Who hasn't written an email telling people just what they think then either deleted it or completely rewritten it? Because of course, we can't be that honest. Honestly this raw can kill a career, end a relationship even make our parents and long-time friends think twice about us.. Poor Millie thought these emails were safe in her drafts folder only to wake up one day and find they've all been sent. The ramifications begin immediately. HR wants to see her, people are talking about her, and she's self-isolating to avoid finding out how she's hurt people.

There are a lot of ups and downs in this book. Millie's life is in complete turmoil. She's got a few people who are there for her regardless, the ones who know her heart and understand she was just venting. Because really, we all do it in one way or another even about our most loved people.

I enjoyed Millie. She's super likable and sweet. The entire cast of characters were great, or not if that's their role, and interesting. The story was realistic. I could see all this happening (just hopefully never to me!). The best part? Millie gets her happily ever after in ways she never expected.

For a fun, entertaining read, I recommend this book.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

If you could say everything you wanted to, would you? I wouldn't.. some things are better left unsaid. The premise of this book was super fun and unique, it a little unlikely. I found myself slogging through in the middle when it seemed to get a little repetitive, but overall this was a fun read.

I absolutely LOVED every minute of this. It’s one of my favorites from this year so far! It perfectly represents why “Don’t judge a book by its cover” exists.

The story revolves around Leigh-on-Sea, UK office receptionist Millie Chandler using UNSENT email drafts as an ad hoc diary to express her honest thoughts. She gets things off her chest and none of the recipients are ever the wiser. Operations manager Jack Shurlock, for example, never needs to find out she’s been lusting for him since their near kiss at the office Christmas party. Friends, family, co-workers … you name it … she’s written over 100 messages, ranging from harmless to potentially painful or embarrassing. What they don't know can't hurt them, right?

Imagine her horror when she finds out one day that the bulk of those emails got sent somehow!

In Millie’s new reality, there’s life B.E. (Before emails) and A.E. (After emails). With the support of her best friend Cate, landlord/roommate Ralph, manager Petra, parents and to her pleasant surprise, office crush Jack, will Mailgate be the end of her or an unexpected new beginning? Needless to say, there’s a lot of fallout to work through!

The story is told from Millie’s first person POV interspersed occasionally with her email and text exchanges. Had I ONLY read it, I’m not sure the humor and emotion in those exchanges would’ve come through as well. Ashley Tucker narrated the audiobook, and she reminded me so much of Renee Zelwegger in Bridget Jones’ Diary that I immediately loved everything that came out of her mouth! The humor was spot on, and the more poignant interactions between characters came through perfectly. It had a nice balance of funny and sweet with a welcome emotional maturity that you don’t always get in this genre.

This is a fairly clean romance where the sexual tension between Millie and Jack is suggested more than explicitly shown, so those who prefer extra spice, open doors and play-by-plays will be disappointed. Personally, this book was like finding water in the desert for me! I’m over the highly descriptive, OTT spice in books lately, and it’s been hard to find romance without it this year. Kudos to Louis for letting readers use their imagination!

Usually I’d say either format, print or audio, would be fine for a book, and it’s true this time as well, but BOTH would be even better!. I laughed so many times and felt all the feels listening to Tucker’s wonderful narration. Millie and Jack’s fun chemistry, her hilarious friends and co-workers, a creative plot, nice character growth arcs and even a touch of mystery made this a 5-star read and a favorite for me!

Lia Louis is a gem. I love her writing and her characters so so much. I'd give this one 5 stars, thank you for my copy!

Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.

But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.

As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.

First, let me say that I have never been disappointed in a Lia Louis book and I can add this to the list of my faves. It is the perfect chick lit/rom com story. I enjoyed it from the beginning until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun read! As someone who loves to draft emails and not send them, this simultaneously forced me to live my worst nightmare and also made me laugh out loud. A great summer read!

I cannot think of a more mortifying thing to occur—drafts of emails that really reveal your truth thoughts.
It happened to Millie but it does turn out ok although she has to slog through a lot of garbage.
I wasn’t shocked to discover who really was behind the sending.
I also honed in on Jack’s potential immediately.
Let this be a valuable lesson to readers—never type anything you do not want out in cyberspace. That’s why writing on paper works and then it can ve disposed of without this worry.
Sometimes old school ways work the best.

Lia Louis wrote the most relatable story - as I’m sure we’ve all had some *not go great* thoughts about others, particularly about coworkers. In Millie’s case however, she puts them in the form of email drafts that one day are accidentally sent to the intended recipient causing Millie to face the truth of her words.

The story is very character driven which made for a slower read, but Millie’s character arc and supporting friend group really made the story! I do wish there was more romance but overall was a very cute, enjoyable read.

