💌📖 Book Review: Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis 📖💌

What if all the emails you never meant to send... suddenly went out?

An emotional gut-punch wrapped in charming British wit and pure heart. If you love stories about missed connections, personal growth, and second chances—with a dash of romantic chaos—Better Left Unsent is your next favorite.

Journalist Millie Chandler writes the emails she wants to send, but never does—until they accidentally go out. Suddenly, everyone from her crush to her ex-boss is reading her unfiltered thoughts. As her carefully held-together life starts to unravel, Millie’s forced to face truths she’s buried for years—including one that could change everything.

💡 Tropes & Themes:
📧 Accidental Emails
💔 Unspoken Feelings
💭 Emotional Repression
📚 Found Family
💞 Second Chances

Lia Louis absolutely nails the emotional chaos of being human—again. This story is funny, vulnerable, and packed with warmth. It’s about letting go, showing up, and maybe falling in love along the way. Think You’ve Got Mail meets One True Loves with a very British twist.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Fun premise. I really enjoyed reading the emails. But I also love a more overt romance arc. This one has the romance as a minor subplot. This story is more about a woman finding herself and learning to use her true voice.

I love the premise of this book. When Millie has something to say, but doesn't want others to hear, she writes an email and saves it in a draft folder at work. But then a glitch happens and all of her emails are sent out. What a nightmare! This book explores the fall out of that as Millie learns to speak what's on her mind and heart and that everyone has another side to themselves they don't necessarily show the world. Mix that in with a slow-burn romance and you have this book. I enjoyed the characters that Lia Louis created. I didn't totally buy in to the romance, but it was sweet. I had a couple tears as the book was coming to a close. I didn't love the swearing sprinkled throughout. Overall I would give this book 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Title: Better Left Unsent
Author: Lia Louis
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.25
Pub Date: May 21, 2024

I received a complimentary eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Steady • Tender • Hopeful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.

But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.

As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Dear Emmie Blue blew me out of the water, so I have been reading Lia Louis' book hoping for a similar emotional experience. Better Left Unsent, her latest release, centres around the idea of Millie's entire draft folder of emails being accidentally sent out into the world - an interesting enough concept.

I'll start out by saying, while I loved the idea, the execution resulted in me having a really hard time buying into the story. There is just so much drama packed into one story! And while, I do enjoy a romance novel where the romance takes a back seat, but here it was almost non-existent, making it more of a women's fiction. The pacing was incredibly slow and at times repetitive. Additionally, I didn't get a love of the humour, which I suspect really detracted from my enjoyment.

Better Left Unsent had all of the potential to be a hit, yet it failed in its execution. The idea of
my deepest confessions being out in the world is something I really reflected on while reading. Maybe even a little too much, as I often found my mind wandering off in that direction as the story failed to hold my full attention. I did come away with several really impactful quotes about life, which I appreciated. At the end of the day, it was very forgettable to me and Dear Emmie Blue remains an outlier for me.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Beth O'Leary
• the self-discovery trope

⚠️ CW: toxic relationship, gaslighting, emotional abuse, infidelity, body shaming, cursing, alcohol, sexism, mental illness

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Because the truth always matters the most. Even when it’s hard or painful. Especially when it’s painful."

"Feeling things is what we’re supposed to do, as a human, but not everyone is always going to sit with something you feel and be comfortable with it. And it’s not up to you to take that discomfort from them, especially not if it means trading in your own truth for it."

"Nobody is perfect. Nobody has it all figured out. We all have shadow pasts, as Ralph said. I just happened to show mine."

I went into Better Left Unsent with very high expectations because I’ve read and loved three other of Lia Louis’ books, and this one absolutely delivered! The premise was engaging, and I loved Millie and how she worked through the fallout of her private emails getting sent out. I also loved the sub-plot romance between her and Jack, it was super sweet! In general I really enjoy novels that include emails and texts in the format, so that was an added bonus. Overall just a great read!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. While I begin to be disappointed that the book read more like women’s fiction with a romance subplot, that disappointment quickly disappeared as the story continued. The story was written like a movie plot and I could picture everything that was going on like a movie starring all my favorite British stars. It was funny, witty, while still being heartfelt and real. Was genuinely impressed and touched by this book. Extremely relatable main character, someone you just couldn’t help but root for, even when she mis-stepped. And a slightly shocking twist at the end.

