This was a very heartsore book, and I struggled to read and finish it. For the basic reason, I kept on imagining myself in that position, and guessing what would I do if I was dying and had to think of my child after death. Recommended for anyone who likes reading something that makes you think, and reevaluate life.
TB

well this book absolutely broke my heart into pieces, i don’t think i have ever cried so much through a book. i devoured this in a day but i must admit at times it got too much for me and i had to put it down and walk away.
A beautiful tragic story

A Mother's Last Wish was an extremely emotional and heartbreaking story. It had me reaching for the tissues in many places and the story will stay with me long after I have finished reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

Another lovely book by Jo. A book that I was drawn into the storyline and struggled to put down. Thank you for the ARC.

What an emotional book. It reads more like a true account than a story. A warning here, if you have a diagnosis or are waiting to hear about your health, then be aware that reading this can set off a host of otherwise unknown emotions.
This is not so much a story, there is little action or drama here. This is more a heartfelt exposé of a family working through the levels and stages of grief which arise as one knows something, life itself in this case, is coming to an end.
Beautiful, heartbreaking and slightly scary!

Louisa has just found out that she has terminal cancer. Her greatest fear is not the actual dying but instead leaving behind her husband and two young children. So she spends the little time she has left tying up loose ends and getting her affairs in order. Really, that’s about it. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters and was distracted by some of the longer development pieces. This was an okay story for me. Not bad, but it really reads more like a quick memoir. It’s a sad one for sure.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

A really lovely story but very emotional. I felt my eyes welling up quite a lot reading this one. I do love these types of books from time to time. Very well written without holding anything back and not dressing it up too much. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Emotional and heartbreaking but a story that I just could not put down. I needed tissues in several places. It is an incredible author who can reduce a reader to tears
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

Lou has a wonderful life with husband Tom, children Flo and Stan and her twin sister Holly. She's then given devastating news which totally shocks everyone.

This was a very heartfelt and emotional story. I found myself tearing up (crying god dammit) and gosh, it was so emotional. It's a whole journey, following a mother who's been diagnosed with cancer. Despite this terrible diagnosis, Lou never fails to be humorous, or positive, even though she's dying, and leaving behind a husband and kids. It's a very real situation, and it pulls at your heartstrings heavily.

I thought the characters were very well developed and I enjoyed the writing style. It was very beautifully written, but also very realistic as well.

This was a beautiful yet heartbreaking story, and I cannot recommend it enough!

This emotionally charged family drama, inspired by a heartbreaking true story, delves into the complexities of love, loss, and the enduring power of hope. The narrative is enriched by a cast of well-developed characters who navigate their intricate relationships against a backdrop of stunning scenery. The author's evocative prose immediately captivates the reader, drawing them into a story that explores the depths of human emotion and the resilience of the human spirit.

Keep a box of tissues handy because Jo Bartlett will break your heart with her latest novel, A Mother’s Wish.

Louisa and Tom are a couple who seem to have the world at their feet. As parents to two lovely children, the devoted couple are about to celebrate their ten year anniversary and all seems perfect in their world – until tragedy strikes. Lou is dealt devastating news and she feels as if everything she loves and cherishes most in this world is about to slip through her fingers. Who will look after the children if she is no longer around? And will anyone love them as much as she does?

Her twin sister Holly feels as if the bottom has fallen out of her world when she hears Louisa is ill. Older by ten minutes, Holly has always protected her twin sister and would do absolutely anything for her. As she doesn’t have children of her own, Holly promises Lou that she will love, cherish and protect Stan and Flo as if they were her own. But can Holly be the mother Lou wants her to be?

With the future bleak and uncertain, Lou wants to show her kids how much she loves them and enjoy every second she can get with them. Can the man she loves and the sister with whom she’s shared everything with since birth be there for her when she needs them most? Or will Lou’s last wish not be granted?

Jo Bartlett’s A Mother’s Wish is a beautifully told and sensitively written tale about family ties, the bonds that bind us together and the power of love that will seriously sever every reader’s heartstrings. Poignant, emotional and absolutely heart-wrenching, A Mother’s Wish is a book that readers will find hard to put down and impossible to forget.