3.5 rounded up to 4

**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC and chance to read and review. All opinions are my own**

Better left unsent was such a great premise. Imagine all your personal thoughts/ diary being sent out. Big YIKES! This was such a fun easy read!

Millie Chandler write emails like her personal journal. Sarcastic Replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends and co-workers and a love declaration to her ex. The emails safely live in her drafts folder, until a server outage at work, that sends all of her unsent emails.

Loved the premise of this book. Can you imagine your diary or innermost thoughts being sent out into the world? That's where my love ended. This book was WAY TOO LONG. This would have been a perfect beach read, but its almost 400 pages, and doesn't need to be. Very repetitive and slow moving.

Thank You NetGalley for the free e-galley.

Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis is the kind of book you want to read when you're looking for something fun and light with romcom feels and a sprinkle of mystery. This was a 3.5-star read for me. The story follows Millie Chandler, who drafts unsent emails expressing her true feelings about friends, family, and colleagues. However, due to a system glitch, all these private emails are accidentally sent—yikes!

Millie's journey through the chaos caused by her emails is both amusing and heartwarming. You just have to sit back and enjoy as Millie tries to fix things and mend her relationships. Perfect for a relaxing read!

Lia Louis starts BETTER LEFT UNSENT with the most cringe-worthy setup I can imagine: After a server outage at work, Millie Chandler wakes up to find that all her private emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else—have been sent. How can she fix the chaos? It's the beginning of a bumpy road for Millie but along the way, she discover important truths about herself, friends, family, and work colleagues.

3 stars

Better Left Unsent has SUCH an interesting premise, so I was really excited to read it! Unfortunately, I didn’t love it. I didn’t connect with our main character, Millie, which led to me not really caring too much about what happened with her or the story in general. I thought this was going to be a super witty and funny story with some deeper moments but it just didn’t deliver on that front for me.

I did enjoy certain aspects but overall it fell flat for me.

Thank you Atria Books for my copy of this!

This book just drags on and on. I have no idea how I managed to finish it. Our heroine is dumb enough to keep her “diary” as unsent emails in her work computer! And then is embarrassed and stunned when they all get sent out. Millie is not very likeable and this book had way too much repetitive inner dialogue. I could not connect with her romance to Jack which has to be the most school age type romance ever.

Honestly, I wish Cara and Ralph had a book - that was the one cute and redeeming part of this book and should have had more time dedicated to it.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Imagine you’ve taken every thought you’ve bottled up and written then down in your email drafts. Then a fluke computer mishap sends them out into the world. They go to your coworkers, your best friends, your parents, your ex-boyfriend and his new fiancé.

Your worst nightmare just became Millie Chandler’s reality.

I thought the romance between Millie and Jack was sweet, but what I loved most about this book is how Millie turns this unfortunate event into a positive life changing one. While she has to face some really difficult situations, she actually does it and grows from them. It would be so easy to just hide away and wait for things to blow over, but Millie faces things head on. I had a lot of fun reading this book and Millie was an easy character to root for.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for a review copy.

I think we’ve all wanted to say something at one point that we thought was better left unsaid and we’ve all wanted to reply to an email with something we knew was better left unsent. That’s why I adored Better Left Unsent by @lialouisauthor . (Thank you, @atriabooks !)

I just felt like the story was so relatable for so many of us, particularly in this technological age where things like this seem like they absolutely could happen. Millie is charming and adorable and I wanted her to be happy and loved. I loved her romance story but I also loved how she worked through things with her parents and her friends. It was fun to see her really find her own way in the world. This is a sweet, adorable book that I definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed this book. Millie was a easy character to relate to. Who doesn't love drafts of emails that are like diary entries that accidentally get sent to everyone?! A quick and easy read. Definitely recommend this book.

The book got better as it went along. It had a great variety of characters. There were quite a few swoon worthy moments.

Receptionist Millie Chandler, who has been guarding her emotions after a public heartbreak, discovers that all her unsent emails, including candid notes to friends and a love declaration to her ex, have been sent out due to a server glitch. Forced to confront the chaos caused by her unintended honesty, Millie must navigate the fallout and face the truths she had been avoiding.

This is my least favorite book by Lia Louis. The plot sounded interesting, but that was about it. I found Millie to be an extremely frustrating main character; she is too much of a people pleaser and seriously needs therapy. I hated that we don’t really get to know Jack well—his character needed further development, and there is no chemistry between him and Millie. I felt like I knew more about all the other side characters than about Jack. The mystery of the leaked email drafts was predictable. Additionally, the pacing was very slow, which kept disengaging me from the story. I also wasn’t a fan of the audiobook narrator, who sounded congested. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

I love Lia Louis and I enjoyed this! I especially liked the theme of finding your authentic voice/being true to yourself/saying what you really mean and expressing how you really feel. I didn't think this had the emotional reach of her previous novels but I still enjoyed it.

4/5