
Member Reviews

Lia Louis's Better Left Unsent introduces readers to Millie Chandler - who has my personal nightmare happen to her when her personal emails are set out. What happens from there are the madcap antics of dealing with the consequences of that action. There were some slight pacing issues that I felt while reading, but I will look forward to reading more from this author.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy (and trade paperback copy) in exchange for my honest review.
I love Lia Louis' writing. She develops quirky characters whom always provide me with second hand embarrassment. Millie has inadvertently sent all of the hate mail sitting in her draft folder and then events which followed had me smiling, laughing, and wanting to die of embarrassment.
This book was not quite as emotional as Louis' other books, but it was a great deal of fun.

Thank you so much @AtriaBooks for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 21 May 2024)
SYNOPSIS | Millie writes draft emails as a way to get all of her thoughts out (the good, the bad and the ugly), however she never intends for them to ever be read by the recipient. One night a computer glitch causes every single one of her drafts to get sent to her boss, her coworkers, her ex-boyfriend, her best friends and her recent crush.
WHAT I LIKED:
- such a fun concept for story and ongoing conflict
- many humorous moments sprinkled throughout
- the inclusion of email and text exchanges
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- despite the premise of the book being extremely cringeworthy and anxiety inducing, I didn't really feel that there was a huge dramatic fallout from it
- the general pacing was pretty slow going (the story suffered a bit from repetitiveness)
- didn't have that heartbreakingly emotional tug that Dear Emmie Blue had
- I didn't really find myself caring about the romance between Millie and Jack

BETTER LEFT UNSENT was a novel that didn't quite work for me. I've been trying to decide it I misinterpreted the synopsis, of if it failed to deliver, or if it's the writing. Maybe a mix of all three?
There are some aspects that I enjoyed (trying to go after what she wanted), some that were surprising (the ex boyfriend's fiancée at the end), and some that just weren't great (everything to do with the awful ex boyfriend). The romantic element seemed to have been forced in, but I could see it working if this was TV/movie instead.
Might give the author another chance.

I laughed out loud so many times while reading! Who hasn’t written out their honest thoughts before only to be too scared to hit send?! Unfortunately for Millie, her emails were sent and there’s nothing she can do now except for damage control. This book was comical, witty and a delight to read!

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis!

This was a cutie little book and worth the read to me! I think my book club girls will love it too! I love Lia Louis so no big surprises here! Thank you so much for the review copy, netgalley!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Lia Louis is absolutely becoming an "automatic buy" author whenever any new novels are published! Better Left Unsent is a wonderfully realistic coming of age novel with a bit of romance mixed in. After reading this book, the audience will understand why the hurtful truth sometimes indeed needs to be said out loud.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for the chance to read this novel.

A cute, standard rom-com. I’ve enjoyed Louis’s other novels so much, but this felt unremarkable compared to the others.

i really wanted to love this book, but i found it a little lacking according to my personal tastes. the main female character is unlikable and slightly insufferable, i didn’t care much for the main male character, and their romance is lackluster at best. i did enjoy the premise itself, which is why i wanted to read the book in the first place, but my main issue lies in the execution. despite this, it was an okay read. i wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but i finished it, so there’s that.

It's a realistic nightmare, having all of your unsent emails just spontaneously send. Yet it manages to be comedic even as the disaster of it all spurs a chain of events through pretty much every single relationship the FMC has.

This book was a DNF for me. I got to 30% and decided it was not for me. Hopefully it will be a good fit for someone else!

3.5 stars. The beginning was a slow start for me, but it picked up about 20-30% through. I'm so glad I finished reading it because as always, this is another warm and cozy and fun Lia Louis book that makes me feel like all is well in the world when I'm done reading.

Oh Millie, Millie, Millie... my goodness how I felt for her having all of the things she never planned to share reached the intended recipients. The secondhand embarrassment was real. Not to mention that there were moments throughout where I wanted to yell at the characters within the book. Trying to warn them to avoid so-and-so or communicate directly with someone else. Even still, I was intrigued to find out who was responsible for the emails being released--even if the suspension of disbelief for that even being possible provided challenging in moments. All said, for the plot, the fact that they were sent meant conversations that needed having came to a head. And it also meant that we were given a path to a bit of a knight in shining armor rescue. I enjoyed reading this fresh, lighthearted story.

This book was a major "What if" moment for me - what if we said all those things we really think, about people, situations, and relationships?? The prospect of this is both exciting and overwhelmingly terrifying, which we got a taste for throughout the book. I enjoyed the humor strewn throughout, but ultimately Millie's character missed the mark for me. Regardless, I still enjoy most anything that Lia Louis writes and it's definitely worth a try!

Administrative Assistant, Millie, deals with life issues and problems by writing email drafts to those who have wronged her. One night during a server outage, all of her emails are sent and her life is turned upside down. As Millie deals with the fall out, making amends and realizing the error might have been human made, she hesitantly enters into a new romance with Jack.
Part rom-com and part mystery, I enjoyed reading Better Left Unsent. I found the multitude of supporting characters confusing at times, but Millie ended up in many hilarious situations due to her writings.

I was so excited to read this book after reading "Eight Perfect Hours" and "The Key to My Heart" quickly last year. Unfortunately, this book fell short of the standard set in those two.
The premise that all of Millie's emails were sent out after her office's servers went out seemed like it could be interesting. Instead, it was a very stressful read, and I wanted it to end. I honestly don't remember much about it since reading it. I enjoyed the romance and felt like it was wrapped up well in that sense, but many of the novel's other elements felt messy.
I will still pick up her books in the future because the other two I have read were wonderful. This book just wasn't meant for me to enjoy. If you like more drama in your reads and enjoy an office setting, you could enjoy this read.

Oh this book is just absolutely adorable and cute. I found myself giggling more than once while I read this book and I truly enjoyed it. The premise was a strong one, after all, who hasn't wanted to just be brutally honest? Who hasn't thought up emails about co-workers that we wish so badly we could send, but of course because of societal norms we cant. What would happen if they were sent though? This is the issue that the FMC is faced with and she must deal with the consequences of her actions, as well as the fallout. The romance is a delightful slow burn, and when I mean slow - it's almost antagonizing slow but it just works so well. The MMC is an absolute sweetheart all the way through the end, and it's really easy to absolutely adore these characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lia Louis, Atria, and Emily Bestler books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.