Cover Image: Love, Hope

Love, Hope

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Member Reviews

This was an adorable, moving read with such depth in terms of characters and the themes that are described. I would recommend this for readers looking for an emotional read.

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'It's never too late to right the wrongs of the past, or at least there's always a chance to move forward' this quote describes this book perfectly!

Hope and Janey are best friends, meeting when they are 8 years old, their dream is to travel the world together; whilst playing in an orchestra.

But when tragedy hits and Hope's parents are killed in a car accident, leaving her to look after her 12-year-old sister Autumn; she has to put her dreams on hold.

This novel is written in a letter-style narrative, through emails, text messages, Facebook messenger and postcards.

The majority of this narrative is very fast-paced, with a storyline that was unique and not what I expected. There was a point it slowed down but this is needed to give us more back story within the characters'; as well as due it being written in a letter style format.

Although I have read books in this style before it is unusual to use so many forms of communicative formats; which I feel worked well and was surprisingly easy to follow.

A true book to show hope and while life can take its twists and turn; and we take many tumbles we can still achieve those dreams!!

A really beautiful narrative about forgiveness and growth.

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Hope Sullivan had a passion for music, especially playing her much loved Violin. She dreamed of going to college to further her musical studies, but when tragedy struck on the way to one of her recitals she couldn’t imagine continuing down that path in life – especially as her younger sister needed her more than ever.

Ten years later her sister Autumn has embarked on a career as a Doctor and the best friend Hope had dreamed of travelling the world with, Janey, is living the dream they once shared. Meanwhile Hope feels trapped in her life and misses music terribly. Then there is Arnold Quince, a man who has become a recluse following the loss of his wife. Five years after his loss, he finds himself thrown together with Hope – and as the pair begin writing to one another they have no idea just how much their lives are about to change.

This book certainly takes you on an emotional rollercoaster as you follow the story of both Hope and Arnold. Both of them have had to live through more than their fair share of heartache, and this has had a huge, lasting impact on the people they are in the present. As their lives slowly become intertwined with one another through the medium of letters, something that lifts their spirits when they both need it the most.

The storyline throughout this book is so beautifully written and perfectly structured you find yourself being swept along by the characters and their lives. With each passing chapter you get to know the characters on a much deeper level, and in turn find yourself really feeling connected to them and wanting them to find happiness in whatever form possible.

A beautiful, moving read that I would urge others to read.

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I loved this book and meeting Hope and Arnold. We meet Hope when she is eight years old, just before she stars Fairclef Music Academy. The book is 100% epistolary and I totally loved it, especially reading the letters of the younger Hope. I don't know how the author managed to write so authentically from the point of view of a child and young adult but she did so brilliantly. She also did a bang up job of writing for Arnold, a 70+ year old male.

The story has some major tragedy in it but like the title there is also a lot of love and hope. This is a story of family, friendship and love. But it is also about finding yourself again and being open to change. This is an exceptional debut and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Conlin.

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I have never read a book written like this before but I think it is the best novel I have read this year. It held me engrossed throughout and had me welling up at some points. A really brilliant novel and although it was written in the form of written communications of many forms it held together beautifully and told Hope’s story in a truly remarkable way. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read such a wonderful story. Would award more stars if I could!

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The story of Hope, a gifted musician who gave up her dreams when her parents died and she became guardian to her yonuger sister. Told through a series of letters and other messages, A book unlike any I have read before! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I love the format of this book. I am always excited to find books in this format. I liked this book, not love but I did like it. Sometimes it was a bit too angsty for me but it was good

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I tried but could not get into this at all. I understand what the author was going for with the format but it wasn’t really for me.

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I have a very haphazard way of deciding what to read and when, and I chose Love, Hope for the solitary reason that I have a guinea pig called Hope. Yes, folks, I choose books based on the names of my animals. In my defence, she is the most gorgeous, loud, funny guinea pig in existence, two months old as I type this, and full of life and, funnily enough, Hope. I couldn’t really remember what Love, Hope was about, but I saw the first few pages were emails or official letters, and I thought it sounded like exactly the kind of palate cleanser I needed after the romp of The Idea of You.

