Review: “The Life We Almost Had” by Amelia Henley

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Steam: 🔥

Release Date: June 14th, 2022

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CW: past fatshaming and gaslighting, parental abandonment, mentions of a heart attack (past), scenes following miscarriages, character in a coma, character with endometriosis

This is not a typical love story, but it’s our love story.

Anna wasn’t looking for love when Adam swept her off her feet but there was no denying their connection, and she believed they would be together forever.

Years later, cracks have appeared in their relationship. Anna is questioning whether their love can really be eternal when a cruel twist of fate delivers a crushing blow, and Anna and Adam are completely lost to one another. Now, Anna needs Adam more than ever, but the way back to him has life-changing consequences.

Is a second chance at first love really worth the sacrifice? Anna needs to decide and time is running out…

 

I want to start this review by stating that this book does not have a HEA, not in the romantic sense anyway. The Life We Almost Had is more Women’s Fiction than it is a romance novel and it’s probably on me for not paying close attention to these details when I was offered an ARC. This book is also extremely emotional and will wring you dry at the end. In one word, The Life We Almost Had is a ‘sad’ book. It follows two people who go through a whole lot and then proceed to put you through the gamut of emotions.

Split into multiple parts, The Life We Almost Had starts when Anna arrives on an island for what should have been her honeymoon, but is now just a holiday with her best friend. She’s not looking for a fling or even anybody of interest. Anna just wants to lick her wounds and heal in her own time. But she meets Adam and they forge a bond that turns into the best holiday fling neither of them ever even considered. But when the holiday is coming to an end, they have to part ways, or do they?

The first part was probably my favourite and for the simple reason that it’s when Anna and Adam meet, when they have their whirlwind romance and fall in love. The parts after that got a little harder to enjoy, with their marriage in crisis and the numerous struggles they have with starting a family, their story isn’t as smooth as they would have liked. Then they make an effort to start fixing what was going wrong when Adam drowns and falls into a coma.

This is when I started to struggle with the book. And I’ll admit that while this is a me problem, I’m sure other readers won’t have the same issues I did. This book just wasn’t for me, so please don’t let this low rating make you think it won’t work for you.

For all the things that I didn’t like about this book and how much it drained me, I definitely want to acknowledge that the author tackled so many real world struggles and issues and she handled it with as much care as possible. 

Thanks to Forever for the advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.