72 Hours of You

by Darianne Schramm

Sydney Hoffman can tell when someone has less than 72 hours to live, and it’s left her sarcastic, cynical and alone. Until she meets Peter, who changes everything she believes about life—and death.

This swoony, emotional, and tragically romantic debut is perfect for fans of Dustin Thao's You've Reached Sam and Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End.

"Choke-on-your-drink funny, stomp-on-your heart tragic, and without a doubt one of the best debuts I’ve ever read.” —Clare Edge

72 hours before someone dies, Sydney Hoffman sees a pink clock over their head, counting down their final minutes. Seeing death’s status updates in real-time without being able to save anyone is . . . pretty much the worst. Which is why she never gets involved.

But then she meets Peter Beckett, her optimistic, book-obsessed, and (annoyingly) attractive new classmate. When he discovers what Sydney can do, he convinces her she doesn’t have to handle the countdowns alone. Together they make a plan to wander NYC, looking for pink clocks and helping strangers live their best final hours.

The more people they secretly help, the more Sydney believes she can let go of the memories that haunt her and hold on to Peter instead. But then the universe deals a devastating blow, forcing her to reckon with what it truly means to live your last 72 hours with no regrets.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Grief, Magical Realism, Friendship, Fiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2026

Reviews

[Gwen]

Thank you to the publisher and to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
72 Hours of You 4.5/5⭐

I will never see neon pink the same way.

Age Rating: 14-15+

Don't forget to follow me on YouTube, where I post all about my favorite clean books! https://www.youtube.com/@ItsRenity

✨Plot✨

Sydney can see the countdown of the last 72 hours of someone's life. A pink neon clock will appear above their head that only she can see. She hasn't told anyone and has carried this burden which has affected how she sees the world. Until she meets Peter, who changes everything she believes about life and death. Before she knows it they are helping people enjoy their last 72 hours and skipping school to run around New York. But then she is dealt a devastating blow, forcing her to reckon with what it truly means to live your last 72 hours with no regrets.

✨Characters✨

I loved the characters and I can't believe the ending it was crazy but at the same time I saw it coming but still like whyyyyy.

🖤Sydney🖤
I feel so bad for my girl🥲😭. She was a fun character to follow around, I really felt for her and dude I almost cried.

🐕Peter🐕
The definition of a golden retriever mmc. very cinnamon roll-like. Loved him he was so sweet and helped Sydney get out of her dark mindset.

✨Romance✨

Cute, and wholesome, and TRAGIC😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
anyway, they were cute. . .*sniffle*

✨Writing Style✨

Not my favorite but pretty intriguing and I always felt like I was right there with the charecters!

✨Would I Recommend It?✨

If you like sad rom-coms but with twists like If You Could See The Sun you'll love this!

[cat]

“Seventy-two hours of you is worth an entire lifetime.”


on repeat 𝄞 ࿐♬ 𓍢ִ🎧ྀི ᯓ ‎♪ˎˊ˗
“sᴀᴛᴜʀɴ” x sʟᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ʟᴀsᴛ
2:26 ────♥───── 4:49


This was such a different kind of reading experience for me. Even from the blurb, I was slightly hesitant because I knew this was probably going to break my heart, and unfortunately, I was very correct. But underneath the sadness, this book offers such a meaningful perspective on life, death, grief, and what it actually means to live fully.

Sydney and Peter’s relationship was easily the emotional center of the book for me. Watching them grow closer was beautiful, but there was always this quiet sadness underneath everything because as a reader, you know what kind of story you’re holding. Peter brings so much warmth into Sydney’s life and slowly challenges the way she has learned to view death. He helps her understand that death does not have to control the way you live, and that the people we lose do not have to keep us trapped in our grief forever.

I really appreciated how much this book made me think about the difference between living and simply existing. There is something strangely comforting about the idea that every moment matters—not just the final ones. The book felt like a reminder to stop waiting for the perfect time to say something, do something, love someone, or let yourself be happy. It was emotional in a way that felt revealing rather than simply sad.

And yes, I sobbed. Actually sobbed my little heart out. I had a very strong feeling about where things were headed, and somehow that did absolutely nothing to prepare me for the emotional impact of it. The ending genuinely wrecked me.

I will say, my only complaint is that the excessive swearing did feel unnecessary at times, and some of the slang used by Sydney’s sister was a little too cringe for me. But honestly, those things became easy to overlook because I was so invested in the heart of the story.

This was heartbreaking, thoughtful, and unexpectedly eye-opening. I finished it feeling sad, but also so grateful. And at the end of the day... life isn’t measured by how much time we have, but by what we choose to do with the time we’re given

favorite quotes ↓

“What white really is,” Peter goes on, looking me in the eyes, “is misunderstood. But the most interesting things in life usually are.”