The entire reason my Hope, the guinea pig, is called Hope is because when she was born, I thought she was dead. I genuinely peeked into the guinea pig cage, saw this beige and white creature who looked still and I panicked. Hope, however, despite her small stature, would not be deterred and while she is indeed still small, the runt of the litter, she’s actually come on so, so much since the day she was born and she’s so ferocious and when we were trying to name her, my boyfriend said he liked the name Hope as she sings in a band he enjoys (idk the name, don’t ask me, sorry) but it also felt like the perfect name for her (and even though you didn’t ask, Cardi is the mam; Hope, Fluffy and Silky are the babies). The reason I tell this story is that is pretty much what Love, Hope is about. No, it isn’t about a baby guinea pig who defies the odds, but it’s about Hope, the character, becoming the best version of herself.

As I said above, the novel is made up of emails, text message exchanges, various receipts/reports, etc, I adore novels written in this kind of format, as it’s such a unique perspective. I didn’t feel disconnected from the characters, in fact I felt closer, seeing how all of the characters care for Hope (Janey in particular is like the ultimate BFF) and how Hope responds to them, too. Hope has so many reasons to feel bitter and resentful after she has to put her promising violinist career on a permanent hiatus after her parents die, so she can look after her sister Autumn, but at 27, she’s feeling morose and is kind of sick of her life. So Autumn (whom I also loved), puts her in touch with OAP Arnold, who’s reeling from the loss of his wife and the two start corresponding, around other emails/letters/etc from other people Hope has in her life.

Hope and Arnold’s letter exchanges were so pure. I liked how the letters allowed Hope to share more about herself, things she didn’t really want to share with Janey or Autumn. And vice versa for Arnold, who felt as if he had had his time and was just waiting to die, which made me so, so sad. Their relationship was so beautiful, so caring, so warm. I loved Hope as a character, she had made the ultimate sacrifice at the age of 18, and it’s something any sibling would do for their siblings; my sister is a pain in the backside, but she’s still my younger sister and I am the only one who can take the mickey out of her or shout at her, etc. And she’s the exact same towards me. I do wonder if Hope didn’t just sacrifice her career because she wasn’t sure enough of herself to make it, but Arnold (and then Janey) do both call her out towards the end of the novel and I can see why Hope took the ‘easy way out’ if you can call caring for a tearaway teen, ‘easy’.

I absolutely adored this novel, the entire cast of characters were fabulous and I adored the narrative choice of writing this letter as a series of emails, text messages and other missives. The novel didn’t lose any charm or warmth despite being a somewhat different medium as to the norm, although I for one personally think you can convey a lot of warmth, humour, life and vitality via emails and it’s something me and my boyfriend do occasionally when one of us is away from the other. This was an absolutely charming novel, written very, very beautifully.

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I got to 60% in this book before I had to stop. It was just so depressing. For more than half of this book you just have to read awful things happening to the titular Hope, and everyone around her being incredibly infuriatingly inconsiderate.

Janey, her best friend can’t seem to comprehend what her life is to have to drop her life’s dream and care for her sister and keeps chiding her about her life. Rude! She clearly lacked empathy, and constantly just told her best friend about her wonderful life. Perhaps if the book weren’t written in a message exchange format you’d like/have more patience for Janey, but the way it was written she’s horrible.

Autumn, also very ungrateful and annoying, who do we think paid for her life after she left, hmmm.
Grandparents, uhh wouldn’t they move to London to take care of their grandchild if she was so unwilling to move? Instead they let an 18 year old throw away her own ambitions? Then ramble about stupid horoscope things forever? Who are you?

The only character I liked was Arnold but had to quit the book before the author did something horrendous like killed him off. I’m sure there was going to be an upswing at some point, but the book wasn’t charming or funny enough for me to want to continue.

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I received an advance copy of, Love, Hope, by Juliet Ann Conlin. I did not like how this book was set up, emails, and letters, and receipts. It took the human emotion out of the story for me.

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The story of Hope, a gifted musician who gave up her dreams when her parents died and she became guardian to her yonuger sister. Told through a series of letters and other messages, a format I was not too keen on.

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