This was the kind of novel that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you want to give all of your loved ones a hug. For fans of epistolary novels, this book alternates between narrated chapters and letters. It felt a little long and was cheesier than I like, but worth reading for those who like sweet, heartfelt stories.

I took to Bookstagram to ask for recommendations in my stories about books that were sure to make me cry. Holy guacamole, did this one deliver! I read a book by Kristan Higgins last year, called Always the Last to Know, and admittedly, it wasn't my favorite. It was my first book that I had read by her, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to give this one a try, but I am so glad that I did! Joshua and Lauren are newlyweds and seem to have it all, until Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. One of the reasons that this book pulls on the heartstrings is because of the fact that everyone assumes the "honeymoon" period is filled with happiness and spending time as husband and wife. Having your spouse diagnosed with a terminal illness is hard enough to fathom, let alone at a time when it is truly unexpected. The thing that stood out to me the most about this book is although it is very sad and heartbreaking, it is also hopeful and joyful. It truly embodies and demonstrates the beauty and importance of living every day like its your last. It also showed how the ones we love are never truly gone, as long as we carry them with us. Thank you to the publisher for giving me a chance to read this book!

Emotional.
Beautiful.
Hysterical.
Heartbreaking.
Redeeming.

Higgins most recent book "Pack Up the Moon" packs an emotional punch I am still healing from days after reading. There is nothing I love more than an unfiltered, completely consuming love story and while this one is packaged a bit differently than most, there's no doubt in my mind that Lauren and Josh have a love that is beyond this world.

Based on the synopsis alone, I knew this novel was going to make me feel all the feelings but my gosh, I had no clue it would break my heart into a million pieces only to patch it all back together again. From start to finish, "Pack Up the Moon" was everything I hoped for. Higgins has a way with the human heart like no other author out there. Kudos for being such a talented writer who has the ridiculous talent of breaking hearts while gaining fans.

It’s always bittersweet when one of your favourite authors releases a new book. The excitement of finding out if this will be a new favourite, but the nerves of what if it’s not.

This book had so many of the elements that I love in a Kristan Higgin’s book. Characters going through a major life event, ones that you root for immediately. Heartbreaking circumstances.

The thing it was missing that I love about her books was the lighter tone, and the “fun”. This book was just a big book of sad. I did enjoy the format of the story and the way it was told, but wow it just made me so sad.

It took me so long to read because I really had to be in the mood for it. I did enjoy the timeline it was written in, was a unique was to tell the story. I definitely still liked it, but it wasn’t my favourite!

⚠️content warnings - chronic illness, death of a spouse, death of a parent, grief

Joshua and Lauren aren't your typical couple. They meet and fall in love. As things are going well, Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Josh, a biomedical engineer, uses the time they have left to find something that will cure his beloved, with no success. Before her death, Lauren prepared a letter for each month of the year following their parting. She hopes to help Joshua continue on with life. Through the letters she teaches him that it is OK for his life to go on and to laugh, enjoy family and friends and even have relationships. Fans of the movie P.S. I Love You will enjoy this book. It is a thoughtful, sad, funny read and I enjoyed it. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

A beautiful, yet heartbreaking book about a couple's wonderful love that ended too soon. Kristan Higgins is an author I never hesitate to read because her books are always full of interesting characters and poignant situations. Make sure you have tissues at the ready for this one!

If you loved PS I love you, be sure to pick up this one! Its similar, yet entirely different. Twelve projects to move through the first year without his one true love and his wife knew exactly what he would need to do to move forward. This one had me in tears and I absolutely loved it. Always a fan of Kristan Higgins!

Josh's wife just died of a rare terminal illness, and the last thing he wants is to get on with his life. But Lauren had other ideas, and left her husband a series of monthly letters to help him cope. Each letter includes a task for him to do that month, some simple (go grocery shopping) and others more complex. As he works through the year, making new friends and forming new habits, it becomes clear that Lauren has a plan in mind for his future. The story is told in alternating viewpoints, with Josh in the present and Lauren in the past.

This novel will invite some obvious comparisons to books like PS I Love You, but has its own perspective. Be forewarned: I saw Kristan Higgins's name and clicked "request" without reading the description too carefully, and then cried buckets all the way through. Parts of it made me laugh aloud--like Josh's ill-fated attempt at a dinner party. But its main theme is grief, as a man who has trouble relating to people attempts to find new life after a terrible loss.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Kristan Higgins’ latest novel, Pack Up the Moon, isn’t for everyone. However, if you’re one of those readers who cried and loved Cecelia Ahern’s 2004 debut, PS, I Love You, as I did, you’ll want to try this book. I can think of several people, though, who shouldn’t even read the review of this book about a woman who dies, leaving behind a grieving husband. Higgins' voice, though, is wonderful in this story.

