Dearest Josephine

I enjoyed Dearest Josephine much more than I expected!

Josie De Clare's father recently passed away, and she's still reeling from his loss. After finding out about a house he bought to renovate, Josie retreats to the secluded manor to try to fix it up and figure out her next steps.

The story unfolds through emails, texts, letters, and excerpts from a novel by one of the manor's previous tenants. Not my favorite format for a book, so it's extra impressive that I enjoyed it!

Throughout the book, Josie is working her way through grief. She's fixing the house, reconnecting with her friend Faith, making new friends, and falling in love with a man who lived 200 years ago. Did she have the healthiest coping mechanisms? No. Were they heartfelt and authentic? Yes.
I was most invested in Josie and Faith's relationship and the rocky path of mending it again because that was the relationship I could relate to the most.

Did I swoon at some of Elias's letters? Yes, yes, I did. I adored the Pride & Prejudice references, and the beautiful, pure emotion of the letters got to me a little more than I expected (even considering they were written to a woman that he only knew for a few hours). Honestly, I can't blame Josie for falling in love with him because I would have too.

I enjoyed the little bit of mystery, as well: is there actually time travel? Do they somehow end up together? How does Elias know so much about Josie?


Audiobook Review: I enjoyed the narrator! She did a great job considering the book's format, which seems like it would be awkward for this format. I liked the addition of text chimes, which helped differentiate the communication type as you're listening.

My only complaint is Faith's emails. The American accent was just not quite right. It sounded Australian most of the time and “Emma Watson in Perks of Being a Wallflower” the rest of the time.

Second Complaint: The over-emphasis of LOL. It always felt very forceful, plus I tend to make fun of people who say it out loud, not to mention if they pronounce it as “lull” instead of saying the letters – that's probably more of a personal nitpick though.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book threw me into a pool of feels and left me to drown. Okay, I'm being dramatic, but I truly did have to let Dearest Josephine sink in for nearly a week before I could form a coherent enough thought to write an actual review. This book is just so many things!

The format is unlike anything I've read before. I do own Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, which I believe is in the same format of telling the story through emails, but I haven't read it yet so I can't compare it properly, which makes Dearest Josephine a first for me. HOWEVER, Dearest Josephine is so much more than just emails. It's letters to swoon over, a freaking book written by the man who fell in love with our Josie two hundred years ago (just, ughhhhhhhh cries), and the text messages that interrupt Josie's reading, which was both entertaining and super annoying (but not in a bad way, it just made you want to shut off your phone and maybe pitch it across the room to be left alone with Elias).

I was concerned that this format would leave out something and that, as a reader, I would miss out on a large portion of the story, but honestly, this worked SO WELL. It gives you the feeling that you're eves-dropping on someone else's life and trying to piece together mysteries by reading their communication–which, I personally enjoy doing...not to sound weird or anything... For example, I've come across old Bibles at garage sales before and they had letters and pictures inside them, and I adore trying to weave together a story of the previous owner based on those items. So, Dearest Josephine fueled my love for mystery and storytelling by instead of telling me a story, giving me one to try to tell myself, and as a reader, that was just so special and I can't describe how much I enjoyed it (even my husband got in on the speculations as I loudly exclaimed each new plot twist and read him snippets throughout the book).

I can't talk about the story or characters without spoiling anything (sorry, I've tried and it's just not gonna happen), so I will instead talk about how I see this book to be both a swoon-worthy romance that anyone who loves romance must read, but also how Dearest Josephine is a love-letter to readers from the author. There were SO many places that I felt like the author was straight-up identifying with what it's like to be a reader. What it's like to fall in love with fictional characters (I now have Elias, Oliver, and Arthur on my list of fictional boyfriends, thanks Dearest Josephine). What it's like to have a manuscript change the way you think. How a story can alter your reality. And, how connections made through literature forge unbreakable bonds. There is just so much depth in this book that would fill hours of conversation at a book club, I am simply in awe. Dearest Josephine is beautiful.

To bring this obsessive rant to a close, I shall simply state that if you are a lover of romance, exquisite writing, mystery, and unpredictable plot-lines, then Dearest Josephine should be in your hands without further hesitation. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!

Content disclaimers: Language: Mild (the word bstrd used in historical context). Sexual: Mild mentions of kissing, mention of affairs. Other: Family betrayal, grief & death, mild spooks.