gimmebooksjoanna's Reviews (326)


Review to come

Ida Brogan and her family live in London during the WWII Blitz. It's hitting her family hard. Her three daughters are all having their own troubles from incarcerated husband's, to lack of consent to be married from their father, Jeremiah. Her son, Billy finds out a big family secret and to top it all her oldest friend returns to town with a secret of her own. And it's set to shake Ida to her very core.

I really enjoyed this book and it was a solid 3.5 stars for me. I felt warmly to all the characters and totally felt my mood fluctuate along with Ida. It's the third in a series of books about the Brogan family, but I wouldn't say that this took away from my enjoyment. The writing was quite easy to follow, with the only real downside being long chapters - for some reason, I just don't get on with them. This made it a slightly slower read than usual for me.

What I really liked about this book is that so much seemed to happen. There were so many sub plots within the main plot - I felt like I got real value for the time invested in reading it. The downside however, was the ending felt somewhat left "open". I don't feel like all the ends were tied up particularly. Having said that, given that this is the third in the series, I presume there is more to come from Fullerton on the Brogan's.

Overall, if you enjoy war time books, this is a really nice little read.

Seven years after Holly Kennedy's last letter from Gerry, we're catching up with her. Yep. This is the sequel to PS I Love You.
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Holly has moved on. She's working with her sister Ciara in her charity shop and she's got a new boyfriend, Gabriel.
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Ciara also runs a podcast, and early on in the book, Holly features on it, telling her and Gerry's story. Not long after, she hears about the PS I Love You Club.
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The group, who all have terminal or chronic illness are inspired by Gerry's letters and have decided to do their own thing for their loved ones when their time comes to an end. But, they want Holly's help. And so she's taken back into a time she thought she'd left behind...
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Although I don't have much of a preference for "chick lit" these days, I loved this book. I was already ugly crying by page 35. Then I ugly cried some more throughout. This was an emotional journey - and so good to catch up with Holly. It didn't have quite the same magic of the first book, but that didn't take away from the story at all. And the ending! Oh the ending gave me all the feels. I didn't see it coming, but it was perfect. If you loved Holly the first time around, you'll love her this time around.