One of my favorite features on my email is the unsend button. I could deal the best of worry and embarrassment wash over me as I read the description of this book. What a great premise. The idea of all of your snarky email drafts being sent unfiltered. Yipes!
Unfortunately, much like the last book I read from this author I found it slow going and hard to get into. I also found some of the actions from the main character a bit hard to swallow and immature. I was frustrated but not in a good way.

This engaging story is a commentary on interoffice mail & the need to be careful with ing. It's a great story that most people will enjoy.

This was cute, but nothing memorable for me. I enjoy Lia’s writing style and character development… but I didn’t feel much in the way of chemistry

A bit repetitive with the character agonizing and apologizing over the emails being sent. A bit too much like Sophie Kinsella's CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET. This wasn't original enough for me.

I love love love Lia Louis, but this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I liked the story, and I liked the characters, but I think it was hard for me to believe that Millie wouldn’t completely die from mortification of having her emails sent. I also had questions about the timeline at the end (which I actually asked Lia about and she mentioned that she thought that was fixed in the final copy, so I hope it was!)

However, I thought the romance was really sweet, and the rhubarb farm and treehouse are what love story dreams are made of. This book also still has Louis’ classic charm in her writing.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

This was a fun book, and I really appreciated the opportunity to read it! I will recommend this book.

The concept of this book revolves around Millie’s private draft emails accidentally being send to everyone. These are emails no one was supposed to see and therefore I had second-hand embarrassment that lasted like half the book and prevented me from enjoying it more.

But after I got over it, and got over Millie’s slightly exaggerated approach to what happened—I ended up really liking it. Specially after being introduced to Jack (who shares a name with my dog, already a win in my book) and getting to know the real Millie inside the anxious queen that she seemed to be.

I liked the romance and I like the support from the secondary characters. And I really liked the office vibes from Jack and Millie’s workplace.

Two years after a public heartbreak, receptionist Millie Chandler keeps her feelings hidden by writing unsent emails. When a server glitch sends all her drafts, including harsh truths and a love declaration to her now-engaged ex, Millie must confront the chaos and face the secrets she's long buried.

Better Left Unsent is told in the first-person from Millie’s perspective after hundreds of emails from her drafts folder are somehow sent out to the people in her office and lives. I loved Millie. She’s such a relatable character and she was easy to root for. Overall, Better Left Unsent was not my favorite Lia Louis novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was an easy read with a great plot!

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy! All opinions are my own.

Millie has kept to herself since a bad breakup. When she has something to say to people who upset her, she writes an email and puts it in a “don’t send” folder. Unfortunately, somehow all the emails get released, to her parents, her bosses, her friends and her exes. Most of them are just embarrassing but others could destroy relationships. Millie is humiliated, but finds comfort in her friend Jack, who is leaving soon. Will Millie realize she can’t live without him before he goes?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Delightful, horrifyingly amusing, and heart-warming... This is modern romantic comedy at its finest! I was new to Lia Louis' writing and am very glad that I stumbled across her book. It is a winner!

I hate to write reviews for books that I didn’t love. At the end authors are putting the sweat and tears to create a story. I had a few issues with the story. From the fact that the premise of an email being sent led to everything that unfolded seemed unrealistic. I also hate the miscommunication in books so… anyways thanks for the copy as always!

Another great novel by Lia Louis. This book delivered some mortifiying moments where all of Millie’s draft emails were sent to the recipients she never intended to send to. What follows is a journey of self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others and forcing to deeply reflect about one’s self.

I felt embarrassed for Millie when some of the recipients confronted or came across her in different scenarios. But some of these scenarios delivered funny moments that were delightful and entertaining. The supporting characters were so well fleshed out and I felt the entire story just worked and flowed smoothly. The romance aspect was tender and sweet with the love interest making efforts to make Millie feel special and loved with flaws and all.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.
Having read another book by Lia Louis the author of so beloved and acclaimed Dear Emmie Blue I had great expectations of this book and the truth is that I did not disappoint, the level of empathy I had with Millie the protagonist, that is to say all the emotional stress she was having, it is difficult not to give her points for that, also this reading with a simple but beautiful plot that feels like a movie. I recommend reading this book.

I love Lia Louis's books but I didnt think this one was my favorite. Its. funny and kind of cringe but I had a good time with the lost emails aspect.

