Thank you to Jill Santopolo and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

I was a huge fan of "The Light We Lost" and knew I had to read this sequel. I sobbed with the first and now I'm sobbing again even as I write this. This a beautiful, sweet, thought provoking book. As someone who is divorced and has kids that are split 50/50 custody I completely emphasized with Lucy. I have never lost someone I've been in a relationship with but her description of the pain she feels is touching. You can feel her pain, her sacrifice for her children, and even her thrill at the possibility of love again. I loved this book so much!! This is definitely going to the very top of the list for my 2025 reads! I will absolutely be promoting this book to all of my followers and friends.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I’m not sure how to put this book into words. It’s picks up 10 years after The Light We Lost ends. Lucy and Darren are divorced now and coparenting, and we spend some time on telling Samuel that Gabe was his biological father which leads to a bit of drama. It truly feels like a “where are they now” in a good way. I love that Lucy gets another chance at love and Dax understands that her love for Gabe will always be a part of her.

It was very well written so if you liked the first book I would recommend this one.

If Jill Santopolo broke your heart with The Light We Found years ago, then this book is for you! Lucy and Gabriel captivated and broke our hearts years ago with their long spanning love journey to and from each other, which ended with Gabriel’s devastating death and Lucy giving birth to not her husband’s son but Gabe’s. Now almost 10 years later, Lucy, who has still never really stopped thinking about Gabe, finds herself drawn back into his orbit when she is contacted about a gallery of his photos and a reprint of his book in honor of 10th anniversary of his passing. Lucy finds herself wondering more about Gabe’s work, how to tell her son more about him, and if she still deserves love in her life after all her mistakes and great love stories.

This book is about settling down. About the overwhelming decisions we make and the impact they have in our lives later. About questioning and doing what’s best for us. About family and how not all families look the same. It takes the hole the first book dug in our hearts and slowly fills it because everyone deserves a little happiness. While not as great as the first book, The Love We Found is a gentle reentry into Lucy’s not so perfect life. It’s a book for healing, and while I didn’t love every aspect of the book the story is beautifully told!

A continuation of Lucy and Gabe, although Gabe is obviously gone. Overall 3 stars for me, I liked it but all the light we cannot see remains my favorite. I liked the component of almost a diary entry to Gabe, but overall just felt so sad reading it.

When I found out The Light We Lost was getting a sequel, I approached it with cautious excitement. The first book was heartbreakingly beautiful—it emotionally wrecked me but still holds a special place in my heart.

The Love We Found picks up 10 years after Gabriel’s death, with Lucy still consumed by grief. While sorting through Gabriel’s belongings, she discovers a piece of paper with an address in Rome. Hoping to uncover more about Gabriel’s final years, Lucy sets off for Italy. There, she meets Dax Armstrong, a doctor working for an NGO, as well as other characters who had connections to Gabriel.

One of the things I appreciated about this book was Lucy’s narration, framed as if she were speaking directly to Gabriel. As the story progresses and Lucy begins to open up to Dax—and eventually chooses to be with him—she starts addressing Gabriel less. It’s a subtle way of showing her gradual acceptance of his death and her journey towards finally letting him go.

While I understood that this story aimed to explore grief, new love, and complex family dynamics, I didn’t connect with it the way I did with the first book. Lucy and Dax’s relationship felt rushed, almost like instalove—which isn’t something I enjoy. On top of that, Lucy’s feelings were often repetitive, especially her guilt about cheating on Darren and “breaking apart their marriage.” Overall, the story fell a bit flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the eARC !!

I loved the first book and I was nervous about reading this one but there is something about Lucy and Gabe's story and Jill Santopolo's writing that works.

Lucy is so relatable - as a single working mother trying to be and do everything. When their is a retrospective of Gabe's work, she trsvff egg is and meets people he photographed, gets to help a feeling photographer and finds her love - but has to deal with that as a single mom. Oh and telling Sammy who his father is and the turmoil that creates in their family. It's an excellent book.

