Overall, I really enjoyed Better Left Unsent. Right away the uniqueness of the plot pulled me in. There were some slow part towards the middle but I couldn’t help but root for Millie and Jack and their story pulled me back in. There were some repetitive slow points involving the main character but overall it was a great, cozy, fun read. Lia Louis continues to be an auto read author for me.

Fun, lighthearted read about technology, relationships and confidence. Workplace romance, best friends, owning up to mistakes.

Millie is recovering from a heartbreak, but she has to confront it head on. It was a workplace romance and they still work together. She keeps a lot of her feelings inside but has 1 outlet - her draft emails. Until they are all sent.

This is about as humiliating and hilarious as you can image and the author does a great job taking us thorough all of Millie's friendships, work colleagues and family. There's a couple of silver linings in speaking the truth which is what kept my interest after the initial incident.

A fun read if you're in the mood for a lighthearted romp!

I will start by saying how much I loved Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis. It was such an emotional and engaging love story, a story that has stuck with me for many years. Unfortunately, I did not find the same depth and emotion in Louis' latest book, Better Left Unsent.

Better Left Unsent is a rom com about Millie, who uses her email drafts as a form of therapy. She writes emails to people to let out some frustration and share a piece of her mind with them, but she never sends the emails. Until one day when all of her email drafts are sent. Then Millie has to deal with the downfall of her coworkers, family and friends receiving very honest (possibly too honest) emails that reveal Mille's true feelings about them.

The tone of this book is very light and easy. I think readers could find Millie to be either endearing or obnoxious, and for me personally, I found her to be more on the obnoxious side. While what happened to her was a big deal, I did get frustrated with her inability to just let it go and move on. She seemed kind of stuck, and therefore the book felt stuck. Really not very much happened over the course of the book, and it was slow. I liked Jack, and I liked Millie and Jack together. I think the book could have used more of Millie and Jack and less of Millie ruminating about her life circumstances!

This was a quick read that didn't focus on anything too deep or serious, which is sometimes just what I want. But I think I was hoping for a little more from this one.

What a fun ARC to read! Once I got into it I could not put it down.

To me, it had the perfect mix of cute rom-com and unexpected twists. I was a bit hesitant that it would be similar to books with what seems like the same plot line (re: to all boys I’ve loved before) but the author did a great job of keeping me on my toes and keep me reading.

There isn’t a ton of spice if that is something important for you in romance books, but there was still plenty of romance and tension throughout.

Highly recommend for a quick and fun read! Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this ARC!

Can you imagine writing email drafts to friends, co-workers, family members and saving hundreds of them in your drafts' folder? These aren’t just ordinary emails. They contain the thoughts you have had and never dared to actually share with these people. Then your worst nightmare comes true, they are all sent out en masse. Sounds like an interesting premise, don’t you think?

Some of the things that I liked |
•the premise
•true friendships
•Millie’s self-development
•Jack ❤️

Things that didn’t work for me |
•the story felt disjointed
•many rambling conversations
•felt repetitive
•cringy moments

It really pains me to write this review after having absolutely loved Dear Emmie Blue, by this author. Sadly, I did not connect with this story in the way that I had hoped.

2.5 stars

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an advance electronic copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

CW | Contains frequent strong profanity and some crass innuendo

Loved this book! First off the premise is great! Total nightmare situation that the main character has to pull herself out of and face many hard truths. The plot seemed pretty realistic too, which made me want to keep reading to find out what would happen. Overall this is a very sweet story about finding your voice and realizing (in the words of Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek) "People aren't thinking about you the way you're thinking about you."

I also loved that Mille crochets which is one of my favorite hobbies.

Lia Louis does it again, creates a book that makes me stay up late into the evening reading. As I read this book I felt the frustration of the main character. Lia Louis creates characters that tend to be very relatable, the friend group was good a breath of fresh air. I can't wait to bring this in the store for readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC copy from one of my favorite authors, Lia Louis. This book is filled with her signature combination of angsty and affectionate. The emotional and nuanced details she includes for how our protagonist, Millie, is dealing with the outcome of a situation that at times feels like it’s of her own making and at other moments feels forced upon her feels realistic and true to character.

It’s part of what I love most about her book Dear Emmie Blue, and at times it felt like these characters could have been interchangeable with Emmie and Eliot. So if you’re craving that soft sell love story, this might scratch that itch.

Unlike Dear Emmie Blue, though, at times this book felt like it had too many characters worked into the plot that seemed to be side stories. The character of Alexis, for instance, didn’t seem to drive the plot or spend much time on the page. It felt like maybe she had a larger presence in an earlier draft that had to be trimmed down for space or time. I found myself wishing there were less focus on the side characters and stories and more time getting a deeper look at the budding relationship and feelings Millie is developing as she continues on her journey of personal growth. For instance, the parents’ relationship provides some context and insight for how Millie has reached some of these feelings about herself and her situation, but I found myself skimming over those sections of the story because I was eager to get back to our main characters.

