Thank you again to Avon Books UK for allowing me access to this ARC through Netgalley.

This dual timeline book takes us into the lives of up and coming musician Will Bailey and the love of his life Emily.
By 1999, Will and his band are the next big thing, with record execs putting on the pressure for the all-important 2nd album, but a loved-up Will is struggling with writer's block, and with Emily needing to focus on her own dream of being an artist, the whirlwind romance seems to be running its course.

Will's dreams are tragically cut short though when he suddenly passes away late that summer...

16 years later, Emily has never gotten over Will's death and the guilt that she harbours. Her only focus in life is her 16-year-old daughter, Liv.
When Liv accidentally discovers her mum knew *the* Will Bailey, she can't let it drop, despite her mum's pleas. She is determined to delve into the past and find out what really happened that fated summer.

Elaine Hastings debut novel is a fantastic story of young love, devastating loss, mental health struggles, and how allowing yourself to let go can set your soul free.
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Before reading this, I'd heard that if you loved Daisy Jones and The Six, then this was the book for you. That's quite a recommendation to live up to!
Whilst I see the comparisons, this book is very different.
Not only is it dual timeline, it's also multi-PoV, so there's a fair amount of jumping back & forth. I found it easy to keep up with though.
I loved Will, my heart ached for him. Liv, whilst at times a slightly frustrating teen, meant well.
And Emily? I went back and forth over her, but by the end, I liked her a lot.
It was an emotional story and one I would agree that if you love TJR, you will likely enjoy this.
Published on 17th July, keep an eye out for this one!

This is just the best book on so many levels! Firstly, the cover is just stunning and is the perfect cover design to encapsulate the novel. And this is just the most spectacular debut from Elaine Hastings and I am so looking forward to reading her next book! But first … When We Were Young!

Love, music, and loss come together in a beautiful story that spans past and present. I loved the dual timeline. I found it engaging and very easy to follow, seamlessly intertwining the past and the present.

In 1994, busker Will and art student Emily fall hopelessly in love. They share an immense passion for music and being creative in their own ways, dreaming of a future full of possibilities. They are so happy and love their world that they have composed together. This is a book about love but also a book about loss …

Just when everything is falling into place and their future feels certain, tragedy changes everything.

By 2016, Emily is a single mother. Her love for creativity is buried deep inside. I found myself rooting so much for Emily to rediscover her creative spark and do what she loves. I wanted her to shine again – she deserved this so much.

When Emily’s daughter Liv uncovers the truth about Will and the secrets her mum kept, she’s desperate to understand why. And what did actually happen to Will? Liv is determined to find out. Liv thought she knew everything about her ordinary Mum, but discovering her secrets leaves her feeling very hurt and confused.

I loved seeing Liv and her mum’s relationship evolve, strengthening their bond and bringing them closer than ever.

The characters were absolutely brilliant. We got such a deep insight into each of them that I felt like we really knew them so well. There were heartbreaking moments that deeply touched me.

If you love books and music, this book is a perfect match – such a heartfelt story. I absolutely loved it. Challenging themes are thoughtfully explored with depth and great care. Although they are very hard topics, it is so important that they are included in novels. When We Were Young highlights the vital importance of why talking is so important and when you ask your friends if they are okay, ask twice. Even brief conversations can have a big impact and make such a difference.

Losing loved ones tragically is deeply painful, and self-blame often follows. When We Were Young powerfully highlights the importance of accepting your past and embracing self-forgiveness, freeing you from any guilt you may feel, opening the door to new beginnings. Our past shapes our future, and accepting it helps us move forward, one day at a time.

A deeply touching and emotionally powerful story. When We Were Young is beautifully written, moved me so much but also brought a smile to my face. Most importantly it left a lasting impact and a very clear pivotal message. I will never forget this book.

Thank you very much Avon Books UK for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Avon Books for the eARC of When We Were Young. I was initially drawn in by the cover, it caught my eye right away and peaked my interest. When I read the description this sounded so similar to my favorite book of all time, Mayluna by Kelley McNeill. I have been chasing the feeling that that specific book gave me for over a year now and I definitely thought this book would be the one to do it for me. Especially since this was described as being good for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six byTaylor Jenkins Reid, another of my favorite authors, I couldn't wait to dive into this one!

Two Decades, One Love Story and a song that changed everything. With a tag line like that, how could you go wrong? I am such a music lover, any romance that centers around music, bands, song writing, or a connection through music is always going to draw me in. Connections through music are not something that all people will get to experience in their lifetimes so when you meet someone, or read about two people who connect through music on such a deep level it is awe inspiring.

