I wasn’t sure about this at first but oh my word, it was good.
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Wow!
At the beginning, I struggled to get into this book and I was tempted to DNF during The Novel parts. They were not super great or interesting. However, that soon changed. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and absolutely did not want to put the book down. Unfortunately, my calc homework guilted me into setting it aside for a bit but once I came back, I was still just as invested in the story. All the sections grew on me and I loved getting swept away in multiple stories.
This book is so unique because it is told entirely through email, text, letters, and chapters. That is something I've only seen in adult books so it was really refreshing to find a YA with this format.
Overall, I'd recommend this one to both contemporary and historical lovers as there is plenty of each to go around.

Rating: 5/5
Language: n/a
Romance: crushing, ex-boyfriend who won't leave MC alone
Spiritual: n/a
Violence: death of parent
Note: mentions/talk of tampons/periods

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required. ( )

Thanks to Thomas Nelson & NetGalley for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own. #DearestJosephine #NetGalley

I admit I was confused after finishing this novel, so this review will most likely also be confusing, as the story was told in a variety of styles: via letters written in 1820 from Elias Roche to Josephine De Clare, also via a novel written by Elias about the same 1820 characters, and through contemporary texts and emails to/from Josie De Clare to her friends in 2020. Even after finishing this novel, I was never sure what was real, what was imaginary, was time travel involved, or ghosts? Are Josephine and Josie the same person and if so, how can that be as they are separated by 100 years?

While I loved the book cover art, I can't firmly say whether I liked this book or not. I liked Josie, not Josephine. I liked Oliver, not Elias. I liked the friendship between Faith and Josie. I liked the spooky house Josie inherits from her father. I liked the conclusion of Dearest Josephine, and think it would make a great book club choice - guaranteed to provoke a stimulating discussion. ( )

2.5 stars

Okay, wow. So, I know that writing a love story between people from two different time periods must be quite difficult, but I was not expecting this at all.

I will start with what is good about this book: Oliver. He's the only likable person in the whole lot. Also, I received the audiobook version of this book from NetGalley, and I really enjoyed the sound effects to help transition the reader between the three parts of the novel as you switch back and forth between present day Josie e-mailing her Mom, best friend Faith and Oliver, Regency era Elias and Josephine, and the novel Elias was writing during his lifetime. I think that following 3 plots across 2 time periods would have been difficult without this, so it was greatly appreciated.

Now, for the rest of it. Josie was selfish and not in touch with reality. How are we to believe that she instantly fell in love with a man through letters he wrote to another woman? How are we to believe that she could be such a horrible friend, reconcile with Faith and then instantly make everything about her again without losing her best friend for good? She is not the type of protagonist that you want things to work out for. She lacks emotional intelligence and lives in a fantasy world where everything revolves around her.

Why write Regency era characters that behave like modern day people? People who want to marry for love and take no issue with casting aside expectations from society and family? People who create scandal without much effect? Individualism is not so strong during this time period, particularly among the upper classes.

Although I am a huge fan of P & P, I do not typically compare other Regency books to it. However, this book makes more than one reference to it, for clout I assume? P & P has a slow build up with events that make the romantic attachment believable. This book should not have ever made mention of Jane Austen or used familiar lines from P & P. It felt like very cheap filler.

I had a feeling about how the ending would turn out, and I stuck with it just to confirm that yes, this is selfish Josie's world and we're just living in it...oof. ( )

I love this delightful, gripping, and fun novel that has the characters come to life in surprising ways. This was a wonderful escape into the life of Josie who is at a English cottage mourning the loss of her father. I loved how the author seamlessly and uniquely tethers the characters back and forth between present and past in a charming blend of letters, emails, texts, and novel manuscripts. This is a creative and entertaining way of introducing characters and giving the story a rich depth.

When Elias Roch meets the woman of his dreams, Josephine DeClare he falls hard. It reminded me of the prince in Cinderella except there was a glass slipper left behind to track her down. Elias searches high and low for his love with no success. In the meantime, he starts to write her letters, in hopes of sending them to her eventually.

Josie DeClare’s present day timeline is shown through emails and texts which involve messages with her BFF, Faith, who has recently reconnected with Josie, and then there is Oliver, the handsome and charming boy next door, who helps readers see the landscape and get to know the English cottage and Josie better. And last but not least Josie’s mother helping her navigate the ups and downs of grief.

Josie starts to look around the house and stumbles upon a stack of unusual letters written to Josie DeClare by Elias Roch. They are from the regency era and written to a mystery woman Elisa Roch met at a masquerade party. Crazy thing about the letters, they bare Josie’s exact name. When she reads them, she feels as if Elias Roch is writing to her.

I liked learning how the author came up with the idea for this story, She says, “Years ago, I read the book Guernsey Literary…gripped by its epistolary format…For me, the experience was intimate and immersive, a canvas permitting my imagination to fill in the gaps…Fast forward to 2019, when I got the idea for Dearest Josephine, I realized the story needed to be told in letters, and not just letters—I wanted to use modern forms of communication to show we’re all living stories. Our words are important. They survive centuries. They leave a legacy…Dearest Josephine, at its core, is a love letter to the written word. For that reason, I could see no other way to tell Josie and Elias’s story than to bring them together with words. They needed to connect and find themselves both on and off the page.”

I enjoyed this intriguing ride with Josie and friends. This is the first book I have read by this author it will not be the last. This book would be a hoot to discuss at your next book club meeting. It’s so much fun.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org ( )

I loved this book! The narrator has an engaging voice. I was entranced by the narrative format of the two sets of letters being sent back and forth and the “book inside a book” premise. I don’t remember reading anything like it before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending is not exactly what I expected; but it was everything that I needed. I fell in love with all the characters and especially identified with Josephine, the main character, who suffers from fictiophilia for Elias. I can’t wait to find this book in hardback! ( )