At times this reads more like women’s fiction than a hard and fast romance, but the grand gestures are classic romance catnip for true HEA fans. If you’re looking for a tender and relatable story, this book delivers it with beautifully descriptive prose.

As someone who never adds a recipient to an email until I’m ready to send, the whole basis of the conflict in this book is baffling to me. You want to write an email draft? Fine. Just don’t put yourself in a position where you can accidentally send it let alone someone else…

While I didn’t mind the main character, I felt the love story in this was really lacking. I wish we had more of the friendship storyline (that isn’t really resolved until the end). It was a fine book but a bit too long and underwhelming as a romance.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sure most of us have been there in some point of our lives. Someone says that “one thing” and “has to go there” or someone chooses to act like a selfish entitled snob and you JUST. CAN’T. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE… you must vent and fast!
Well, meet our main character, Millie Chandler, who feels like writing the cold, hard truth replies to emails of her friends, coworkers, family and even companies of crappy products and leaving them unsent is rightfully satisfying and ohhh boy how wrong she is. Like have we not learned ANYTHING from Mean Girls?! The truth will set you free my friend, but just not in an email format. Now raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by Millie Chandler and her emails? Because we soon find out all of Millie’s unsent email 🪄magically 🪄 appears in people’s inboxes and our story takes off!
Now my two biggest things from this story is how we find out the truth of emails and how that particular culprit gets the equivalent of sad face emoji 😢 and walks away with their job and dignity. FOR REAL?! All while Millie is baking cakes and justifying her mental gymnastics of trying to make up for the people she sent those emails to. [Insert Joe Biden’s Come on man! Gif]
Second the writing felt like a constant stream of conscience. There were time where I was ready to write an email about this book, because Lia Louis has some really good books out there, especially Eight Perfect Hours, swoon material right there! But one must walk away, put the phone down and take advice from my kid’s bestie, Daniel Tiger 🎵“take a deep breath and count to four.” 🎶
I did like Jack and his friendship with Millie but I wish his character was fleshed out more.
Definitely a 2.5 ⭐️ but will round up to 3 because of our boy Jack.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Millie Chandler does what every person dreams of -- she writes snarky draft responses to friends and coworkers emails, that she never sends...until that dreaded day where there was a network glitch, and every single one of those emails was sent. Mortifying, right? Or maybe not. I really enjoyed this book as Millie learned things not only about herself, but with the people she surrounds herself.

Dear Emmie Blue remains my favorite book, but Lia Louis has easily become an auto read author for me.

Heartwarming! I adore Lia Louis’ stories of somewhat quirky, always relatable characters trying to make their way in the world. At times witty, at times heartbreaking, and oozing charm, Better Left Unsent is delightfully entertaining. This novel isn’t perfect - The pacing is a bit uneven and for me, the tale would have been more impactful had some of the details not serving the story well been trimmed away. That said, I much enjoyed reading this book!

Recommended to fans of Lia Louis’ prior novels.

Many thanks to Atria / Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness, what a read! At first, I was just totally mortified for Millie and her emails. I was also sitting here thinking how could that happen in accident… haha. Jack, all the heart eyes for Jack. I love that he doesn’t hold back and he listens to everything Millie has to say. So perfect. I also am so happy with the growth Millie experienced during the entire book. At first, I didn’t really care for her character at all and I really grew to love her as she grew to love herself. The book itself really started off slow and kind of overdone, but the story developed in a way that I loved and ended up not being able to put it down for the last 40%.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the eARC copy!

4.25 stars. I will preface this review by saying that I am a huge Lia Louis fan and have read all her other books. I have been looking forward to this one and I'm grateful to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book pre-publication.
While this book didn't knock "Dear Emmy Blue" off the pedestal of my favorite of her books, I really enjoyed it. Like many authors, Louis has a formula that she tends to stick with which in Romance most readers appreciate. Hers lands in the category of British Growmance, a genre that is one of my favorites. Protagonists tend to be a bit messy with a lot of things they can improve in their lives. I was really excited about the premise of the emails, it made an interesting start to the book and a way she could fix a lot of issues in her life that she wasn't confronting. It did make the beginning pretty abrupt though, but I didn't mind it too much. As the book went on I definitely enjoyed it more.
One thing that I realized while reading this book is how appealing and romantic the love interests are in her books. Another British romance author I love is Mhairi McFarlane and as much as I love her books, I can take or leave the MMC's most of the time. Louis's though, are so swoony and incredibly romantic. Banter in her books is on point. Perhaps it's how she writes the scenes but when I think back to her other books, the ending of Dear Emmy Blue and Key to My Heart, the flower arranging scene in Eight Perfect Hours... Totally swoon city. Not every romance book has scenes like this but hers definitely do. This book was no exception. I won't spoil it but the MMC definitely won me over with how he bantered and how he romanced the protagonist.
I'm taking half a star off for the part that I didn't totally enjoy and that was the ending. The last chapter and the resolution of the story was pretty formulaic and the grand gesture was a bit 😬. It just didn't hit like all her other books. Obviously the resolution I wanted (it's a romance of course) but it could have been better. And the epilogue definitely made me roll my eyes. It probably would have been better written in a different style.
Still, she remains a 100% insta buy ( or put on hold asap at the library) author for me. This book overall did not disappoint.