“You can scream to me,” he says. “I’ll hear you.”

“I’m insufferable.”
“I’d suffer you any day.”

“It’s an honor, you know,” he says into my neck, “to be the one you look for in a crowd.”

“Peter said we don’t get an epilogue in real life, but I think we do. The people who are left behind have to keep going—they have to keep turning the page. And if you’re really lucky, those people write you into everything they do. Or at least they try.”

“Everyone is living. But everyone is also dying. We all are. All the time, every second. It’s not just the last three days that matter. It’s all of it.”

things to know about the book ↓

⏰ friends → lovers
⏰ YA romance
⏰ grumpy x sunshine
⏰ opposites attract
⏰ grief & loss
⏰ bookish MMC
⏰ bittersweet romance
⏰ life-changing connection
⏰ single POV (hers)

swearing: yes (a lot)
spice rating: just kisses

Thank you NetGalley, publisher & author for this arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

─────────
・❥・⁀➷ 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕

august 31st- this blurb 😭 i dont think im ready for this story 🥺🥺

[☕︎︎𝐋𝐞𝐱𝐢✞]

Pre - Release ! 💗

EVERYONE PLEASE PRAY THAT I GET THIS ARC🥺🥺🙏. My request is still pending and I actually wanna read this book SO BADLYYYYY😍😍😍. Hopefully I get it🤭

Update : IM TOO LATE😭💔

[ahmeeka]

10/10. do not recommend.

[Muffinsandbooks]

Je sais pas trop si c’est moi qui ai terminé le livre ou si c’est le livre qui m’a terminé. Mais j’ai adoré chaque précieuse seconde passée aux côtés de Sydney et Peter, chaque échange plein d’esprit et de sarcasme, chaque perle de sagesse qu’ils nous ont partagé. Bref j’ai adoré ce roman qui est aussi déchirant qu’il est beau et original. BANGER GUYS, BANGER.

[Alexandra Morales]

****Many thanks to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for an advanced eArc in exchange for my honest opinion****

This is hands down one of the worst books I have ever read in the entirety of my reading career. 72 Hours I WILL NEVER GET BACK.

Look the premise of this book is what hooked me, she can see death clocks counting down the last 72 hours a person has left to live. I can understand how a person especially a 17 year old girl could be impacted by that such a curse. But good lord, could the author have made a more unpleasant character then Sydney?

The first 10 times the word Fuck was used in the FIRST chapter made me almost toss this book down, I should have saved myself the hassle of finishing this first draft copy of a "book". Look I'm no prude, I myself say the word many a times but with GUSTO. I don't toss the word around like it's a punctuation mark. To me this dumbs down the gravity of the situation where the word is being used. The overuse of it at this point is irresponsible and just plain stupid.

Sydney is introduced in a swirl of Fucks, her sister Jules is introduced by sexual innuendos and Peter is introduced as the cliché "not like the other boy's" boy reading at the high school party.

It isn't until 26% we get a mention of any parental figure in this book. When Sydney trips and falls and Peter brings her home it's Jules who knows about it and somehow adds an innuendo about the event, she doesn't text her father when she is stuck in New York its Jules she texts. I'm like who is paying the bills?? Whose house do they live in?? At 26% apparently we out their father locks himself in his study? Super informational Darianne thanks for that basically pointless information at that point in your book.

I might 30 years old but the language usage in this book is BULLSHIT. I could feel my brain cells dying off.

"He looks happy. Which, like... why?" - Sydney

"And like every boys favorite color is blue. It's peak American indoctrination." - Sydney

Tall tallness?

"Fucking fuck" - Sydney

"Her ponytail is the ponytail of an entitled bitch". - Sydney

"Whole other bag of dicks" - Sydney

"This isn't some ouija board middle school shit" - Sydney

"#DefundNoah'sDad" because he is a cop" - Sydney

"No fuck this, fuck the packet, fuck peter. Fuck all of it." - Sydney

Personal Favorite's:

"If someone is going deep sea diving for your pearl I deserve to know" - Jules

"You don't have to tell me if Peter Beckett is attending your one person clam bake"- Jules (UM WHO TF TALKS LIKE THIS?)

"A menty B." - Jules - correction should HAVE BEEN having a mental break down.

"That's so aggro?" - Jules (I don't even know what that fucking means -proper use of the word Darianne)

"My B broseph" -random guy at a bar (I wish I was kidding but no that is a real line.)

"Ohh look at you staring at Peter and gripping the steering wheel. You've SO got WAP" - Jules

"Okay so we are doing the whole depresh thing again?" -Jules

"I thought that little smoky sausage coming over would've fixed you right up." - Jules

Continuing on to the shortening of words unnecessarily like: DM (direct message), Insta (Instagram), Starbs (Starbucks), PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte). In addition to all the so's, like's and whatevers.

