I recieved this ebook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! All opinions are my own.

I loved One Day by David Nicholls and I also read his book Us and I liked it but nothing could compare to One Day. So I was thrilled to read his new book!

Sadly, I struggled to finish this book. The first half of it was too slow for me, it felt like the story wasn't progressing fast enough. There were too many flashback chapters where Charlie (the main character) narrated what happened but it was too slow.
The second half of the book went better but I didn't really connect with the characters in the first half so I had to concentrate more to keep reading it.

I do like the romance though. It was cute and a good reflection of first love. And I liked the general idea of the book about knowing the "what if" of Charlie's life and seeing him grow up as a person. That was good too. The idea of these characters rehearsing for a play was interesting too! Also some of the final scenes were beautiful. And even though it seems like we have enough of Charlie's family I felt like we could have had more in the present (his mum and his sister!) and less in the past.

Anyway I'm glad I read it cause after One Day I want to keep reading this author's books.

Sweet Sorrow is a beautifully written coming of age story, written around one summer and one community theater Shakespeare in the park production.

Charles Lewis is that kid, he hangs out with the really obnoxious kids in the school and while he doesn’t join in with their bullying, he doesn’t do anything to stop them either. When his family falls apart, his grades begin a steady decline. As high school exams end, and the results of his failed GCSE’s loom, Charlie finds himself at loose ends, working minimal hours, trying to stay away from home, unable to face the reality of his broken father.

After a long bike ride, Charlie finds himself in a field, reading, when he hears a girl scream. And so we are introduced to Fan Fisher, soon to be love of Charlie’s life.

The only way to get close to Fran and get to know her is to join her in the community theater’s summer program of Romeo and Juliet. He’ll give it a week and then get her number, okay, maybe two, but that’s it. Before he knows it he is a member of the cast and completely immersed, in Fran, in the play, in the theater company.

The story begins as Charlie is about to get married and flashes back to that one great summer as his fiancé asks him about his first love.

This was such a sweet, beautiful, honest one magical summer story. The banter and dialog were perfect, witty and snide and sincere and sweet.

Charlie’s backstory, while necessary, was a little too chunky and awkward and time consuming and while I appreciate how the lines from the play factor it, at times it was a bit much. I wish that Charlie’s parents and school chums and his work and how they played into the story could have been more streamlined.

The ending was just about perfect. The title, the interplay between the love birds, the play and how it was central to Charlie’s development were all just beautifully bittersweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn't connect with the writing in this book. It's a DNF for me which is sad since I loved One Day.

I absolutely adore David Nicholls and I loved Us and One Day. I liked the premise that this one started off with. A man is reflecting back on his first love, in high school. It was cute how it all started around the play, Romeo and Juliet. There were a lot of different, smaller characters to keep up with. Each one had their own unique part and personality. I liked reading about the dimensions of Charlie’s family. The addition of the parents’ separation and new lives and bankruptcy really added to the story. I did feel like the book spent so much unnecessary time focusing on the play with not much else going on. It felt very long and too underwhelming for me. I didn’t feel invested in this one and felt like I just needed to finish to figure out what the ending goal was.

David Nicholls’ Sweet Sorrow is a touching and nostalgic trip down memory lane for those of us that grew up in the 90s. And, for readers too young to remember that decade, hopefully, it will serve as a compelling dose of perspective.

Read our full review published on Booklover Book Reviews:
https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/08/sweet-sorrow-by-david-nicholls-review-oozes-nostalgic-charm.html

I discovered David Nicholls when I read One Day. I was very excited to read Sweet Sorrow! I love William Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet and Mr. Nicholls masterfully crafted Charlie Lewis and Fran’s love story against the backdrop of Romeo and Juliet. Lovers fated to part, I enjoyed this sweet teenage romance.

While I found the story lagged in parts, overall, the tempo of the storytelling was great. I enjoy a slow burn of a book. This story primarily takes place over a summer in 1997, though it concludes in 2017.

If you enjoy a coming of age study, Shakespeare, loves that are fated to end, you will enjoy Sweet Sorrow.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for a free e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. #sweetsorrow

David Nicholls recaptures the magic of One Day in a story of summer love…

When Charlie Lewis meets Fran Fisher, it’s love at first sight. We all have stories of love making us do crazy things - for Charlie, it’s joining a local theater company for their performance of Romeo and Juliet. We follow Charlie through that one unforgettable summer that changes just about everything in his young life.

