This is definitely a case of “this is not for me” but could very well be someone else’s cup of tea. The premise is fascinating but the delivery was over-the-top flowery and emotionally charged from the get-go, that it’s difficult to keep up that level of emotion throughout and I found myself getting bogged down by sentimentality and not enjoying the story. And as stories that start out in this fashion often do, it started to drag and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I did not finish this one but others may enjoy it.

I absolutely loved this story! The way the plot unfolds gives me such meant to be feels. I love these imperfect characters a lot. Why only 4 stars then? I feel like i have read some similar stories and was missing the unique factor in this one. Nevertheless a really good story!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced audio-copy of Somebody I Used to Love, in exchange for an honest review.

'Somebody I Used to Love' is a touching, exploration of love, loss, and the struggle to reclaim a past that may no longer exist. The book follows Will, who awakens from a car accident with a three-year gap in his memory, and Gem, his former love who has moved on with her life.

Will's desperate attempt to reconnect with Gem, to prove that the man she once loved is still there beneath the fractured memories, forms the core of the narrative. His journey to recovery is intertwined with his yearning to win back Gem's heart, a heart that now belongs to another man. Gem, torn between the familiar comfort of her past love and the new life she has built, grapples with her own emotions and desires.

Einsworth crafted a story that is both sweet and heartbreaking. The author's ability to portray the raw emotions of both characters is truly amazing. Will's vulnerability and determination are palpable, while Gem's internal conflict is realistically portrayed, making her a complex and relatable character.

If you are a fan of a sweet, touching and at moments sad stories, then I recommend giving this book a read. The emotional rollercoaster is intense, leaving you questioning the nature of love, memory, and the ability to rebuild a shattered past.
This was a 4.25 Stars read for me!

This book follows two POVs across who different periods of time, we get to see our two main characters fall in love when they were young and then we get to read about them after they’ve grown apart. But when one of them is in a car crash and loses all memory of the past 3 years he can’t remember why they grew apart. I expected this book to be more emotional for me, I thought I’d be balling my eyes out from page one but I found that I was more drawn to the mystery side of things. Because our main character can’t remember the past few years a lot of the story is him trying to piece it all together and that was definitely my favourite part. The drama of this book is revealed at the perfect pace to keep you reading and wanting more, totally binged this book in a day. And the ending was just beautiful and completely bittersweet. Definitely worth the read if you’re looking for a slight mystery or an emotional read!

This book and theme was surprising and I was intrigued off the bat. You’ve heard of books where the main character has lost their memory but not one where they revert their personality backwards too. I was gripped to know why has Will changed and what happened to him in 3 years? How did he throw away a lifetime relationship with not only his girlfriend Gem but his brother too.

I enjoyed the way the author wove together the narrators and the story. It was almost as if it unfolded backwards but forwards!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the advanced recording of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Filled with twists and turns, Somebody I Used to Love combines mystery, romance, trauma and joy in a dual person, time spanning novel.

Having had her childhood blighted by trauma, Gemma is given a second chance at happiness when she meets Jack and Will on the estate of her new home.

Moving through childhood, their teens and early twenties together, the trio seem destined to be together forever. When the story begins though something has broken the trio up and our journey introduces a number of cast members, each who have pieces of the story which we, with Gemma and Will must try to connect to find the truth.

Exploring what you'd do if those that you most love become different people overnight. We also get to see the long lasting impact of lies (even those told to try and protect people) on relationships.

Keeping me entertained as I tried to piece the various clues together to work, the narration team really captured the confusion, joy and sorrow of characters, helping to keep the reader engaged from beginning to end.

What a sweet book! Imagine the love of your life and you have a great relationship until one night when he walks out to come back a completely different person. When his brother reaches out to ask you to go see him in the hospital because he has been in a terrible car accident and he doesn't remember why you two broke up or why you aren't in his life anymore.

This whole book I along with our female main character was asking myself what happened? What made him switch personalities? What happened the night everything changed and I loved the way this book kept me guessing and how it wasn't the most clear cut situation. Some might say it is not believable but what I love about this book is it's not the type of book where he comes back to who he was and she just says well I'm going to jump ship on my life that I have built since him. She still feels drawn to him and the inevitably of them makes you want to keep reading. It feels like anyone else who has been in a situation where you are asking should I or shouldn't I?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the second chance romance. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I think the story went off the rails a bit too much, there is a lot to unpack in this book and the ending was a bit rushed. The narrators were great, so it was enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6827869212

I thought I knew exactly what to expect from this book and I really like that I’d didn’t go the expected route. In some ways the ending was a little disappointing but I also really liked that it didn’t go the usual route.

