Thanks to Bookouture, Kerry Wilkinson, and NetGalley for the ARC; this is my unbiased review.

Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson
Bookouture, 21st April 2017
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:
It’s Poppy Kinsey’s birthday.

She should be blowing out candles and opening presents – but hers falls on the type of heart-wrenching, agonising anniversary she would far rather forget.

The worst day of them all. The day her mother died.

But this year is special because the person she misses most in the world has left her a set of letters, one for each of her next ten birthdays.

As Poppy opens them year by year, she discovers that no matter how tough life gets, her mum will always be by her side, guiding her along the way.

Review:
I like that this contemporary fiction title is a departure from the crime and psychological thrillers that Kerry Wilkinson is typically known for, as it shows his aptitude in another genre. Ten Birthdays is a stirring coming-of-age saga that will have wide appeal to the young adult market as well as enticing adult readers.

Beginning on Poppy's sixteenth birthday and with each fresh chapter checking in with her a year later, the character's growth shines. We see how her relationships with friends, including Freya and Mark, change over the ten years, and what effect growing up and the content of her mother's letters has on Poppy's life.

Ten Birthdays is a poignant, thought-provoking, yet easy to read novel that showcases the diversity of the author's writing.

#TenBirthdays #KerryWilkinson #Bookouture #NetGalley #BookReview #Bookstagram #YoungAdultBook #AmReading #ContemporaryFiction

Ten birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson.
A good read with good characters although I wasn't sure how I felt about Freya. She to me was annoying. I did like Mark Poppy and her dad. Goid but slow in places. 4*.

Unfortunately I struggled through this book. I am not sure what the reason was but it just wasn’t for me.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Heart wrenching story, but so wonderful! Poppy's mom dies on her birthday a few years before her current 16th and her father presents her with the first of ten letters her mother has written to her, to be opened one at a time on each birthday, to continue being a presence in her life with stories and advice. So wonderfully written! Loved the setting, the characters and plot. I am sure it will appeal to YA and new adults. I enjoyed the tale very much!

“Us adults are frequently suspicious of the young. You see it all the time on the news, hear the whispers on the streets. It’s always seen as such a terrible thing that young people are gathering with their friends, wearing strange clothes, saying words we’ve never heard, listening to music we don’t like. We forget so quickly that you’re us and we’re you.” – Poppy’s mom from ‘Ten Birthdays’



Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’ we’re going to review a very interesting new book by author Kerry Wilkinson called ‘Ten Birthdays’, which was provided for review by Bookouture. This book was released in May of 2017, and is a coming of age story about a British teenager. So let’s get to why you’re all here, the book review! Ready? Ok, let’s go!!!



‘Ten Birthdays’ follows the life of Poppy Kinsey as she evolves from a 16 year old teenager, into a 25 year old woman. On her birthday, Poppy receives one of 10 letters her mother wrote for her before her death on Poppy’s 15th birthday. At first Poppy is not sure if she wants to open the letters because it brings painful feelings to the forefront of her mind however, she eventually does read the 1st letter, and for the next 9 birthdays reads one letter a year. Throughout the story we see Poppy’s life change as she deals with friendships, relationships, and finding her purpose in life. Along the way poppy’s mother gives her life advice and tells her stories through the letters she wrote, and thus is able to stay a constant force in Poppy’s life.



Although you would think that this story would be very sad, it is actually more of a coming of age story, than a story of loss. Anyone who has had someone close to them pass away can relate to Poppy’s mixed feelings of love and sadness in regards to the letters her mother left her. Also, I really enjoyed the fact that Poppy is not your stereotypical happy protagonist, and because of this faces struggles and consequences for questionable decisions throughout the course of the book. You find yourself constantly rooting for Poppy, and interested to know what the next year of her life will bring her. I also like that the book shows the difficulties Poppy and her two childhood best friends Mark & Freya face as they grow older and make decisions that determine who the kind of people they will grow up to be. Lastly, although there is not a lot of diversity in this book, Freya is bi-racial (her mother is Jamaican and although the book does not actually describe her father, it does allude to the fact that he is white). Because of all of these factors, I would definitely give this book a 4 smiley face rating. It is a very enjoyable novel that you will not want to put down, and I definitely hope that we will get a sequel one day because I would love to continue to see how these amazing charterers’ lives turn out.

