This book was a fantastic feel good curl up with a cuppa book.
It follows the life of Leni and her family McKenzies unite. Loved the way it was written incorporating the family old and new. A few tears but mostly laughter and a great read to lose yourself in.
Highly recommended read

Devoured this book in a couple of days. Leni has recently passed away after being knocked off her bike. All of her family are struggling and several blame themselves. Brother Will has run away to Thailand; sister Alice is trying to recreate every part of Levi’s life; mum Belinda is running up phone bills to the medium who is passing on messages from Leni; and dad Tony is battling the emotions of a fallen apart family whilst awaiting the birth of a new baby from wife number 4. This is the story of them coming to terms with Leni’s loss, and coming back together again. I loved this book.

I love this authors books and how they always write about real people and real issues and how the books are so relatable to everyday lives.

This is such a beautiful and poignantly written novel about how one family cope with and navigate through the loss of a loved one and also how they try and piece together the last moments of their loved ones life before tragedy struck. It also showed how relationships within families and with friends can be rebuilt after a tragedy and how sometimes when something devastating happens something good can materialise from it.

This book made me laugh and cry and was an emotional yet uplifting read

This book will stay with me for a long time to come.

This was yet another wonderful read from Lucy Diamond in which I found the characters got totally under my skin the more I read. Alice, Belinda, Tony and Will are all left reeling in the year following the accident that killed their sister / daughter Leni. The way their all responded so differently really demonstrated how grief can affect in so many ways and I loved the fact it was the most unlikely of them that started pulling them more together as a family. Despite the obviously sad storyline this is actually a very uplifting book and a fantastic character read, the different characters all have a great voice and they’re all just really nice people having a difficult time but it’s was a pleasure to see the different ways they were starting to move on.

I have enjoyed all of Lucy Diamond's novels and so I'm always excited by a new release from the author. With The Best Days of Our Lives, I feel that the author has really surpassed herself and written a deeply moving, multi layered reflection on grief and loss and how we all cope so differently with our experiences.
After the death of 35 year old Leni, their beloved sister and daughter, the members of the McKenzie family all cope in different ways. Alice, Leni's younger sister attempts to find meaning in Leni's last days and weeks, her brother Will, unable to face the loss and his emotions flees to Thailand. Leni's mother Belinda finds solace in the words of a clairvoyant and her ex husband Tony, Leni's father, attempts to reconcile with his children as well as coming to terms with becoming a father again.
This is such a beautifully written and emotional novel, and I was pulled into the story of the McKenzie family from the first pages and was moved to tears on more than one occasion. The author sensitively and empathically portrays a family struggling to cope with their grief and shows the range of emotions we go through when we are bereaved. Ultimately it is a hopeful and uplifting novel and I feel completely bereft now I have finished it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I have to confess that I am a massive Lucy Diamond fan, she can do no wrong in my eyes. Hers are the first book I reach for in the airport bookshop or on the booksellers table at Christmas, this title keeps that love alive