Book Review: Miss You

By Becky Gulc

‘Tess and Gus are meant to be. They just haven't met properly yet. And perhaps they never will...

Today is the first day of the rest of your life is the motto on a plate in the kitchen at home, and Tess can't get it out of her head, even though she's in Florence for a final, idyllic holiday before university. Her life is about to change forever - but not in the way she expects.

Gus and his parents are also on holiday in Florence. Their lives have already changed suddenly and dramatically. Gus tries to be a dutiful son, but longs to escape and discover what sort of person he is going to be.

For one day, the paths of an eighteen-year-old girl and boy criss-cross before they each return to England.

Over the course of the next sixteen years, life and love will offer them very different challenges. Separated by distance and fate, there's no way the two of them are ever going to meet each other properly . . . or is there?’ (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon UK.)

For some reason that I can’t explain, this book was sitting on my review shelf way too long before it was finally, and carefully, selected as one of my holiday reads. It was suggested that if I enjoyed One Day (I loved it), I’d love Miss You too. That’s quite a promise, isn’t it? I was a little skeptical about this and wondered if it would offer something different. Well, to sum it up, this is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. To me, perfection.

I fell for both Tess and Gus straight away. The narrative follows them both equally over the years and both were equally endearing, with a touch of sadness and vulnerability to both of them that makes you root for them to get together, somehow. These characters are loyal; they are tackling their own demons and just get on with life, even if it means putting themselves second.

But this novel is different as they only meet very briefly in the beginning, and even that is fleeting and seemingly insignificant to each of them at the time. So I found it fascinating just to see each of their lives evolve, with it being clearly obvious to the reader how perfect they could be for one another. It could have frustrated me, but it didn’t. It was beautifully written, warm and organic.

Another thing I loved about this novel was that it wasn’t predictable. The ending was beautiful and heart-rendering. Just a forewarning that some difficult subjects are covered in the novel including cancer and bereavement. I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough and can’t wait to read more from Kate Eberlen.

Thanks to Mantle for the book in exchange for an honest review.