Thank you so much to Thomas Nelson and Net Galley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.
Quick description of the book: As always, all opinions expressed are my own. Dearest Josephine follows Josie De Clare as she finds letters and a manuscript from Elias, a boy who lived in the 1800s. However, things get interesting when Josie see Elias wrote about how he was in love with a girl who has the same name, appearance, and personality as Josie! The book is written in a unique format with texts and emails from Josie to her friends and Elias's manuscript and letters.
My opinion: This book was hands down a five star read for me. I really liked the unique format and plot of the book as well as the descriptive and beautiful writing used. If you are someone like me who loves cute and fluffy yet meaningful YA contemporary type stories, Jane Austen novels, and books with a mystery: you should read this book! I know that sounds like an interesting combination but the author Caroline George made it work! I really enjoyed this book and might even look into picking up some of this author's other work.
(Side note: I also suggest this book if you are looking for something on the cleaner side of YA.)

This book is incredibly unique. I loved the epistolary form (through letters, emails, texts...) and the embedded story. At first, I thought the format would be confusing, that I wouldn't be able to set the characters apart and distinguish what was real and what was "fiction". I'm happy to report that it was not the case because the writing style was flawless. I have not read such a well-written book in a while. I'm usually more plot or character-driven but the writing style was enough to make me care. If you read the synopsis then you know we get to read letters from Elias Roch who lives in the 19th century and I can tell the amount of research the author went through (at least I think haha) into making Elias' letters sound as authentic as they are. I'm a sucker for love letters and his letters were Mr Darcy-level good. I could even tell the influences of Jane Austen or even Emily Brontë ( i.e "If you are a ghost, then haunt me"). through some quotes or lines that made me think of 19th century literature. It was a real joy to read this. I loved the sarcasm, wit and love seeping through the letters, emails, texts and emails. I highlighted so many quotes from this book one of my favourites being :
"I meant humans often fail to acknowledge the beauty around them, but their lack of notice doesn't determine a thing's value. Gorse does not require an audience to grow, and neither do people. We aren't who we are because of what others see or say."

I absolutely loved all of the characters and the fact that some of them were flawed. I mean the book begins with Josephine apologizing for being a bad friend. I liked how the author didn't sugarcoat anything and delved into the characters' emotions. It was so pure and raw and I think it conveyed every feeling beautifully - especially grief. I liked how each character had its own voice and seeing some of them growing and coming to terms with who they are was so beautiful.

I enjoyed the way "romance" was depicted in this even if I'm not really a fan of instalove. I like seeing my characters fall in love through the pages but the book solves that issue in some aspects so I guess it was okay.

The ending made me both want to throw the book across my bed (I promise, no reading devices were harmed while reading this book) as well as swoon. I audibly went "aww" when I read the last pages. This novel was such a beautiful book about healing and looking for love in life, the little things and the people around us.

I highly recommend!

This was a back and forth read for me.
I wanted to like it and I felt if it was a written a bit different I would have but halfway through I had to DNF the book. It was just so slow to start.

Not my cup of tea. The characters' immaturity, oblivious consumption of material goods, and overall privilege turned me off immediately. The language of their emails was laughable and entirely unrealistic, and the author's epistolary format feels forced and awkward. The story lines move slowly, and there are a lot of problems with historical accuracy. I think the target market is teens, but if I were a teen, I'd be embarrassed to read something that makes people my age seem so shallow and silly.

So I barely know how I'm going to articulate how this book made me feel but I'm going to try. I went into this thinking it was going to be a time travel romance but it turned out to not be that. This novel is told through letters, emails, and text messages. You do get to read a full-length novel within this novel too. I was really rooting for Elias and Josie to meet and live out a love story but alas it was not to be. One of the things that got me though is how Elias' friend Lorelei basically lived with him for a long time and she wasn't considered ruined at all. Please do your research authors if you're going to write about another time period.

I like the fact that both Elias and Josie ended up with people they love very much but I really would have loved to see them somehow get together. I know they lived in two time periods but time travel has been done before. I definitely recommend this book if you love star-crossed lovers.

This book was lovely. I love different formats in books (ie emails/letters) and it is always such a bonus to see liberties like that taken by authors. I just felt this book was so magical and unlike anything I've ever read. I loved watching these characters build this connection so thoughtfully.

I cannot describe just how excited and honoured I was to be accepted for this ARC!

Reading the synopsis, I knew I would love this book and I wasn’t wrong.

Every page was compelling, I truly couldn’t put it down, the characters were strong minded and I appreciated that greatly.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but the synopsis itself completely intrigued me. And now having read it... wow! That was so good.