Really enjoyed this book. Loved that each chapter was Poppy's birthday and this made it a very quick read. It is aimed at YA and see that it would be ideal for teenagers, as shows that you don't need to have your life all planned out at 16. Eventhough I am outwith the desired reader age range I found it to be a sweet heartwarming story.

I'm sorry I didn't get to this review sooner, but after some point my notes were deleted and this review comes from memory.

This book was fine to begin and end with, but the middle section was better. The writing was mediocre and it didn't immerse me into the world.

At first Freya, one of Poppy's (the main character's) close friends didn't seem very dimensional; just a stereotypical girl who loves shopping and technology. The friend's boyfriend/another one of Poppy's close friends, named Mark, seemed sweet. At first he holds Freya's bags but then she gives him the rest to hold for her. That was sad; if you buy that many things, the least you can do is carry at least one bag.

When the father gave Poppy the letters to her I was glad he didn't keep them to himself when he had the chance. He admitted it wasn't his decision, he was honest.

At one point I had the faint idea of the following events, it became unclear then it started coming out. When I figured it out, my heart dropped.

I liked how this book had diversity, as Freya is black, I believe, but that's the extent of it.

However, sometimes it got confusing. "Pops" was a nickname for Poppy, but because my association with word is that it is another term for father, when it was said, I had to stop for a moment to remember which took me out of the book.

This took me a LONG time to review this and I'm terribly sorry, but I just could not get through it and it was simply my opinion! I am happy to say I liked the setting, but I can't say that I'd reread this again.

Well, this is a sweet book.

Ten Birthdays is the story of Poppy. Each chapter takes place on Poppy’s birthday and over ten years we see her receive advice in the form of a letter from her mum who has passed away.

Along with her two best friends Freya and Mark we watch that difficult time between being a teenager and being an adult and how Poppy deals with growing up.

What I really liked about Ten Birthdays is that Wilkinson has highlighted how what is seen as the correct route to life and happiness. Freya and Mark go a different route to Poppy but inevitably it is Poppy who ends up happiest.

The comparisons to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern are inevitable but what is at the heart of this story is the relationship between mother and daughter and how that bond is special.

Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson is available now.

For more information regarding Kerry Wilkinson (@kerrywk) please visit www.kerrywilkinson.com.

For more information regarding Bookouture (@bookouture) please visit www.bookouture.com.

I appreciated that this story dealt with loss in such a sweet and wonderful way. I think it was important that Poppy grew over ten years in this story, and that made it so much sadder yet amazing. It was good to see how much she changed each year on her birthday as she read another letter.

It must have been hard to write a novel about such a loss as Poppy had, but the author handled it beautifully. There were enough complexities and tension throughout the book to keep me interested, and I found myself really invested in what would happen to Poppy as she got older and read each letter she received.

This was a wonderful well developed book with real characters that I would recommend to anyone.

Thank you very much for allowing me to read this title; I am trying to read as widely as possible ahead of the Carnegie/Greenaway nominations and awards for 2018 and your help is much appreciated.
As a Carnegie/Greenaway judge, I'm not allowed to comment about my opinions on specific titles so I can't offer an individual review on any title as I stated on my profile.
Netgalley now requires a star rating so I am giving all titles 5 stars so as not to disadvantage any title but this does not imply any recommendation of the book above any other.

What I Thought:

Ten Birthdays is the first book I’ve read from Kerry Wilkinson, Kerry is more well known for his crime thrillers, but Ten Birthdays is a contemporary.

One Poppy’s fifteenth birthday her mother died, Ten Birthdays begins a year later on her sixteenth birthday her dad throws her a surprise birthday party. Later than evening Poppy’s dad reveals that before she passed away her mother had written ten letters for her, one for each of her next ten birthdays.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book, each chapter focuses on one year, the period around her birthday, the the next letter from her mum. They style allows Kerry to cover a large period of Poppy’s life in a relatively short book, without leaving the reader feeling short changed or as though the book was rushed. Over the ten years we get to see how Poppy develops as she ages. I also really enjoyed, and identified with, the way the friendship between the three central changed over the years, the honesty with which Kerry portrays the way people and friendships change, unfortunately being the best of friends at 15 doesn’t always mean you still will be at 25.