Thank NetGalley for the ARC. After reading, The Light We Lost, which is my favorite book, I will read anything and everything that Jill Santopolo writes. And my year was made when I found out we were getting a sequel. This book is just as beautiful and fantastic as the 1st one.

This is a love letter to Gabriel from Lucy 10 years after the conclusion of book 1; The Light We Lost. It is imperative that you read the first book as this is not a stand-alone book but rather a continuation of their story and it is going to have so much more meaning reading it second.

I only recently read the first book (about 6 months ago) and with it fairly fresh in my mind, I feel like I can remember the angst and the loss Lucy felt carry over into this book. ***spoilers if you haven't read the first** She is facing the idea of letting go of Gabe's memories a daunting task and is looking for a way to move forward, She discovers an address among his things that leads her to a trip to Italy and the discoveries while she is there lead to a path she never expected to take. There is so much beauty in her grief/recovery/freedom to move on. This book was the perfect way to wrap up what was left unsaid in the first book. My favorite part was Gabe's son and his old soul outlook in life. Really great book!

I remember reading The Light We Lost back in 2017 and being absolutely enthralled by the story. It was a "tug-at-your-heartstrings" kind of book, and I remember crying at the end and wanting more, hoping this wasn't the end of the story. Luckily, Jill Santopolo has written a sequel of sorts, including most of the same characters as the first book.

In this one, we are nearing an important ten-year anniversary (trying not to spoil it in case you want to read the first one), and Lucy, the female MC, has been stuck in a rut. She is trying to figure out how to move forward in her life. When she follows an address she finds among some old boxes, it answers many of those questions as to what is next in her life.

I really enjoyed reading this book, maybe because the female MC is in her forties and is trying to figure out some life questions that I myself have asked. The book isn't as emotional as the first one, and the ending is a bit abrupt, but I definitely think it is an enjoyable read.

When I found out Jill Santopolo was writing a sequel to The Light We Lost, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. I loved the story of Lucy and Gabe and cried buckets reading that novel and couldn’t believe it had been 10 years since its publication.

Cracking open The Love We Found (or opening it on my Kindle lol), felt like I was coming home, as did refamiliarizing myself with Lucy. This novel finds Lucy divorced, and co-parenting with Darren, still dreaming of Gabe, the love of her life. Upon rummaging around in a box of his old stuff, Lucy finds an address in Rome written on a piece of paper, which leads her on a wild goose chase to rediscover her lost love. In addition to finding remnants of Gabe, Lucy finds oh so much more if only she’s able to open her heart enough to grab hold of it.

There’s something special about these books, these characters, and the depths of their feelings, that just reeled me in and hooked me completely. Kudos to Jill Santopolo for bringing us back to Lucy’s world and recapturing that magic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam.

I loved The Light We Los, and The Love We Found was as equally beautiful and touching. Jill has a way of connecting with her readers and making them feel deeply. It's a combination of an authentic voice and her lyrical writing. Fans of TLWL won't be disappointed. Truly a beautiful read.

I feel like *maybe* I would’ve rated this higher if I reread “The Light We Lost” right before, because this sequel certainly dives in like you will remember every single thing about a book published in 2017. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop with Dax the whole time because it was complete instalove, some of the wording during the sex scenes made me cringe big time, and, finally, in what world would someone think introducing a new man right after you drop a huge bomb of a secret on your family would go well?! This just wasn’t for me. I did not relate to the FMC at all. With all that being said, I did finish it in two days so it captured my attention enough.

I didn't make it through this one. It was too depressing. I'm sure there is some positive that comes at the end but I can't make it through. I know the writing style is her talking to Gabe, but I think that made it even more hard to read. Also it's been 10 years since his death? I'm sure a love like there's took time to mourn but I just didn't like how Lucy's life felt so stuck.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC of The Love We Found. I really wanted to love this one, but ultimately it just fell flat.