The format is this book was unique to me since it’s told exclusively in emails, text messages, letters, and manuscripts of a novel. I wasn’t sure how I was going to like that but it worked so well for this book! I actually loved it!

The characters were vibrant and felt so real. I wondered how well I’d get to know the characters considering the way it’s formatted but they were SO well done! They really lived for me. I really felt like I knew them. They were so original and fun and quirky and I loved them!!
Josie was so much fun, quirky, and super relatable! I loved her. Faith was an amazing best friend. I really liked her. Her and Josie’s friendship was great!!
Oliver. OLIVER. Lol, I loved him so much! He was the BEST. Ahhh!! He was so much fun and weird and amazing. He made me really happy. Literally, whenever he entered the story I got really happy.😂
Elias was such an interesting, complex character. Seriously! And as an introvert, I was finding myself relating to him in a lot of ways... I wasn’t expecting that!
The character development and lessons learned was really great as well.

The story itself is so intriguing and gripping. There were so many times this book felt pretty much impossible to put down... which is why I finished it in two days, staying up quite late to finish it.
The way this book has both a modern and classic feel to it was so well done. You’re swept away in 1820 then you’re back to now.
The texting and email updates between Josie and her friends in between reading the letters and manuscript was something I found soo much fun! It made me feel as if I was reading along with Josie, like we were in on it together. I LOVED that!
There were twists and turns, surprises. I never really knew what was going to happen. I really enjoyed that!

The writing was very compelling. Elias’s writing felt very classic and so authentic. Seriously, I kid you not... I have 222 highlights on my kindle from this book!! There were so many beautiful and thoughtful quotes.

After reading this book, it very much makes me want to move into an old house, specifically an English manor house, where I can explore and dream and possibly find an old love story in letters. Oh, and I would certainly not object to having a neighbor like Oliver.😉 Seriously. Although it sounded spooky at times, it also sounded soo cozy and neat!

The ending. *clutches heart and dramatically sighs*
I cannot spoil things so I can’t say anything which is super hard... but if you know, you know!! It made me SO happy and I totally swooned and ahh!! It was SO perfect. Sweetest thing ever. The end.

Haha, so I guess that’s enough fangirling for now. I think I’d recommend this one specifically to older teens because I think they’d relate to it the most since the characters are around 18 and 19.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I wanted to like this book. Maybe when it actually releases, I will. But the unique way the author chose to present much of the story did not suit the formatting of the e-ARC I received at all. It was rough at best. I've received some very poorly designed ARCs up here in the past: words run together, blurry lines, missing first pages of every new chapter, but this one topped them all. So, basically, my experience was pretty ruined.

But what I was able to get from the story was enjoyable. George's idea has been done before but the execution still felt fresh and the characters were a complete pleasure to get to know.

Points to the author, zero points to whoever thought this was acceptable formatting to put out to the public.

This novel is such a lovely read. The romance is definitely smeared all over the pages. I love how this story is not just about romance (even though that’s the majority) but it’s also about moving forward in life when we are presented with things beyond our control. I also love how two people from two different time periods actually help each other grow. The ending was just the right amount. It didn’t end with some magic time travel or anything remotely fantastical. Additionally, I do believe the read was quite long (almost 400 pages) and I felt like some parts were not necessary and caused the story to drag in the middle. Overall I recommend it.

Thank you Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for a copy of this book.

I had quite mixed feelings about this book, but all in all, I really enjoyed it! I read it in one sitting. Firstly, the format. It’s incredibly unique and there a 3 ways the story is told, through the letters, the emails and the novel. It took me a rather long time to grasp the concept of the novel because the information there contrasted with the letters. I think I began to understand it but Oliver changing the ending, although adding to the story greatly, confused me in the way that it was done and although I loved this unique form of formatting, I lost a substantial amount of enjoyment purely because I spent half the time confused. I think it was very unique in the way that it included absolutely no traditional writing and I loved the texts and emails as these reallly showed me what was happening. The descriptions, though technically accurate to emails, were really great and this idea/concept was done really well. I think it could have benefitted from some traditional writing but the emails was a POV I really enjoyed reading. I adored the ending and the little epilogue it seemed like. Although confusing at times, it was a very moving and wonderful romantic book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the published in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book sounded promising, and within the first 40 or so pages I was absorbed into the atmosphere of Cadwallader Manor. The misty moors reminded me of all the Regency era books that I enjoy curling up on the couch with.

Unfortunately, the book didn't hold my interest for much longer. The story is broken into three separate segments: The present day, consisting of emails and text messages between Josie De Clare and her friends; Letters from Elias Roch; and a fictional manuscript written by Elias Roch. For a bit, the dual Elias Roch storylines confused me, and I had a hard time keeping the two tales straight. I also felt that having all three going at once bogged the story down and slowed the pace.

