I loved this entertaining story of Naomi, who is tracking down her childhood pen pal Luca at the same time as embarking on a new relationship with her neighbour Jake. I read this all in one sitting - the world of the book is so alive, I really didn’t want to leave it.
The characters are strong; both protagonists felt fully realised despite the narration mostly coming from Naomi, which reflects the quality of Marchetti’s writing and story. I just completely enjoyed reading ‘Hate Mail’ - it is slightly ridiculous in the way that most good romances are. This book exemplifies why I read romances: fun and escapism.

Absolutely loved this books so much! The story timeline was perfect and it flowed very nicely. I never got bored of the book (especially after I have been on a reading slump lately) and I wanted to grab my kindle at every chance I got so I could find out what happened next! The plot twist at the end was shocking but I also realized that I should've seen some of the hints the author threw in there. They met through a Pen Pal project in elementary school and they have such an interesting relationship throughout the years. Naomi and Luca will always have my heart! I really hope to see a series come out of this book so I can see what's next in their life!

This book is perfect for someone who likes reading dual POV, romance, minimal spicy moments but can feel the passion between the two, and who likes the idea of a pen pal romance.

P.s. Anne really annoyed the crap out of me...why is she nosey? Besides that she was a cool friend to encourage Naomi to find her Luca love! I still don't like her that much though...lol.

Overall Rating: 5/5
Spicy Rating: 1/5
Made Me Blush Rating: 2.5/5
Would I recommend? YES!
Version: Kindle e-book

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley for this one, I liked the sound of this one as soon as i saw it. I bumped it up my TBR pile so i could read it straight away. I really liked this one even though it was very predictable and i knew what was going to happen i still loved the story! It had the right amount of spice too!

Okay so I totally loved the mean letters that Naomi and Luca have been sending each other since childhood. They were so funny and aggressive, and you could tell they’d met their match and totally liked each other. Why else would you send hate mail to each other for decades. It was interesting to see both of their points of view, with Luca’s focusing more on his childhood and the things that happened in his life that Naomi didn’t know about. Naomi’s point of view was mostly present-day, and we watch her trying to track down Luca, who had been out of touch for a couple of years, with the help of her friend Anne. It’s difficult to know who to route for between Luca and Jake, Naomi’s hot neighbour that she starts dating as it’s obvious there’s a spark between Luca and Naomi but they’ve never met and her dates with Jake are sweet and he loves animals (it’s hot, okay?!).

There was a great set of characters in this book and the interactions at Naomi’s workplace with Anne and Mr Facey were amusing, plus I loved how forthright Naomi was in asking for what she wanted. Though I did work some things out early on eliminating a lot of the surprise from the novel, I still very much enjoyed the journey and though there were times I felt bad for Naomi (even though technically, she might have been slightly in the wrong at times) it ended well.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

The cover, title and description drew me in and I was invested from page one.. ibenjoyed the letters between Naomi and Luca throughout the years and at times found them hysterical. It was great to see the world through their eyes as they grew and evolved through the years.

The plot was unique, the characters descriptive and I enjoyed thebread.

Recommend.

This book put a sour taste in my mouth and I don't know where to start. I should have listened better to the title because this was indeed Hate Mail. Our couple were childhood pen pals and exchanged despicable letters for a solid decade. From the first epistle, I was unimpressed. Many mean jabs were exchanged as an attempt at humor, even landing the hero in trouble after the heroine joked about a bomb threat at his military base. That is not funny on any planet and these two deserve each other for how deluded their messages were written. If it were me, I would have ripped up the first letter and never written back.

Mean letters aside, this book was a narrative mess. There was no logic and the character's actions left me baffled. The heroine is a weather girl and her job lets her jet set to the opposite end of the country multiple times on a hunch finding someone she's never met? Baby, she didn't even have a current address! My biggest annoyance was the inclusion of Jake. His name nor his status as a friendly neighbor was never mentioned in the synopsis. We were focused on finding Luca, yet Naomi spends all her free time canoodling with Jake. Naomi's coworker christened him Demonic Husky Eyes and that had me cringing into the next century. That's not cute nor is it a flattering nickname. Nearly every chapter had me grimacing in discomfort.

