Not what I was expecting at all (in a good way) i couldn’t put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

I picked The Best Days Of Our Lives up expecting a romcom and that isn't what I got, I got beautiful tale of loss and heartache. But also, endurance and strength. A deep, meaningful read.

Somehow, this is the first of Lucy Diamond’s books I’ve read. I know of her and I’ve seen her books and often been interest in them, but for reasons unknown to me, I have never actually read one. But I was very eager to read this one.

If I’m honest, I’m a bit on the fence. I found good points and bad.

It took me a while to get into it. The first, maybe, 15% of it was a little bland, a bit vanilla. I don’t mean that in a mean way. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t great. It just sort of plodded on and I wondered whether it was going to be for me or not. But it did quickly pick up and the second half just flew by.

Where I’m most conflicted though, is in regards to the character of Leni. We know that she dies early doors (no spoiler - it’s right there in the synopsis), but there’s not real transformation from her being there to not. And part of me would like more depth to her character and more of her story, rather than the drip feeding we get. On the other hand, the main crux of the story lies on her sister, Alice, trying to uncover the last weeks of Leni’s life, and by keeping us in the dark too, it puts us on the same journey, so I can understand why it’s written like that, but it doesn’t stop me wanting more.

Where Lucy Diamond does excel is in her character creation. Main or supporting, old or young, female or male…they’re all so well written. And the extended family as a whole. It’s a great exploration of a dysfunctional family without straying into the pantomime.

One thing I really liked was how everyone’s stories were interconnected. It’s unsurprising that the parent’s and children’s stories link as they’ve all lost the same person, but there are some secondary characters that pop up here and there that help tie it all together. It helps create this sense of community and the importance of friendship and love.

It is definitely full on with the emotions, and potentially a bit too much. If they’re sad, they’re distraught, if they’re a bit lost then they’re mad. Everything is dialled up to such an extreme that it doesn’t always feel in keeping with the characters. However, her description of grief is perfect. I’ve experienced grief in a number of ways and it can present in the most bizarre of situations and the strangest of times, but she’s definitely hit the mark with that. She doesn’t sugar coat the grief but she is equally very sensitive about it.

Yes it is a sad story, you’ll find yourself reaching for the tissues on several occasions. But overall I feel it’s a story about hope and joy, about redemption and family, about second chances, and about how important your loved ones are to you.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this latest from LucyDiamond. Having enjoyed previous titles by this author, was keen to read this. Definitely an enjoyable read, the author dealt well with the difficult subject of losing a loved one .

With thanks to netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow what a beautiful book. I couldnt put this story down read it in a day. The way the author lucy diamond approaches heavy topics such as grief and loss was so touching. The best days of our lives is out in Feb one not to miss

A beautiful story which is heart breaking in so many ways.

Impossible to put down from start to finish.

Not the usual uplifting rom com I was expecting but this is a well told story of a family dealing with the death of a loved one in their own different ways.
Lucy Diamond is a talented writer and her characters moved me to tears at times.
Ultimately this is a story about going through the different stages of grief and that light and hope can finally be found.
There are some light hearted moments so please do not be put off by the subject matter.

I began this book expecting a light hearted rom-com romp. But it is, in fact, dar deeper than that. Guilt, grief, exhaustion and hope are inter twined making for a thoroughly satisfying story of a convoluted family.
I really enjoyed it and will certainly return to this author.

The Best Days of Our Lives bursts with Lucy Diamond’s signature warmth and insight - it’s a true rollercoaster of emotion, which feels so very real, and charts the family members’ journey through grief. My soul soared as they each found their way and I cried my eyes out at how beautifully Lucy writes their happy ending.

Sad, Emotional story of loss & love

The book follows the fractured McKenzie family as they navigate and deal with their grief following the death of their daughter, sister, and friend, Leni. How friends and family deal with their loss and find acceptance to move forward.

The writing style is extremely easy to follow even though it contains several characters – they are all easy to follow and it doesn’t get confusing, like so many other books do with numerous characters.