The magic and charm of The Light We Lost weren’t there this time around. Lucy and Dax’s relationship felt rushed, almost like instalove, and the inclusion of sex scenes felt out of place and inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the story, which leaned so heavily into themes of motherhood. Lucy’s belief that she “doesn’t deserve love” felt like an overdone and unnecessary plotline, and the conflict with her kids not supporting her didn’t add much depth.

I also didn’t feel like this book brought anything new to the table. The first book was so poignant and left a lasting impact, but this one fell short and didn’t feel like a necessary continuation of Lucy’s story.

This book is a sequel to The Light We Lost, which was a beautifully written, devastatingly sad love story. This review contains spoilers from that book, so read with caution if you plan to read that first!

The Love We Found takes place 10 years after the end of The Light We Lost. Life looks very different for Lucy than it did at the end of the first book. The son she was pregnant with is now nine years old and he doesn't know who his father really is. Between losing Gabe, who was the love of her life, getting divorced, and keeping such a huge secret from everyone around her, Lucy hasn't let anyone get close to her in years. But when she finds an address from Rome on a piece of paper in Gabe's things, she makes a decision to fly to Italy and learn why he saved it. The trip is a catalyst to the long over-due healing that Lucy deserves. And when she meets Dax, it might just be the start of a new epic love story.

Jill Santopolo has the most beautiful writing style. Her words are lyrical and invoke so much feeling in me. She always manages to pull on my heartstrings, and I find myself getting so emotional when I read her words.

I was so glad to get a chance to reconnect with Lucy and see what she had been up to during the ten years since the end of the first book. But seeing how much she was still struggling all these years later made me sad. She didn't feel like she deserved happines, and the debate over whether to tell her son about his biological father was tearing her apart. After suffering so much, I just wanted her to find peace and love!

Often I feel like sequels aren't as good as the first book, but in this case it really was. I especially loved the introduction of Dax, a man suffering his own demons, but who connected with Lucy in a deeply moving way. It truly brought me happiness to see Lucy find joy all these years later, even if the path to get there wasn't straight or painless. I'm so thankful that Jill wrote this book.

what an amazing sequel to a beloved book! I was nervous going into this because the light we lost was a book I believed didn't need a continuation, that certain things were left open-ended on purpose. That being said I am so glad that Jill Santopolo decided to tell more of Lucy's story. I loved that we go insight into how her decisions from the first book affected everyone in her life even her parents and close friends. And I'm happy that she was able to find love again that was new and didn't take away from the loves she had in the first book. The work with her kids was great and this book left me with a satisfied feeling in the end. Over all a great time and I hope Jill Santopolo continues to write more moving stories such as this one, with honest and messy characters.

The Light We Lost completely stole my heart so when I saw The Love We Found and learned it was the sequel, I couldn’t wait to read it!

For people who also read and fell in love with the first book, this one is ten years later and we get a glimpse into the current life of Lucy-and it’s a roller coaster.

Although this second book doesn’t top the emotions I went through while reading the first, I did still cry while reading this one-like a lot. The way Jill wrote each chapter was so beautiful. And any author that can make me ugly cry with only their words is a winner in my book. So bravo Jill!

I don’t want to give away too much especially for the ones that haven’t read the first and if you haven’t stop what you’re doing now and read it! So I’ll leave you with this, read The Love We Found. That’s it. That’s the review.

The Love We Found is releasing March 18th and I can’t wait to grab my copy to place next to The Light We Found on my bookshelf.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited when I heard that we were getting more of Lucy and Gabe's story all these years later. But really, this is Lucy's story and how that ends. This book felt like a love letter to the choices we make, love lost and love found, and the enduring power of the choices we make and the people that surround us. A beautiful final chapter for these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC!

A beautiful continuation of Lucy's story, with a new romance. I found myself getting completely immersed into the story and fascinated with how all the characters' lives had developed since the end of The Light We Lost. I would definitely recommend reading this to any fans of the first book!!

4.5! Loved seeing these characters again and what the author did to progress the story. You could feel the emotion of this book. A sequel definitely worth reading when it comes out in March.