Did not get to this book in 2021.
My review is not a reflection of the work or the writing/plot itself, but rather speaks to other books that caught my attention more.
Hate I didn't manage to squeeze this one in, but there are so many books and only so much time.

I would look to Goodreads or other reviewers on Netgalley who read the title and will offer their unbiased opinion.

Knowing how a story ends before it even begins is often a let-down, but it can increase the tension and arouse curiosity. Think of the film American Beauty in which Kevin Spacey announces it’s the last day of his life at the very start. Most movie-goers were dying to learn the events leading up to his death.

But that was a murder. Love stories are different. There is a wistful quality when one knows a relationship does not work out. Where did it go wrong? Whose fault was it? Was she too needy? Was he too controlling?

So it is with Out of Love, which crackles with wit and sharp observations by writer Helen Hayes, a former horror screenwriter and director who decided to tackle a love story because, we’re told, “she can think of nothing more horrific than love.”

From nearly the first page, which is the end of the relationship between Theo and the female narrator, Hayes is dead-on with her observations. “He moved most of his stuff out of our apartment while I was home in Dublin, crying on my mother’s sofa. He stopped loving me a long time ago but wasn’t brave enough to tell me,” she writes. “And so our relationship kept trundling forward like a wagon down a dirt road, with me tied to the back like a rag doll.”

Traveling backward in time allows the reader to be all-knowing, to see the missteps and all the little misunderstandings the lovers make that lead to the point where neither can stand the other. Oftentimes it’s heartbreaking because those involved are unable to see their own mistakes in real time.
There’s a moment after this couple has broken up temporarily when boyfriend Theo asks for a meeting. It seems he’s going to lay his cards on the table—or that’s what the narrator believes. In her mind, she builds up the meeting, three weeks into the future.

It’s a pivotal scene that many a woman will undoubtedly relate to. The narrator is mixed about seeing Theo again but, when she commits, she does her best. She arrives early at the restaurant, wearing “a pretty orange party dress.” Will he want another chance, she muses, and even more importantly, she will give him that chance or make him grovel or reject him entirely?

“The part of me that still held hope of reconciliation swelled in size, and I decided, then and there, that if he wanted to try again, I would . . . whatever he needed, I would give it to him. Because I loved him. And I wanted to make this work,” she writes.

And then . . . and then, “he turned up in his gym gear . . . I am humiliated all over again.”

“I’d spent three weeks waiting for this. I had lived those weeks,” she writes. “I had sat inside each minute and felt the weight of it on me. And he didn’t even bother to wash himself, or to put some fucking trousers on.”

Some have compared this book to Normal People by Sally Rooney, but that’s probably because both writers are Irish and writing about coupling. The truth is the novels couldn’t be more different in tone. Normal People is dead serious while Out of Love is often laugh-out-loud funny.

There is a near constant acknowledgment by the narrator that the worse she feels, the better she looks because she is losing weight and working on herself. The narrator is a writer, and her editor tells her at a lunch meeting that she’s looking quite well.

“Thanks,” our protagonist says, “It’s this new thing I’m trying where I don’t eat or sleep or think about anything other than the fact that I’m a struggling writer on the cusp of thirty with no partner, no kids, and no fucking clue what I’m doing.”
“Well, I must say, it suits you.”

As the novel progresses, the two main characters grow more and more loving and likeable until you’re horribly sorry that it doesn’t work out. This type of storytelling is not for everyone. It has its drawbacks, but in the hands of a writer as talented as Hayes, it works. The nuances of human behavior are on display, and we can all see something of ourselves and our own mistakes.

My favorite novels are ones that build linear character growth. Since this story begins at the end, it didn’t give me much motivation or incentive to understand the details of how it got to be that way. This book might work for readers who love jumping timelines and who prefer to read the last page of a book to see if it’ll be worth their while, but it just didn’t work out for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. The concept of following a love story in reverse is extremely creative and intriguing. In the first few chapters the writing is absolutely phenomenal and I truly felt the heartbreak. Unfortunately, I found the remainder of the book a little dull and the characters to be lacking in depth.

“Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl” is the standard three-act structure for a romance or romantic comedy. “Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl” is the structure for a drama or tragedy. In her debut novel, author Hazel Hayes decides to run things backwards. Out of Love, released internationally in 2020 but just out now in Kindle format for American audiences, starts with the painful breakup and then goes back in time all the way through a couple’s first meeting. Reminiscent of movies like Memento and books such as One Day, the novel aims to answer the question, where did it all start to go wrong?