This book is full of smiles and sadness at the same time – and sometimes I found the sadness of grief quite overwhelming.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an unbiased, honest review.

This is a very moving story of how different members of a family deal with their grief in a variety of different ways following the loss of a member of the family in a tragic road accident. The writing style is very engaging and I became invested in all members of the family as they battled their own demons alone before ultimately re-uniting in order to be able to move on. The book had the capacity to make me both laugh and cry at times and was a very enjoyable read which stayed with me for quite a while after I finished it.
I am grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

A wonderful portrayal of grief and loss and how we each deal with it differently. This was a challenging read at times but really sensitively written with well drawn, relatable characters. Ultimately it was a story of hope and of living, of family and acceptance and really rather lovely.

Sad, funny, hopeful and unexpected- this is everything you want in a good read. The death of Leni throws her family into freefall as each feels guilt as well as loss and each one had to slowly find their way forward. Bittersweet but joyful. Get the hankies out.

Whilst this was a sad storyline, I thought it was written very well.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This is a very difficult book for me to review as someone who has recently lost her sister.

Leni McKenzie dies suddenly and this book follows her parents and siblings and how they cope with the grief that they are feeling and how they come to terms without Leni.

Sibling rivalry hides secrets that start to unravel upon the death of the oldest sister.
About acceptance and moving forward after the loss of a pivotal member of the family.
Mistakes, hurts and regrets affect all the family. Can they open up?
A book that will make you cry and smile.

Lucy Diamond is one of my favourite authors! This book was truly a delight to read. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a weepy and will have you reaching for the tissues throughout, but it was so heart-warming that I couldn’t help but be captivated by it right from the very beginning. The story revolves around Leni, although we don’t actually get to meet Leni for long in person as shortly after the book begins, Leni is knocked off her bike and sadly dies. We do, however, get to know her really well through her sister Alice, her brother Will and her parents Belinda and Tony. Their fond recounting of stories about Leni was wonderful and following them all through their grief was so sad yet uplifting.

The book is full of likeable characters, and whilst some you may not warm to immediately, they do all redeem themselves by the end of the book. Tony, Leni’s dad, is a classic example of this, and I really admired and loved his character by the end. There are lots of different family dynamics within the book, yet the author deals with these in an uncomplicated and simple way, creating and resolving deep rooted family issues. There are also some twists and turns throughout the story, which add a little bit of intrigue into Leni’s story. This was a beautifully written book, giving an insight into the family’s grief and showing how far out the ripples of Leni’s death went. A touching read, with some light-hearted moments (I particularly liked Hamish the cat’s part in this!) and lots of family secrets which you know will be revealed by the end of the book. Wonderful! Would definitely recommend!

This is a gorgeous book about how four different people deal with the sudden unexpected loss of a family member.

I love how this book celebrates blended families. The characters were all well-developed, complex and endearing. But above all, each person (and how they managed grief) felt real.

There are sad parts understandably, there are funny reminisces, and there is a lot of hope. The only thing missing was it didn't make me cry as expected.

One of my favourite quotes is: "We are broken crockery, glued back together".

A heart-warming and uplifting story about love and family.

P.S. It's marked as "romance" but I felt it more as women's fiction or general fiction.

I want to start by saying I did love this book. But at the same time it was a slow start, it look me a long while to get in to and to get to even like a few of the characters. Once I’d gotten a way in I was hooked and couldn’t put it down.
The flaws and pain in the characters is so well written, they aren’t flat one dimensional characters, they grow with the book and you genuinely do want things to work out for them and for them to be able to heal and live with their loss. They aren’t a normal family for this style of book. They’re real and they make the book what it is.

An excellent read by Lucy Diamond. It was not what I was expecting and all the better for that. The story was told from a variety of viewpoints and described love and loss and the relationships between family and friends. Past regrets are examined and the difference between past and present highlighted as the book progresses. The characters and the relationships between all of them are explored. A book which describes the emotions.felt by characters and which involve the reader quite closely. Well worth reading.