I've been a fan of Kristan Higgins for a long time, and I did overall like this book. I think the hard thing for me is that it's remarkably similar to PS I Love You in concept, and it just didn't feel that original. I did find myself crying quite hard at the ending, which I hadn't realized I was invested enough to do, and I liked Joshua's character, as well as the people he meets throughout the story.

Kristan Higgins is an author I never hesitate to read because her books are always full of interesting characters, poignant situations and little touches of humor. Pack Up the Moon has all of that and more. It has a heartbreakingly tragic hero (Josh) dealing with the death of his wife, his amazing wife (Lauren) who we get to know through letters she wrote to Josh and her dad while she was ill, a super supportive family, and his wife’s best friend.
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Be sure you pick up a new box of tissues to have handy when you read this book, Josh and Lauren’s love was so strong and the grief was palatable in every chapter. Having said that, I need you to know that there was a lot of comic relief, tender moments, growth and hope for Josh’s future without Lauren too.
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I just learned that Kristan Higgins donates all proceeds from the first week of sales and preorders of her books to St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital. If all the great things you are hearing about this book and my own rave review aren’t enough to get you to buy this book, maybe this will convince you!
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I am so happy I got the chance to read and discuss this latest gem by Higgins thanks to #BerkleyBuddyReads, @berittalksbooks, and @berkleypub!

A young couple are deeply in love when the Grim Reaper steps into their lives way too early

Joshua Park is a brilliant engineer and designer of medical devices, has Aspergers, and falls deeply in love with Lauren the second time he meets her.

Lauren designs outdoor spaces, loves her family and friends deeply and knows she's going to marry Josh the second time they meet.

This book is definitely a big departure from author Higgins' usual lighthearted romances. It explores a deeply loving marriage and what happens when one of the partners in that marriage gets a terminal illness and the effects of that illness on all those people that surround the couple, including each other.

This book has a lot in common with the book P.S. I LOVE YOU, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I have to say I absolutely adored this book. Yes, it made me cry buckets but it also made me smile and laugh and ponder what I would do in similar circumstances.

I highly recommend this book but be prepared with a box of tissues.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Have you ever cried while reading a book? I loved this book but wow, really needed the kleenex! This was a very emotional but ultimately uplifting story about finding your way after a devastating loss. Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness early in her marriage to Josh. As a way to help Joshua cope after her death, she leaves him a monthly letter for the first year she's gone.

The story is told in alternating POV, both Lauren and Josh. There are also letters--from Lauren to Josh and from Lauren to her deceased father. The author does a very good job showing how grief affects people differently. And as someone who has walked this path, Joshua's journey felt very realistic. The wonderful secondary characters add so much to the story and really show what it means to have people who care about you on your journey through grief. But it's not a one-way street. Josh also learns, partially through Lauren's letters, how in reaching out to others, both parties benefit.

While there are heavy topics covered, there is also humor and character growth plus a beautiful love story. This book and these characters will stick with me and I highly recommend it. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ecopy of this book.

#packupthemoon
#kristanhiggins
#booktour
#berkleypub


‘Get busy lìvin’ or get busy dyin’ ‘

And that is exactly what Lauren did. She was dying, she knew that, and she was busy making sure her soulmate Josh and others around her, learned to live.

This punchline from Shawshank Redemption is oft repeated by Lauren and Josh to spur each other on.

Josh is uncomfortable in social interactions and relies totally on his wife Lauren. When she passes on after a long illness he feels rudderless. Lauren, loving her soulmate and anticipating this ‘loss of living’ has done her bit to handhold Josh through the first 12 months post her death. Each month he will receive a letter from Lauren giving him a focus and a task for that month: all this in a bid to help him find his feet again!

Would I have done this had I been Lauren? I don’t know. To cope with her own pain, her own inability to hold on to life, and also think of her loved ones, is what Higgins’ protagonist Lauren is; and we love her for it. Her only moments with her self are through her letters to her (dead) father where she bares her soul and sorrow.

The read is a tear-jerker but with a lot of forward thinking, and positivity. Handling grief is a lesson which is imparted with utmost sensitivity. The read will bring many a lump in your throat but you will also laugh at the lighter moments, at some of the crazy sounding tasks Josh has to do, at the humorous moments. To add to the love is the adorable Pebbles, the pup who steals everyone’s hearts including that of the readers.

