* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

“Twelve months and a day” is the idea not to do anything permanent for twelve months and a day after you experience a big loss. The main characters, Róisín and Rasmus, both lose their partners (Nico and Jay respectively) and are experiencing their grief. The story walks through the months of the next year with them as they work through their grief, individually and together, and become friends along the way. I absolutely loved reading this book, it was beautifully written and deep which I wasn’t expecting. I loved the chapters in Nico and Jay’s POVs because they experience their own grief as they try to help their partners who are still alive. There were parts that made me laugh and parts that made me cry.

I would absolutely recommend this book. However, if you are looking for a light and fluffy romance, this book is not that.

I was very intrigued by the synopsis for Twelve Months and a Day and was really excited to read it. I fully expected to be heartbroken and sob significantly throughout it. However, I just didn't find the book very emotional. Not sure why, but I didn't connect with any characters and felt no emotions for them.

The book felt way too long and somewhat cheesy at parts (?). I also thought the author's choice to have 2 main characters with very distinct cultures, including a Black woman from Ghana and a Greek man, was strange, considering that the author is a white woman. Some of the descriptions felt a bit stereotypical.

I was really hoping to love this one, but it really wasn't for me.

Thank you Putnam Books for the gifted copy!

I think there was an error with this one so I will give feedback on the correct title. I remember an email about it...

I enjoyed the novel as a whole. It was both a story about love and ghosts. It is comforting to believe in ghosts this way. Unfortunately, I felt the dialogue was stilted and the words did not flow easily for me. I really had to think of what the author was trying to say. So, I would give 5 stars to the story but only 3 for the ease of reading. Four stars averaged. I was privileged to receive a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

began this book but ended up not being as interested in the synopsis. Hopefully I can still recommend it to a friend who I think would enjoy it more!!

I received an alternate copy if this book from the publisher. I'll be leaving my official review on that copy.

A poignant, modern love story about a young widow and widower and the two ghosts that bring them together because although love changes form, it never dies.

Two couples. Four unfinished lives. A love that transcends space and time.

Rasmus and Jay, Róisín and Nico: two couples, strangers to each other. Two beautiful, ordinary love stories, cut short. Both in their thirties and too young to be widowed, Róisín swears she still feels Nico beside her in bed and Rasmus hears Jay as he writes songs at the piano.

Jay and Nico don’t even believe in ghosts, yet here they still are. Still in love with Rasmus and Róisín. And maddeningly powerless. Until Jay has an idea that Nico wants no part of—bringing Róisín and Rasmus together. It’s crazy enough that it just might work, but playing matchmaker to the living is no easy feat and one that will require all four of them to discover the meaning of love after loss, and the importance of fighting for happiness against all odds.

Moving and thought-provoking, playful and bittersweet, Twelve Months and a Day asks what is love? And what are we to do with it?

What a beautiful multi-layered love story! The love that all the characters feel for one another is enduring- rather it was live or friendship. I rather enjoyed that the book was written with 4 points of view. It gave me better understanding of each character.

My kindle ereader version was not formatted correctly and I could not focus on the story due to the merging paragraphs, paragraphs cut in half, sentences stretched over five lines with lots of space. (It clearly wasn’t intentional like poetry books.) Maybe the file was corrupt.

Leaving five stars but I didn’t read past 3%.