Sydney is just a judgmental bitch, Jules is someone I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Peter is the only saving grace of this book and of course he dies... as if it makes the moment sentimental or pulls the cluster fuck of a book together or something. Laughable.

If I were to somehow rework this book I would have split it up into 3 different parts. Part 1 with her meeting Peter and seeing Liam's clock. Part 2 with seeing Ms. Jegstrups clock and starting to do something nice for others whose clocks are counting down with Peter. And part 3 would be with Peter and his 72 hours. Slash the fucks and shits from the story altogether. Give Sydney and Jules more background with their father and flashbacks to her mother. And make Sydney at least 5% likeable and I think it could have been at least a 3 star book.

As it stands now, directly after finishing. I want to go ponder the decline of humanity (some of which will actually like this book) in the safe Alaskan wilderness. I'd take this book but only for toilet paper.

[Steff Fox]

I just spent the last two hours sobbing, at four AM no less; soooo…thanks for that. 😂

But, also, there aren't enough stars in the world for this book.

But what I do know is that he looks at the world in this (delusional) way that no one else does. Like it might actually be an okay place.

He sees beauty where I see booby traps. And like, I'm right, obviously, but damn, I wonder what it's like to live like that.

I don't know that this is the book I needed to be reading at this point in my life, but what I do know is that every second I spent reading this book was beautiful. You kind of go in knowing exactly what's going to happen. There's enough in the synopsis that you can pretty easily clue in to the overall trajectory of the story. The important part here, I think, is that you don't know the journey. And even though there are aspects of Peter and Sydney's story that are predictable as hell, the truth is that 72 Hours of You still manages expertly to keep you on your toes.

I finished reading Darianne Schramm's debut novel at four in the morning, on a Sunday, when I very much had work in three and a half hours, which is hardly enough time to get a decent amount of sleep. But when you're reading a book like this, the sort you truly just can't put down for the sake of how much you care about the characters, staying up as long as you need to to complete it is a no-brainer. Work be damned.

It is nothing. And it's also something. It's everything.

There are stories out there that grab hold of you, make you feel so many things, teach you something—perhaps—or just reinforce a truth you'd already learned. I think 72 Hours of You is one such story. And you know, this is coming on the heels of the Stranger Things finale, which I've thought about a lot over the past few months. But it's a reminder to me, I think, that sometimes the ending you hope for works and sometimes it doesn't.

Even more, it's a reminder that there are some characters and some outlooks out there in the void that people simply need in their lives. Peter is one such character.

"It's an honor, you know," he says into my neck, "to be the one you look for in a crowd."

There's a real juxtaposition in the placement of Sydney and Peter, in the connection they build with one another and how it plays out through each page turn. I found myself frequently second-guessing the events I knew were coming, trying to weigh out how all of this could possibly be a misdirect, as I so desperately hoped. And even still, as I fell in love with these characters, laughing and adoring this journey of learning who they were and seeing their impact on each other, this certainty I felt that I knew how the story would end somehow did not take away at all from the exceptional emotional impact of its ending.

Schramm keeps just enough information from her readers to leave them sobbing in a puddle of tears by the end of the story, connecting each slow-dripped piece of information provided until finally we fully understand all this has been building toward. We're drenched in emotional turmoil, wondering how, exactly, the author managed to send us hurtling toward doom with every hope we could possibly have built up in ourselves for these characters despite the fact that she literally told us what would happen.

But that's the point, really. The point is to hope, to appreciate, to love despite knowing the end. The point is the emotional journey, and how it changes us along the way.

Maybe that's how it always is, I thought—we all just go along, catching glimpses of one another, thinking we know everything.

I lost my soul dog to brain cancer in May of 2025 and I've been reeling ever since. And in this regard, this review feels very personal for me. There's a right way to tell a story like this and there's a wrong way. I remember experiencing November and December with extreme excitement, a thrilling anticipatory expectation for what I would see once Stranger Things aired its finale. I rewatched both part one and part two several times as I waited for that last episode. To date, I still haven't rewatched the finale; because the journey did not point to the end we received, it in fact told us the exact opposite on so many different occasions so that when it came, so many of us sat back and wondered how that could even have been a possibility for the choice the Duffers would make. I still think it was one of the worst mistakes in a show in all of history; it's almost worse than Game of Thrones.

And I remember sitting on my couch, crying, not because I appreciated the journey but because I felt that the ending was not what I needed, spat in the face of every single character in the entire show and that's without even getting into how it did so to the actors and everyone who watched it. At the time, I truly thought the intensity of my emotional disappointment was centered around the idea that, after everything I had been through that year, I just needed a happy ending.