The read is written in alternating POVs: very innovativel, in reverse storyline: one moving from past to present and one from present to past. I quite liked this literary tool which encompasses a full life rather than closing in.

What perhaps could’ve been crisper was the first half; it dragged a little. Also the fact that almost everything seems very idealistic: it keeps happening the way it should, loose ends getting tied up; no road bumps.

But then it is a book, it is a fiction and it’s biggest plus is that it is written straight from the heart. You can feel that. It tears you but you can’t let go of it!

The end, predictable, was very sweet. The author adds a touching twist to how Lauren will always be a part of Josh’s life. Read the book to find out how.

TW: Terminal illness. Loss of partner.
Keep the tissues handy if you tend to cry easily. Read it in a good mind space. Definitely not a beach read but perhaps curled up in a nice green spot with a glass of wine :-)

It’s one which, once you start, you won’t be able to let go.

Thank you @kristan.higgins, @penguinrandomhouse @netgalley for the #gifted digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. #AD

The book releases on June 8 and I wish it great success.

Whew. Better have your tissues ready for this one.

I cried throughout this book. First chapter? Tears in my eyes. A book that can evoke that kind of emotion from me in the F I R S T chapter? Dang right it’s a five star read.

And while this is a work of fiction, the emotion it brought forth was not done as a source of entertainment, but instead as an honest portrayal of grief - it tells its story through kinship and understanding.
The author also took the opportunity to bring some awareness and education to a rare disease, and to some insight into understanding certain aspects of neurodiversity.

This is about love, loss, grief, family, healing, and hope. It’s heartbreaking, yet sweet, and even sometimes funny. Higgins writes of grief so beautifully, truthfully, and painfully. The story is told in a variety of formats, from past, present, journal entries, and letters - it moves through time seamlessly and the previous chapter just creates context for the next.

Something I found to be very unique about this novel was how it portrayed the passage of time from alternating perspectives; I won’t give details as to not spoil it, but it was done so with thoughtful intention, and it shows.

It has been said that grief is the price we pay for love, and this novel does a beautiful job of bringing this sentiment alive.

Utmost thanks to @NetGalley & @BerkleyPub for the digital advanced readers copy, we are so grateful to have been able to read this novel.

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I received a gifted galley of PACK UP THE MOON by Kristan Higgins for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

PACK UP THE MOON follows Josh, a young man struggling to cope with the loss of his wife of three years, Lauren, to a chronic lung disease. The narrative bounces back and forth in time moving both back and forward from the moment of her loss.

Interspersed with the narrative is a series of letters. Lauren writes letters to her father who passed away when she was younger, spelling out things to him that she may not voice to those around her as she struggles to be strong for everyone. She also writes a series of monthly letters to Josh for the first year after her death. Each gives him a task to do in an effort to ensure he pulls out of his grief and continues to live.

Okay – first and foremost – have tissues handy for this one. The story is very beautiful and very moving, but the author really wants to draw every last tear out of the reader. Be sure to go into this one in the right head space!

I really loved the characters in this book. Lauren was such a strong woman facing an impossible battle to live a life cut too short. Josh doesn’t necessarily see the world the same way that everyone else does, being on the autism spectrum, but he has an incredible support network in his mother and Lauren’s family. His struggles to figure out how he still relates to everyone that he felt mostly connected to through his wife were so heartbreaking, but seeing how they all still embraced him was wonderful.

This is a lovely book and one I would definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for a good cathartic cry read! PACK UP THE MOON is out today!

PACK UP THE MOON By Kristan Higgins
Romantic fiction
480 pages

In this newest Kristan Higgins novel we have a man consumed by grief for his dead wife. To help him move on after her death his wife left a note a month of instruction for tasks she asks him to do. They are tasks he would not normally do himself. They are tasks to help him move forward without her. It hurts at first and at times he balks but in the end these tasks help him more than he knew they would.

I am a huge fan of Kristan Higgins and her newest book does not disappoint!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is a huge tear jerker so have your tissues ready fellow readers!!!!!!  You feel so many emotions reading this book that I personally had to take a break or two to compose myself. It is so worth it though!!!!!!!!  I highly recommend this book.