Thank you to Atria for the eARC! I thought this was too cute! I enjoyed Lia Louis' previous work and knew I had to read this once it was available. Such a fun premise with a clever title - I enjoyed this lighthearted romance immensely.

unfortunately i never felt compelled to keep reading or pick it up back. i tried for months to get into this but i just couldn’t remember the plot

After a server glitch sends all of Millie’s draft emails—that were never meant to be read by anyone else —she decides she’s done with technology, and maybe humanity. But maybe something good could result from airing some hard truths?

Oh, Millie. So the emails get sent, but then someone in IT suggests that sending emails isn’t something an update could do. Has she been intentionally sabotaged by someone? And if so, who? Of course, Millie’s main focus will first be damage control. She frantically tries to correct anything with those she may have hurt, especially in the case of her ex-boyfriend, Owen, and his girlfriend, who may or may not stick around for Owen’s or Millie’s apology.

While most of the story is definitely Millie’s, her fantastic friends (Ralph & Cate, first and foremost) really contribute to the plot, both by aiding in her character development, and pointing out some positives of the receipt of the emails that she never meant for anyone else to read.

Lia Louis writes books that are emotionally engaging but not altogether predictable, and this was no exception. This imaginative book earned 4 out of 5 stars and would be enjoyed by those who like contemporary relationship stories.

A very cute premise, likable characters, quick-moving plot!

I thought this was quirky and sweet!

I love books written by Lia Louis, and I think Better Left Unsent is my favorite one! I felt for the main character Millie when the email drafts she had written to people expressing her true feelings all get sent. This is a feel-good book about how she faces the consequences and rebuilds her life. Great story!

Better Left Unsent is a heartfelt, witty, and deeply relatable story about love, timing, and the words we never say. Lia Louis captures the emotional nuance of relationships so beautifully—I laughed, teared up, and rooted for every messy, wonderful moment. A perfect read for fans of character-driven romance.

This sweet story gave me major Bridget Jones Diary vibes. Relatable for anyone who has every worked in an office environment,

I’ve rated this author’s previous books all 4.5 & 5⭐️s. This one I really struggled with; hence the late review. I understand this is a fiction story, but I ultimately never felt fully invested because I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how far fetched the set up of this story was! Who in their right mind would be so risky to write venting email drafts they never plan to send!? That just doesn’t make sense. Girlfriend, get a journal, use the notes app or something! Or even better a therapist! I also found the MFC to be described one way and her actions another. Will I read this author again? You bet! Until next time.

The story follows, Ellie, whose life takes an unexpected turn when a long-lost letter from her past resurfaces, forcing her to confront unresolved feelings and the relationships that have shaped her. It’s a novel about finding closure, the courage to move on, and embracing the potential of new beginnings.

Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis is a book with an insufferable FMC. This was a very painful read, I do not recommend it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a few other books by Lia Louis and have enjoyed them so I was happy to pick this one up. However, this one just didn't quit work for me and I can't exactly pin down what it was. The story line was cute but I just never really connected with the characters in this one. I will still pick up this author in the future and hopefully the next one works for me. Thank you Netgalley and Atria for my gifted copy for review.

Not into this one unfortunately, just found it a little bit boring and the characters did not make me like them.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. This book started off by giving the gut wrenching feeling knowing that you’ve made a mistake. I love how at the end she says this is all of us. We’re all human.

I really wanted to love Better Left Unsent, but unfortunately, it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The premise sounded promising but the execution felt flat. The characters weren’t as engaging as I hoped, and I struggled to connect with their emotions. Some of the pacing felt slow, and I found myself getting frustrated with the repetitive nature of the story. It just didn’t resonate as deeply as I expected. While the concept was cute, it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.