Don’t you miss the days of letters and notes? There’s nothing quite like it! In this heartwarming read the nostalgia comes trickling in! Lily connects with her sister via letters, as she embarks on a journey of self discovery. 

There were so many of Lily’s quirks I connected with! I found myself both crying and laughing as I was swept up in this gem! 

Thank you to #netgalley for providing me with a copy!

What a unique and beautiful read this book is.

Written in the form of letters, Joy tells the story of her move to Denmark. These letters are funny, quite hilarious in fact, descriptive, and also poignant at times.

I grew very fond of Joy, she’s so funny and so quirky. She has moved to Denmark on a bit of whim, and it’s both hilarious and heartwarming to hear her tales of settling in and meeting people.

I’ve never been to Denmark, but I could picture it so well from the descriptions, and would really love to go there after reading the book.

At the heart of the story there is sadness, but also hope and love. I loved the depictions of the special relationship between sisters.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time, really wonderful. I think this book will be huge this year, deservedly so.

This book is written in letters from Joy to her sister Lily. Joy has just moved from the UK to Denmark and is having a hard time adjusting. 
I had a hard time getting into this book. Joy was funny at times and other times you could not believe what she did.

I needed a break from reading thriller type books. This book was very good in my opinion. I like books that are written through letters. I was really drawn to Lily and fell in love with her. I recommend this book and will order it for the library. Good book!

Joy is desperately in need of a fresh start so when the opportunity arises to move to Denmark for work she hops on a plane with barely a second thought  and embarks on what she hopes will be a life changing adventure.  The book is written as a series of letters to her sister Lily, and each letter charts the highs and lows of her new life. The author writes with an impressively vivid and real voice, and the letters manage to be a blend of funny, self deprecating and even melancholic at times. Reading Joy's account of her struggles to fit in to the Danish way of life and  make friends will strike a chord with anyone who has made a similar move, and watching the development of a budding romance between Joy and her  colleague is both charming and heart warming. While the "twist" of the story may not be hard to guess, that does not lessen the impact of the book in the slightest.  This is the perfect book to while away a rainy day, or peruse poolside as a holiday read.  
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is the second book I have read by this author.  I really enjoyed the first book, The Shape of Us and was really looking forward to this one.  The whole story is told in the format of letters from two sisters Joy and Lily.  Joy has moved away from home for a new start and writes to her younger sister, Lily.  They are obviously very close and the content of the letters covers everything from really personal topics such as love and health right through to work and, of course, the reason why Joy moved away from home.  Reading a book completely formed of letters is an unusual format and one that does take a bit of getting used to!  Once I had though, the book flowed really well and the author manages to get right inside the head (and heart!) of a woman so perfectly!

The characters are very likeable, and I imagine that many readers could relate to their stories, particularly Joy’s.  I was curious as to why Joy had left home, but this is all revealed throughout the course of the letter as the book moves forward.  The writing is very witty and emotional all in one go!  I admire any author who can have me wiping away tears of sadness one moment and tears of laughter the next!

Completely unlike the chick-lit story that I was expecting, this turned out to be a heartwarming and affectionate story of the relationship between the two sisters.  It was funny and loving, with a little twist towards the end, which for me made the whole story understandable and endearing!  Really enjoyable and would definitely recommend!

Dear Lily is an absolute delight to read! I picked it up expecting a funny rom com type of book but it has so much more depth. This book took me through such a wide array of emotions- I was laughing one minute and practically crying the next. 

Joy decides to suddenly up and move to Denmark from London. In her mid 30's she is leaving behind her family and her long time boyfriend. We gradually learn more and more of Joy's life through the letters she writes to her sister Lily.  In fact Joy is so darned candid  that it leaves little to the imagination. She is obviously very comfortable sharing her every thought with her little sister. Really she does tell her every single thing that pops into her head, no filter here!

When Joy arrives in Denmark she is the definition of the hot mess express! This girl is on a self destructive path to nowhere. As the story progresses  we  get to watch her grow, mature and flourish in her environment. I felt the whole time that her sister Lily may be a bit judgemental of her behavior, as I gathered that she is the more reserved and responsible of the two sisters. Although this is  told through Joy's point of view so we are unsure how reliable of a narrator she may be. 

As I got to know Joy and her witty personality I felt myself become completely absorbed and invested into her character. I  turned into her biggest cheerleader, I wanted Joy to succeed and find happiness. Is it in the cards for Joy? 

