Liked, not loved. Felt just like really bad for the main character and found her annoying but enjoyed the romance aspect. Also not a huge fan of her best friend.

Dear Eliza by Andrea J. Stein is a poignant exploration of grief, love, and the unexpected twists that life can throw. Ten years after losing her mother, Eliza Levinger has crafted a life that feels stable—until a letter arrives that shakes everything to its core. This beautifully written story pulls readers into Eliza’s emotional journey as she navigates the fallout from her mother’s bombshell revelations.

This was a beautifully layered family drama that draws you right into the complexities of grief. After the passing of her father, Eliza receives a letter from her late mother holding a major bombshell, shaking the very foundation of her identity.

With her inheritance at risk and her relationship with her brother placed in the middle, I was so eager to see how everything would unfold. I loved seeing her navigate such a complex situation, with her already conflicted feelings of grief further tested. It’s an incredibly unfair position she’s placed in, and with no one to turn to for clear answers, I could truly feel Eliza’s isolation.

But it’s not all heavy—there’s a sweet, slow-burn romance with her brother’s best friend that I adored. He’s her comfort, always there to provide hope in the midst of all the chaos. It was such a heartwarming contrast to the rest of the drama, and it felt super natural and genuine.

This was an engaging story filled with wonderfully crafted characters who feel like real people. I’ve had this author’s first book, Typecast, on my TBR since its release, and I’m so glad I finally gave her writing a try. I'm definitely a fan!

Ten years ago, sixteen-year-old Eliza’s world as she knew it was shattered when her mother passed away following a long battle with cancer. Now at twenty-six-years-old, Eliza finds her world turned upside down once more when her dad suddenly passes away and a mysterious letter from her mother appears with strict instructions to read only after her father’s death. The comfortably predictable, keep-everyone-an-arm’s-length-away life she has worked meticulously to build over the last decade is completely upended by the bombshell of information revealed in the letter and every relationship is left wavering in its wake. Her brother struggles to support her as he faces his own grief, her best friend doesn’t seem to understand how she feels for the first time, and her high school crush suddenly reappears as an unexpected ally. With secrets exposed and emotions raw, Eliza is forced to confront not only the impact of loss on her life, but also the fact that perhaps one’s parents are more complex humans than we, as children, are willing to acknowledge.

This book had it all - complex characters and even more complex relationship dynamics, grief, forgiveness, self discovery, and a sprinkling of love/romance. I was drawn in from the very beginning and found it hard to put down! It was well paced and though the story line centered on heavy emotions/subject matter, the author masterfully wove in supporting characters and other aspects of Eliza's life in a way that brought depth to what is simply a story of how relationships unravel in the face of grief and exposed family secrets. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters with their respective flaws and walking alongside Eliza as she fought to find herself after enduring yet another one of life’s crushing blows. The slow burn of the romance was great, though the open door scene in the last chapters of the book felt a little out of place in a book that otherwise was low-to-no spice. However, if you prefer to avoid such scenes, it can be easily skipped without missing any of the plot. If you enjoy themes of self-discovery, complex family dynamics, friendship, the brevity of life, and deeply emotional story telling, this is worth picking up! I certainly will be adding Andrea Stein's other novel to my TBR list.

✅SFTM (Safe For Tara’s Mom): Mild language, one open door/spicy scene that can easily be skipped without losing the plot

A special thank you to NetGalley, Flashpoint Publications, and especially to Andrea Stein for the honor of reading this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest, thoughtful review 🤍

Not a fan. After her father’s death Eliza receives a letter from her deceased mother. Her whole world explodes. I don’t think one person was truly there for her. I felt like her stepmother , brother and sister in law didn’t take her in consideration at all . When she did stand up for herself she would second guess everything. I just didn’t care for any character in this book. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily

How many of us grieving daughters would give anything to hear from our late mothers one last time? What if that meant hearing news that upended everything we thought we knew about ourselves?

Eliza Levinger was only sixteen when her mother died of cancer. Ten years later, Eliza certainly never expected to hear from her late mother again in a mysterious letter she receives from her Aunt Claude shortly after her father, Jack, dies unexpectedly. The letter has explicit instructions for Eliza to read only after her father dies. However, as surprised as Eliza is to receive a letter from her mother ten years after her death at her father’s shiva, nothing can be more shocking than the revelations the letter contains. Suddenly, Eliza’s older brother is upset with her, her stepmother wants to disinherit her, and she’s finding herself growing closer to a former high school crush she’s fought hard to forget about.

