This was such an interesting story, and I loved seeing how the different relationships ebbed and flowed. Mae and Ari had such a beautiful friendship, and I think we all yearn to feel that type of connection with another person, whether that's romantic or platonic. Lotte Jeffs did an excellent job highlighting a variety of queer love and relationships, so the book offered a lot of representation throughout. Most importantly, we see just how important found family is, no matter what happens. The characters are all beautifully flawed, and it really adds to the complexity of the story. We see love, joy, excitement, heartbreak, disappointment, and regret so realistically portrayed on all sides of the story.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was excellent. I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I started and this book was so much more than I expected. This is a story about best friends Ari & Mae spanning years from meeting at university taking them through their lives and how time influences the strength of their relationship. We meet several characters along the way; some who have a positive impact and some who don’t
I really enjoyed the journey of platonic love between Ari & Mae, which was refreshingly told from a queer perspective. Overall this is a really well written book and I look forward to reading more from this author in future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audioARC to preview.

Thank you so much for this copy. The narrator did so much to add to the story. Also I have read so many long-term queer friendship stories, and this one kept it extremely fresh

2.5 ⭐

I was so excited for this book and I was ultimately let down. It was honestly just a very hard read, and I think I would have been better off reading it at a different point in life. Fans of Sally Rooney might really enjoy this.

This Love by Lotte Jeffs is a wonderful novel about friendship, love, acceptance, and the definition and creation of family. Reminiscent of One Day by David Nicholls, This Love tells the story of Mae and Ari, two students who meet at university and quickly become best friends. The two promise to have a child together one day, and the novel tells of the obstacles that come in between this promise, including other relationships that get in the way.

I would have liked the novel to feature the character of Kate a bit more, and for there to be more resolution to Ari's relationship with his teacher and with his father, but I did feel this novel was about as true-to-life as a work of fiction can be. In short, it is a lovely book about imperfectly lovely people, and I was sad for the story to end.

A beautiful and moving story of platonic soulmates, queer love, and found family. Ari and Mae meet in college and form a fast friendship that spans multiple decades. As their friendship develops, they promise to have a child together one day as they both want to be parents but neither can do it on their own. This Love follows them throughout their 20s and 30s as they navigate their friendship, other relationships, loss, love, and everything in between. A sweeping and emotional tale, This Love is a love letter to queer love of every kind.

This book made me feel so seen and happy. I love unconventional queer chosen and found family! I adore this book!

A bestseller in the UK, this was a beautiful debut about queer love, friendship and found family that spans over a decade. It tackles difficult topics from addiction, loss, infertility, adoption and beyond and was well done on audio. Slow moving at times, this was worth sticking with it to the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: miscarriage