I was so excited to get a chance to be on this Books on Tour for this lovely book. A roller coaster ride of emotions and very surprising twist left me loving Lily and Joy. Entertaining, fun and able to make you shed a few tears, you need to get your hands on this fab book!

We follow Joy, who in the middle of a mid-30's life crisis has decided to upend her life and move to Denmark and is chronicling her journey through letters to her younger sister. I love books written in different ways and so the fact that this book is written entirely in letters get's a big thumbs up from me.

Drew Davies does a tremendous job with this book. I was worried due to the epistolary style of the book, especially as they were one sided letters, that we wouldn't be able to get the full depth of the character and I wouldn't feel any connection to her journey. Boy, was I wrong. I loved the character of Joy, she was funny and relatable and flawed. She makes so many mistakes, smokes too many cigarettes and is pretty judgy at times but that's what makes her a great well rounded character. I already have two sisters but I'd love to add Joy to the craziness that is my family to keep me laughing and join me on spontaneously booked trips. I have a feeling she's be a great travelling companion and there wouldn't be a dull moment on a holiday with her.

It's a sweet, summery book that'll be perfect for readers looking for something a little lighter. The writing style is humorous and there are so many relatable moments, the funny and the more serious. The book also handles grief very well, it's portrayed realistically and depicts a modern day look at the bond between sisters and family.

I now have another country to add to my travel bucket list. I loved that this book was set in Denmark as I enjoy reading about places i've never visited before, it helps to fill a desperate urge to go off travelling that I can't fulfill due to being a broke student. The city was written with such vibrance and Davies makes it sound like such a friendly, upbeat place to live. Be right back, just moving to Denmark.
     
I did have one problem with this book though. It kept being reiterated that Joy hadn't read Harry Potter (or seen the films!) and had no intention of doing so. How could she have not read Harry Potter?? I felt personally offended every time it got brought up.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

Read if you like: foreign settings, books about sisters, journeys of self discovery.

I just didn't really enjoy this book. I had heard good feedback and wanted to give it a try, but then it just felt like Joy was droning on and on to her sister - who by the way we have very little insight into. Is her sister even alive or is this a figment of her imagination? A journal entry? It seemed cliched. I almost had the idea to write this same book when I was like 12. So I just didn't enjoy it the way I had hoped.

Every once in awhile I stumble across a book that is like a breathe of fresh air, and that was the case with this gem. It was beautifully unique and extremely touching and way more emotional that I was expecting, I just adored it!

The entire story is told via letters from Joy to her sister Lily and I really enjoyed the intimacy this structure provided. At the start Joy leaves her whole life back in England to take a new job in Denmark, it’s clear she’s looking for a fresh start after some big changes in her life and you slowly find out what she’s been through throughout the book. I connected to Joy immediately, she was raw and vulnerable in her letters to Lily but she was also incredibly funny and I got a real Bridget Jones vibe from some of her humor.

This really had it all, it was funny and charming, warm and wise and also heartbreaking at times. Joy was quirky and relatable and you can’t help but want the best for her, I was cheering her on the whole way. Totally recommend this one as a mostly feel good novel, it is sad at times but it’s ultimately uplifting and sweet.

Dear Lily in three words: Warm, Delightful and Touching.

This story is written in letter form from one sister to another. I did guess the premise of the book early on, but that didn't alter my enjoyment.  This story is heartwarming and heart wrenching, witty and believable. A wonderfully descriptive book about both characters and places alike. I am so impressed with Drews ability to write so convincingly from a woman's point of view, especially about health issues. Being a huge fan of writing letters to get things off my mind, this book worked for me on that level. Plus being a hopeless speller and triple checking words, i loved the ("spelling"?) part, that's so me.  I heartily recommend reading this book.

I love epistolary novels so much. They’re so much fun to read. This one was sad but I still enjoyed it a lot.

A very cute cover that caught my eye! 

Unfortunately, what lies within the cover is not as wonderful. It was a very light, surface-level read. I love light reads but this one was just really bland. It felt as if it never moved forward.

The sister trope is a fine one, but in this story it wasn't working for me. 

I ended up having to DNF about 60% through.

This book was not for me. The book is told through letters from Joy to her sister Lily. Joy has just left her life in England to move to Denmark and try something different. 

