This book had me immediately. I listened to the audiobook version and was hooked the first chapter. The plan was to listen while I cooked breakfast and then maybe some more tomorrow. I couldn’t stop listening! I got zero of my to do list completed bc I had to know what was going to happen.

Such a beautiful story of friendship, love and loss.

I was unable to follow this book on audio due to the unique format which was pretty unfortunate as the description and the narrator sounded good

I hate DNFing books but unfortunately, this audiobook goes into my DNF stack.
The story seemed enjoyable and with memorable characters, one from the present and one from the past. Elias Roch especially is a character that goes straight to your heart. But for an epistolary book dividing the narrative across three perspectives and two timelines, having just a single narrator is too confusing. Nathalie Pownall does do a commendable job as the narrator with her peppy reading but her voice is too similar across the characters to distinguish a change in narrative unless you are listening with the utmost of concentration.
I'm sure this will be a very good novel to read, but I didn’t feel its writing structure doesn't make it suitable for audio format, unless there are multiple narrators. I might give the e-book a chance in future, but this journey with the audio version ends at 40%.
I'm still giving the book two stars, one star for the potential I can see in the story and writing that might make the print/digital book a worthwhile read, and one star to Nathalie Pownall without whom I might have abandoned this book a lot before 40%. It was only her spirited reading that made me give this audio version a genuine try.
Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this audiobook! I was afraid it wouldn’t translate well in an audio format because of the clever premise of the novel - the entire story is told via emails and text messages and excerpts of conversations - but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is sweet and romantic, but not sappy or overly written. I loved the characters and was easily able to overlook small errors that briefly distracted me here and there.
I actually would love to see the print edition - I’m sure it’s charming and fun to read (but I really liked this narrator ... except maybe her exaggerated NY accent 😉)
I think all of my students will be looking for their “Elias” after reading or listening to Dearest Josephine. I’m a sucker for the happy ending, tied up with a bow, and this one left me with a happy sigh of contentment.

I really enjoyed this novel with two time lines. Angsty Elias writes letters to Josephine in the 1800’s while Josephine reads letters from Elias in the present day. There are many sad moments, but there are also sweet moments in the novel. The side stories with Lorelei and Oliver add another wholesome layer to the novel. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Perfection! I LOVE this audiobook. The narrator is just PERFECT for Dearest Josephine!


Content review to come.