Hate Mail was overlong and the poorly concocted reveal could be seen a mile away. Shame on both these characters for not bothering with clarification as their relationship became more serious. These dumb bunnies deserve each other if they're not willing to communicate with their partner. I know I'm being harsh, but I wasted my time on a long book without a satisfying ending. So many narrative choices were aggravating and could have been easily resolved if the characters used their head for more than just a hat rack. To maintain some semblance of positivity, I loved the cover and it's what ultimately factored into me accepting this advanced copy. This was a fun concept and I would have enjoyed it more if these were actual love letters instead of just Hate Mail.

💌 Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti 💌
Thank you to the publisher for sharing an ARC copy of Hate Mail for me to read in exchange for an honest review!

I will start by saying, I love this book. It has absolutely everything I could ever want. The writing is funny, refreshing and so addictive. I bounded through this and loved every second of it. It’s a new favourite and absolutely without a doubt a 5 star book.

Naomi and Luca have been penpals since they were young, things have changed over the years and eventually the letters drop off into no contact. That’s until Naomi receives a letter at work, it’s definitely from Luca but… there’s no return address.

The premise alone had me dying to dive into this one and it did not disappoint. The connections and friendships between characters were believable and funny, the personalities were charming and the heartache leapt off the page in places.

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. If you love rom-coms with that feel good vibe this one is definitely for you. 🩷

I really enjoyed this one. It was cute, funny, and full of banter that made it fun to read. I appreciate the dual-perspectives of Naomi and Luca and how we get a full timeline of their "penemy" relationship. The letters were a little juvenile....but they're supposed to be. It made this read very light-hearted and fun. I would absolutely read this one again.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Whilst on the one hand I liked the premise and the story itself, on the other hand I found the story, in certain parts, repetitive.

Let's break it down.

Naomi and Luca won my heart. I wanted to hit Luca for hiding things from her and for not telling her the truth straight away, but on the other hand it would also take the fun out of the story. I really felt like I was in a retelling of You've got Mail, but instead of emails, it was letters!
Anne, on the other hand, was super annoying at certain points in the story, too insistent and wanting to change things for the better.

It was a good book overall, with a bit of spice 🌶️ and a very, very cute romance! I think the author has a lot to offer us.

Thanks to Harper Collins and One More Chapter for providing this copy for review.

Very quick rom-com read - I started and finished it in the same evening! It kept me engaged and entertained. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Fun, flirty and just a little silly, Hate Mail was such an enjoyable read. Frenemies to lovers, it follows Luca and Naomi, penpals since school whom despite sending each other totally mean snail-mail 🐌 fall head over heels for one another through letters. Their love story is totally cheesy and a tad predictable but it made for such an amusing and easy to devour romance. Snort-gigglingly funny, I had such a good time with this one! 💌💕

This book had me giggling at the very first chapter. Frenemies and penamies Luca amd Naomi are hilarious in fifth grade, writing awful things to each other trying to one up each other to see who can write the nastiest thing. And as children this is harmless fun!

What starts and verbal jousting and one up man ship soon turns into a friendship that spans 12 years, both a constant in each others lives. Till 2 years ago and the letters stopped.
Suddenly Naomi receives a letter at work and along with her bestie they start a mission to try track him down, determined that Luca wont have the last word this time.

What to expect:

🌸 Banter
🌸 Lots of animal love
🌸 Hilarious situations
🌸 Great romance
🌸 Fade to black scenes (minimal spice)

This romance was a breath of fresh air I loved the fresh new ideas. It was extremely easy to read and had me laughing throughout. I loved going on the ride with Naomi to track down her long lost pen pal rival Luca. Naomi was a loveable character and I was really rooting for her! She was fun, warm and kind. The writing is so easy to consume and this was an easy 4.5 stars for me!

4.5 stars
I love this book
Thank you One more chapter for gifting me this e-arc
I’ve never read something like this
I love it
Words can’t express how much I am in love with this book

In the current times of social media it's refreshing to read about letters sent between penpals. These "hateful" letters are compelling and funny and make for an enjoyable, entertaining read.

