

‘Having had little experience of grief, Becca had assumed it was a short-term contained event, but no, apparently not. Loss was a much longer affair, sometimes a constant feeling of something being missing’

Losing a loved one is never easy and everyone most definitely deals with it in their own way and time, feeling in fact, that you might never move on. This is a story about how two people coped with grief, learned to live with it and in so doing, opened themselves up to love once more.

The mode of these two coming together is clever and unique. The dying wish of their loved one was that each year they must come together to complete one of her bucket list items. Over this extended time period Pernille dives deep into their individual and collective highs and lows, their growth and stagnation and ultimately coming together as you always knew they would with this type of book. Readers will enjoy this book if they sign onto how life evolves through both success and setbacks and where advice and opportunities need to be taken.

“I think it helped,” she said, turning her glass by its stem. “The tasks pushed us through the grieving process.

Viewed in this capacity, Pernille has penned a powerful tale that deals with a very sobering topic. Be prepared to both laugh and cry as she tackles the difficult task of grieving and healing. Yes, it does move a bit slow at times, feels a little repetitive, main characters bickering wears thin leaving you questioning if they should even be together. Yet, it’s real and it’s raw and is sure to appeal to those searching for that little bit extra when it comes to a tale on the journey of life.

‘Life could be long or short, but it was wide as the sky and there would always be some path around the obstacles.’









This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Becca and Charlie come together to complete their late friend Ally's bucket list. They're annerved from each other but they loved Ally with all their hearts so they overcome their irritation and they go on various adventures.

I've liked to follow Becca and Charlie journey, it's fast moving in some parts and dragging in others but still enjoyable.
Their bantering are entertaining, their quarrels eye-opening.
We know them better at every meeting for their challanges year after year, we get attached to them, even if they are both flawed, we cannot not to cheer for them and to wish them to be happy and to lead a fulfilling lives.

More than the romantic side of the story I've appreciated how the charaters grow and finally they understand they are worth of love and success.

I was expecting this to be an emotional rollercoaster the likes of PS I Love You and Postscript which both made me reach for the tissues but it didn’t quite go that far. I would say this had a lot more happy and funny moments which made it a much easier read without it evoking such emotion.

Don’t get me wrong, there was lots of emotion and sad moments in this, and the death of a friend/loved one is the main basis of the book which would be a trigger warning for a lot of people. Both Charlie and Becca, the two main characters, are experiencing grief after Ally died way too young but they both go through this in completely different ways and you could say they do not meet eye to eye on anything!

I really enjoyed listening to this on audio as it gave the characters a bit more personality and when I read the second half on audio book I found myself relating and visualising the characters better which meant that I got into the book more.

Overall I did enjoy this book but I think it wasn’t quite what I expected after seeing some reviews, I much preferred the banter and happy moments than the sad moments and was engaged in Becca and Charlie’s enemies:friendship relationship.

In Ten Years is a very emotional take on who 2 friends handle their grief and the loss of their friend, Ally. It starts out very sad, but the story lifts up and becomes very endearing and heartwarming as the 2 people closest to Ally find a way to heal, fall in love while also still honoring their friend. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Pernille Hughes killed it. This book is an easy read but not the quickest. Ten Years was the perfect title for this one as it’s a slow burn following the lives of Charlie and Becca. The parts of me that are a selfish reader wanting to know what happens next hit me a time or two but at no point did I feel like the book was dragging on.
I had an ah-ha moment early in the book where I thought “I know exactly how this is going to end.” but it built up into something much better. By the end it all clicked for me and the way it was written made me truly appreciate the story arc and I don’t think I would have changed a thing.
Highly recommend!

Posted to Goodreads 8/29. Will post on Amazon when reviewing opens.

Let's start off with a little advisory as there is a character death due to cancer at the very start of this novel and while the story does not dwell in great depth on Ally's illness and death, the novel does commence with her funeral and the storyline forms around her last wishes.
Now, that we've covered that topic, let's dive into the review. Our two protoganists are Becca and Charlie, two complete opposites with only one thing in common - or rather one person. Ally. Becca and Ally were best friends and Charlie and Ally were in love. Since Ally has died, neither has any contact with each other, until the first anniversary when they meet up to scatter Ally's ashes on Snowden. It becomes clear very quickly just how different these two really are and I started to doubt if they would actually be successful in their quest. Oh, the quest? To meet on the anniversary and carry out a task as outlined by Ally. There are ten tasks, ranging from a tea party to a music festival and will take 10 years to complete. Naturally our intrepid duo are due to meet each year to achieve their goal and so the book jumps from anniversary to anniversary, with a few dates inbetween such as weddings (no spoilers) and moments with Ally's mum.
If you are a fan of Cecilia Ahern (this novel particularly reminded me of PS. I Love You') then this is definitely an novel for you. I did guess the ending fairly on in the story but the amusing scenes between Becca and Charlie ensured that I also enjoyed their journey to the final page.