I love Lia Louis novels so when I saw Better Left Unsent pop up on NetGalley, I was excited to read it. Dear Emmie Blue was one of my favorite reads, but this one was just okay for me. Millie was very repetitive with how hot the love interest was. And he treated her pretty poorly. It was hard for me to connect and feel their chemistry.

There is a magic in Lia Louis's storytelling that I absolutely love. I find myself completely absorbed by her books, unable to put them down and tend to my responsibilities. And Better Left Unsent is no different.

Sometimes you just wish you could say "politeness be damned, let me tell you how I really feel!" And Millie deals with this urge by drafting unfiltered emails to her friends, family and colleagues. It's a diary of sorts and the drafts are harmless as they will never be sent. Until to her horror, one evening they are. Every, single, one of them. What follows is a captivating journey as Millie finds herself and maybe even love.

Louis writes stories that are so vibrant and full that I feel immersed in them. And one of my absolute favorite things about her books is that while I love the main characters, I ALSO become obsessed with the side characters!! Seriously, the side characters are so great and lovable that I often found myself wishing for a tangent of their story!

Clearly, I recommend this book! It is perfect for when you need to cozy up with a feel good read. 

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Better Left Unsent is out now!

Thank you so much for the ARC of this book, I really appreciate it!

I ended up not finishing this book as I really just couldn't vibe with the main character, and I realized a romance novel where the main character is as down bad for the love interest as Millie was into Jack just really wasn't going to work for me. I'll leave it at 3 stars as that feels like a rather neutral review, and I will not be posting this on Goodreads as it feels unfair to review a book I did not finish on there.

4 and 1/2 stars for me!

Millie Chandler is a receptionist and to vent she keeps private emails on her work computer that she never intends to send out. Sarcastic replies to her boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her draft folder, but after a server outage at work, Millie discover that all her emails have been sent out. Over 100 of them!!!

This was a really good book and I really enjoyed it. I’d be just as devastated if this happened to me. Once everyone gets the emails her life gets completely turned upside-down. A co-worker, Jack, helps her to cope and come to terms with the aftermath. It’s a light sweet romance with a touch of mystery. It has a great friendship dynamic, heart warming family relationships and it’s a good lesson in learning to speak your truth.

I personally loved the tree house scene myself, but the first date was good too. I had the mystery portion figured out early, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s funny (definite Sophia Kinsella vibes) and keeps you seconding guessing the mystery portion. The only reason why I removed 1/2 a star was I couldn’t get over why anyone would keep something so private on their work computer, fill out the sender portion of the emails and then leave said computer laying around the office. It kept bugging me 😅 but otherwise it was a great book. I really enjoyed this one. Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Better Left Unsent follows Millie Chandler, a 30 year old receptionist, who after experiencing a very public and embarrassing breakup, has since kept all of her thoughts and feelings to herself. It’s a way to protect herself from being embarrassed again but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have strong feelings about certain people and situations. Whether it’s a hard truth that needs to be said, a sarcastic reply to a rude boss, or a love letter to her ex who is now with someone else, Millie has been drafting emails to her coworkers whenever she has feelings she needs to get off her chest. She just doesn’t actually send them. That is, until a major server outage somehow sends all of Millie’s draft emails when the system comes back up.

I felt so bad for Millie because I know that whole scenario would be the stuff of nightmares for me. Not only does she now have to worry about possibly losing her job, but some of those emails were super harsh so she has to worry about whose feelings she may have unintentionally hurt. I thought it was interesting watching how each coworker reacted, especially the ones who actually took Millie’s criticisms to heart and decided to make positive changes because of what she said. I was fully invested in seeing how Millie would deal with the fallout from each email and how she might grow as a result of this uncomfortable journey.

Where the story fell a little flat for me that while Millie was focused on making things right with her coworkers, she also seemed hyper-fixated on figuring out who did this to her. I don’t know if I just skimmed over and missed some detail that made it seem like someone tried to hurt her on purpose, but I was confused as to why she was investing so much time and energy investigating who might have purposely sent out all of her emails.

There was also a little romance, but it definitely felt secondary to the plot. I enjoyed the chemistry between Millie and her coworker Jack but wish we had gotten a bit more of them. I actually preferred Millie’s interactions with her roommate, who was both supportive and hilarious.

I went into Better Left Unsent with very high expectations because I’ve read and loved three other of Lia Louis’ books. While I still thought Better Left Unsent was a solid and enjoyable read, it unfortunately didn’t have quite the same magic that I’ve come to expect from a Lia Louis book.

3 1/2 STARS