5🌟 for me. I was totally consumed in this amnesia storyline from the beginning and loved all the romance tropes: lovers to enemies to lovers, first love, and second chance love. My only wish was for there to be an epilogue for one year later on July 18th just to double down on a HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the ARC. Narrators did a superb job.

I was lucky enough to be asked to review this book in return to listen to it, I absolutely loved it and couldn’t sleep wanting to know what happened next!
It’s a brilliantly written book which is told through a couple of characters. Mostly Gem and Will - an ex couple who split up a couple of years ago and it flicks back to a part of time gone by as well as the present day.
I really recommend listening to or reading this book, I’ll definitely be looking out for the Author again.

This book wasn't necessarily a unique storyline but it was done quite well. I've seen and read several books lately that involved memory loss and loved ones so that piece of this wasn't what struck me as special. However, the characters, underlying storyline and overall vibe of the book were what I clicked with. I simply loved this book and couldn't wait to see how everything wrapped up. From the moment Will is in the car accident, I sensed that there was so much more to the story and I kept reading and trying to puzzle it all out.

Seeing the evolution of Will back into the man he'd been before was heartbreaking but also special. These characters were easy to connect with. I really wanted to see them do well and get their HEA.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I also received an early copy of the audiobook. It was nice to be able to go back and forth between the ebook and audiobook. I was able to continually either read or listen to the story until I finished it. The narration was well matched to the characters and helped me to fall into the story. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook of this story.
I liked the narrators, I liked how there was a man and woman, so it gave a bit of reality to the story.
I found it slightly confusing at first, but I think that was me, and once I got into the rhythm of the different years, and POV, it was a very easy listen.
I enjoyed it and thought it was different. Kept me interested.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook was so much deeper than I thought it would be!

I was doing my own detective and medical work while listening to this story. I was researching head injuries and trying to remember my lessons on brain anatomy in college. This audiobook is a good reminder to never take injuries for granted. Go to the hospital!

This is more than a romance. It's about healing from trauma and learning to move on for just about every character in this book. It is also a book about forgiveness, when you are still dealing with the pain from someone you love hurting you.

There were so many emotional moments in this book but the ending for me delivered the most emotional punch of them all.

The narration was very well done and I appreciated the multiple POVs.

Overall Somebody I Use To Love was a very emotional and satisfying listen.

Wow, this is an emotional rollercoaster, and has you intrigued from the beginning whilst bringing the reader/listener into this story so well you feel like these characters are neighbours or even friends.

When Gem receives a call to say Will her ex boyfriend from 3 years ago has been in a car accident she is currently living with Richard and she hadn't had the best of break ups with Will however they did share a lot together in their past so as he asking for her she decides to go and see him.

Will has no memory of the last 3 years. He doesn't know his current girlfriend Nicola and is back in the past when Gem was his partner. Will begins a long recovery with Gem remaining in contact, where they both discover various events that lead to many things happening within their relationship. In particular the eventual breakdown of it all, Gem always felt something wasn't right one day Will had just changed and seemed different but had never known why until this second accident leads to him learning of certain events he had no recollection of, everything begins to make sense to him allowing him to also explain to Gem. He is determined to make it up to her and try to reignite what was once lost, but is it possible after all they have been through? Can she forgive him?

This was very well narrated. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself immersed from the beginning until the very end.

The only aspect that stopped this gaining a 5 star review was the ending was a little disappointing for me after so much has happened and a beautiful story it felt flat, possibly open for a second book of course however it just felt a little incomplete.

Thank you to Netgalley & Bolinda Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this ARC in return for an open, honest review.

★★★☆☆

Somebody I Used to Love delivers on family drama, with likeable and interesting characters that kept me engaged. The story dives deep into the complexities of relationships, which was enjoyable, but it did get repetitive at times.

The mystery element was intended to build tension, but it felt a bit dragged out, which slowed down the pacing. While the plot had its moments, it could have benefited from a tighter narrative.

Overall, it’s a decent read with engaging characters, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me in terms of pacing and variety.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Somebody I Used To Love
Eve Ainsworth

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Oh.My.Word!!
This book had my heart from the very first page and I have honestly felt every single emotion under the sun!
What a heartwrencher!

