Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author, and I really enjoyed it! There was so much honesty and emotional depth in the writing. Eliza who has already lost her mother as a teenager is now adding to her grief when her father suddenly dies. Then she receives a letter from her deceased mother only to be read after her dad dies and discovers he is not her biological father. There are so many complicated emotions and situations in this book, but all are done realistically. There is Eliza's relationship with her brother. Her volatile relationship with her stepmother (boo hiss!). The unknown bio-dad. Eliza's best friend...and her relationship with her brother's best friend, Josh (book boyfriend alert!)

Solid read that kept me fully captured until the last page!

4.5 stars

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. what a great sophomore title! there was so much content and it was all done very well. women with difficult relationships with their own mothers will definitely be hit hard with the heartwarming relationship between eliza and her mother.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flashpoint Books for the advanced reader copy.

This book was great from beginning to end. Eliza was a sympathetic and sufficiently complex character. The premise was compelling and the execution of the writing was spot on. Nothing felt false in the story or the characters.

Dear Eliza by Andrea J. Stein is a humorous and heartfelt novel.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found it entertaining and turning the pages quickly.

Thank You NetGalley and Flashpoint for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I enjoyed reading Dear Eliza by Andrea J. Stein. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

Dear Eliza is Andrea Stein’s second novel and just as with Typecast, it’s a winner from me. If I read a book fast, it means I’m loving it and I read this one, oh so fast!

Eliza is twenty-six, and ten years ago, when she was sixteen, her world was upended when her Mum died. Now it’s being upended again, in more ways than one! Eliza went through a whirlwind of emotions during this book, her and me both! Grief, anger, acceptance and love. For me, Dear Eliza focuses on the importance of family and friendship and the people you can count on in life.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you enjoy contemporary fiction with amazing characters, which is full of heartfelt emotion and a beautiful story, then pop along to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Andrea’s new book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrea Stein for the opportunity to read and review Dear Eliza.

This book completely captivated me!
It’s a compelling story of loss and the beautiful healing journey after it. It’s a story about family, friendships, finding yourself and second chances. I was engaged since the first chapters and ended up with a smile.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮 by Andrea J Stein releases tomorrow October 8, 2024.

Eliza has built a life for herself as the director of a successful nonprofit. After her father’s death, her Aunt Claude gives her a letter from her mom, who died ten years earlier, to be opened upon her dad’s death. The contents of the letter catapult Eliza into a world of uncertainty. Who is she really? What should be do with this new knowledge? Sharing her news with her brother and step mother present a whole new series of issues. This is a sensitive look at what happens when worlds are turned on their sides. The characters were likable and the story believable. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I like how beautifully Eliza's life is written in this book. The slow burn in the narration, the quite yet loud voices inside her head, as if I was living life through Eliza's eyes. Again beautiful and poignant. I enjoy books where multiple genres are mixed together yet each strikes a different chord. I found something like that in this book. It has pain, love, loss, grief all encompassing into a spellbinding literary fiction. Very well done.

I found this to be a quick read due to the reliability and likeability of Eliza's character, and I was desperate to see the conclusion. This is an incredibly emotive read that I was able to absorb quickly. The grief process is a complex yet personal one; however, due to this author's excellent writing style, I empathised entirely with Eliza.

The pace of the storyline is engaging, and the secondary characters are equally well crafted. 'Dear Eliza' would be ideal for a book club read because it will likely promote deep-rooted conversations and meaningful discussions.

I look forward to reading more by this author in the future and am intrigued to discover more of her writing talents.

After Eliza's father dies, her hand hands her a sealed letter from her mother, who died when Eliza was much younger. What's in the letter makes things more difficult for Eliza's already fraught relationship with her stepmother, jeopardizes her inheritance, and drives a wedge between Eliza and her brother. Only her brother's best friend Josh seems to support her, although he's an inconsistent character in this novel. I feel like this premise had so much promise, but most of this novel was the angst-ridden thoughts of Eliza. There is the tease that a relationship between her and Josh will develop, but we don't get to see it develop over the pages. Overall it just missed the depth I was hoping for.

This is such a beautiful story about grief and family dynamics. After Eliza’s father passes away, Eliza’s aunt gives her a letter from her mother who passed away when Eliza was 16. This letter changes Eliza’s life forever.

This is the second book I read by Andrea Stein and I loved it so much. The characters are all amazing, complex, and relatable. The story touches upon grief, forgiveness, self growth, and romance. The NYC setting was an added bonus.

This made me cry.
I can’t imagine my mom dying especially at 16.
Eliza’s development was great. Loved the slow burn romance with her brothers friend.