For the rest of the review, click on the link below:

4.25 stars!

This is not a happily ever after, this is a break up.

A romance told in reverse with all the joy and heartbreak that comes with falling in love and creating a life with someone. We start with a heartbreak and end with their first kiss.

This book is honest and raw with sharp writing that cut me to the core. Some scenes were so real it left me needing a minute to recoup before continuing on.

I appreciated the monotony of it and the realness of the situations that occurred throughout, but was slow at times for me.

I felt a slight disconnect with the amount of extra characters and side plots that were involved that I felt like more time could of been spent on things revealed later in the book.

Overall, this novel was a fresh take on romance with beautiful writing and emotional themes throughout.

Thank you @duttonbooks and @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review posted to Goodreads.

I really did enjoy this book. The story kept me interested and engaged and was hard to put down. However... I was expecting this to be some amazing relationship that I would be devastated was ending by the time the book was over. But it felt like the relationship just kinda... sucked from the beginning. I was 70% in and still waiting for one good interaction between Theo and the narrator. A great book, but definitely not what I was expecting going into it!

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Out of Love is a heartbreaking read that examines the deterioration of a relationship in reverse, commencing from the break-up to the moment the couple meets. What follows is an interesting exploration of the messiness of love and what it means for a flawed individual to untangle and tangle their life with someone.

Hazel's writing style is beautiful. She expertly strings together simple, plain language to create vivid moments. The main character's intricacies and struggles - including eating disorders, difficult parents, mental illness - are woven seamlessly into the story and are observantly reflected in her actions and reactions to this heartbreak. Theo is written to be upsettingly flawed but all too realistic.

My only hang-up with the novel is its premise. While the idea of a love story told in reverse is quite pretty, the knowledge of how the relationship between the MC and Theo culminated, made the rest of the story a little less compelling in my opinion. While the story was told beautifully, this book didn't always hold my interest and it took some time for me to complete reading it.

This book was still a sweet read though even if it was a slow burn.

The concept of this book is truly beautiful. While most authors write love stories from start to finish, this one takes a differemt approach. We meet Theo and an unnamed heroine as they're breaking up. What unfolds after is their story but backwards. A totally novel approach, this book held so much promise, but started to fall flat around the middle.

The way the author was able to convey the actual painful heartbreak of a breakup was extraordinary. While most of us already have experience this in real life, she has an art for putting pen to paper and truly allowing you to feel the anguish and hurt our heroine does. The beginning truly had me in tears. The only issue to me was by the middle it started to fall flat. While I understand what the author was trying to convey, it made the book far too heavy in my opinion for casual reading. This obviously is just my opinion, and I don't want to discourage anyone from reading, but it definitely dives into mental health issues in detail. Since I read for more pleasure/hobby, it was a bit much for me. As someone who suffers from mental health issues, it wasn't exactly sometbing I wanted to immerse myself in for a pleasure read. However, the writing is beautiful and absolutely realistic.

🌟🌟🌟/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Hazel Hayes, and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have been a fan of the author for years and was looking forward to this book. Was not disappointed! Hope to see more books from her in the future.

The story starts with a painful break up and travels back through time, in reverse, to the very beginning of the long term relationship. Interesting premise, I admit! Very October-List-Jeffrey-Deaver-like, for those that like that author, in the thriller genre (which I loved!!). So I really was excited for this book and anticipated loving it, and while I did enjoy it, it fell a little flat for me. While I realize the main character, an unnamed young woman, is purposely an unreliable character, I found it hard to like her or sympathize with her throughout the story. And of course I couldn't stand Theo, the ex boyfriend, for obvious reasons. A story without a character to "bond" with or relate to, or root for, is hard to attach myself to. While I know a lot of others that read the book cried and felt emotionally gutted, I just felt......meh. The author writes beautifully and descriptively but there wasn't enough substance to the book overall for me to give it more than 3.5 stars. I would definitely give something else she writes a try!
Thanks to Hazel Hayes, Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC.