Having recently finished some (brilliant but dark), thrillers, I was looking forward to a lighthearted and 'fluffier' read. And 'Hate Mail', seemed like the perfect choice - a sweet, funny tale of childhood feuds and a search for love, makes a delightful romance.
Unfortunately however, this was not a story for me. Why? I could see how the story would pan out from the opening pages, and while this is not an issue if the reader continues to enjoy the journey, my frustration with the protoganist made this difficult. Naomi seemed to be just too naive - she has a fear of flying, which is fair enough for the reason proved very frustrating to me. I can't believe that a modern woman would make such an error.
Having said this, there are some very funny moments in the book that I did enjoy, in particular the scenes with Anne and their boss. Plus, there are animals! Cute puppies and kitten, so I must give credit for their inclusion as I love stories where animals are adopted.
As I said, not for me, but I can see this book being popular with less-cynical readers - especially with St. Valentine's day coming up!

3.75 ⭐️- I thought this book was so fun and cute! I loved the idea of pen pal enemies, and loved all the adventures Naomi was willing to go on to find Luca. The one thing I didn’t love was the main miscommunication plot line, however I thought the characters were adorable (especially the animals!!), and would recommend to anyone looking for a cute romcom read!

H Mail by D. Marchetti, published by Harper Collins UK / One More Chapter is the debut novel.
There is a bit of a build up, so don't give up, once you reached 40 percent you won't regret it.
Well written and intriguing a read that had me in knots sometimes.
Blurb:
Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade. Well, more like bitter rivals caught in an epic battle of insults and verbal jousting...
But what starts as a hilarious chain of hate filled letters, slowly develops into a friendship spanning coasts and years. That is until one day, years later, when the letters suddenly stop.
It’s been two years since Naomi last heard from Luca. Two years since the letter that changed everything.
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.

It’s a lovingly told love story with two flawed, but deeply fascinating characters at its center. No other book made me reread after I finished it. It quickly became my favorite book and it surprised me in such a good way that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully articulate.

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since school, although their correspondence is far from friendly with insults flying back and forth for years. A strange friendship develops but when Naomi doesn’t hear from Luca for a couple of years she starts to wonder what’s happened to him when suddenly a letter arrives out of the blue at her workplace.

I really liked all of the characters and it was an enjoyable book. It did drag out the obvious conclusion rather but a nice easy read.

Thanks to Netgalley and One More Chapter for this ARC

A romance book about two people writing mail, in this case, hate mail, to each other from childhood into adulthood sounds like a charming idea, and for most of the novel, it was.

I am a sucker for a book with mail, letters, or any other sort of communication. It adds dimension and depth to the characters and the story. In the book, the two main characters, Naomi and Luca, have been pen pals since fifth grade and have been sending each other letters ever since.

The letters were fun to read from the perspective of fifth graders; they were mean and juvenile, but they were still entertaining and charming, given their supposed age. The letters did become a bit tiring, and they "got old" as Naomi and Luca got older, but their letters stayed the same. The whole idea of the book was that their letters to each other were mean, and that was fun for a while, but some of the mean letters were simply vile and without charm.

Naomi and Luca's romance was predictable, even though a big part of the book was Naomi trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. Predictability does not always take away from the story, but it would have been fun to guess along with Naomi in this case.

I found Anne, Naomi's friend who had a prominent part in the book, to be insufferably maddening and pushy, which was a shame as I did not enjoy it whenever she was there.

The novel undoubtedly had its cute parts, and I enjoyed the general reading experience. However, it tended to become slightly repetitive at times, making it dull from time to time. Luckily, I found both Naomi and Luca to be likable, for the most part, and that made me want to continue to read their stories.

To sum up, the novel was a lighthearted and fun read, including the letters, which I enjoyed. This would be a perfect choice if you are looking for a fun sort of enemies-to-lovers novel.

Thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins and One More Chapter, for providing me with an advanced reading copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.