Josie's storyline in particular was lacking. It was hard for her character to be developed in a way that showed us what she was like as opposed to having her friends just tell us. This particularly comes into play because Josie is convinced that Elias knew her in a past life since he writes to a Josephine de Clare in his letters and about a Josephine de Clare in his novels. So, her friend will say something like, "She smears her chocolate everywhere! Just like you!" And later in the novel, Josephine is talking about how she gets chocolate all over the place. If we hadn't been told this, we never would have known because we never see Josie do much of anything.

Having the dual Josephines who look very similar and have so much in common really calls on readers to suspend their disbelief. I was hoping for a reason for the similarities, maybe some fantastical time travel, but there's none given. I'm just expected to roll with it.

Speaking of which, I am also expected to roll with the notion that people just instantly fall in love with one another. Josie is in love with Elias (who is super dead and she has never met), Elias falls in love immediately with Josephine after a quick dance at a ball, Oliver falls for Josie at first sight, etc. etc. It's so unrealistic, and the fact that it happens multiple times in the book makes it feel kind of like a cop out.

Another point of contention for me is that Josie and her best friend, Faith, email back and forth throughout the novel, and they mostly talk about boys. They're two young women with more going on in their lives than men. They're both going through huge changes and making decisions that could impact the rest of their lives. Plus, their emails don't sound natural. They're full of heavy-handed lessons about love and feelings and overly wrought prose. (In fact, this also probably worked to the novel's detriment since having the emails sound more natural would have upped the pacing and made things more interesting.)

I could go on, but I think you get the gist. This was not for me, but I do think that the author's writing style holds promise for better books in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC of this book.

There were so many things I loved about this book. First, being the premise. It's set it 3 parts: 1 - Present day communication from Josie, 2 - Historical Letters from Elias, and 3 - A fictional novel. The concept of how they all intertwined piqued my interest as well as how this time-crossed love story will come to fruition.

I love the development to characters in the present day setting. Their friendships and exploratory nature and overall growth. I thoroughly enjoyed Elias in general, which is no surprise since I love historical settings. I was engaged mostly in the fictional storytelling of the novel, because it gave this esoteric feeling to the whole story and the development between the Josie and Elias.

All this being said, and as much as I loved the concept and characters in this story, and the need to bend reality for it to work, I didn't love the execution. This is no real fault of the novel, it's the nature of an epistolary
story. Over the years I've read a few and while they are always "okay" for me, I've come to realize...they don't resonate/work for me. The best way I can describe it is like people that prefer Coke to Pepsi (which is me). You'll drink the Pepsi because it's what is served, but it leaves you unsatisfied. That's how I realize I am when it comes to epistolary novels. They leave me wanting more and not satisfied.

So, while I liked a lot of things about this book, it wasn't delivered in a way that worked for me.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

I received this book as a free advanced reading copy from the author and publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh to be loved by Elias! This book was one of my favourites reads this year. I love the premise and different writing formats in the book such as texting, letters, e-mails and novels. It was a well thought out and propelled book with so much feeling and emotion written in it. I felt deeply for the characters which was Caroline George's intention and clear success.

Josie grows as a person in the book and she handles grief in unexpected ways through unexpected people in her life. I love the setting of the english manor and the mysteries letters she finds that help heal her heart.

I definitely recommend this book as it is a book for lovers of classics and lovers of words.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

This is an original story told with the POV of Josie, who lives in the present time, Elias, a boy who lived 200 years before Josie, and the novel Elias is writing. The peculiar thing is that Elias seems obsessed with Josephine, a girl that he met one night, that looks and acts like Josie.
They live 200 years apart, how can that be possible?
I loved this book, it was intriguing and kept me reading wishing to know what was all that about.

"Words give power to feelings, and not all feelings deserve power."

My heart feels heavy and my soul feels broken and I have tears in my eyes. Dearest Josephine made me feel so much and it was an absolute whirlwind of emotions. Firstly, the format of this book was absolutely stunning and creative. THE LETTERS oh god the letters were beautiful. Elias's novel was so touching and Josie's POV was always so much fun to read! She's such a relatable character and the banter was hilarious. Caroline George is such a gifted and talented writer. Her words and flow had me pausing every two pages and go "wow...that was so impressive". Some of the quotes in this book are my all-time favourite's now. The concurrent timeline of the book was so cool which also helped the pacing, there was never a moment where I felt bored solely because of that! Lastly, the romance, the angst, the yearning and the love was beyond this world.