I love coming-of-age stories, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I liked that Nicholls made the story of Charlie and Fran feel real and didn’t shy away from portraying the complexities of love in favor of a more rosy view. Charlie’s relationship with his family is also well explored. I felt nostalgic for my 16-year-old life while reading this book, which I think the author intended.

I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy love stories and coming-of-age novels.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard that David Nicholls was writing another book, I knew that I had to get my hands on it immediately. I think the synopsis of this book is a bit misleading. When I see "tragic comedy" I cringe as this book is anything but a comedy. When I picked this book up to read, I was also expecting a romance story. This story should not be classified as romance but as a work of literary fiction.

Charlie our main character, is dealing with the split of his parents and with caring for his mentally ill father. I thought the portrayal of mental illness and how it affects the entire family was expertly accomplished. While Charlie was a bit annoying with his lack of direction, I had to keep reminding myself that he was only a 16-year-old boy in this novel.

I enjoyed Fran’s character (female protagonist) as she was witty and had quite a few comical one liners. I wish that we would have learned more of her throughout this book. The romance between these two characters was lacking so at the conclusion of the novel I found myself not really caring about the well being of either one nor did I walk away with a sense of nostalgia over their relationship.

3.5 stars – All of that being said, this was a page turner for me, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down.

Big thank you to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and David Nicholls for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

I read One Day by David Nicholls five years ago and I still think of it as one of my favourite romance novels.  I also recall it as a very sad and ugly cry inducing book yet I loved it.    Soon after  I went back and tried another novel by this author and couldn't have been more disappointed.     Five years on I read the blurb for <b>Sweet Sorrow </b> and figured I would give David Nicholls another try as this one sounded similar to the one I'd loved.    It turns out this was a great decision.    I loved it, and though there were tough times for the characters there were no ugly tears for me and  from beginning to end I was captivated.

For all intents and purposes Sweet Sorrow was the story of sixteen year old Charlie Lewis.   Granted it was his version of events as a teen boy, reflecting back with the benefit of twenty years of life experience.   In his mid thirties Charlie is about to be married for the first time but he's been invited to a reunion which is highly likely to put him in touch with Fran Fisher his first love.    This possibility puts him in a reminiscing frame of mind.    Thoughts of himself at sixteen and about to finish school.    Sixteen and full of self doubt and lacking confidence.    Sixteen and overflowing with emotions and insecurities about his family life - the shock and disappointment of his parents separation,  worry about his fathers bankruptcy,  anxiety induced insomnia and to some extent resentment about his fathers mental state.    But also  sixteen and making a new set of friends.    Sixteen and stepping out of his comfort zone and into a Shakespeare theatre production.     Sixteen and learning to trust.   Sixteen and making mistakes but stepping up and finding a semblence of matuurity to deal with the medley of emotions.   Sixteen and falling in love for the first time.  

David Nicholls wrote in such a way that I was right there with Charlie experiencing the highs and lows with him.    He captured the emotions perfectly, the uncertainties of youth but also the lighter moments, the absolute bliss of falling in love for the first time.   It was infused with humour and ended on a feel good note of positivity.   It was a wonderful reading experience and one I can highly recommend.

Thanks to David Nicholls, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Mariner Books and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide. I'll be rating this as 4.5 stars on Goodreads.

I was utterly absorbed by this wistful novel about first love, coming of age, and Shakespeare, from the author of One Day. 16-year-old Charlie Lewis doesn’t have much to look forward to. He’s struggling in school, his family’s fallen apart, he’s caring for his depressed father, and he can’t see beyond what seems like an endless summer. But then one day he’s out for a bike ride and literally stumbles into a beautiful girl and a local theater production of Romeo and Juliet. When Charlie asks the girl to coffee she gives him an ultimatum: he has to join the production. Charlie doesn’t see himself as “one of those theater kids,” but he can’t say no to Fran—and this decision changes his whole world. Perceptive, bittersweet, and stirring.

After being completely unsure if I would even like this book I ended up just flat out loving it. It takes a special love story to get me involved. And this one did that.. It was so funny and nostalgic, the kind of book that makes you remember a special time in your own life. Small town, characters, and (once again) nostalgia. I'm in. I'm so easy sometimes.