I enjoyed this story a lot. All of the characters were full of personality which made the story fun and emotional. Jack and Millie were so great as a couple. Their relationship developed in a natural way were nothing seemed to rushed or didn’t make sense. All of the side characters and their dramas were nicely done and didn’t overwhelm the plot but added to it. I liked that the email fiasco actually had good effects to those that received them. Millie was put through the wringer and at times was a little too stressed over it. There were definitely moments where I wanted her to read the room more and move on from it. That kind of felt drawn out. I did like really love the ending of the story. The epilogue really helped tie everything up nicely. The only thing I wish this had was Jacks point of view. Many not the whole book but a few chapters here and there would have been nice to have his perspective. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fast read that’s full of cute banter and a cute HEA!

Quirky funny and so sweet.
I found myself giggling quite often through the book.
I really enjoyed the humor.
And the author writes such relatable characters and scenarios that feel quite realistic.

I adored Jack and he is definitely an MMC that had me swooning.
I do wish we got more of Millie and Jack though. I loved their love story but there was so much surrounding drama distracting from it. And I often found myself wanting more of them and wanting to skip other bits.
And the end seemed so rushed and quick. I would have loved a little more of their togetherness. I finally got what I wanted and then it was over. Which, you really psyched me out Lia, I thought I wasn’t about to get them together and my anxiety was triggered 😂. But phew. It worked out.

If it had less of all the surrounding chaos it would have been much higher for me.
Between the multiple friends drama, ex bf, ex boyfriends ex fiancé, workplace issues, parental drama… it was just a lot and I guess in a simple lady.

But I did love the message and I really resonated with it. That we get stuck in our daily lives, routines, doing what we think we are supposed to. That we don’t truly experience life, the world. It’s something that hit me personally a few years ago when I decided to up and backpack Europe for 2 months. And it was the best decision I have ever made. So that part of the story really touched me.


I thought it was very cute and very sweet. And I look toward to future books by the author :)

Better Left Unsent, by Lia Louis: This was a little slow, but grew on me over time. Millie is a 30 year old receptionist who had her heart broken by a coworker, Owen, two years ago. She’s been struggling to get over him, when one day, all of her draft emails get sent to the entire company. Problem is, Millie uses her drafts to write things to people she’d never say to their faces – like a snarky note that someone’s breath was bad, or an angry diatribe that they made a racist remark in a meeting, or… missives telling Owen she’s still in love with him. The premise was cute, but I thought the fallout lasted way too long, with Millie obsessing over them for weeks after everyone else had seemingly moved on. Millie’s immaturity was a bit frustrating at times, and while there was romance in this, it was much more of a coming of age novel as she learns to get comfortable in her own skin.

Better Left Unsent is a fun and charming read! While it wasn't emotional like the authors previous novels I did find myself really enjoying the story!

I've given every Lia Louis book I've read 5 stars...I think literally all of them could easily be made into instantly succesful movies, and Better Left Unsent was no different. While it took me a little bit longer to get into than her others, in the end, it did not disappoint. You've got a quirky and realistic main character who you're rooting for, a swoon-worthy love interest, and plenty of romantic tension. I loved the fun banter and dynamic between Millie and Jack. I think maybe my only criticism is that there were a lot of things going on (which is very much how real life is, and I can see why Louis included all of these little sub-plot issues), and I don't think all of them were completely developed. Millie's friendship with Alexis in particular while completely believable just seemed like a bit of an add-on here and there.

This was my first Lia Louis book, but the premise sounded interesting and something I hadn’t read before so I gave her a chance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. I found the main character, Millie to be incredibly frustrating. She was fixated on the emails and continued to apologize (despite it not being her fault, who hasn’t written an email out of anger/sadness) without doing anything more than baking bread. I honestly didn’t believe that Jack would be interested in her, as she was. I did really enjoy the side characters and the writing was well done. I’ve heard really good things about the authors previous work so this book won’t stop me from checking those out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the opportunity to review the eARC.