What a beautiful book about something that we all suffer through in life, grief.

Joshua Park was such a sweet man. His love for his wife was staggering. I loved watching him grow with each turn of the page.

I especially loved learning who Lauren was. She was such a beautiful light. The letters and flashbacks were perfectly distributed throughout the book.

How I teared up reading this one. There was also quite a bit of laughter.

Such a sweet read.

Whelp... this book wrecked me.
I've been a huge Kristan Higgins fan for more years than I can count. My first book was Just One of the Guys, which is sweet, smart, a little sexy, and so funny. I was hooked. I have read and re-read all of her books. She's my go to author recommendation for rom-coms and women's fiction. I know if I'm in a reading slump, I can pick up any of them and bounce back. She's completely reliable and guaranteed to write something I will love.
I have never in my life cried as much reading a book as I have with Pack Up the Moon. It's poignantly beautiful but oh, so emotional. I expected to laugh - which I did multiple times - but I was unprepared to swing so hard the other way emotionally.
This is told in dual POV, dual timeline. We see bright, extroverted, and bubbly Lauren in the past, working her way back and forth with her diagnosis and relationship progression with Joshua, a genius loner. Present time, Joshua is dealing with the recent loss of Lauren and forced to navigate life without her. Over the course of the first year of widowerhood, Joshua is given letters from Lauren instructing him on how to live without her. Lauren tasks him with small things like getting out of the house up to more monumental life choices.
If I didn't love Kristan so much, I would hate how much she made me cry. I feel like she wrote me in Joshua's mom's personality - I need to push those emotions down and stab a coffee cake! This all to say - it's amazing and incomparable to her other books, which I will still re-read on repeat.
TW: death, grief, homophobia
A big thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Newlyweds Joshua and Lauren are madly in love. After Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness she starts writing Joshua letters and tasks to do after she passes away. The letters come as a shock as they literally speak to him from the dead. He is grieving, but he finds himself looking forward to the letters as Lauren’s best friend Sarah faithfully drops them off each month.

This book is absolutely heartbreaking, but so beautifully written. This is one book you will not be able to put down.

Thank you to Berkley Pub for my digital arc of this title. All opinions are my own.

One sentence review: I loved this book but I highly recommend having a box of Kleenex near by because this one is a tear jerker from beginning to end.

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins centers around Lauren, who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The book is told through two viewpoints, Lauren and her husband Joshua. A main vehicle for the narrative are letters that Lauren writes to Joshua, as well as letters that Lauren writes to her father. More than anything this book is about how both characters cope with a terminal diagnosis.

My thoughts:

- If I ever am diagnosed with a terminal disease I hope I have the grace and understanding to handle it as well as Lauren does. The steps she takes to be there for her family are just something truly special.
- The author does a fantastic job of capturing the stages of grief. In particular how hard it can be, especially when the person dying is so young.
- I loved how the author weaved grief, optimism, and humor together to keep the story from getting maudlin.
- The story employs a non-linear timeline that is a little disconcerting at the start. I understand why the author did what she did, but it takes a bit to adjust.
- If I have a criticism it is that the book is a little long. I hit a point where I was almost just physically exhausted because of the emotional impact of the story and really needed it to come to a resolution.

I really did think this book was very good. But it comes with a caveat that it is also emotionally draining. The subject matter is just very, very sad. It is handled in the best possible way but it is a book where tissues are mandatory.

Kristan Higgins is an auto-buy author for me. I was thrilled to get approved for the ARC. I went into this book WITHOUT reading the blurb above. I do this a lot for authors I love, but oh wow, this one hit me hard! I gave this book five stars, because it deserves ALL THE STARS--but oh boy. Don't read this one in public and have a box of tissues handy. It's heartbreaking and beautiful and just destroys you in the best possible way.

The book jumps around time a lot, but it totally works and makes sense with the story. I related to both Lauren and Josh is a multitude of different ways. This is absolutely Kristan's best work, without a doubt. Don't let the fact that it's sad keep you from reading this one, it's fantastic. It's been awhile since I've stayed up late reading because I couldn't put the book down--and that was this book. I read that last half practically in one sitting. Read it--you'll be glad you did!

