This was such a cute book. I loved the premise so much! The romance was so cute! I could not put this book down!

NetGalley ARC Review
4.5 stars

This was such a fun and cute read. A perfect light hearted, entertaining romcom. I was hooked from the start and didn’t want to put the book down. The pacing (back and forth between the past and present) was perfect, keeping me invested the whole time. I absolutely loved getting to read all the letters they sent to each other over the years, their bantering had me giggling. It was also great getting to see the character growth from both main characters but especially Luca over the years. Luca and Naomi (and the side characters) were all fun and interesting and you couldn’t help but root for them to get their happy endings. Childhood penpals is such a fun trope/storyline and the “hate” aspect added a unique element. If you’re looking for a cute and enjoyable story to devour, I think you’ll love Hate Mail.

I loved reading this! As someone who has had pen pals over the years, this was a fun read and cute love story. I loved all the letters the two characters Naomi and Luca sent to one another over well over ten years. When Noami decides to find Luca in person, she is put on an interesting journey to who this pen pal is. Meanwhile, she starts dating Jake, a marine veterinarian who lives in her building. But soon there's a love triangle between her, Luca, and Jake... or is there more to this than she is realizing? It has a fun mystery to it which was fun to unravel!
Thank you to the author and publisher for this arc!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I will start off by saying when I read the description of this book I was sold it sounded so fun and cute I had really high hopes and while I know this book will be amazing for some it fell a little flat for me. I am giving it 3 stars cause I did finish it and the last 25% was decent. The book felt too forcefully juvenile to me the letters they wrote in 5th grade were cringing and came across as an adult trying to act childish rather than authentically young. and the repetitiveness of them throughout the story got old quickly. I did enjoy our main character and found I preferred Luca's chapters a little more only because Naomi's chapter mainly included Anne and she was annoying and not likable.

over all I know some people will adore this book and while I did finish it it was not my favorite.

Thank you for allowing me to read the ARC of this amazing book. From the very beginning I enjoyed Naomi and Luca’s story! I will admit I guessed the twist about midway through but loved it nonetheless. I couldn’t put this one down. I started it last night and may have skipped sleep. Looking forward to reading more from Donna Marchetti.

4.5⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I ATE THIS UP, finished this in one sitting and adored it. I didn’t think a pen-pal romance could have swooning as hard as I was but oh I was so wrong. Naomi and Luca started writing to each other in 5th grade and through the book you get to see the letters that they had exchanged over multiple years, but it’s not just silly little updates you would send to a friend they’re hate mail and that added to the story significantly, Having a dark humour myself I devoured the hate mail it was so funny and unserious and the way they matched each other every letter I could just tell they were soulmates. The way they fell in love with each others dark humour was so cute and also slightly unhinged !!! I also really enjoyed the back stories of each character especially Luca that just added even more to the story and made me root for him even more than I already was.

The way Naomi literally hopped on planes to go and find information about Luca or even better to find him made me love her even more because that’s unhinged and we love unhinged over here!!

I honestly just loved everything about this book and for it being this authors DEBUT novel I can’t wait to devour every other book she brings out in the future.

I have such mixed feelings about this one.
My rating would be 3.5 stars overall, but 4 stars just for those letters...ahhh the letters were everything.

On the one hand, I absolutely loved the premise and the banger....it had the potential for such a cute romance!!! I devoured it in one day because I was eagerly anticipating to see how it works out between Luca and Naomi. But around 80% through, it just fell flat and characters seemed to suddenly drop in their maturity levels. I wish the resolution between the characters I'd been rushing to reach could have been a bit more climatic. But I still enjoyed most of the book, and the disappointment is probably just on my end.

Special thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for providing me an advance copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Mein Leseerlebnis

Auf “Hate Mail” war ich wirklich gespannt, denn die Geschichte hörte sich frisch an und auch das Buchcover fand ich ansprechend. Nach dem Lesen des Liebesromans bin ich zwar froh, dem romance Buch eine Chance gegeben zu haben, bin aber gleichzeitig nicht komplett zufrieden mit der Geschichte. Lasst es mich erklären.

An sich ist die Liebesgeschichte nett zu lesen und ich konnte mich leicht auf den Schreibstil einlassen. Mit der Heldin habe ich zudem recht gerne Zeit verbracht, mit dem Helden teils. Die Hauptcharaktere wirkten auf mich insgesamt allerdings etwas flach angelegt, man hätte sie meiner Meinung nach lebendiger und vielschichtiger darstellen können.