I also really enjoyed reading the letter’s from Poppy’s mum, they were a wonderful mix of back story and wise words.

Would I Recommend?

I would, it was a quick and enjoyable read, it might not be Kerry’s usual style of book but well worth curling up with one afternoon.

This book made me think about my own personal relationship with my mother and the type of mother I would like to be with my own child. This was such a sweet, endearing story and I was sorry for finishing the book. Well done, this one will stay with me for a while.

Ten Birthdays hit a very soft spot in my heart. I too have dealt with grief up close and personal, so I felt even more connected with and her struggle. Her feelings of isolation, her knack for being there for so many people around her, while so few are there to support her. Being the glue can get really difficult. Just because she didn't always need anything in return doesn't mean she didn't deserve it.

As each year went by, the letters delved deeper into what really made her mother tick. What I loved most about it was that although the letters seemed to become more geared to the adult she was becoming, they still held that edge of a mother talking to her baby girl. I found something comforting in this way of marking the passage of time.

I loved how the characters aged, and how their personalities and lifestyles reflected this so well. It's astounding how much one changes from 16-25, and with several key characters involved, I felt this was masterfully related.

The end was a bit contrived, but in that way that leaves you happy, with a warm gooey feeling inside. Cheesy maybe, but oh so good. It was a feeling that just sort of sneaked up me, as I found myself becoming more and more involved with these characters. By the time it was over, I felt comfortable and at home with them, and rather sad to see them go.
~ George, 4 Stars

Ten Birthdays isn't quite the book I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A charming summer read. 

I picked up Ten Birthdays expecting to read a sappy story about a girl and her mom. I had the tissues ready and felt like I was emotionally prepared for a John Green-style roller coaster. Turned out I didn't need any of that. Ten Birthdays isn't a tear-jerker. Honestly, it's not even all that emotional.

We meet Poppy on her 16th birthday. She's doing her best to ignore it, since her birthday also happens to be the one-year anniversary of her mother's death. Poppy and her friends go shopping, and Poppy realizes something's up about the same time she walks into a room full of people throwing her a surprise party. Oops. Once she calms down, Poppy's dad hands her a letter from her mom, written before her death. The letter is a way for her mom to stay in her daughter's life, and share things with her. The remaining chapters of the book tell us what happens on Poppy's birthdays, ending with her 25th.

I liked the premise of Ten Birthdays, because it kinda reminded me of P.S., I Love You. The two books are nothing alike, however. Poppy's letters serve as backdrops for the events, and I admired the way Wilkinson fit them together. Her mom's letters are relatively short, and strike a fine balance between amusing and "mom wisdom." I appreciated the lightness of them, but in a way, they often felt unneccessary.

And I think that's my biggest complaint with the book. The letters from Poppy's mom simply didn't add anything to the story. I think I'd have gotten just as much out of the book if it'd been billed as a "day in time" style, similar to David Nicholls' One Day. I didn't hate the birthday letters, but they lacked any real emotional connection to the story.

Despite that, or maybe because of it, I did enjoy Ten Birthdays quite a bit. It was a light, cute read, somewhat predictable, but with a well-crafted ending. This would be a good beach read, honestly.

Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson is an enjoyable but emotional easy read.

TEN BIRTHDAYS was completely different that any other novels I had read by Kerry Wilkinson but it was amazing. I loved every word.

My mom received a copy of this book from Netgalley, and gave it to me to read. Thank you to the Author, the Publisher and to Netgalley.
I am 12 years old, I found the reading level good. I found the interest level pretty, I think it would be better for someone a little bit older.
I liked that the story was jumping between years, because that was pretty cool, but it got confusing sometimes.
I thought it was funny that her friend named her two kids Angela and Angelina.
I would recommend this book to my friends. I think it would be best for ages 13 and older.

I enjoyed this book and found the characters very credible but I have to say that I found the ending a great disappointment and had waiting the whole story for "something " to be announced on one of the letters she read that her dead Mum had written for ten biirthdays. It's in essence a tail of growing up and becoming who we want ourselves to be. So, although I was disappointed by the end I would still highly recommend this to other book lovers as it was a nice easy read, without too much going on and so nice to sit in the sun and read as I did yesterday (finished this book in an afternoon and am extremely sunburnt to show for it today!)