Then tragedy struck. Nineteen days after our wedding day, Jemma was in an accident that would change our lives forever. When she woke from her coma, she had no memory of me, of us, of the love we shared.
That's when I started writing her letters. The stories of our life. Of when we met. About the happier times, and everything we'd experienced together.
What we had was far too beautiful to be forgotten.
I'd like to thank Millie at Little Brown for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and the publishers for my copy of Nineteen Letters via NetGalley.
What would you do if the love of your life can no longer remember who you are or anything about the nineteen years you have been a part of each others lives? That is the dilemma that Braxton Spencer finds himself in when his wife of nineteen days Jemma is involved in a serious car crash and wakes up with amnesia.
From the moment of the car crash I knew that this story was either going to make me cry tears of sadness or tears of joy, the pain that Braxton feels when Jemma wakes up and can no longer remember him, her parents or anything about their life together was oozing from the page. I cannot even begin to imagine what that feeling must be like other than having seen friends experience similar feelings of pain and frustration with parents who have dementia which Braxton was also having to deal with with his own father.
The concept of the letters talking about the pivotal moments of their lives they have spent together was simply beautiful, from the memory of the day Jemma and her family moved next door, birthdays, proms, first kiss to their wedding day. I loved the way that Braxton respected how scared Jemma must be feeling so he did not push her into remembering everything too quickly, instead each letter, each gift was so thoughtful in the hope that one day some memory may be triggered on its own.
Told in a dual narrative we get to see how both Braxton and Jemma are coping with the situation they are in. Both were feeling lost for different reasons, Braxton because he is now a stranger to the woman he loves, and Jemma because she doesn't know who she is anymore let alone these strangers who visit her daily.
Nineteen Letters was a beautiful love story from start to finish, a story of hope and new beginnings. From the moment I started reading I was lost, willing them both to find their forever love again whether it be with old memories or a chance to create new memories together. Jodi Perry was a new author to me as I've not read any of her young adult novels published as J L Perry but if this is the calibre of her writing then I for one cannot wait to read whatever she has in store for us next.
As I already had an ecopy of Nineteen Letters which I read for the review I have decided to run a giveaway for the paperback copy I also received.
As with all giveaways on the blog, this one is open to existing followers of the blog as a thank you for your support. The winner will be selected at random when the giveaway ends and contacted for their postal address to enable me to post the book to them. NB. Please do not add details of this giveaway to other sites without my permission.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This sounds a lovely story and I'm always trying to encourage my YA daughter to read and this sounds perfect.
ReplyDeleteBoth the blurb and your review make me want to read this book
ReplyDeleteI would love to read this book.
ReplyDeleteWonderful choice.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a real tear-jerker! And as you said, whether it is for sadness or happiness, it will still need to be read with a box of tissues to hand.
ReplyDelete