The story is told across dual time lines, Emily and Will's story when they meet in 1994 and everything that unfolds to get to where we are in present day, 2016, when Emily is just a "boring mom" to her 16 year old daughter, Liv, who could never imagine that her mom lived such an interesting life in the past.

The story is easy to follow, and the multiple POVs give a much broader picture and make you feel more connected to the character's and their stories. You are provided with a lot of background information, as well as being able to see our main character through the eyes of another person.
This makes characters feel so much more complex and fleshed out in my opinion. This was such an easy read to get lost in, I was gripped from the very beginning.

Elaine Hastings did a great job with her character development and creating characters that the reader can feel fully invested in. If you don't have a strong connection to the characters, it can be hard to get lost in a book, and I think the way that the author executed the character development to further the plot along and connect the two time lines was done flawlessly.

This is such a sorrowful, heartfelt, and hopeful novel that will pull at your heart strings from chapter 1. You want to root so badly for the romance in the past timeline even though you already know how the present time line will end (for the most part). This was such a beautiful story that dealt with topics such as grief, guilt, and I loved the healing journey that Emily went on.

This book definitely broke my heart but ultimately put it right back together at the end. As someone who keeps my past memories and relationships near and dear to my heart, I could really relate to the themes of coming to terms with your past and forgiving yourself. To me, this felt like such a cathartic read and I absolutely adored this. I would definitely read other works by this author in the future. I recommend When We Were Young to music lovers, to those who dwell on the past, to those who may be harboring guilt over a past situation, to those that are on a healing journey, and especially to those that love to see how the connections we make throughout our lives influence our current relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This is more about a mother/daughter relationship and learning to move forward. It was a beautiful story, based around a mother who hides in her past and the daughter that helps her break free. All Liv wants to do is learn about her favorite new artist and in doing so, uncovers a love story involving her mother. I loved watching the relationship between Liv and Emily unfold as they learned how to trust each other.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc of when we were young.

This was a heartwarming story about love, life after loss and moving forward. I admit I did really struggle with the slow pacing of the book, and it was a struggle to push through, sadly I found it difficult to connect with the characters, I felt that despite the story there was depth lacking to them, and I just wasn’t invested. It felt like the book was going through all the motions of the story, but I found at times a struggle to engage with. I did really enjoy the past and present narratives, and the multiple points of view, but sometimes it did feel like the story was a bit all over the place with the back and forth and the whole story just felt quite flat to me unfortunately

A bit of a whirlwind for me from start to finish. The vibrant colors and male and female silhouettes on the cover drew me straight away. The narration is split into 3 narrators and the chapters between vary to past and present. At first this old lady brain had trouble following who was narrating and where we were in time, but that didn’t last long. I was swept up and invested 100%. Mother and daughter are 2 of the narrators and the relationship dynamic between the two was complicated as is with any mom and teenage girl. But I loved each of their journeys, and they were both on their own individual journeys, but their come together at the end was tear worthy. There are 2 love stories unfolding through time, past and present. I loved, loved, loved this and the feelings it stirred up. The writing and pacing were beautiful and spot on. First published work by author and she’s definitely one I’ll watch for.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for my thoughts.

A poignant and moving story which evoked emotions and also entertained me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Heartbreaking, beautifully written books about love, loss and how it shapes us as a person will always get my vote. As someone in her sad girl reading era, this was exactly the kind of story I love to loose myself in.

This is a great look into how our pasts significantly shape our future.
Love and loss bring forth new beginnings and ways to move forward.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

When we were young by Elaine Hastings, her debut novel coming July 17th 2025, thanks you netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book, it represents so much and puts a message that we all need to understand better of each others feeling and self awareness.

The way Elaine wrote so beautiful and sensitively about the love story of Will and Emily's. How they were both trying to navigate their creative careers. Him being a singer songwriter and making work and a rock star ⭐ and her being an artist making her way through university and creating art for exhibitions. Their struggles , communication and obstacles of trying to make their relationship work or whether it could help work. They loved each other so much but sometimes it's not enough or your dreams just don't align with the others.

But the heartbreak 💔 and sense of loss. she takes the blame and guilt on to herself through out the book. It changes her and how she behave like a mum to her daughter. Which I love about this book going into different POV and the timeline from the present to the past. How it shows everyone's thoughts process.