Den Verlauf der Geschichte fand ich in den ersten Kapiteln unterhaltsam und einnehmend, doch das änderte sich bald. Ich entwickelte recht schnell eine Theorie in Bezug auf die Identität des Helden und konnte deswegen die Liebesgeschichte nur noch eingeschränkt genießen. Denn basierend auf meiner Theorie hatte ich so meine Probleme mit dem Verhalten eines Charakters im Buch.

Schlussendlich haben sich meine Vermutungen bewahrheitet und mein Leseerlebnis litt darunter etwas. Lasst es mich mal so sagen: Das Vortäuschen falscher Tatsachen kann für mich funktionieren, aber nur unter bestimmtem, besonderen Umständen, diese gab es meiner Meinung nach in “Hate Mail” nicht.

Ansonsten ist mir beim Lesen noch aufgefallen, dass die Hauptcharaktere auf mich etwas jünger wirkten, als sie es sind. Man könnte meinen, man hätte eine New Adult Romance mit Charakteren Anfang 20 vor sich, doch dem ist nicht so.

Als abschließende Kritik möchte ich noch anmerken, dass die Darstellung einer Nebenfigur im Roman auf mich sehr unglaubwürdig wirkte und die entsprechende Figur sehr eindimensional angelegt war. Spoiler dazu verrate ich euch bei Interesse gerne in den Kommentaren.

Nehme ich das alles zusammen, so können die einehmenden ersten Kapitel des Buches und ein paar nette Szenen hier und da meine Bewertung sowie mein Leserlebnis retten. Insgesamt hatte ich mir von dem Liebesroman aber mehr erhofft.

🖤🖤🖤

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mag, in denen sich die Beziehung eher außergewöhnlich entwickelt, für den könnte das romance Buch einen Leseversuch wert sein. Ihr solltet dafür offen sein, dass vielleicht nicht alles so ist, wie es auf den ersten Blick wirkt.

Hate Mail is an enemies-to-lovers rom com spanning multiple decades. Naomi and Luca kicked off their "penemies" relationship as fifth graders in a school-sponsored pen pal exchange. Childishly cruel exchanges blossomed as they grew up, their letters ranging from humorously mocking to casually hateful until, in their mid-twenties, they fell out of touch. Now, two years later, Naomi receives a death-threat-adjacent letter from Luca, who has found her again - and who wants to do more than exchange hate mail.

I wanted to love this story. I usually enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope, and Hate Mail was so well-written, with likable characters and engaging scenes. But it was just a bit too intense for me. The summary sounds like the beginning of a thriller, not a romance novel! And, to be honest, I didn't feel a lot of romantic or sexual tension between Naomi and Luca - they were just kids during most of their exchange, and they never actually met.

Despite my quibbles with Hate Mail's premise, I really enjoy reading it (as long as I skipped over the examples of mean letters and imagined Naomi and Luca were normal pen pals). The story was well-written, with likeable and well-rounded leads, memorable secondary characters, and lots of quirky little adventures plus a few cute pets. Definitely recommended for those who can take the actual-enemies-not-just-resentful-rivals heat!

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade. If that's what you want to call it when each letter becomes meaner and finding insults to one up each other. But when their letters of insults and hate turn into a friendship that spans many years, until one day when all contact stops.
It's been 2 years since any contact and many things have changed.
But when a new envelope turns up out of the blue at her desk at the local news station, Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the final word.

I devoured this book in one day, I was determined to not to go to sleep without finishing this book.
The letters to each other, I loved them! Any book I've read in the past which has included letters or long notes I've skipped over the letters, but with these I found myself wanting more and excited to see how their relationship grew over the years.

I loved the lengths Naomi was willing to go to, to get back in touch with Luca after this letter appeared out of nowhere and her friend Anne for encouraging all of this.

This book is duel pov but it's mainly in Naomi's pov.
Spicy
Enemies to Lovers
Pen-Pals

This book just left me wanting more and more!
4.5 Stars

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade, engaging in a hilarious chain of hate-filled letters that slowly develops into a friendship spanning coasts and years. However, the letters suddenly stop, leaving Naomi wondering what happened. Two years later, a new envelope turns up at her desk at the local news station, and Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the final word. A charming story of friendship, love, and the power of communication.

