First, thank you SO much for this ARC! I absolutely loved this book so much. I cannot wait to purchase a hard copy. It was very much rom-com and enemies to lovers vibes. Also with the pen-pal romance! So unique and it was just so good. I wish the epilogue was longer, but overall I loved this. It was so cute and funny even though it was predictable when I was only 15% in. Reminded me of a easy rom-com film you would watch just for a good laugh.

This book was interesting. The concept was phenomenal, but I felt like it could have been worked on more. Parts of the story felt rushed. The plot twist towards the end was interesting, but before reaching that section the story was making little to no sense. The character Jake felt pointless and the plot twist left me feeling creeped out.

I struggled to connect with a lot of the characters as there wasn’t a detailed back story other than the pen pal friendship. I wished that it had been more of a chase and that she had been able to find Luca under different circumstances.

It was definitely a good concept but defo could have been fleshed out more. Especially with a better connection between the characters.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 - and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. What a cute, fun, and often emotional, read!!

*Full review in progress*

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc. The book was super cute and I found that i could not put down, it gave me You’ve Got Mail vibes and is great for anyone that loves that movie and wants more romance like that. I instantly fell in love with the characters and the banter that went along with their mail swap back and forth. The MFC forgiving the MMC was a little quick for me but the book as a whole was great. The MFC becomes pen pals with the MMC in grade school which last a lifetime of letters, and heartbreak, the two write to each other in their own way and instead of everyday conversation their letters they try to one up the other by being meaner and snarkier to each other. After not hearing from him for 2 years she randomly gets a letter from him but he doesn’t give a return address, so her an her friend go on trips to find his friends or anyone that knows him so that they can track him down so that she can send him return letters, but after multiple dead ends she find that he was closer than she originally thought.


🔹 He falls first
🔹 You’ve Got Mail Vibes

I gave this book five stars because it made me happy and also I will be sleeping on the highway tonight!! ✨

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since the fifth grade; a constant back and forth of threats, outlandish insults and bullying. But when the letters stop coming Naomi doesn’t think much of it until a year later one shows up at her office without a return address.

Now Naomi is determined to find out where the letters are coming from and confront Luca.

Omgomgomg. This book was laugh out loud hilarious. The letters were absolutely beautiful and left my jaw dropped at how insane some were.

Naomi was such a fun character to follow! She’s determined, funny and absolutely real. All of her insanity regarding finding Luca by traveling states away just for a chance of confronting him was just the absolute outlandish shenanigans I love to see in rom-coms like this!

I liked Luca! I wish we got more chapters in his POV because he seriously had such interesting history and family ties that it would’ve been really great to see more of that! Other than that, I think he also was hilarious. I think that’s what this comes down to, both of the main characters are just hilarious.

I would like to say that I guessed the ‘twist’ at the beginning and was super pleasantly surprised that I was correct!

Overall I 100% recommend this book! It was the perfect rom-com, amazing writing and enough tension to keep me entertained throughout!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for the E-Arc of this book!! 🥰✨

Ok, I love this book. This is the perfect book if you’re looking for a witty, fun and easy-read modern romance and i’m so excited for this to release in March so I can get a physical copy.

The story follows Naomi Light and Luca Pichler from childhood pen pals into adulthood and although the main storyline was predictable that doesn’t take away from the plot, in my opinion. There was many moments I found myself laughing out loud at some of the letters and at some points felt really connected to the characters. As soon as I finished it I immediately told one of my friends about it and recommended it because I know she loves contemporary romance, so if anyone else is reading this review - yes, I would 100% recommend you read this!

Thank you to Donna Marchetti and Harper Collins UK for giving me the chance to read this arc, I loved it!

Rating: 4.5 stars
First, thank you so very much to NetGalley for the digital advanced reading copy of Hate Mail in exchange for my feedback! I am beyond grateful to be given the opportunity to read this quirky, cute book. I was originally drawn to this book by the catchy title and adorable cover. Being a debut novel for its author, there is no prior work to go on whether I’ll like the writing style or not. All I can say is WOW! I laughed out loud the first few chapters while reading the initial pen-pal letters between Naomi and Luca. I devoured this book in 3 days (that’s fast for me!), and loved the two plot twists. If you love a classic frenemy to lovers story, this is it! Do yourself a favour and grab a copy! Enjoy!

