Thank you to HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review. This novel released on May 31, 2022.

i have been following aval bellows for a while and was really excited to get this arc. while the cover is a bit meh (looks like it was done on canva?????), the story was interesting. i will def read her other books.

The novel is mostly told in a long-form letter to rob’s wife, which i thought was a neat concept that ultimately worked well. It really encapsulates the complexities of love in your mid-20s.

a book i enjoyed but can’t say i loved, ‘all i stole from you’ follows maggie thru a moment in her life when she starts seeing rob, a married tattoo artist she meets on a boat party one night. maggie is an actress who desperately needs to sleep more, and is still grieving the death of her ex-boyfriend. but as she and rob realize their feelings for each other are real (despite the fact that he’s married), maggie is forced to confront the kind of love she’s been looking for, as well as the guilt she feels for seeing rob, and the grief for her ex she’s been keeping hidden.

the novel is mostly told in a long-form letter to rob’s wife, which i thought was a neat concept that ultimately worked well. maggie as a protagonist was fun to be with, and her growth throughout the novel felt authentic and deserved — it really encapsulates the complexities of love in your mid-20s. i wasn’t as keen on rob as a character, which led to me liking, not loving, this book overall. but it was a quick read, and if you’re a sally rooney fan, you might find something to like in this one, too!

The cover really drew me in! I liked the premise but in the end this book just wasn't for me. I was disappointed and unable to engage with it.

A refreshing and healing balm of a book- I inhaled this over the long weekend. The synopsis is by no means light and breezy (check the trigger warnings!) but I never felt weighed down by the dark topics at hand. The story follows Maggie, a 25 year old struggling actress in LA, determined to live beyond her famous director father’s shadow and find her own path through the tumult of Hollywood. When we meet her she is mostly a full-time house sitter and expert audition goer, but there are prospects on the horizon. She is also bathed in the peaks and valleys of grieving her ex Jackson, who lost his battle with addiction a year prior. One night dragged to a party as her best friend’s plus one, Maggie meets Rob - a British tattoo artist and their chemistry is electric. He also happens to be married…

What follows is a riveting exploration of moving through grief, and falling in love - in all its messiness. The story is told in the form of a letter addressed to Rob’s wife Ingrid, and while I wasn’t initially sold on this stylistic device, I was ultimately won over —largely due to the novel’s ending (which I will not spoil here). Thematically and tonally, I found All I Stole From You reminded me a lot of Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World - my favourite movie of 2021. Both made my heart swell and sink in equal measure, as the central women stumble through their arrested development, trying to make sense of love, life and self when they find themselves at difficult crossroads.