A really lovely, warmhearted read. Ally is Becca's best friend but is also engaged to Charlie ,but after her life is tragically cut short after struggling with cancer they are thrown together in grief even though they have never been friends, and when they find out Ally has left a bucket list of things they have to do together. They reluctantly agree but will they put aside their differences and do this for Ally.I really got invested in this couple and was willing them to get together, Beautifully written and relationships are tested but its full of warmth, humour and charm and hard to put down once you start reading it. A 5 ⭐highly highly recommend novel

Description 🔖

Becca and Charlie met at University and have been sworn enemies since. Becca’s best friend Ally was Charlies fiancé, but even this commonality wasn’t enough to make them be civil.

Until they were forced to. Ally died and left them both the task of completing her bucket list. They had hoped that the link that was keeping their feud going not being there would mean they could walk away from each other, but they both loved Ally too much to not follow through with her wishes.

As Becca and Charlie go on a journey of grief, anger, loves and losses they learn that sometimes, the people that bring out the worst in us can also bring out the very best.

General Thoughts 🤔

Well this was an absolutely lovely book. I really enjoyed it and I loved reading it alongside a great bunch of book readers. This was a longer read along than usual so smaller bite sized chunks of the story per day and I thought it was perfect for this book. I was able to happily jump into Becca’s and Charlie’s lives to catch up with them and then take a break. Until the last third of the book. I broke the rules and read ahead as that’s when things started to get real and I couldn’t put the book down.

Although this is a romance book and I loved that aspect of it, it was probably the subject of grief that hit me the most. I find it so interesting how people handle their own grief in such different ways and even more interesting when people judge the way in which others grieve.

Characters 👫👭👬

A lot of the conversation on the blogger chat has been focused around team Becca vs team Charlie. From the beginning of the book I was firmly team Becca. I didn’t always like her and I didn’t agree with everything that she did, but I thought she was a very loveable character; flaws and all. I can appreciate that she came across as a bit too sassy at times, but I think it was all a front for something she was missing in her life.

All of the above said, I didn’t dislike Charlie. He was a gentleman and I thought he had the patience of a saint to put up with Becca’s nonsense, but I wanted him to be more assertive. I kept thinking that I wanted him to take control of his own life, but on reflection, I think he likely had a better handle of this than Becca did, he was just a little too happy to relinquish control when times were tough.

Writing Style ✍️

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I sincerely hope that it isn’t my last. I really enjoyed her style of writing and the way that she structured the story. Firstly, it started with a gut wrenching blow which took me by surprise (I was all strapped in for a sweet romance) and it went on to yearly updates with Becca and Charlie. I really liked the quick jumps in timeline as it kept the story moving along.

What I liked most about Pernille Hughes writing was her way of writing flawed characters with plenty to dislike about them, but plenty to love about them too. I don’t think I’d be friends with either Becca or Charlie in real life, but reading about them made me want the best for them and I was rooting for them both throughout; no matter what the outcome.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

Once I’d gotten over the sucker punch within the first page or so (did not see that coming before I picked up this book) I was drawn into a beautiful story about grief and how people deal with it in their own way; no rights or wrongs. Throw in the enemies to lovers plot and I was hooked on following these characters over the span of ten years of their lives. A gorgeous story with great characters!

I thoroughly enjoyed this, it had so much emotion in it for me. A must read.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Becca and Charlie have never really go on well, and now Ally is gone it means they don't need to see each other. But someone has other ideas and they are forced to co-operate to finish a bucket list. Will the older versions of them get on and give each other a second chance? I liked how it was told from both points of view.

When her best friend and his fiance dies, Becca and Charlie thought they'd never have to see each other again. But one year later, after receiving a disturbing email from Ally to visit her mum who requests they spread her ashes, our 2 grumps want to fulfil her last wishes. We then spend the rest of the novel following our 2 leads throughout a series of bucket list activities and life once they are complete. We see the main duo growing and maturing, realising who Ally, each other and themselves truly were

I enjoyed this book. It was at times a little slow moving and each main being the grump wore me down, but I revelled seeing the characters evolve naturally into their maturity and more balanced personalities.