Looking for a fun read? Then look no further! This cute frenemies-to-lovers mixed with hidden identity is just the funnily entertaining read that you need. It started as a school assignment in 5th grade to be pen pals, but took a decidedly wrong turn. Luca, being a 5th grade boy and in a bad mood, doesn't take the idea of having a girl for pen pal or really any pen pal well so he writes back a mean-spirited letter. Naomi doesn't just sit back and let it go, she writes back a mean letter of her own and the relationship is off and running. This continues through college and then stops. A few years later, Naomi receives another letter without a return address and the story is off and running. The characters are well developed and very likable with an interesting twist that involves assumptions and miscommunications. It's a fun read and I can definitely say that while this was my first book from this author, it won't be my last as her writing was fun to read and she crafts great witty banter!

Marchetti crafts a compelling narrative filled with tension and intrigue. The characters are well-developed, and the plot keeps you guessing until the very end. While some parts felt a bit predictable, overall, it's an engaging read that I would recommend to fans of mystery and suspense.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘜𝘒, 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

Naomi and Luca stole my heart. I l9ved this book. So cute and witty.. the line between love and hate is most definitely thin or grey. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this book.

Hate Mail is a feel-good rom-com about two elementary school pen-pals and their decades long string of hate letters to each other.

The banter is this book was amazing, I loved the characters (main and side) and the ending and epilogue felt perfect.

If you want a fun, light read with plenty of laughs, this is a good pick!

I love the idea of enemies sending letters to each other! The premise and concept of this book was really cool, and I think it was executed well. There was so much humor and so many heartfelt moments, and the romance was just so good. This was cute and fun and light, and not heavy at all. Naomi and Luca are so adorable together! This is a rom com that you will most definitely want to pick up!

Thank you to NetGalley, Donna Marchetti and HarperCollins/One More Chapter for the eARC of this book.

*✩‧˚ 𝟰 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 ੈ✩‧₊˚

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘜𝘒, 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!

OK, I was immediately drawn to this book by the cover, 𝗦𝗢 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗘! But it didn’t take me long to fall head over heels for this debut rom-com! Slow burn - tick! Frenemies-to-lovers - tick! Banter - tick! And 𝗢𝗠𝗚 𝗜 𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗨𝗣 that penpal element!

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗡𝗮𝗼𝗺𝗶, 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁｡ 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰? - 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗮｡”

This book had hooked from that first letter 😆 - Naomi and Luca have been penpals (penemies) since 5th grade and the letters they sent to one another were not what you would expect from your average ten year old. It was so much fun and I couldn’t get enough of their dark sense of humour and verbal sparring.

I really appreciated the dual POV in this one too and the way it was executed to give full emotional impact, as much as this was a rom-com, there were some seriously tender moments that had me swooning, or fighting back the lump in my throat!

An overall fun and heartfelt read I would truly recommend! I am a rom-com whore, so I did find this rather predictable and wasn’t that shocked by the big twist, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless and can’t wait for more from this author!

Hate mail

I loved this book so much and once I started it I couldn’t put it down!

The story between Naomi and Luca was fabulous and the characters alongside them were hilarious.

This book shows that there is a thin line between hate and love and sometimes they might slip between each other but love always wins!


I would love to thank NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to review this book early as it was just amazing!

Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

“Just say the word and I’m yours.”

I received this book early as an ARC in exchange for review, thank you to NetGalley, One More Chapter, and Donna Marchetti for giving me access to the story.

This story nailed the banter and tension between the leads, Luca and Naomi, from the teasing hate mail to the subtle flirtation and attempts to take a leap of faith for one another. There’s not a whole lot of the plot I can comment on without it containing spoilers but a common theme throughout the book is the idea of lying by omission, and the idea of emotional cheating. Personally I wasn’t a fan of it and spent a lot of the book wishing the characters would just be honest with each other, because of this I also was not a big fan of the epilogue, I think that it didn’t add anything to the story and was pointless because the reader can already tell that they’ve got a happy ever after without it.
Despite that, I did enjoy the book and it was a nice quick romance read.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this earc

This book was very cute.
Let’s start that we knew Luca and Jake were the same person. But I actually couldn’t wait to figure out how the author would connect the two. The reason you can read this book in one sitting is just to find out at what point the two timelines connect.