Lauren has written twelve letters for Josh to read after her death. Each one gives him a task to do on a path toward healing and happiness. After each letter, he takes a new step away from the crippling grief that he felt when he lost her. The letters will make you laugh and make you cry. It is hard to watch Josh and those around him struggle, but they are an amazing support network for each other. Although Lauren's dad died when she was in college, she decides to write him letters sharing her life. Those chapters go back in time to when Lauren met Josh. The beauty of the two trajectories allows details to be revealed that then connect the two timelines, keeping the reader engaged. It will be difficult to read this book without needing some tissues, but there are also some really humorous moments like the first karate class -- my fave. Why not a five-star book for me? It was too long for one thing -- more than 450 pages. Did not love having Heaven referred to as 'The Great Beyond.' And my final reason is some inconsistencies in character development.

Thank you to Berkeley and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

When Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she begins planning for her beloved husband’s life without her.

In a series of letters, one each month, Lauren guides her husband through the stages of grief to rebuild his life without her.

Higgins has delivered a novel that is thoughtful, poignant, and at times humorous. You’ll love crying your eyes out. Highly recommended.

I'm in tears. It is very rare and unusual for a book to tug at my heartstrings to the point of tears. This one did. Here's why.

Joshua' is a genius and on the Asperger spectrum. This book tells about his life with Lauren, and about his life after her death. Lauren left letters to help him cope with grief.

The author Kristan Higgins is creative in the use of her timeline. Chapters about Josh move forward month by month, along with his memories of the past. Chapters about Lauren move backwards from the time of her death. We see how they met. We melt in the knowledge of how Lauren, an expert in socialization, helps Joshua move out of the isolation of being a hermit.

I wondered throughout reading why the title "Pack Up the Moon" and did a word search for moon. In chapter one, Lauren writes she wants to make him "feel loved to the moon and back." Edited to add: pack up the moon and dismantle the sun is from a poem Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden about the pain and grief after the death of a loved one.

This book has the same theme as Ahern's book and movie "P.S. I Love You".
Will be searching out more of Higgins' books. Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley!

Once again I have gone into a book blindfolded and it paid off. This was a tear jerker for sure and that’s not my typical choice, but what a love story it was!
Joshua and Lauren have a deep connection kind of love, even though it started very differently when they first met. They were happily married and planning their future when she was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease. After she passes, he finds out that she has written him letters to be opened every month for the first year after his death, in order to help him deal with moving on without her. Her family and friends support him in ways that he never expected and help him to deal with the loss that consumes him.
It’s told from the current perspective, as well as letters she wrote to her father who passed away when she was a teenager, describing the life he never got to see, and the letters she wrote to Joshua. My only negative, which it really isn’t tbh, is that There were times that it felt a little long-I found myself skimming at points, but if you’re a fan of P.S. I love you or even the YA book Five Feet Apart, you’ll enjoy this very touching story.
Thanks to Berkley Publishers for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Pack Up the Moon is an absolute emotional tear jerker. I would recommend it for someone who is a good place in their lives and if not, I wouldn't recommend that they read it as it is absolute gut wrenching and plays on your emotions and if you suffered a recent loss, this is not the book for you to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by Kristan Higgins - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Lauren and Josh are newly married, crazy in love, and both doing well in their respective careers. Until Lauren's terminal illness diagnosis sets their world on fire. Knowing that she is dying, Lauren writes one letter per month and leaves them with her best friend, Sarah, to give to Josh after she's gone. The book is told in alternate voices - Josh in the present time as well as Sarah's voice in the past as she also writes letters to her deceased dad.

Yes, that's a lot of grief in one book but Kristan Higgins makes it work. Lauren's monthly letters to Josh typically leave him tasks to do which end up with him meeting people and in situations completely out of his comfort zone. There are lots of interesting characters in this book, complete with enough humor to not make it depressing. What you're left with is the story of being present in your life since you just never know what's around the corner, along with lots of life lessons on love, grief, family, friends, and most important, hope. While there are lots of comparisons being made to PS I Love You, this book certainly stands on its own merits. Highly recommended!

This book wrecked me. I will be billing Kristan Higgins for the therapy I will need because my husband will definitely not let me sob to him. I was a mess by the end of this one. I think the only thing I would change is the cover. It just didn't pull me in.