A good read with an uplifting message, this book brings together themes of love, family, and self-discovery.

I Wanted You To Know is an emotional and heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and motherhood. Laura Pearson’s writing captures the deep bond between Jess and her new-born daughter, Edie, while tackling the devastating reality of Jess’s terminal diagnosis. The concept of leaving letters to guide her daughter through life is poignant, and Pearson handles the delicate subject matter with care and grace.

However, despite the powerful themes, Jess’s journey, though moving, doesn’t always delve as deeply into her struggles as it might have, leaving some moments feeling more surface-level. The secondary characters, while likable, don’t always have enough depth to fully support the central narrative. That said, Pearson excels at capturing the tender moments between mother and child, and readers who enjoy heartstring-tugging stories will find much to appreciate. While it may not stand out among other novels in the genre, I Wanted You To Know is still a touching and bittersweet read about love, resilience, and the legacy we leave behind.

I’m really unsure as to why I chose to read this book. It is incredibly sad. Jess is a young, single mother to baby Edie. When she receives a scary diagnosis she starts writing letters to Edie so that Edie would know about her father and all about her mother.

I love the letters Jess writes to Edie. They are raw, open and honest. She tells her the truth about everything. She gives Edie life advice.

While illness plays a part in the story, it's also about relationships. It's about mothers and daughters. Both Jess and her mother and Edie and her mother. It’s about friendship, Jess and her best friend Gemma. Every girl/woman should have a true best friend like Gemma. Gemma makes playlists for every single life occurrence! Gemma is always there to support Jess. And, it's about acceptance and reconciliation.

Jess is a remarkable character. She is so strong but weak at the same time. I guess you could call that realistic. She shows maturity in her letters to Edie, even though she is only 21. She has squeezed a lifetime into 21 years.

A well written and emotional read. Compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

Get out your handkerchief and be prepared for an emotional roller coaster. Jess is 21 years old raising her infant daughter with the help of her mother and best friend. The father was out of the picture at Jess's request. Now she has learned she has very aggressive breast cancer and has a short future. She starts writing letters to her daughter, Edie . The letters are in a different font so it's easy too tell when Jess is narrating her life or writing to Edie. This story is about love and forgiveness and putting someone else's needs about your own. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am completely and utterly drained. This book has broken me. I cried all the way through which I have never done. I read it in one sitting because it had me spellbound. I love fiction books that aren't always happy endings and fairytales. Real life doesn't always work out and have a happy ending so although it emotionally drained me it was also refreshing.

A poignant and heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, and the enduring bond between a mother and her daughter. Jess is faced with a devastating diagnosis that threatens to cut short her time with her beloved daughter Edie. Determined to leave behind a legacy of love and wisdom, Jess begins to write a series of letters to Edie, sharing her hopes, dreams, and the lessons she has learned throughout her life. The novel is a moving exploration of the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit

What do you tell your baby daughter when you know you are dying? What life lessons can you impart when you know you will not be there to see her grow up. How do you fit a life's worth of love, advice and stories in a series of letters? I Wanted You to Know is a heart-breaking series of letters from Jess to her young daughter, Edie. Jess is dying of cancer and there is so much that she wants to tell Edie - everything. How she came to be, how to fall in love, and how to forgive when you fall out of it. This is a story of love and a life cut far too short.

I Wanted You to Know is one of the best written books I have ever read, I felt every single word. Each one ate at my heart and fed my soul. It was beautiful, but completely destroyed me emotionally. There were multiple points in this book that I just sat down and cried. I felt everything that Jess was feeling, even when I didn't agree with her - maybe even especially when I didn't agree with her. This was a love story in the truest sense, not only about the love shared between mother and daughter, but the love found between friends and messy, romantic love.

The way the author wrote through Jess' eyes and how you got to experience her cancer journey was so raw and real. She, and in turn you, go through all the emotions with being given a death sentence. There is so much grief and anger, but mostly this is a book about love. I can honestly say that I have never had a book affect me the way this one did, and those affects are staying with me.

The only reasons to not read this book is if you are not in a place to read about death, cancer or any of the very difficult and real topics covered.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. As someone who has lost family members to cancer, including a step-mom, it hit so close to home. I think this book is a masterpiece and I will never not recommend it. Laura Pearson has created something unforgettable with this novel and I feel privileged to have been able to read an ARC.

Thank you Net Galley for an advance copy. This book played on emotions. And it wasn't realistic in so many ways. It kept going back to the main character not knowing what would happen with her child - guess what - there is a such a thing as a will. Yes, you can determine what will happen with your child if something happens to you. And I would think if you knew something was going to happen, you would make sure to set that up. With that underlying mistake it made the book feel manipulative and overwrought.

I love Laura's writing, she is so adept at finding the emotion and humour at the heart of any situation, In 'I Wanted You To Know', Jess has been diagnosed with cancer and has to face the unbearable task of trying to explain the unexplainable to her baby daughter. The story is told with such care and compassion, tears welled up time and time again as i was reading, and I couldnt fail to empathise with Jess and her family. Knowing that the story is based on Laura's own experiences makes the story-telling even more poignant and personal. This story will stay with me for a very long time.

I already knew a little of the author's background from following her on social media so I was prepared for the hard hitting subject matter of this book. However, I was unprepared for just how beautifully written it would be and how emotional I would find it. A beautiful and thoughtfully written book but go in with your eyes wide open!

Jess is a 21-year-old brand new mom who finds out she has breast cancer. The story of her illness is intermixed with letters she is writing to her infant daughter to read after her death. This was one that I maybe should have skipped due to some real life stuff currently. It was really heartbreaking and hard to read but so good. 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

This was not an easy book to read and you need to go in this one with the expectation of reaching for the tissues. There is no happy ending and Pearson brings to light the harsh realities of a terminal disease. Brace yourself, it’s an emotional one.