There was so, so much going on in this storyline that I don't even know where to begin.
I especially don't want to give any spoilers because at every turn, something would be explained or unearthed revealing another layer of the whole.

At its heart, this is a meant to be, second chance romance - but oh, it was so much more and I loved every single second of it.

The characters were so relatable and I felt so sorry for all of them at some point of the story.
Will, from the start, having had the accident that completely removed the last 3 years from his memory. That must have been so hard and confusing.
But also for Gem, who now had to re-live and explain the worst kind of break-up after only just feeling ready to move on.

I was rooting for them the whole way through, but was so intrigued to find out what it was that had made them break up in the first place if, having heard each past memory from both Gem and Will's pov, they were simply just made for each other.

The whole situation had me also really caring for the rest of the character cast too. Each one with their own issues and complexities, I think they were the ones who evolved the most through the book.
Each past memory pieces together the whole for both Will and us reading along - and at every step the revelations totally shocked me.

I honestly didn't see any of what happened coming and each interference and that ending actually had me having to take 5 minutes to recover!

This was so beautifully written that I was engrossed for every second and I'm so glad I had this on audiobook so that I didn't need to stop reading until the end as I'd never have been able to put this down!

I've not read this author before but I will most certainly be checking out any more work to add to my wishlist - this book will stay with me for a very long time and I'm really really hoping that we might see the characters popping up in a sequel? I couldn't bear to leave that ending up to my own imagination!!




💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC for Somebody I Used to Know!

This book very much felt like a blend of In Five Years and maybe One True Loves by TJR. If either of these books were enjoyable for you, this is probably the next one to add to your list!

We follow Will and Gem who have a long history together, beginning as childhood puppy love/friends, blooming into a strong relationship, and ending with an intense whirlwind breakup out of the blue! As an adult, Will wakes up from an accident with no memory of the last few years and, upon realizing he is no longer with the love of his life, attempts to find out what separated them so exhaustively. Somebody I Used to Know attempts a bit of a mystery, sprinkled with family drama, and themes of abandonment, parental discourse, and contains mentions of domestic abuse.

I didn't love this one. It felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things without going in-depth into anything. We have some discourse between our main characters and their family members, but it doesn't ever seem intense enough to be emotionally invested. I also feel that we didn't get enough time with them before things changed for the characters, so there's no burning desire for them to reconnect. The mystery aspect of what happened in those lost three years really tries to carry the book and it just doesn't last, mostly because I'm not invested in the main couple. We got more time with their perspective new love interests than we did with them together, and although we do have a few flashbacks, it didn't serve enough to make me care about them. I think the main feeling I had was that it was rushed. Not by the timeline, but the attempt to fit everything in. like the author was trying to carry out a storyline but forgot to connect the emotional aspect to it. If you enjoy some family drama plotlines and a bit of mystery in a contemporary fiction book, this is probably close to what you're looking for. It definitely didn't feel like a romance novel to me and didn't quite hit that litfic genre button either.

All is to say, this wasn't for me. I should have DNF'd this book because forcing myself through it has made me dislike it more than I probably would have, had I stopped when I decided I didn't like it. After reading the synopsis, I was hoping for a deeply emotional and moving story about a couple finding their way back to each other. This was not that. I am not so much of a mystery reader, so spending half the book waiting to find out what the incident that separated our main couple was. felt unnecessary and boring. The family drama was uneventful and underwhelming. I wasn't emotionally invested or connected to any of the characters and nothing felt interesting or surprising to me.

That being said, it felt very much like In Five Years and had some similarities to One True Loves (both of which I also didn't like), so if you loved those, this should go on your list!

This was a great read! It ended in a HEA, but there’s lots tons of angst and tragedy in between. Both the FMC and MMC were great, relatable, and easy to like. This was a quick read and was read in one sitting. Highly recommend!

I loved this book so much! I haven't listened to a book for awhile that I was truly looking forward to every chance I had to listen. In fact, I'm probably a little disappointed that it's over. This story is an example of how we never truly know what can happen--negative and positive--and it was nice to have hope.
I wish the author would have taught us a little more about how brain injuries can effect personalities. That was an important part of the story that was glossed over as it was slowly revealed.
I always love when women have that best friend (or sister) who always has their back and I loved that Cassie had this. I think what probably made me like this story most though was that Cassie didn't stop loving even when most people would have. That is something that I connected to.