The summary intrigued me and I was so hoping to enjoy this one, but the writing style is a turn off and doesn't work for me.

Not for me

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Her boyfriend is missing and they were on a break. Race, in a small town, teenagers making life decisions, mental health, all the current issues are addressed in the book. A book hasn't made me cry in awhile and this one did as she tries to find her missing boyfriend, not ex-boyfriend, because they were only on a break, while dealing with a dysfunctional family life, school and work too. This would make a great book club read.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have been going back and forth about how I felt about this book, as I was not a huge fan of the writing style. It took me awhile to get into. However; overall I still did enjoy the plot.

This is definitely a story that will pull on your heartstrings. I also think it covers very important topics that are very relevant today.

The story has twists and turns that kept my interest along the way. Like I mentioned above, this started off a little slow for me, but it was worth pushing through. It really picked up and I found myself enjoying it more and more.

Overall, a great read and I would recommend it.

In the middle of a one week break to gain some perspective before graduation, Jessie learns that her boyfriend Chris has gone missing. 

But everything's not as cut and dry as an obvious kidnapping because Jessie and Chris have been arguing over big decisions about their future, and Jessie eventually decides that they need to take a short break, something that Chris was torn over about.

She meant for them to get back together by the end of it, but when Chris vanishes, Jessie learns that things might not have been so easy on Chris as it was on her. The police think he's vanished, a runaway, but Jessie thinks a darker shade of foul play was involved. 

Chris disappeared when going on a run by the river, the same place where he was once jumped by some boys from the rival high school. As one of the only black kids in town, Chris is a bigger target and Jessie is scared about what might have happened to him. 

Through the power of social media, Jessie spurs the police into reluctant action, speaking out about Chris. Yet there are people who don't like what she's saying and Jessie begins to receive frightening threats as Chris' character is smeared. 

When they were dating, Chris wrote Jessie a love letter every Friday, but now it's Jessie's time to write her own letter to Chris as she faces her fears, guilt, and a past she doesn't want to open up. 

Trigger warning for suicide and self harm. 

This Is Not a Love Letter deals with a lot of serious topics from racism to teenage love. 

I think Purcell goes about these topics very well, dealing with the racism against Chris, one of the only black boys in the town, by showing the stark reality of what's happening while also not making him into a martyr. 
I enjoyed how she portrays these topics to the reader, weaving it along with the storyline. 

It made for a very thought-provoking plot and novel composition, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as it was paced well enough that I wasn't completely overwhelmed while also not super bored by uneventfulness. 

The narrative follows along with Jessie as she tries to get to the bottom of the conflict and discover what happened to her boyfriend. It's an interesting plot and keeps the reader satisfied as new clues are dropped and future events are foreshadowed well. 

I absolutely adored the storyline of finding Chris; trying to figure out the mystery of what happened to him was super intriguing and I was kept on the edge of my seat until most of the pieces were put together. 

But I had a few issues with Jessie. From an author's standpoint, she's the best narrator choice for the novel. But I had some issues with how her own storyline was portrayed. 

Jessie is an unreliable narrator, blurred by her emotions a lot of the time as she's distraught over what might have happened to Chris. She can be hormonal and annoying and sometimes made the narrative less enjoyable to read because of her irrationality at times. 

I don't mind reading untrustworthy narrators, but if this is the case, I want them to have a more defined character arc and their own growth as the story progresses.

If this story was supposed to be about Chris, I feel like making Jessie have less personality and emotional stake would have helped put the spotlight on him.

But since it seemed to be angled at the stories of both Jessie and Chris, I feel like the focus on Jessie faded away for a large portion.

A lot of the novel was less introspective and more of Jessie recalling good memories she had with Chris, rather than reflecting on the memories and coming to realizations. I found that Jessie's own character growth wasn't emphasized as much as Chris' story and we lost focus on Jessie as it was overshadowed by the search for Chris. 

I would have liked to see a larger focus on Jessie's character development as the plot developed which would have added a little more depth instead of Jessie being almost forced to come to certain conclusions about herself, or doing so in a short burst near the end.

I definitely enjoyed This Is Not a Love Letter as it was a very though provoking novel about Chris' disappearance, but I was looking for a little more on Jessie's side of the narrative. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to readers looking for stories similar to The Hate U Give and other novels dealing with more serious topics. 

