Is a heart able to make a difference in the world? Are YOU able to make a difference in the world?
Yes on both questions.

This is partly a story and partly a personal history - of one girl with a big, very emotional heart trying to make sense of her pain and passing that hope on the others.

I have followed Hannah's website for several years. And while I am not always reading her weekly posts (I must admit that they gets a bit repetitive and I am not a very patient person), I SO appreciate the heart behind it. One can say the difference between honest and fake - and this is real. Hannah knows how painful thingds can get (at least intuitively, as some pains you know just by forwarding through the life and/or aging) ans´d she tries to pass the hope on.

Her life story is simple, one could say. No big tragedies/dramas (apart the Nate's death), just the normal things, the "normal" pain. But this "normal, everyday pain" can hurt as hell, too - loneliness, aloneness, the lack of respect, dignity, meaning - it can slowly kill the heart. And the heart is meant for the bigger things. This is the truth i have realized, too, through the life. So i am very thankful for everybody who is just trying to ease the pain, and to show the way in the everyday trials of how to stay human in the world who is trying to make us the robots.

Read this and pass the hope on - to you and yours.

I love the idea of receiving a random letter from someone which can truly change your perspective, or brighten up a gloomy day. I So I was really excited to see this book, which tells the story of young lady who has moved away from home, and is having a really hard time. She is desperately lonely and feeling low. One day she comes up with the idea of writing a letter which she leaves for a stranger she sees on the subway.

I absolutely love the concept and the kindness and dedication of Hannah to set up, and continue with these letters. The first section of the book was really, to me, getting to know Hannah's story. It is clear that she hates being away from home and is finding life very sad and lonely. She has left college and set off for a year of voluntary work. Her story is very sweet, and it comes across very clearly that she is a very upstanding and caring person.

But somehow, as the book progressed I found it hard to connect any real emotion to the story. I think this may in part be down to me misunderstanding what the book was about. I thought I was going to read all about the letters and the impact they had on people. But in actual fact the book is more a story of Hannah's year.

However I felt that for me the letters were more of a sub plot and I don't feel I ever connected with their power and the widespread impact of others receiving their letter, or sending their own letters. This was the part I most wanted to read about so as I limped towards the end I did feel disappointed.

Thanks to the publishers who kindly provided a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

ARC-Netgalley