A Mother’s Last Wish is a poignant and emotional tale crafted by the incredibly talented author, Jo Bartlett.

When Louisa receives heart-wrenching news, the perfect life she built with her husband, Tom, and their two wonderful children begins to unravel. Unfortunately, her older twin sister, Holly, who is just 23 minutes her senior, is unable to protect her this time.

I’m so sorry for the delay in this review! It took me much longer to read than I anticipated – I found myself an emotional wreck during the latter part of the story, having to pause frequently as I couldn't see the words through my tears! Jo's extraordinary ability to captivate and engage readers is truly impressive. As I read, I sensed a deep reality in the narrative, later discovering that Jo had drawn from her own experiences, along with those of several friends and family members who have faced similar life-changing moments, effectively expressing those powerful emotions through her writing.

A Mother's Last Wish broke me over and over. The journey we embark on with Lou is absolutely heart rending. It's raw, relatable and certainly real.

I don't think you can even begin to contemplate a book featuring delicate subject matter without becoming emotionally invested into the story, so over time the characters began to feel like personal friends and their dramas felt like mine.

A wonderfully written from the heart drama that left me deep in thought long after I'd finished reading.

This was emotional ( you’ll need some tissues). It was very candid, raw and unfiltered.

It follows the story of Lou, who has just been diagnosed with an incurable cancer, the emotions and feelings, fears that follow and her last moments with her husband, twin sister and her kids.

It is a great story of confronting one’s own mortality and the attendant suffering, grief and experience and how others cope, especially kids.

The author’s writing was very candid and she represented this by allowing each character a voice, especially Lou even right to the end.

This book is a sort of reflection and reminder of making each moment count and living life to the fullest and being of service to others.

I cannot recommend this enough.

A Mother's Last Wish is a very sad story. You can tell from the title and synopsis how this story ends but that doesn't stop it being very interesting to read how it unfolded.

In the beginning I struggled a bit to connect with Lou and I even felt a bit guilty about that because I thankfully have no way of understanding the things she was grappling with.

As the story progressed, it became easier for me to connect with her and I also connected with all of the characters.

This a story of deep familiar bonds and the difficulties we facing when confronting our own mortality and that of someone we deeply love.

I very much liked the storyline of the online support group who helped offer Lou support and guidance as she navigated through her diagnosis and treatment.

I cried as the book was wrapping up and all the way to the end.

Very well done story of love and loss, family bonds, and motherhood.

If you are a fan of tear jerkers this one is a great read.

It's just a bit too sad for me, and very wordy constantly going over feelings etc. Almost everyone has lost someone from cancer so lots of triggers. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

It’s very hard to describe how much you loved a story that broke your heart, that you read through tears, but Jo Bartlett is such a gifted and talented writer that I would ask her to put me through the wringer time and again for the beautiful tales she tells.
Despite the heartbreaking nature of the story, it is one of hope, it’s full of nothing but love, but I would expect nothing less, Jo always brings her stories straight from the heart. This story hit home for me and will forever most having lost people far too soon and this is where I began to become a weepy mess , as soon as Louisa gets her diagnosis.
What Jo does so well is make Louisa completely relatable and you could completely empathise with everything she was going through, you could completely relate to the things she won’t be there for, the absolute desperation she goes through trying to ensure her children’s and husbands life without her is the way she hopes.
This is clearly very personal from Jo, I only understood after I read this of Jo’s journey and I am completely in awe that she wrote such a beautiful and heartbreaking story, which must be so close to her own story and so many other mothers. I am not a mother but you don’t have to be to understand the journey Louisa goes through and I have nothing but praise for Jo for such a beautiful and heartbreaking story.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An emotional read that kept me turning the pages, a tale of twin sisters, whom the one sister is dealing with the diagnosis of cancer. It shows the closeness of sisters and family. Lou goes through so much, chemo, plans for her husband and two small children. I recommend to have a box of tissues close by.