Como vocês já sabem, essa resenha é em parceria com a Random House Internacional, de quem recebemos esse eARC (Advance reading copy: algo como “uma cópia de leitura avançada, ou seja, o livro ainda pode sofrer alterações antes de ser publicado). Também lembrando que essa resenha terá um formato diferente: por ser um ARC, não haverão quotes, já como os livros podem sofrer mudanças em seu texto antes de serem comercializados. Gostaríamos de agradecer profundamente a Editora pela oportunidade de parceria.

Geralmente quando nós pegamos um livro de romance, eles funcionam mostrando para a gente o início daquele relacionamento e dali ele tem dois pontos: ou o relacionamento segue firme e forte até o final, ou então termina e o casal fica separado no final, sendo assim um drama, tenho certeza que todos aqui já pegaram pelo menos um dos dois.

Mas não é assim com “Out of Love”. Nesse livro, ele começa no ponto final do relacionamento entre a personagem principal e seu (agora) ex: Theo. Muito tempo atrás eu li um livro que me lembrou bastante esse ponto que é “Por isso a gente acabou”, que começa no final do relacionamento e durante todo o livro nós passamos pelas pontuações do que levou ao final, mas mais uma vez surpreendendo, não é assim que Out of Love trata o final deles.

Nós começamos o livro exatamente no fim: Theo está no apartamento da personagem principal – a qual nunca ficamos sabendo o nome – para pegar o que resta de suas coisas lá: algumas roupas e itens para que ele possa sair de vez da vida dela depois do término gradual que eles dois tiveram em um relacionamento que durou anos. E dali, nós vamos voltando aos poucos: nós vemos tudo pelo ponto de vista da nossa protagonista, nos mostrando fragmentos aos poucos: os dias depois do pedido de “tempo” de Theo enquanto ela se dava conta de que o relacionamento deles tinha acabado realmente.

E então voltamos mais um pouco para a briga que culminou o pedido de tempo da parte dele e assim sucessivamente, vamos voltando aos poucos, cada vez mais, até chegar no primeiro encontro do casal e é aí que o livro termina.

Eu confesso que fiquei um pouco surpresa não só com a forma do livro, porque bem, como eu disse, estamos sempre acostumados com um livro que mostra um começo de um relacionamento, um meio, um fim. Necessariamente nessa ordem. E, geralmente quando começa com um final, é porque a personagem irá encontrar outra pessoa para amar no caminho e tudo aquilo que ela sofre no início será uma lembrança dolorida – mas que ao mesmo tempo ensinou a ela o que ela precisava aprender.

Não que “Out of Love” deixe isso falho: conforme vamos voltando nas memórias da protagonista, nós – e ela, aprendemos bastante com tudo que aconteceu durante aquele tempo que eles estavam juntos, tanto as coisas boas quanto as coisas ruins.

Esse livro causou uma impressão bem grande em mim, não só pela forma como foi tratado, mas também pelo jeito agridoce com que todo o tema foi tratado. Eu até comentei com a Vi enquanto lia que eu já tinha marcado tantas frases nesse livro que até perdi a conta – e eu fico bem triste de não poder compartilhar elas com vocês.

Infelizmente eu não sei de notícia nenhuma sobre esse livro vindo para o Brasil, mas eu estou torcendo e vou começar uma campanha para que venha, porque eu acho que todo mundo precisa ler esse livro que é tão bom – ao mesmo tempo em que ele dói, ele é bem real. É como a vida funciona: nem tudo é sempre bom, nem tudo que já foi bom um dia dura para sempre e que, mesmo que um dia uma pessoa tenha sido boa pra gente, às vezes ela deixa de ser e o melhor é se afastar e guardar tudo numa caixinha como uma boa lembrança de um passado que pode não ter sido perfeito, mas que era o que precisávamos naquele momento.

Eu gostaria apenas de deixar aqui marcado também que eu não pude deixar de dar uma pequena risada com a biografia da autora, a Hazel, porque ela era escritora de terror e quando perguntaram para ela porque queria mudar o terror pelo romance, ela disse que é porque não existe nada mais assustador do que amar. E, bem, errada ela não está!

Thanks for the free book, Penguin Random House International.

I really enjoyed this heartbreaking, yet still heartwarming love story in reverse. The story starts with the end of a relationship and goes backward from there, ending with the two main characters’ first meeting. It’s such an intriguing way to get to know these characters and experience their story. While it is bittersweet, knowing how the relationship ends before it begins, it’s such a compelling framework that I still felt invested throughout and especially enjoyed seeing the growth (in reverse!) of the unnamed main character.