Naomi and Luca had been exchanging letters since they were young. In school, they became penpals and they found they loved getting each other's letters as a distraction from normal life. One day though, the letters stop and years later they start up again, but there is no return address. Naomi's best friend suggest that they go try to track him down at all the places she knew he lived.
In the mean time, there is a hot new neighbor that seems very interested in her and he's real and right in front of her. She feels bad chasing a guy from the past when she has someone so great wanting to date her, but she has to lay this to rest. Something about Luca just won't let go.
I figured out the twist pretty early, and I am sure you will too. I love the You've Got Mail vibes, but we also don't get Luca's POV in the present so it is a bit different. I just loved how gone Luca was for Naomi. When they were young,. she didn't want to be friends on Facebook, but that didn't stop them looking up one another's profiles. While Naomi couldn't pick out which guy was Luca, Luca knew as soon as he saw Naomi that no one would live up to her.
Thank you to Harper Collins, Donna Marchetti and Netgalley for an early copy.

I do not like this book. It was so bad. Dear god no. I’m so sorry. Not for me. So unrealistic. I feel so bad for not liking this book.

This was tooooo cute! I loved reading two fifth graders write to each other it truly sucked me back into being 9? 11? and having such a strong crush on them. This can definitely be a filler book if you're trying to get out of a book slump, it's just so cute and pretty well written. Putting this in the realm of Wildfire/Icebreaker.

Cute cover! This book had me laughing until I cry and crying until I laugh. It was the perfect blend of emotions. This was impressive as a debut!

I wish I could go back and read this book for the first time again. It was PERFECT. Seriously, so sweet and so well paced. I loved everything about it.

The letters were “mean” and yet they offered each other support. I was chuckling at how creative they were.

There were some things that I didn’t enjoy as much.
- Naomi having poor communication skills. I found her to be a bit too avoidant and hypocritical.
- Anne was a bit much at time. (But I still hope there’s a book 2 and that she’s the mc)
- 3rd act breakup

Overall, I still had a great time and want a second book

This novel was based on something I had never read before - a penpal who begins as an enemy and soon the romance blossoms.

The narrative was so unique that I did not really know what to expect, but I found myself enjoying reading about the relationship development between Luca and Naomi. When I first read the letters they used to send, I actually laughed out loud.- they were so savage and had me in stitches.

Watching their development as individuals and as a pair was just divine and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

This book was Soooo cute! I loved the back and forth between Luca and Naomi! I was giggling so much. I figured out the big plot twist early on, but I still enjoyed the book. This is an adorable rom com and I need it into a movie right now!

Hate Mail ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A laugh out loud romcom.

In 5th grade Naomi gets an assignment to write a letter to her penpal. Everyone drew a random name from a hat. Her penpal’s name is Luca and he lives in San Diego. She’s from a small town in Oklahoma so she’s excited to write him about the weather and beaches there.

When Luca gets the letter, he isn’t excited. In fact he thinks this is dumb and is mean when he writes her back. Maybe then she won’t write him again and his teacher won’t be mad that he has no one to write to for the rest of the school year. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Naomi only comes back with something even meaner. Years go by and letters are still sent back and forth but one day they stop.

Naomi now lives in Miami working as a local weather girl. It’s been two years since she has received a letter from Luca. Then one day after her weather report, her coworker brings her a letter from a fan. However, it’s from her penpal Luca. Why all of a sudden has he started writing to her again? She gets a few more and that’s when she realizes that they don’t have a return address on them. Knowing she can’t write back is frustrating to her. She wants to know where they are being sent from but at the same time doesn’t because she just met a cute guy from her apartment building. They start dating and Jake is so nice. He’s real and he is here with her, so how come she can’t shake Luca? It wouldn’t be fair to start a relationship with Jake when she is still hung up on Luca. What will she do and who should she choose?

I so loved this book!! I love the whole penpal trope and getting to read the letters from both of them. I was laughing out loud at some of the mean things they said 🤣. I also liked how it was a dual point of view. The characters were fun. Naomi is that sunshine personality and Luca is a little grumpy at times. While this book did deal with a hard topic, it was handled with care. It does have some spicy scenes and could easily be skipped over if you want to. I can’t wait to read more from this author. This book publishes on March 14, 2024. Be sure to add it to your TBR list!!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for my advanced readers copy. This is my voluntary and honest opinion.