Dear Eliza explores the complexities of grief, the various definitions of family, and the power of putting yourself first. I strongly connected to Eliza’s feelings of dissonance during shiva (the Jewish obligation for mourning certain family members such as parents), and highly suspect I would also be vulnerable to some of the self-sabotaging behaviors Eliza experiences if I were in my 20’s versus 41. One minor detail that resonated was Eliza lost her mother in May. Samesies, and can confirm that is a total crap month to lose your mom (spoiler: the other eleven months suck, too).

I truly loved watching Eliza’s growth and I’m a sucker for stories about found families.

CW: death of parents, rotten stepmother, complicated grief

Thank you to NetGalley and Girl Friday and Flashpoint for this wonderful arc!

Imagine finding out that who you thought you were was a lie. Eliza receives a letter from her mother after her father passes, and her life is turned upside down. The character plot and development was well written. Eliza’s budding romance with Josh left the reader hoping for a happy ending. Thanks NetGalley for an ARC. Highly recommend this cute story.

This book seemed so promising and I liked the idea of it, but I couldn’t love it or get into it.

I appreciated how grief was written quite well in this book and I did feel for Eliza having to process an array of emotions throughout. But I did feel as if the characters were quite immature and sometimes the scenes felt like a slog to get through.

I really appreciate Andrea J. Stein for reaching out to me and asking me to read and review this book, but it wasn’t for me.

This book exceeded my initial expectations.

Once I wrapped my mind around the many names, third person, and first-name references to Eliza's parents, I found myself in an endearing story about the complicated reality of grief, family secrets, and personal growth.

In retrospect, I appreciate how there isn't "too much" character growth. Eliza is human, and the story is focused enough that there isn't an expectation that by the end of a few hundred pages, she'll have the secrets of the universe.

I liked this book more than I expected but it had hiccups along the way. You could see Josh and Eliza getting together from miles away but then it all felt very rushed at the end, as did the relationship with her dad. She seemed to sort everything out with her step mum very quickly, The friendship with Mo seemed to fragment but nothing really came of it. I did enjoy this book but something didn’t sit quite right and I’m not sure what that was.

I haven't read an entire book in one day in quite a while, so it was nice to have the chance to devour Andrea J. Stein's sophomore novel, Dear Eliza. It's a compelling story that is equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting.

I don't want to say too much as to not spoil anything, but from the moment Eliza reads the letter from her mom, you will feel like you're on a journey with her. There's a lot more to the story than just what is written in the letter, including a focus on Eliza's career and love life. Andrea handles the subject of grief in a sensitive and exploratory way, especially since Eliza has lost both her parents and is learning new things about herself as a result.

It would have helped to indicate the year that the story takes place. That lack of information had me doing mental math because I thought it was set in the present and things just weren't adding up. I also wish there had been more Jewish elements aside from just attending shivas and mentioning a Bar Mitzvah photo.

Side note: I had "Dead Mom" from Beetlejuice the musical in my head from reading this novel. It's actually a great song and it fits the premise in some ways.

Overall, this was a great novel and I look forward to reading more from Andrea in the future! Dear Eliza is releasing next month, so be sure to add it to your fall TBR! In the meantime, read Andrea's debut, Typecast.

Movie casting suggestions:
Eliza: Victoria Pedretti
Josh: Fabien Frankel
Scott: Gregg Sulkin
Ross: Ethan Hawke
Carol: Jennifer Westfeldt
Mo: Geraldine Viswanathan

Well written story of a young woman who lost her mother as a teenager and suddenly her father when she is a young adult After her fathers death she receives some unexpected news which takes her on a journey of self discovery and has to address past issues with her familial relationships. I am glad I was able to read this thru NetGalley and will read previous book by this author now.

After the death of her father, Eliza receives a letter from her long-deceased mother via her aunt. The envelope says "To be given to Eliza on the death of her father" In the letter Eliza learns some very shocking news, so not only does she have to deal with her father's passing she also has to deal with the emotional revelations of her mother's letter.