A strong 5/5. I love all of his books but this is particularly lovely and poignant. I’ve just bought it for my daughter too as it was so good. The only bad thing was finishing it as it’s one of those books you want to read forever. He captures youth and first love and yet still has that dry humour that all his books manage.

Funny and heart warming. Don't we all reflect on our past before a major change takes place? It made me laugh. It made me sigh in remembrance of those tumultuous teenage years. Check out this winner of a book. It's wonderful. Happy reading!

What would you do if you had the chance to meet your first love over two decades later? For Charlie, the answer feels immediate and necessary, even if complicated by his upcoming marriage to a woman who is not his first love.

Charlie has clung to the memory of Fran Fisher, the girl he fell in love with when he was sixteen. It isn't that he needs to move on so much as he needs to reconcile who he was then and who he is now. His childhood almost made Fran necessary. The scenes depicting his relationship with his parents and the forced lack of a relationship with his sister reinforce his lack of self-knowledge. He doesn't know who he is or who he wants to be, making him something of a tabula rasa for Fran.

The two meet when she believes he is part of a players' troupe putting on Romeo and Juliet. If the title doesn't tell you how this romance will go, surely the crazy kids from Verona will. Yet we idealize Romeo and Juliet as some sort of romantic icon in the same way Charlie idealizes Fran. You know she isn't a lifelong love for him, but that's a lesson he needs to learn himself.

If you're familiar with David Nicholls' books (Us is my favorite), then you know his characters never find their paths easily. For Charlie, the thought of Fran helps inform who he will be. What if he runs into her as an adult? He needs to show himself worthy and make her regret the demise of their relationship, doesn't he?

When adult Charlie and adult Fran finally meet, it is a delight. Yes, painful, but crucial. Charlie needs to see who he is now with her--who she is now--in order to determine what he will do.

This book begs to be discussed, so I hope you consider it if you're in a book club. Please hit up the comments and let me know what you thought of Charlie. And Fran, too.

Another sweet David Nicholls book. Young love, heartbreak and a just bittersweet overall feel.

David Nicholls is such a comfortable writer. I re-read One Day at least once a year and I cry every time. He knows how to make people cry at beautiful things.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

David Nicholls is a wonderful storyteller and he’s done it again with Sweet Sorrow. Open, genuine and pulling at ALL the heartstrings – David’s fans won’t be disappointed with his latest work.

Just like in his book One Day, Mr. Nicholls pulls at our heart strings and gives us a sweet story with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in. One thing I really liked about this book is that he kind of told us the ending--Charlie is engaged and getting married to an Irish girl, Niamh, so we know from the get go that he and Fran do not end up together at the end f the book. So through all the trials and tribulations, the reader does know that in the end everything turns out all right--there is certain comfort in that and that it is not a Romeo and Juliet ending.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I did enjoy what I read but I was getting so confused, there was so much going on and so much of Romeo and Juliet in it. In parts i thought I was reading the actual play and not Sweet Sorrow. I wouldn't want to put other people off it though but it just wasn't for me.

A coming-of-age story of first love and one long summer,
Charles Lewis has just finished his high school exams that he may not be clearing and one of the reasons could be because his parents decided to separate right before his exams began.

He spends the entire summer trying his best to avoid being in the company of his depressed dad and one day finds his first love, Fran Fisher, who convinces him to join a drama group.

The story is narrated in parts as present, where Charlie is about to get married and in flashbacks to his teenage years.

I was actually really, really bored with the pace and it was a disappointing read for me that I dragged through because of the great reviews it’s received I was hoping it would redeem itself somehow.

The narrative is beautiful and reeks of nostalgia but the tons of Shakespeare in there was not very appealing to me, also, there are so many characters that it gets confusing.

The book is too long by about two hundred pages.

What a wonderful book. The author's words made me laugh, smile, get angry and even cry through the whole thing. David Nicholls really made me feel every bit of what Charlie was going through during entire book. Fran really took Charlie on quite the journey in this story. With characters so well drawn you can picture them in your head. With heart and soul, love and heartbreak...what a delightful tale.

This book lifted my spirits and just I wanted to keep reading until I found out what would happen with Charlie. This book is warm, witty and wise. I loved the humanity expressed throughout. The characters were rich, tender, relatable. This novel is a delightful invitation to rethink decisions and relationships while still enjoying the journey of living. The author recognizes that while the past anchors the present, it should not weigh it down. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters were fascinating. Such an entertaining read - I look forward to reading more books by this author.