My reviews will go live on November 5th, 2017 & will also be promoted on my social channels!

This is such a good story to read, yet somehow I felt something missing inside. I couldn't even figure that out. But over all (the story-line, the characters, the language) made the book worth a read.

This is not a Love Letter is written with an interesting take. Rather than a narration of the story, it is written as a letter covering all the details of a search for a missing youth from the perspective of his girlfriend.
Chris, Jessie’s senior in high school boyfriend and a young man with a promising future , mysteriously disappears and Jessie recalls different memories of their relationship and of the events going on regarding the search for him. As the days progress, fears and suspicions built for Jessie and her friend, Josh, as they wait for any news on finding Chris. The search uncovers the nasty underbelly of the small town teens who reside there.

This Book was provided by netgalley for an ARC.
Wow I’m totally blow away by the ending of this book. This is probably one of the toughest reads I have had in a long while. It seems most books I choose have a happy ending but this one took a totally different turn. The author sets you up for an unbelieable story, that you find out in the end started by true events. Chris is a 17 year old boy with his whole life in front of him. He has a family he loves and a girlfriend he adores but after a fight with his girl friend he disappears. The girlfriend tells you the story of the events that take place that lead up to the ending of the book. Some books just don’t have a happy ending, sometimes that’s meant to be.

This book seems like it can’t decide what it wants to be - is it a mystery? A love story? A reflection of race in America? The story comes out muddled, making this an additional purchase for high school libraries.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Book Group for the free ARC, in exchange for this honest review. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. 

I want to start out saying, this is not a happy story. It's actually a very sad one. When I think of that intense teenage first love, the angst, the heartbreak, the borderline obsession with each other, the fear of what happens after graduation, the author nailed it, And you add that all together it makes for the perfect YA romance. However, this book is so much more than a YA Romance. 

There are topics such as racism, teenage dating violence, mental health issues, dysfunctional parents, rich kids, poor kids, the justice system, It's all within the pages of this book. The memories that Jessie has of Chris are sweet, and you can feel it in your bones how much she loves him, and how much she just wants him back, she is willing to do anything, just for him to come home. 

The writing in this book is breathtaking, emotional, and really just pulls at your heart-strings. It also leaves you feeling kind of heavy, it evokes a lot of emotions. And to me that is the strength of an amazing author. I look forward to reading many more Kim Purcell books!

3 1/2 stars
This book was.. interesting. There were a lot of different things going on (topics include racial injustice, social injustice, love, mental health), but it worked. I think that Jessie was a great character; she was dynamic and even her obsessive tendencies weren't annoying. Everything she did was justified, and I agreed with all of her different ideas about Chris's disappearance.

I think that Purcell lost me a little bit near the end. I still felt like Chris was a flat character, despite Jessie talking about him and their relationship frequently.

However, I LOVED how timely and aware this book was. Exploring the workings of an interracial couple is something that we need to see more of. Purcell didn't skirt around the issue. She had her main characters address it and approach it as many would today: socially acceptable, but considered "backwards" in some areas. I was very impressed!

This book was all kinds of heavy; think heartbreaking and tragic, and the kind of resolution you feel as a reader you could have saved if only you could jump into the story and tell everyone where it all went wrong. As I'm sure you can tell by the title, Jessie is writing "journal entries" to "you" who is Chris, her boyfriend (although they were on a break). If you read the above blurb then you have all the information you need before going in, but prepare your heart my friends. This one is sad. While I felt the writing was really well done, I did find moments where certain things could have been chopped down and I wanted more detail on others. The revelation in the end I felt was well done and really made me want to weep; extra points for the included diversity and talking about hard things such as race and mental health. Recommended to fans of John Green's writing and of many other popular contemporaries of today. Trigger warning for suicide and bullying.

Jessie and Chris have taken a break from their relationship--for perspective. Really, the two are taking time apart because Jessie doesn't want Chris to give up his future for her... and, if she is honest with herself, she is worried about how she could possibly ever fit into the projection of his life. Sure, she loves him but love hasn't been exemplified in her life a lot before him and she doesn't know how to trust it or handle it.

When we enter the story the break has been going for a few days, or maybe even a day, and Chris has gone missing. As a search for Chis develops Jessie finally begins to process her feelings for Chris through a "love letter" to him--explaining all the things that happened while he was missing. Her hope is that he will be able to read the letter when he is home. Time passes, though, and suspicions arise that Chris, with a past of mental illness, has taken his life.