Eliza's Mother wasn't in the book a lot but I hated her with a passion. What she did to her daughter, right after losing the only parent she had left, made me so angry. Children aren't stupid and you should always be honest with them, especially where this secret is concerned. I also had a hard time liking Eliza's brother, Rory and his wife. Why weren't they concerned for Eliza? And why didn't they have her back? They didn't consider her feelings. Don't Eliza's feelings count for anything? It seemed to me they didn't care about what she was going through in the slightest. Eliza really lost out in the family lottery. Fortunately she she has great friends in Mo and Josh not to mention a wonderful aunt and support system in Claude.

Written so realistically I loved following Eliza on her journey of discovery and falling in love. If you find my review light on the details it's because I'm being purposely vague, I don't want to give any spoilers away. One thing I didn't like about the book was that Eliza kept calling her parents by their first name, even in her head and in her internal thoughts. It boggled my mind why the author would do that.

I had high hopes for this as I saw another reviewer talk about it but unfortunately, I just didn’t connect like I was expecting. Having lost both of my parents at a young age I thought there would be something to connect myself and those feelings of grief to Eliza but as others have stated, she can be hard to cheer for and I didn’’t feel any which way about her brother, Scott. Perhaps his character wasn’t fleshed out enough or I had lost interest, I can’t be sure. The writing was good, I won’t deny the author that and I look forward to what they write next.

Stein penned a moving and at times painfully honest story about love, loss, and the ways we often close ourselves off to avoid further pain. The way some of these characters react under stress feels so genuine, and I think that's why I liked it so much. It's a great option for readers who want romance layered with family drama and lots of emotional pull.

Dear Eliza by Andrea J. Stein concerns Eliza, a Jewish woman in her late twenties, who after her father dies unexpectedly, receives a letter from her mom, deceased 10 years prior, with shocking news. This has a ripple effect in her family and complicates Eliza’s experience of grief. Eliza has a hard time connecting with her brother Scott, is wary of her feelings for his best friend, Josh, and seems to float through a job she finds vaguely fulfilling.

I really wanted to like this book. As a therapist I can say this book handles complicated grief in a complex family system well. But, I kinda just didn’t care. I don’t think I knew Scott enough to feel for him. Since the book was through Eliza’s eyes it didn’t go too deeply into the motivation of others. This was the problem. Eliza was self-centered. She was immature. I just didn’t care enough about her. She was present enough to even be an anti-hero; I didn’t see growth in her, just life, sorta fell into place around her with little effort on her part. A little effort. I guess she was beautiful and failed upward? She was rich enough to buy an apartment in NYC. There just didn’t seem to be real stakes.

The book started to get good in the 3rd act when Eliza started to be a more active participant in her life. The reveal of the history between her and Josh was interesting, but (SPOILER ALERT) their relationship happened for liked 2 seconds and then, whoops, the book is over? I don’t know… Maybe, since this was a galley, pre-editing copy, some editing will help the pacing of the story. 2.5 stars. Thanks to Net Galley and Flashpoint Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A beautiful story of family and friendship. Eliza is truly blessed to have a supportive brother like Scott and good friends like Mo and Josh. When a twist on her family suddenly appears out of the blue, Eliza is left confused and not knowing where to start. With the guidance of her brother andfriends, she was luckily able to get through it all. Who would've known that the man she was also destined for has been there all along?

this was a beautifully done story about parental loss and letters. I really felt for Eliza and thought it was a realistic and well done journey. I thought the characters had that feel that I was looking for and thought the entire thing worked as real concept. Andrea J. Stein does a fantastic job in writing this and I hope to read more from Andrea J. Stein.

Netgalley has provided an ARC so that I may provide an honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. Eliza's situation was a bit farfetched, and I found my attention wandering by the middle of the book. The writing is decent, but the pace is slow.

Ten years after her mother’s death, Eliza Levinger never imagined she’d hear from her again. But then "The Letter" arrived.

Gosh, Andrea has done it again. This was such a hard hitting, beautifully written story that I couldn't put down. Straight off the bat, from the blurb, we know that the story is going to feature talk of Cancer etc which can be difficult for some readers so just be conscious of that going in. However, it's dealt with in such a sensitive and knowledgeable way.

Eliza was such a lovable character as well so to share her trauma and the crumbling relationships between her and her brother and her stepmother was really heartbreaking. I was rooting for her throughout the novel.

I'd definitely recommend this for romance and contemporary fiction fans - it deals with the complexity of grief, how it changes day to day, as well as family relationships and finding your identity.