I literally cried so much with this book but also had big smiles on my face with the lighter moments which were needed.

5✨✨✨✨✨
Spiciness 🔥🔥.5

But I loved it more for the mental health representation which was spot on and handled with the upmost care

This was beautiful, poignant, heartfelt and an absolute joy to read.

I was struggling to put into words how this book made me feel, it’s just so well written and incredibly hard to put down.

This story follows Will, a young musician, a promising career ahead of him and Emily, a very talented artist who falls in love with him. But just years later Will is dead and Emily must navigate life without him.

I love how this book is told from different perspectives and also the different time lines. I especially liked hearing from Liv’s point of view.

The characters were just so well written and developed, you really feel you know them. They felt so real and I came to love them all as I understood their thoughts and feelings. The events which they go through are told with sensitivity and care.

It is a beautiful tale of friendships and family, of love and of loss. It shows how passing time doesn’t always heal old wounds and how many people shoulder responsibility that is not theirs to carry.
It shows how things can be misinterpreted, how not knowing all the facts can seriously affect someone’s judgment, even years after an event.

I can’t believe that this is the authors debut novel, the way the story is put together and comes to life is a magical thing.

So in conclusion, read it! I’ve not been pulled so fully into the emotion of a book in a long time and this just resonated with me.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Sweet story, interesting plot, beautiful cover.

I just had a hard time with finding some of the dialogue believable in parts.

When We Were Young is an engaging and thoughtfully written book that offers readers a memorable experience. The story is well-paced, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the author does an excellent job developing the characters and setting.

The writing style is accessible yet expressive, pulling readers into the world of the story. Whether you're looking for emotional depth, intriguing plot twists, or vivid world-building, this book has something to offer. While there may be a few minor flaws—perhaps some slow sections or underdeveloped subplots—they don't significantly detract from the overall enjoyment.

Great story of love and loss. Emotional and touching read. My first book by this author and I enjoyed it. Short chapters and easy read. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and author for an advanced copy of this book, When We Were Young by Elaine Hastings.
This was heartbreakingly beautiful. A story of love and how life complicates it. The unfolding of the story captured me and held me the entire book. While I knew about the death, almost from the beginning, I kept hoping it wouldn’t happen. This story broke my heart, I know I won’t stop thinking about Will and his life and death for some time.
I enjoyed the dual timelines and multi point of view.
4.25⭐️

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. I loved this book. Hastings completely drew me into the characters' world. The perspectives of Liv, Emily, and Will, and switches between past and present, were done skillfully, and the characters were believable and engaging. I was utterly invested in this emotive, captivating story.

Five Stars
I fell in love with Liv and Emily and Matty and Rue and Will and Scott and Magda and Miranda. These characters were so well written that I felt like I knew them- or I wanted to know them. The way author builds tension between Emily and Liv is perfect- exactly how a teen daughter and mother go through hard times. And Mary's love for Will- the way she wanted what was best for him even in the end. I must admit I cried. The author did a fantastic job on a sensitive topic. She wrote with rawness but with a delicacy that made it easier to read. I think the way she left it- the not knowing for sure why- was beautiful and exactly how it should be. Engaging and beautifully written.

My Goodreads review link is posted below. These are my unpublished few thoughts and thanks :-)
I LOVED this book. Absolutely adored. 100% recommend.
Thank you to so much, Avon UK, for allowing me this incredible opportunity.

I really enjoyed this book, it perfectly encapsulated the love and loss that we will all experience and I loved the duel timeline.

However, as this book is pitched to fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, I constantly found myself comparing this book to “Forever, Interupted” another duel timeline story of love and grief in the same genre. I’m not saying this was a bad thing, I enjoyed both books, but I think this removed some of the originality from When we were Young.

I loved the characters and world building and will definitely be recommending, it definitely has a slower pace and takes some time to fully delve into the story but I still really enjoyed this book.

When We Were Young is a dual timeline romance, bouncing between 1994 and 2016. In 2016 Emily’s daughter is obsessed with a musician from the 90’s. She discovers her “boring” mother had a relationship with said musician. The two spent an amazing summer together when then student Emily and then busker Will met and Emily went on tour with Will’s band sometime later. For fans of “Daisy Jones and the Six”, this is a story of the past, the present, love, loss and music. This is not what I would call a “contemporary romance” as some of it is set in the past and its has more of a golden hour love and loss vibe compared to more the popular romance novels today. This book was a far cry from what I usually prefer to read so it did take some time to hook me into the story.