Readers meet Lauren Park through her letter to her deceased father, written just eight days before she dies. She’s not quite twenty-nine, but she’s dying of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, IPF, a disease that will eventually take away her lung capacity. There’s no cure, although Lauren’s brilliant husband, Joshua, does everything he can to find a cure before he loses the woman who loves and understands him.

Lauren knows she’s dying, and wants her life to be filled with joy and laughter. She also knows that Josh will be lost without her. Lauren sees Josh as “a wildly successful, gorgeous entrepreneur”. He holds multiple patents, but he’s also on the autism spectrum. He has a rough time “peopling” , and lacks social skills. Lauren is his connection to the social world. When Lauren dies, Josh doesn’t know how to continue to live or deal with people.

Lauren understands that, and she’s written letters to guide Josh. Her best friend delivers one a month. He’s told to invite several people over for dinner. Buy new clothes. Get rid of their bed and couch. Each task is difficult for Josh, but he moves ahead a little with each task. There are several disasters, but also opportunities to find connections with other people.

If this was a novel just with letters to Josh moving him along in life, it might become a little too boring. But, Higgins wisely allows Lauren to tell the story of how she reacted to the news she was dying, and how she coped, ignoring it, until she couldn’t. She does that by writing to the father who died eight years earlier. She tells him what’s going on in her life, and her hopes for the GB, the Great Beyond.

Pack Up the Moon isn’t just a tragic story of a young couple who don’t make it to their third anniversary. It’s a story filled with compassion and love, some sass from Lauren, some humor. Even Josh’s worst moments sometimes lead to laughter and the chance to move forward. If you’re willing to be moved both to laughter and tears at times, Kristan Higgins’ Pack Up the Moon is a story of how to live life to the fullest, and how to eventually find joy again.

Where do I start with how much I loved Pack Up the Moon. This is an emotional and absolutely amazing book. It is in the vein of PS I Love You and I was so drawn into the story.

Josh and Lauren are newly married when she gets diagnosed with a terminal illness. Lauren decides to leave a letter a month for Josh with a task to help him after she dies. Told through Josh's view in the present and Lauren's in the past as she writes letters to her dad who passed away when she was twenty about her relationship and finding out she has IPF and dying.

I loved their love story, Josh and seeing him love and grieve, some of the tasks he was supposed to do and what happened were so funny. It was nice to have a few comedic relief scenes for a book so sad. I waited a few weeks to read this, since I did have to be in the right state to read such an emotional book, but it was worth it. The way Kristan Higgins writes about love and grief were so real, raw and honest.

5 Stars and a big box of tissues!

Every month, a letter. That’s what Lauren decides to leave her husband when she finds out she’s dying. Each month, she gives Josh a task to help him face this first year without her, leading him on a heartrending, beautiful, often humorous journey to find happiness again. ⁣
⁣
This book wrecked me in the most wonderful of ways. It’s raw, it’s hopeful, and I feel like a better person after reading it. Please don’t let the sadness deter you from picking this one up because it is a pretty darn magical love story.⁣

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for gifting me a copy of Pack Up the Moon! {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Trope: Romance
Pub Date: 6.8.21
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

“Kid, we all have stuff that rains down on us at different times. Your time is now.”

I present to you the book that gave me such a book hangover, I’m still recovering from it. I wish I could accurately describe the way that this book impacted me but I don’t think I will ever be able to. I was skeptical at first because it was compared to PS I Love You (and I didn’t love that book) but, to me, there was infinitely more heart and emotion packed into this 448-page novel. 


I sobbed. No, I’m not kidding you, I sobbed on multiple occasions but the last time, I had to put the book down and collect myself because I was crying that hard. The entire book was a beautiful testament to the power of love that two people can share, even if it is just for a short period. I could feel the love that Josh and Lauren shared pouring from the pages and it broke something in me to read as they each said their goodbyes. 

Pack Up the Moon has some serious potential to be my favorite read of the year. 

❤️ One of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever read
🤍 Relatable and realistic characters that you can’t help but love (including the dog)
💜 Heartbreak, humor, and wit rolled into one beautiful story
💙 A book I never wanted to end

I recommend you read Pack Up the Moon if you’re a fan of Life’s Too Short, In Five Years, Everything I Thought I Knew and This is Not How it Ends.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

4.5 Hearts I could sum up this book in one word… WOW!

Lauren is dieing and decides to write her husband 12 letters for the first year after she is gone to get past his grief. Each letter includes something he should do to move on. She writes other letters as well that through her words teaches us who she is and why Joshua fell in love with her in the first place.