I liked that both Luca and Naomi did stupid things that made the whole situation even more messing. and I liked they kind of fell in love twice. first as Luca and Naomi. Than as Jake and Naomi. It was so amazing to see them having a connection even when the history wasn't there.

If you're look for a tale through time told in letters, this one is for you

I absolutely loved Hate Mail!

I loved the sass, the witty comments and the steam, the dual povs and ugh, just everything about it was so good?!

The line between love and hate is indeed very thin.

Naomi and Luca were both fantastic protagonists, and I thought the way the story was done was so good!

I really struggled to know how to rate this book. I started off really not enjoying it, then I kind of liked the middle part, then I got to the end and just felt a bit... meh. I'm really disappointed that I didn't love it because the cover is gorgeous, I love the title and the synopsis sounded right up my alley! I just couldn't get on board with the two love interests (even though I guessed the plot twist as soon as Jake asked Naomi out). I think I would've enjoyed both stories separately, which is why I'm giving this book 2.5 stars, but for me they just didn't work together. I thought the romance with Jake was a really sweet neighbour romance and the romance with Luca was a fun childhood-enemies-to-lovers storyline but having them alongside each other in the same book kind of put me off both of them. I also took issue with the amount of lying (by omission, but still) that Naomi and Jake did. I didn't find it believable that they would ride off into the sunset with each other after finding out about all the deception, even with the third-act breakup. All in all, this was a disappointing read for me. I thought it had potential but the deception, miscommunication and immaturity just took away most of my enjoyment.

Thank you to netgally for this arc, I enjoyed this book I love the concept and the writing style with dual POV and letters.
The character development was amazing too I enjoyed the grumpy sunshine and enemy to lovers. The plot was enjoyable and unexpected.

R E V I E W

Hate Mail

Advanced reader copy graciously provided by Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter via Netgalley

☆☆☆.5

The minute I realised that Hate Mail was an epistolary story, a tale of two reticent pen pals whose letters span decades, from fifth grade to adulthood, I was keen to read it. Letter-based literature is definitely having its time in the sun right now with Rebecca Ross' Letters of Enchantment setting the trend and books like The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and A Letter to the Luminous Deep proving popular too.

Unlike the aforementioned books, where the letter writers' are seeking companionship or connection, main character Luca wants nothing of the sort. Forced into a correspondence through a school project, Luca sets out to dissuade his pen pal from ever writing to him again by being as cruel as a 10-year-old can be. Unbeknownst to him from her first letter, Naomi can give as good as she gets and refuses to let Luca have the final nasty word. And so begins their story, writing acerbic letters to one another over the years without ever really knowing who the other is or even what they look like. But as is to be expected, constant communication paves the way for a more meaningful connection between the two, hidden by acidic words and casual death threats. As they grow up and the world around them continues to change, the only constant for them both is the far-reaching letters they exchange. Until after 18 years, the letters stop and Naomi is left feeling bereft; missing something she never really knew she'd come to love. Then two years later, a new letter arrives and Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the last word again.

I enjoyed this book and the 'hate mail' aspect was a creative twist on the standard letter writing trope. It took me a while to get into the story and I didn't love the opening, whereby Naomi starts recalling the letters with friend Anne (in order to set us up for the story). This felt a little forced and I didn't feel like the friendship between Anne and Naomi was very authentic; it seemed to be a friendship included purely to provide Naomi with a companion to scour the country for Luca later on in the book.

I did enjoy the dual POV element and was pleased to learn more of Luca from his chapters since his hateful letters didn't endear you to him - as was intended. I guessed pretty quickly who Luca would ultimately be to Naomi but I feel anyone with any experience reading contemporary romance would anticipate this plot twist. The premise that she'd been dating someone without truly knowing their name (she may not have realised this, but Luca did) seemed a little odd and I didn't love the third-act break-up, feeling his explanation of the events that lead to that moment could have been better and the whole mess avoided if he'd only written her a letter - their main form of communication for so long. The end to this story also seemed a little rushed, with Luca's treasure hunt seeming hastily added for drama. But since I got my happy ending in the end, I won't hold it against the author. Overall, this was a nice, easy9 read, and I enjoyed it.