The letter that she is writing turns into more of a way to process through everything that happens. I'll let you read the book yourself to find out what happened to Chris and how Jessie's life is affected by this short season we watch.

I was surprised by this book. I appreciated the honesty that the author presented with the story, I could really imagine a teen girl, in this situation, reacting the ways that were expressed. To save from spoiling the ending I can't say this exactly how I want to-- but I feel empty with the way things ended. Though I think the author did a good job with how the narrative was handled... I wanted something different. So, maybe that is the sign of how good this book was, I cared for the characters.

ALL THE FEELS (as my students would say)! I sobbed through the last 1/4 of this book and stayed up too late finishing it- it was that engrossing. I will be buying it for my high school library as soon as it comes out because my kids will love it. This is a book about friendships & relationships & all of the things we keep from each other. I can't say more or it will ruin the mystery of the book. This story is an emotional roller coaster ride, lovely & sad & searching & heartfelt.

Oh man...this story is heartbreaking. But a story with a message that needs to be heard.

The story unfolds as a long letter written to the narrator (Jessie's) missing boyfriend. She recounts the search for him and all the things that are happening. It was a beautiful way to tell the story.

This is Not a Love Letter is a story about two teenagers who find they have a lot more in common then they thought. Jessie is white and is not a popular girl. Chris is black and just moved to town.
The town they live in does not accept minority very well and Chris pays the price one night while on a run. Three weeks later Chris disappears and no one knows where he is. Jessie and Chris's best friend spend all their time searching for Chris and do everything in their power to get the local police to look for him. What unravels in this story will not be a surprise however, you will still feel your heart beating while rooting for Chris to show up.
I thought this was a good story however, I would have liked to see more related to the mental illness that was touched upon. Even so I enjoyed Jessie and Chris's story and have to admit I cried like a baby while reading the last chapter.

The part that makes this a great book is the character relationships and the development. You can feel the love and support that the main character has. This is a suspense novel that makes you keep turning to figure out what happens to Chris and you feel for the main character throughout the entire novel.

Started reading but couldn't get into it. Didn't finish.

Chris Kirk is a responsible, smart, athletic, funny and kind high-school senior. He is heading off to college on a full-ride baseball scholarship. Almost everyone in the small town loves him. His little sister adores him. His best friends are loyal. His girlfriend of nine months thinks his laughter is like a gulp of cold water on a hot day. He's the sparkle in his mom's eye. A guy like Chris Kirk doesn't go missing.

Police do not suspect foul play. In fact, authorities believe he ran away. But as the search continues, accusations of racism in the small town arise. After all, Chris Kirk is one of the only black boys in this white community. Could it be more to his disappearance? A hate crime or harassment gone too far? Why is Jessie receiving frightening threats now?

I want to reach through my Kindle and give a group hug. I want to join the search for Chris Kirk and give him a strong shake. I want to hold Jessie and tell her it'll be okay. These characters had my heart on the page and twisted it with every new day. Instead of chapters, the book is set up as dates and times surrounding Chris' disappearance and narrated by the girlfriend, Jessie. Every Friday since they've started dating, Chris wrote Jessie a love letter shaped as an airplane. Now she is writing a letter of her own. She may not know it yet, but as readers we see she is falling in love with him. The emotions of all friends and family leap off the pages.

No exaggeration. No fib. I legit cancelled my plans for the day to finish this book. I got zero steps on the Fitbit. I didn't want to leave the house for food so I cooked a frozen pizza and stayed in just to finish reading. Not many books can hold my attention like this. Not many plots can make me read nonstop. And I am stingy with my five (5) hearts! So consider this a high compliment, author Kim Purcell and a strong recommendation, bookhearts.

Happy Early Pub Day, Kim Purcell! This Is Not A Love Letter will be available January 30, 2018. Yup, you have to wait for the publication of this greatness.

LiteraryMarie

This got spoiled for me when I was halfway through the book so my outlook changed dramatically while I was reading. All the tension I was feeling while trying to figure out what happened to Chris disappeared and I could enjoy reading the emotional roller coaster the main character was dealing with and flinching at the arrival of the crash. And what a crash. Bring tissues.