WOW! I said it again. There are so many emotions in this book. The letters that Lauren writes are worth the read themselves. The character throws in humor and heartbreak into each of her words. And the life that Joshua is pushed into is one that will lead him to happiness while Lauren still lives in his heart.

Again, I say WOW! This book is heartbreaking and uplifting. Higgins writes a book every person should read. And also gets the reader thinking that we should get out pen and paper and start our own letters to our loved ones.

WOW! Just WOW!

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for a book to tug on your heart strings? A book that will have you feeling all the emotions from the first to the last page? Well look no further than the latest from Kristan Higgins!

Every month, a letter. That's what Lauren decides to leave for her husband Josh when she finds out she has a terminal illness and is dying. She leaves them with her best friend Sarah to be delivered. Each month, Josh receives his letter containing a task to help him face his first year without her. Some examples are simple such as, going shopping for new clothes. Others are more difficult for Josh, such as hosting a dinner party for their friends and family. But each month he is lead on a journey that is heart wrenching, sometimes humorous and of course beautiful as he starts his journey to be able to find happiness again. How amazing does this sound!?

If you have not read Kristan Higgins yet, I urge you to give her books a try! Her books are always so heartfelt and take the reader on a journey that is often beautiful. I find her writing style very consistent and her books often get five stars from me! She is one of my favourite authors of all time and an auto buy for sure. At this point, I've officially read everything she has ever written.

This story of Lauren and Josh was excellent! It was so emotional, it's actually hard for me to put my review into words. I loved these two characters and the love they shared. I also really enjoyed the cast of secondary characters who were all loveable and charming in their own ways. The relationships in this book between family and friends was well done and felt very genuine.

It's not often that a book can bring me to tears, and this one did! Those last few chapters had me sobbing like a baby. My heart was absolutely broken for this couple, but at the same time I loved the way that the story wrapped up. If you enjoy books like P.S I love you, I think this would be up your alley. Higgins writing is beautiful and I just loved this story so, so much! Thank you Kristan for another beautiful book!

Pack up the Moon is a novel about love, loss, and the grieving process. Told from both POVs and shifting timelines, Joshua and Lauren are young, deeply in love, and wildly happy when Lauren, 28, is diagnosed with terminal lung disease.

As Lauren contemplates her inevitable death, she writes letters to her beloved father, who died when she was younger, and to whom she can express her deepest fears. Joshua is a brilliant, renowned engineer who is socially awkward so Lauren, who knows how hard it will be for him after she dies, has left letters to be delivered on specific dates. In each letter, she asks him to perform a particular task designed to help him move forward in the grieving process.

This is a beautifully written story steeped in romance and friendship and profound grief, and I recommend you have plenty of tissues nearby. Kristan Higgin’s writing style wraps you into the story and creates sweet and quirky characters you genuinely care about. Even though you know the inevitable outcome and your heart is breaking, humorous, life-affirming moments give you hope that somehow everything will be okay.

A few times I felt the story slowed reading some of the passages in Lauren’s letters. I adored Joshua’s circle of family and friends, even if sometimes scenes with the extended family seemed a bit too idyllic.

This is a sweet, lovely book with unforgettable characters who will stay with you for a long time. It offers hope for moving forward with grace after suffering unimaginable loss and reminds us that we can still thrive, each in our own way.

This book was emotional. Let me say from the start, it will most likely make you cry - multiple times. I will admit that I had a few good cathartic cries while reading Pack Up the Moon.

Laura has a terminal condition known as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis or IPF. As she prepares for her death she writes letters for her husband, Josh. She leaves them in the care of her best friend to be delivered each month during the first year following her death. The letters and how Josh processes them, along with his grief was both beautiful and heartbreaking.

Told from both Laura and Josh's POV’s in a non-linear timeline, I easily became immersed in their love story, a love that truly transcends death. Kristan Higgins does a fantastic job of capturing the stages of grief. Yet, she skillfully weaves in optimism and humor alongside the grief to keep the story from getting too overwhelmingly sad.

Highly recommend this emotional read. Just be sure to have tissues on hand because you'll need them.

Kristan Higgins has this way of guiding you through a story. She introduces you to a whole host of interesting characters, and their seemingly ordinary lives, all the while simultaneously breaking your heart and giving you hope. After reading and loving her last book, Always The Last to Know, I knew I absolutely needed to read her latest, Pack Up The Moon, and I’m so glad I did!

Pack Up The Moon follows the perfect couple, Josh and Lauren, as their world is rocked when Lauren is diagnosed with terminal lung disease and dies. Heartbroken Joshua is inconsolable. But Lauren planned for this. For each month for the twelve months following her death, she wrote Josh a letter. Each letter contains a task for Josh that Lauren thinks will help him move forward. Some tasks are easy, some are more challenging. Josh dutifully follows her requests month after month. But can Josh truly move on after the love of his life dies?