A young, single mother and a ticking clock that is counting down to her final days, this book is all about Jess preparing for this ending and gathering around her those she loves. Her young daughter, mere months old, needs that support network and it is heart-breaking to know that Edie will never remember her mother’s touch, her mother’s voice, her mother’s face. Throughout the story, not only do we watch Jess’s decline, but we read the letters she has prepared for her daughter.

Detailing how she and Edie’s father first met, advice for Edie as she grows older and memories, these letters are just as emotional as the story itself. There is no moment where readers escape the reality that Jess is facing and this is deliberate from the writer, showing how even the best medicine cannot always succeed. Frequently I imagined myself in Jess’s situation, balking at the emotional strain that would come with it. Indeed, like Jess, I picture the scenario with my own children and then moving to placing myself as the daughter that has lost their mother… nothing brought comfort.

This is a not a tale of smiles and laughter. It is a recognition of how devastating a disease can be, the ripple effects from the patient and beyond. I admired all of Jess’s trusted circle and thought that Pearson wrote this novel from the heart. It is completely draining to read but so expertly written. Despite not liking how events developed, I was pulled into Jess’s story of loss, acceptance and love.

To be honest, I finished the book feeling completely miserable and not very optimistic. But I think the success of the story comes from recognising the importance of love and prioritising what really matters: not agonising over the small, mundane details, but ensuring those around you realise how much you care for them. I’m not going to lie, it was an incredibly difficult story to read and I think the novel will haunt me for a while, but I believe this is a reflection of what happened with Jess’s friends and family after the closing chapter.

If you or someone you know has been impacted by life-changing illness, this probably is not the read for you. You definitely need a tough constitution to get through the pages and anticipate having the tissues on stand-by. However, I applaud Pearson for writing about a subject that is incredibly sensitive, portraying a mother’s love for her daughter in a situation that is hopefully only one of make-believe for most of us. It is a novel that hurts to read but one that will reverberate with me for a long time to come.

With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This must have been republished as I'd already read this before. A very sad story covering such a difficult subject but done with great empathy

This is one of those books that will tug at your heart-strings. It is emotional, loving, beautiful,

Jessica (Jess) never thought the world would bring her such joy and then such heart-break. But that is exactly what this book is all about. I love the thought of writing letters to anyone really, to get your thoughts out and I think everyone should do this. It is such a wonderful and poignant book and I loved it.

The writing is spot on, the story is wonderful and I truly enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jessica did not think that her experience with motherhood would be like this. She is a young, single mother, disconnected from Edie’s father. Jess was hoping that Edie would have the father figure that she never had in her formative years. Not only is motherhood difficult for Jess, but se has now been diagnosed with a terminal illness, cancer. Jess wants to impart knowledge to Edie in some way, as she may not be alive to mother Edie. The way that this book switched to the letters interspersed throughout the book was so captivating, but heartbreaking at the same time. This book was a definite tear jerker, but was a thoughtful read as it really prompts you to think about your own life, and not taking it for granted. While I recognize that the absence of Edie’s father is an integral component of the story line, I wished for more character development of him. The characters were well developed and incorporated into the story line. I especially liked the character of Gemma. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review. I will be looking for other books by this author. I recommend not reading this book in public as you may need some tissues.

I have mixed feelings about this book.
I'm not overly fond of tear jerker books. I ended up with a headache after crying through this.
I wished that my real mom wrote me letters like this. To show that she cares enough about her daughter.
This book was just very emotional and this author has hit it right on the nose with this one.
I finished this novel in a day and was left thinking about it long afterwards. I'm still thinking about it.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Boldwood Books for approving me for an ARC of this book. After reading and thoroughly enjoying one of Laura’s previous books I was excited to start this one.

😢Wow this book absolutely destroyed me. I felt so many different emotions while reading this story, it definitely made me think how I would respond if I was in Jess’s position.

⭐I do love an epistolary book and the letters in this book only added to the story. I kept thinking about what I would include in my letters, and what life lessons I would want to pass on to my children.

💗Whilst the underlying tone of this story is sad there are definitely moments of lightness. The friendship between Jess and Gemma is beautiful. The loyalty and braveness I saw in a lot of the characters were truly admirable.

✒️Laura’s writing is simply beautiful. It’s filled with emotion, love and the ability to draw you in from the start. It’s unapologetically honest and completely heartbreaking, I can’t begin to express how much I floogal this book! (IYKYK)

Absolutely loved this book!

The authors writing style is amazing!

I look forward to reading more from them!

This book was such a beautifully written book about the very hard hitting topic of cancer that sadly a lot of us have experience in one way or another and it sensitively covered the topic and how it affects those going through it and those that have been left behind and it really resonated with me having only recently lost a very dear friend suddenly to this terrible disease. Lots of parts of the book really struck a chord with me particularly the references to the song titanium as that was my friends mantra and theme tune whilst she had previous battled with and fought cancer before it came back and sadly took her away from us. I read most of this book with tears flowing from the start as the authors note in itself is heartbreaking at the start of the book.

This was an emotional and heartbreaking read that ripped my heart into two and left me with a book hangover. It has taken me a while to be able to write this review as I can’t stop thinking about this book abs it will definitely stay with me for a long time to come.

This is the second of this authors books I have read and will definitely be reading more. I didn’t realise at the time of reading that this one had been previously released a couple of years ago.

oh my goodness. grab some tissues and be prepared. The book is focused on jess, a 22 year old single mum with cancer and the emotional letters she writes to her young daughter. .