This is a captivating story about loss and love. It is not your typical book in this genre. It is mainly situated in Kew Gardens (where I have never been, but I certainly would like to visit now), and the story is told from several people's perspectives. I was unable to put this book down, as I desperately wanted to find out how the stories of the various flawed but very loveable characters were intertwined. 
It is an easy read book but it has plenty of depth. I would highly recommend this captivating book.

**Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars!!!

I'm really surprised that this book has received such poor ratings. It has got to be one of the most underrated books of this year. I have to admit maybe this book is not to everyone's tastes, but I was pleasantly blown away when I started reading it. So, what exactly did I like about this book? Let me elaborate.

One, the cover is just beautiful. Just look at it!!! I love the colour scheme and the illustration on it. It's utterly whimsical. And I'm a sucker for those kind of things. Second and most importantly is the writing, Tor Udall has a beautiful way of weaving a yarn. The writing has almost a dream-like quality to it. It's fleeting, luscious and descriptive. I was just sucked in with the words and the fact that the story was set in the Kew Gardens just elevated it to a whole new level. The descriptions and worldbuilding was breathtaking. Even the love making scenes were described so well. It wasn't erotic. I just loved it. There's no other word for it.

Now for the content of the book. I think this is where people get lost a bit. The book is essentially about life, family, love, grief and lost things. There's a hint of magical realism in it and it's literary fiction. So, once you wrap your head around this, you should be fine. The story is about a guy named Jonah who loses his wife Audrey. It's about how he deals with her loss and her story is told through a series of characters. With each character, we learn their backstory and the part they play in the life of Audrey. So everything is in reality connected with one another. Through each character's perspective, as a reader we finally learn how Audrey passed away and the reasons behind it. The only negative that I had with the book, albeit a minor one was that sometimes there are character shifts within a chapter which did rattle me a bit but they were subtle enough not to cause much of a detraction from the overall storyline.

Thirdly, the book also deals with a lot of things like art, music and reading. I especially loved reading about how the MCs especially are passionate about creative things and how these elements were integrated into their daily lives. There's a lot of descriptive elements regarding origami and the movement of music and how it relates to life. As a creative person myself and someone who loves visualisations, I found this utterly captivating and lyrical.

I personally think the author has done a wonderful job of dealing with the issues of loss and love in the book. The lesson I learnt was that hope transcends everything and that's what got to me. I think in order to really appreciate this story, you have to be in the right frame of mind. However, I would really recommend reading it to enjoy the full gist of it. Please don't go by what the other reviewers have said about it, try reading it and judge it for yourselves. For me, this was a gem of a book.

I was drawn to reading this book mainly by the beautiful book cover but also by the story of love and loss and how we are all connected in life and death. It resonated with me as I have lost loved ones over the years and can understand the pain and grief of having to say goodbye. Tor Udall clearly has an ability to create a compelling story and her writing is poetic and charming with some wonderful descriptions and use of words. Her characters are believable and I was quickly drawn into lives. I really did feel like I was standing at their window peering in to their most personal space. 

However, whilst there were many things I did like about the book, there were a few aspects that I didn't enjoy. Firstly, the book is far too long with nothing much happening between the beginning and end. There were endless descriptive paragraphs about Kew Gardens, what the characters were doing/wearing/saying/thinking and at times it felt repetitive and I struggled to keep the pages turning. The pace was slow and I was tempted to skip forward knowing that I wouldn't miss anything. I also struggled at times, especially early on in the book, with what was going on in the story as the author head jumped from character to character often within the same page. It was confusing to know who was who and to follow the thread of their own stories. There are also many formatting issues with the ebook although I'm sure that this was an early draft and the editors will have sorted these out before publication. 

The story itself though was enjoyable and the author definitely has a writing talent so I look forward to reading book 2.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. It was beautifully written; the language was lyrical and sophisticated, however I felt that it was sometimes unnecessary and started to cause the story to drag. The way that it was written meant that it would take an entire paragraph for even the smallest thing to be said. The language was gorgeous at first, but after 50 pages or so I found it to be tiring and excessive. 
The story was intriguing, but somewhat slow. This was made worse by the language. I was not at all invested in the story because of this. I grew frustrated. I got confused during the frequent time shifts when Jonah was reflecting on Audrey. I found it difficult to tell whether we were looking at a past event, or if Jonah was seeing Audrey now in the present. It got very confusing. 
Overall I feel like this book had potential, but it felt messy.

Audrey is the link that holds this story together, she is the linchpin.  One problem though, she died in a mysterious car crash, leaving behind her husband and what seems to be other random strangers.

It is set in Kew Gardens, London, and spans a year.  During that year we discover and meet Jonah, who is Audrey’s husband, Milly a little girl who seems to wander round Kew by herself, Harry the botanist and Chloe the art student and maker of origami birds. They are all linked in their own way to Audrey.

I really wanted to enjoy this story, the characters are well written, the general feel of the book was only okay for me though.  It would be a lazy afternoon read, if I was asked my opinion of it.  It rather feels like i was merely meandering through it, rather than wanting to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next.

I have marked this book as a 3*, but with an addition on my personal notes , to come back to this book and try it again, as I didn’t dislike it.

This was a facinating book, with some beautifully written passages. Kew Gardens was perhaps the main character of the book, allowing the reader to meet the other characters as they visited the Gardens. The motif of origami was an interesting one, pointing to the idea that beautiful things don't have to be permanent. All the characters had their own sadnesses, the only one who I found difficult to like was Chloe. She seemed somehow too abrasive, too selfish and too modern to sit comfortably in a book which was otherwise gentle and slightly old-fashioned.  I enjoyed the growing realisation of the true nature of Harry and Millie as  the book unfolded.