I think whether you love or hate this book will really come down to how you connect to Joy’s voice. I’ve seen many great reviews but I just couldn’t get into it.  

Thank you very much to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book By Drew Davies (he also wrote The Shape of Us) and I was given an advanced copy thanks to NetGalley.  This book is scheduled for release on 05/17/19 by one of my favorite publishers, Bookouture.

This book is read through the eyes of Joy, in her letters written to her sister Lily.  Joy has packed her life up, said goodbye to her parents, and moved to Denmark without knowing the language, or anyone else.  Lily is Joy's seemingly only support system, even though she is not physically there for her sister.  Over the course of the book, Joy writes for support about job issues, parent issues, and love issues.  She's a mess and in need of every piece of support and help she can get from writing Lily.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book.  Joy is a stressful character.  She is seriously flawed.  From past eating disorder issues to her alcohol and tobacco consumption, it's clear she doesn't handle stress well.  In addition, I started to feel very uneasy a quarter of the way through the book and I messaged one of my friends about what I thought was going to happen.  My guess was accurate.

Even with my ability to predict the swing of the story, I really loved this book.  It was outside my comfort zone, and I lost all handle of my emotions reading the last letter to Lily.  Stress is a funny thing.  Everyone handles it differently, and no one seems to have a cure.  Joy certainly didn't.  If she hadn't had Lily she probably would have been in a much worse situation.  

If you're ready to feel all the feels, read this book.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll call your sister who will inevitably act like YOU are the crazy one for crying over a book.  Seriously though, pick this up on 05/17/19. 💙


🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Dear Lily sounds like the start of a letter and that is exactly what this book is!  A collection of letters.  We get to know Lily and her family through her sister Joy and her letters. 

That is write, the book is a collection of letters.  Now I've read books like "The Boy Next Door" which is done pretty much over emails and never really thought anyone else other than Meg Cabot would be able to pull off stories told in that format.  I was wrong.  Drew Davies nailed it just as well if not better.   Its an emotional novel but is a very charming story with characters I wound up adoring as the book went on.   I found a common ground with Joy, and the place she was at in the beginning of the story and then where she wound up.  Joy was real she was raw, she was humorous and most of all she was relatable!  

I really enjoyed this book!

THANK YOU to NetGalley for the earc

This was a delightful, off-the-radar contemporary fiction.  The book is written in a series letters from Joy, the older sister, to Lily her younger sister after Joy leaves London to live in Denmark.  I really wouldn't call this a romantic comedy- it's more of a story for everyone.  The themes of family, sisterhood, identity and nationality could be identified with by any reader.  It's the kind of book that makes you laugh, cry, feel the bottom drop out of your stomach and then sign with satisfaction as you turn the last page.  The book had a fairly predictable "twist" midway through that only added depth to the book and made it one I'd enjoy rereading again. This is a perfect summer vacation or lazy rainy weekend read. 

I received a free digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions from NetGalley.

ARC received from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I quite liked the diary/stream-of-conscious writing style in this book. It helped give it some depth where the story was otherwise lacking, and I always find this type of narration more personal and relatable. 

Unfortunately, beyond that this book fell pretty flat. Joy was so ridiculously whiny and self-absorbed most of the time that by the end when she kind of redeems herself I was already over it. 

I also thought the author hid the “truth” about Lily for too long - I thought it was pretty obvious anyway. If it would’ve come out sooner that might’ve helped explain some of Joy’s insecurities and issues. Also not sure why there had to be a fixation on Lily being a lesbian and their mom not knowing. Again, kind of a drawn out storyline.

Drew Davies’ Dear Lily is an epistolary novel in the same vein as Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Our protagonist Joy starts off the tale by writing letters to her sister Lily. Throughout the book, we see the evolution of Joy - set against the backdrop of Denmark. An emotional read worth checking out.

This book is composed throughout of letters that are written between sisters Joy & Lily. The format is so fun to read, as you get to learn what has happened plot wise and learn more about their relationship, based on how the letters are written.

All of the characters are written so uniquely and their individual journeys are documented well, dealing with all aspects of life and how they deal with things. Truly emotive and definitely worth the read; some tissues definitely required if you're like me and cry about anything. 

Joy is hilarious even though she may not try to be. I followed along her story quite often thinking "What will she do next?" and "Oh wow, she actually did that!".