"Poets use countless words to describe their pain, but I only need three: I miss you."

Breathtaking, spectacular. It made me feel SO MUCH. To be loved like Elias Roch loved Josie De Clare would be a dream. The ending left me in awe and overall this was an amazing read. I will surely be purchasing a physical copy of this when it comes out because I would definitely read this again.

<i> Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this art! Opinions expressed in this opinion are my own. <i>

Firstly huge thanks to Thomas Nelson for my ARC and can we talk about this cover tho,yes!?no!? . So I went into this book with high expectations and expecting toe curling romance and didn't get that exactly but I got a story alright. Dearest Josephine is told exclusively through texts ,letters and book chapters .It tells the story of Josie a girl who constantly texts her bff faith who stumbles onto mysterious letters written to Josie (yep same name) by one Elias who is madly in love with her . There were certain parts I enjoyed such as the texts ,emails and the letters but I really didn't enjoy the book chapter parts initially as they didn't hook me and intrigue me in anyway. However I do think the book is worth a read

Wow!
At the beginning, I struggled to get into this book and I was tempted to DNF during The Novel parts. They were not super great or interesting. However, that soon changed. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and absolutely did not want to put the book down. Unfortunately, my calc homework guilted me into setting it aside for a bit but once I came back, I was still just as invested in the story. All the sections grew on me and I loved getting swept away in multiple stories.
This book is so unique because it is told entirely through email, text, letters, and chapters. That is something I've only seen in adult books so it was really refreshing to find a YA with this format.
Overall, I'd recommend this one to both contemporary and historical lovers as there is plenty of each to go around.

Rating: 5/5
Language: n/a
Romance: crushing, ex-boyfriend who won't leave MC alone
Spiritual: n/a
Violence: death of parent
Note: mentions/talk of tampons/periods

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not
required.
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Review will be posted to retail sites upon release.

My rating: 2.8 stars

Dearest Josephine is a metafiction novel. In simple terms, it is a story within a story. This one has three frames in it and is structured well. I liked how the author employed it in the novel and executed it. It is brilliantly done in the book. Metafiction writing is not an easy feat to achieve, but the author implemented it excellently without interrupting the flow of the story.

This novel was a delightful read. The plus point of the book is the form in which it is written. Even though I felt the plot lacking, the frame narratives makes up for it and keeps the reader on the edge to anticipate what comes next. If you’re up for a book with letters and romance, then Dearest Josephine will be worth your

5/5 stars!!!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
It’s 2020 and Josie is having a horrible year. Her father passed away, she and her boyfriend broke up, and she has a rough relationship with her mom. She suddenly finds out that her father owned property in Northern England and decides to move there temporarily. What she finds there starts an adventure unlike any other—letters and a novel addressed to her, but they were written over 200 years ago. The man writing them, Elias Roch, was the previous owner of the property. Josie sets out to solve the mystery of what happened to Elias and Josephine, all while trying to deal with her own life in the present.
This book was so amazing that it caught me off-guard! I just binge read this book until 1:30 in the morning and had to review it immediately. First of all, this book is told through emails, text messages, letters, and a novel. I was not expecting that, but it worked for this book. I was a little confused here and there, but the writing and the plot totally sucked me in. I desperately wanted to solve the mystery of how Josephine was connected to past Josephine, and I wanted to know more about her relationship with Elias. I don’t know how I expected this to end, but the ending was so sweet and unpredictable! I was trying very hard not to squeal in delight! For the sake of spoilers, I won’t go any further than that!
Josie and Elias are the two main characters. I was very interested in both of their lives. Josie’s life was expressed in emails and texts while Elias was expressed in his letters and novel. The side characters also had such a key role in the story, mostly Faith and Oliver! I loved how the reader gets to learn a lot about Faith; the author didn’t just invent her as a random character to progress the plot! She has a life and issues that the reader gets to learn about. Oliver and the other citizens that Josie interacted with made the story so fun and sweet! The mystery and tragedy between Elias and Josephine were balanced by the warmth and joy Josie, Oliver, and Faith brought to the story. I was captivated by the mystery, but I adored the cast of characters and their antics!
I would definitely recommend this book! Anyone who loves YA historical romance or is looking for an interesting read should pick up this book! Elias somewhat reminds me of Mr. Darcy and Josephine’s personality is similar to Lizzy’s, so I think lovers of Pride and Prejudice would enjoy this book!
On a somewhat related note, where can I buy a “My Heart Belongs to Elias Roch” mug and is there also a “My Heart Belongs to Oliver McLaughlin” mug? Asking for a friend…