I had mixed feelings reading this book. At the start, it appears a relationship is ending, sadly for one and not sadly at all for the other partner. Then it felt like all the chapters were written and thrown into a pile, then randomly pulled out one at a time and put into the book without regard for timing. Then it would seem to progress in one direction only to be suddenly in the past, but not knowing is this a past event or are they together again? It was really annoying to me for part of the time until I gave up my wish for it to be chronological, which is not what the author appeared to want.

Both of the partners have past issues that influence the story, but then, don't we all? Lucky for most of us that we can get past the issues, but not all people can.

Overall, it seemed too drawn out, but then that is what real life feels like so I guess I can't make that a criticism. 3 stars at the most. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I read Out of Love in one sitting last week and I adored it. Out of Love begins at the end of a relationship and follows the parting of our unnamed protagonist and her boyfriend, Theo. It goes in reverse, recounting events in relationship until the end of the book when she and Theo meet. (But go back and read the first chapter when it’s over to get the full experience.)

This was unlike any novel I’ve read previously in the pacing and the way it was written. It was real and raw, an emotional love story that deals with anxiety and mental health. Despite knowing the ending, I couldn’t help wishing for a magical change in the outcome as I read through to when they met. The characterizations were honest and beautiful and the writing was magical. I can’t wait for more from this author!

This book caught my eye with comparisons to One Day, which was a book I read years ago and loved. But… hmm… file this one as yet another September Reads That Didn’t Wow Me. I think mostly because it was a little depressing to read a book about the unravelling of a relationship. It’s sad and bittersweet. However, I did like it that it was very honest, and the representation and normalizing of mental illness. I even liked how Maya was from Ireland, and Theo was from England and the nuances of how that played out in their relationship. That was fascinating for me, as a Canadian, to get that insight. I think fans of Sally Rooney will want to give this book a shot. It's well-developed and thoughtful, but was just a bit more of a bittersweet read than I was looking for.

"You can't fail at a relationship. That's like getting off of a roller coaster and saying you failed because the ride is over. Things end. That doesn't mean the experience wasn't worth it."

Out of Love is written in the first person narrative through the perspective of an unnamed female protagonist and it is told as a love story in reverse. The story begins with the breakup and each chapter goes deeper into the past, weaving together pivotal moments of the protagonist's life and her relationship with Theo. The last chapter is our protagonist meeting Theo and ends with a magical first kiss that leaves you full of optimism for a relationship we already know is doomed to fail.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Hayes produces such a raw narrative that completely shattered my world. If I had to describe Out of Love in one word: Bittersweet. I immediately hated Theo at the beginning because of course I'm rooting for the protagonist, that's simply how first person POV works. But as each chapter unfolds and the reader is given the building blocks of why this relationship didn't work out, your view drastically shifts. Hayes nailed the execution and it really made for such a meaningful story. I thought at first, well who cares how they meet if we know they don't end up together? Me. I totally cared. This book is all about the journey. I've read parallel timelines and enjoyed them but never a book like this with one plot strictly on the reverse timeline and wow, it works. Instead of tearing up at the sad bits during the beginning when I wasn't yet invested in the couple, I cried during the happy parts and when they were both so clearly in love. Everything about this is poetically tragic and I am not lying when I say I seriously sobbed towards the end of the book. It's such a poignant, beautifully written story with a focus on mental health, self love, friendship, and family. I almost want to reread it backwards now. Highly, highly recommend.

Sometimes you just need a love story, and Out of Love is perfect in every way ❤️

As you might be able to guess from the title, this isn’t as much a falling in love story as it is a falling out of love story, but in a completely unique and interesting way.

Hazel Hayes’ Out of Love begins with a breakup and then moves back in time, showing the progression of a relationship in reverse, layering on details and building the story of a couple whose relationship is failing.

Going into Out of Love, I wondered if it would maintain my interest. After all, I know there’s a breakup. There’s nothing else to learn, right? Wrong, because, as I learned the details of the failing relationship and began to know the characters, I fell a little bit in love with them myself.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read early and review! Link to my Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUVa6GTLH1W/

What a way to give a happy ending to a very melancholic story. Inventive. Also, everyone in the world needs a Maya.

I tried read this one, but I couldn't get into it. I felt that the main characters were a bit too immature for my taste