Dear Eliza by Andrea J. Stein was such an emotional read. Eliza receives a letter from her mother. The family drama, grief, hurt and anger were written quite well in this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK TOUR BOOK REVIEW 📚

Dear Eliza By Andrea J. Stein
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
Publisher: Girl Friday Productions | Flashpoint

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

Dear Eliza was a heart-warming story about the ways that unexpected tragedies can up-end our lives... And how we can find the resilience to make our lives into the story we envision, not just the story we've been given.

Eliza, our female main character, is a loveable twenty-something living in New York City and grappling with a lot of challenging emotions all at once. This book presented really heavy emotional topics within a storyline that dealt with them in a touching and authentic way. Grief, loss, parent-child relationships, regrets, betrayals, secrets, romantic relationships, and family dynamics all played a part in the pages of this book. Most predominantly featured in this story, however, was Eliza's revelation that our parents are people too -- people with their own pasts, choices, emotions, and mistakes. The book lovingly showcased Eliza's journey as she came to this realization and began learning how to integrate that knowledge into her own life, without allowing it to remain a burden or barrier to hold her back.

All of the characters in Dear Eliza are so richly developed, I felt like I was intricately connected to the emotional struggles of each one as the story unfolded. At the book's end, I was really sad to know it was the end of my time with all of them -- and I truly didn't want the book to end. I feel like I need a sequel, just so I can continue watching everyone's growth and be sure they're all okay.

Dear Eliza was a beautiful book and I genuinely loved reading it! If you've had to grapple with your own grief journeys in life, this book will probably imprint its emotional impact on you too. I highly recommend this read and I hope you will fall in love with Eliza and the whole cast of characters in the same beautiful way I did. A huge thank you to Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Andrea J. Stein for sending me an e-copy of this book in exchange for my participation in the book tour and my honest review.

#DearEliza #AndreaJStein #booktour #KateRockBookTours #NetGalley #NetGalletReviews #ARC #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #bookrecs #bookaddict #booknerd

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dear Eliza
Author: Andrea J. Stein
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: October 8, 2024

Ten years after her divorced mother died and then very shortly after her father died, our lead protagonist, Eliza, gets a letter from the grave. Well, not exactly the grave, but written by her mother, and held securely by her Aunt with instructions to give it to Eliza when her Dad died. Of course, this letter has a whopper of a confession that throws Eliza’s life into turmoil. Having loved her mother and seen her through her loss to cancer, her mom was suddenly someone she didn’t know fully. Her siblings don’t take this disclosure well, although, in honesty, Eliza didn’t take the news well and acted inappropriately. I think it is true that sometimes you learn things about your folks after they are gone. I believe there is a point where you must cut them some slack and move on with your life like a mature person. This is a book about grief and loss and new beginnings. Eliza doesn’t handle these things well in real life without the shocking twist thrown in for good measure. Honestly, it wasn’t romantic, and it was a long, angst-filled remembrance by all involved: more family fiction or coming-of-age storyline. We don’t see much growth with Eliza; the romance is weak and rushed. It’s an interesting concept, but it could have been developed more. #DearEliza #family #life #lies #cheating #hurt #anxiousness #excessivedrinking #familyFights #contemporaryFiction #flashpointbook @netgalley #octoberRead #pubDateTuesdayOct8
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
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#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookreviewer

This was a complex story and very difficult to read if you don’t have a good relationship with your mother.

I thought Eliza was a bit immature at times, also we didn’t really get to know Scott as much as I wanted to!
I thought the story was interesting.

Spoiler!!!!
My other criticism is we didn’t have enough chapters on her and joshes relationship!

Thank you to Netgalley for my arc.

Thank you netgalley for an arc of this book! I was a little apprehensive to read it. Obviously we all will unfortunately lose our parents so that made me put off this book for a while, but once I started reading it was very good. This book is a great reminder that while lose and grief are awful it is something we all will go through, and the romance in this book showed me at least that while grief can feel all consuming it isn't/

Maybe because parental death is something I don’t love to read about, but this one wasn’t truly for me. At times I skimmed because the plot was….soft? It wasn’t doing too much and it wasn’t over dramatic, but there were places where it was just flat. Eliza as a main was fine, her relationship arc was predictable (is this a romance?) and the revelation she receives after her father’s death is a big one. I don’t know, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful - I read it in one sitting and it took about 5 hours so I wouldn’t say it was a dense read and compelling enough to continue with. This one is just a soft book. That’s all.

Life is complicated.

Grief, a combative stepparent, and a strained sibling relationship are all exacerbated when an explosive secret is exposed. Eliza is left reeling, unsure as to whether she can trust her own emotions.

DEAR ELIZA is an insightful look at the complexities of family and friendships, at the ways we fail and the ways we heal, and how we can love someone even when—or, maybe, especially when—we know their flaws.

Stein weaves a relatable story that tackles difficult topics, while always maintaining that thread of hope we all need.