Pack Up The Moon is told in dual timelines. One timeline starts at Lauren’s death and moves forward over the course of a year. Each chapter in this timeline largely focuses on the letter she left for Josh that month. The other timeline starts at their third anniversary and works backward towards when they met. Those chapters start with Lauren writing letters to her dead father as a way to share things with him. I loved the structure of this book. The alternating timelines added so much depth and complexity to the story as well as Lauren and Josh’s relationship.

I absolutely fell in love with Joshua. He’s a biomedical engineer with Autism Spectrum Disorder (previously known as Asperger's Syndrome). He was so kind and absolutely loved Lauren. It broke my heart watching him grieve over the course of the book.

This was an absolutely beautiful story. It broke my heart many times over, but it also left me feeling hopeful. This wasn’t a binge read for me. I read it over the course of about a week and a half. I couldn’t bring myself to read it all at once because it was too emotional. I highly recommend this to other fans of Kristan Higgins, and anyone in need of a good cry. Fair warning though, it is a tearjerker.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars, I rounded up based on my love of the Josh the widower in this heart wrenching story. I really enjoy Kristan Higgins books, Mostly because of the humor and feel good vibe that comes after reading one. This one was definitely more of a downer, I felt that Lauren was just too good to be true. No one is that perfect!! The rest of the characters were great and I enjoyed the book but didn’t love it.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of the title in exchange for an honest review

Kristan Higgins’ new novel Pack Up the Moon is a beautiful story about love, loss, and grief, and it’s about how to pick up the pieces of your life and start again when the love of your life is taken away way too soon.

The story follows Joshua and Lauren Park, a newly married couple who are just perfect for each other and madly in love. Their happy lives come crashing down around them, however, when Lauren is unexpectedly and tragically diagnosed with a terminal illness and is told she probably only has 3-5 years to live.

What I loved most about this book is how Higgins chooses to unfold the story of Joshua and Lauren. Within the first few pages of the book, Lauren dies and we are presented with Joshua, the grieving widow. It is actually after Lauren’s death that we really get to know her because Lauren has spent many of her final months living writing letters for Joshua that he is to be given in the months after her death. Her thought in doing that is that it will help him better cope with her death and start to live his life again. She also tried to process her own life ending so prematurely by writing letters to her dead father. She talks to him about her fears, about how sad she is that she’ll be leaving Joshua alone and that they never had children, etc. She also communicates her hope that she will be reunited with her father in the afterlife. Each chapter of the novel presents us with either a letter from Lauren to Joshua or one from Lauren to her dad.

I fell in love with both Lauren and Joshua as I read these letters and then read the flashbacks that accompanied so many of them. Lauren is such a beautiful soul and it’s easy to see why Joshua loved her so much and is so devastated by her loss. I loved the glimpses of their life together that the flashbacks provided, and I especially loved Lauren’s letters to Joshua, which were actually quite funny at times and gave him very explicit instructions that she fully expected him to follow, from simple things like go to the grocery store to more challenging tasks like ask a woman out on a date, and because he loved her so much, of course he followed them to the letter.

Pack Up the Moon broke my heart into a million pieces, but at the same time, it gave me hope that there is a way to move forward after tragedy. Keep your tissues handy because this is a story that will make you cry your eyes out, but it will also surprise you with some humorous moments and, most importantly, it will leave you with a full heart because there’s just so much love in the story.

Five emotional heart-wrenching stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A glimpse of what true love is supposed to look like.❤️

Josh and Lauren are a young couple over the moon in love. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Until Lauren receives devastating news. She has a terminal condition known as IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis).

Lauren leaves her husband the best gift she can. Letters from her heart to help him grieve, cope, and move forward. Each letter is doled out at the beginning of the month for an entire year following her passing. Each letter contains words of encouragement to help Josh step out and learn to live and perhaps love once again.

This was one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.

I fell In love with Lauren and how brave she was facing her own death but always focused on helping her husband through his grief. And Josh… well he stole my heart completely. Do men like this exist? The magnitude of his love for Lauren brought me to tears. Everyone deserves a Josh in their lives.

I have read a few books recently that had medical themes. Both left me cold in the lack of authenticity. As an RN I have a hard time letting go of these details.

Kristan Higgins did her homework.

I was so impressed by her attention to detail as she described Lauren’s disease and progression. As well as Lauren’s reaction to having a terminal condition at such a young age. Thank you, Kristan!

A buddy read with Susanne that left us both in a puddle of tears.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, via NetGalley.