Touching, well-written. I am catching up on books because of an illness so am going off of what I remember and a few notes I made at the time. My apologies for the brevity.

I wanted to like this book. I wanted it to be one I would reread in the future, after I lose someone close to me. I wanted it to not become a stereotypical "man loses wife, and this is how he survives it" story. But one of the big mysteries, its conclusion did not sit right with me. I thought one thing, but then a twist - oh I was wrong. Cool. That's fine. But later on in the story, Oh, maybe I right again! Oh no, just kidding, one more crazy twist, and turns out I was kinda right! Just, what? It was too much. Too much of back and forth about the same potential mystery, and one of the crazy twists was thrown in too late in the story to really be believable to me. Overall, I am glad I read the book, but it's been days since I've finished it and the above mystery still frustrates me to think about.

This was a very emotional read for me but oh so good. Natalie had secrets and needed to give Luke the truth in little increments with her letters. The story kept me engaged and was a little bit of a mystery.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The concept was good the execution not so much, there are areas where the writer seems to be simply trying to fill space and that made it hard to stay interested and so many characters that I didn't feel as if i could really connect. This one just wasn't for me.

This book is one that leaves you guessing.. Who ever thinks that secrets are kept are fooling themselves. This has turns and twist of a family where you are dropped into a middle of the life and turmoil of them all. By the end you know the whys of Natalie and how Luke her husband deals with the shocking details of her life after her death. It can be slow in places but in the end you see the characters as we all are, flawed hurting and needing love.

When I'm gone is a very emotive read, dealing with the aftermath of a wife and mother's death through the letters she leaves for her husband. The expected experiences of grief are complicated by the slow revelation of secrets, and Bleeker's plot is well-crafted to give the reader a satisfying read - the twists are believable and guessable without being too cliched.

Despite the sad themes I found this an enjoyable beach read, and would recommend When I'm gone to readers who love novels centred on relationships.

Five million stars for this heartbreaking tale of a wife who knows her life will be cut short when she is diagnosed with an illness. Be sure to also have five million tissues on hand, as you will definitely need them!

I started this book and immediately found myself drawn in. As the book continued I admit, I started to become angry with the wife. I can't imagine how hard it would be to let go and accept someone whom you loved a great deal had died if they remained in contact with you. I really felt bad for the husband. As the book continued on more, I became outraged at this dead wife. I kept trying to put myself in her shoes. Why would she do this? I put myself in her husband's shoes. How awful it must have been for him. Why oh why would she do all of this? Why wouldn't she had just been honest and up front when she was alive?

As the book approached the ending... well, I finally understood. I can't say I agreed with her reasoning...or her methods...but I could finally understand to some degree.

Even when I was incredibly angry with these characters, I remained invested in this novel and couldn't put it down. I rushed thorugh it to make sure it would all turn out alright.

Sure, I figured out some of the "surprises" in the ending...however, the path I thought we would be taking to get there was different than I expected. I finished this novel and didn't feel any anger about emotional manipulation as I often do with these "surprise twists" at the end.

Sure, it might be a novel that I won't remember all the details next month, that happens a lot with me, but I have to say I really enjoyed this whilst I was reading it and I definitely know some mates that I would recommend this one to...very happy I picked this one to spend the day reading...

Loved it! Not at all what I expected when I first started reading it. Not your usual book about a wife dying of cancer far too young and leaving a husband with 3 young children. I found this unpredictable and refreshing, which a lot more depth than many books that are written on this subject (although most do attempt to write with as much depth as possible). There was so much to think about and consider and I loved that the author was sensitive in balancing the drama with the reality. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

Bleeker is a new-to-me author and I'll be reading her again. I really like Bleeker's style of writing - it's easy to read and engaging, at least for this reader!
We meet Luke and his kids - Will, May, and Clayton - the day of Natalie's funeral. Natalie is Luke's wife and the Mama to those kids. After a year long battle with cancer (not breast) Natalie succumbed to the disease. The evening of her funeral Luke notices a light blue envelope with his name written on it laying on the floor - having arrived through the mail delivery slot. That letter is the first of many to Luke from Natalie, written before she passed. Some of them are chatty, some instructional, some revealing. Throughout the first year of Natalie's absence Luke and the kids are helped by people Natalie set up prior to her death; her best friend Annie, a friend she met at school named Jessie, whoever keeps sending him the letters (although is that helping him or not?), and then others who come along post-Natalie. As the months go by and Luke and the kids find their new normal, questions arise about secrets Natalie seems to have held back from Luke. This first year of life without her is bringing some surprises he never saw coming.

Reminds me of P.S. I Love You movie but the guy is receiving the messages instead. If you enjoyed the movie would probably enjoy this.
This is a voluntary review via netgalley I do not get paid for this review!

There are books that receive very good reviews by many people and I just don't understand why or how. This is one of them.

1.5 stars.

The story is about Luke who recently lost his wife and tries to manage with his three children. Some mysterious letters come from his dead spouse, Natalie and he slowly discovers her long buried secrets. I honestly thought this was going to be the literary fiction version of P.S I love you but I had to come to the conclusion When I'm Gone is indeed a lower quality book.

The first huge problem is the quality of the writing. Reading the sentences I can almost see the struggle to find the right words to not sound redundant and put them together in the right way. Much like what I do when I'm trying to write my thesis. The prose is weak, conversations are horribly written and the described inner life of the characters sounds pretentious and fake.

The second one is the cliche factor. Everyone loves a good chic lit from time to time as a comfort read but this novel's every singe turn was painfully predictable. I knew what was going to happen even before I got to the next chapter and it was very annoying after a while.

And lastly the book is a mess, with things put into the plot that are just clearly there to take up some place, the subplots, characters are not interesting at all and the conclusion is painfully dire.

I seriously don't recommend this one.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review, but I ended up buying my own copy anyway.

I thought the story was quite intriguing, but I had issues with some of the character development and motivation. It seemed there were parts of the tale that were missing, but that might have been more my issues than the story's itself.

I really liked the book. It was very emotional and but beautiful. Yes, some things were predictable, but it did not bother me. You know the feeling when you don't want a book to end? Well, this is what I felt. I wanted to keep on reading, but I did not want the story to end. There is only one thing I hope for : a sequel, please!