But after reading 72 Hours of You, I'm able to recontextualize that feeling. No, I didn't need a happy ending. I just needed an ending that made the journey worth it.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[lydia {67} ୨ৎ {broken hearted}]

❀° ┄───╮
review
╰───┄ °❀

thank you to netgalley, publisher, & author for this arc in exchange for my honest review <3

✨✨✨✨ ~ 4.1 stars rounded to 4

oh my word, this book. I felt so many feelings and honestly I'm still thinking about it days later. it is such a classic disney book and yet I would still watch the movie if they released one. yes, I read it in less than 24 hours, yes, it kept me on edge, and yes, Darianne both delivered and followed through in the book. I laughed, I cried, I felt all the emotions. I would 100% recommended this book to anyone.



❀° ┄───╮
pre-read
╰───┄ °❀

this sounds so good omw, so glad i got the arc!

[shcatharsis]

J'ai bien aimé le personnage féminin qui est assez sarcastique et touchante. J'ai bien été prise au début puis j'ai un peu décroché sur la seconde moitié, où je me suis ennuyée. La fin est brutale et trop rapide à mon goût. Ça manquait de développement. Ça reste sous développé sur certains points. Sinon, j'ai trouvé intéressant les messages passés autour du deuil.

[sydney]

4.5⭐️

oh my heart, this book finished me❤️‍🩹

beautiful and unique concept for the plot and it was easy to follow. there were moments i was laughing because i understood the sarcastic humor. peter was everything in this book and loved the fruition of the relationship with sydney.

i loved the meaningful depth of the time concept and how we should make the most of it. i really enjoyed this read and looking forward to reading more by this author. also btw i can totally see this as a Netflix movie.

thank you NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the eARC.

[Aliyah]

my favorite read of 2026

[Vanessa]

Endlich hat mich ein Buch mal wieder so richtig zu Tränen gerührt und emotional komplett zerstört. 💔
Fantastisch geschrieben, mit einem tollen Tempo und Charakteren, die sich unglaublich echt und nahbar anfühlen. Eine Geschichte, die noch lange nachwirkt.

[Lauren]

Complete emotional annihilation.
I’m calling it now, this book is going to be this generations “A Fault in our stars”.

72 Hours of You by Darianne Schramm is a beautifully written and unique YA romance that will stay with me for a long time!

We follow Sydney who has a seriously heartbreaking ability, whenever someone has less than 72 hours to live, she can see a pink countdown clock above their head. After years of watching people’s time run out, Sydney has become reclusive and guarded in order to protect her heart from the grief. That is until she meet Peter, her polar opposite who’s sunshiney outlook on life completely changes Sydney’s view of the clocks and the pair start to hunt down people with clocks and attempt to make their final moments brighter.

Somewhere during this journey, Sydney starts to let her guard down and starts falling for Peter but the universe gives Sydney a devastating reminder that even when you know when someone is going to die, that doesn’t mean you have time to emotionally prepare for it.

Although going into this book, I was prepared to have my heartbroken, I was blindsided by how it happened and found myself crying on public transport.

Sydney and Peter’s love story was so bingeable, I couldn’t put it down (I literally read it in a single sitting) and Darianne’s writing was so poignant and beautiful that it’s made me stop to appreciate the time I have on this earth.

I loved this book and I couldn’t recommend it more but have some tissues on standby because you’re going to need them.

[Mckayla]

thank you disney hyperion for giving me this arc via netgalley in exchange for my honest review!!!

I was pulled in immediately with this book and plot then it lost me for a bit there in the middle but got pulled back in that last like 20% of the book.

Let me get this off my chest first jules character needed to go😭 I could NOT stand her what so ever!! I found her to be so annoying anytime she had a scene ( i'm sorry) just the way she spoke and things she said was ?????

I liked peter a lot I wish we got to learn more about him though. It felt like he was there just to help develop sydney along. If we had more character building his character could've been sooo much better!! I know sydney was dealing with so many things in life but her back and forth mood swings were confusing at points??

One of my big things was I felt this book would've been SOO much better if the characters were aged a little more. Even just college instead of high school!! Like I just didn't understand how they can just off and to new york randomly in the day without issues or questions! It also made so many of jules lines so uncomfortable. It would've felt a little less cringy as well.

Obviously it's not a real thing but I wish we understood more about the clock?? It was passed on by her grandmother I get that but how?? where did i originate?? are they the only people to have it at a given time?? Just wish there was a little more explanation about it since it's the books big plot point!

Overall I thought the plot and idea was good! I found myself enjoying it at time but also questions a lot. It's a nice book for YA readers if you ignore jules character completely and all the cursing....

[Farah]

The fault in our stars Vibe

[Rosalinde Salin]

So ein unfassbar gutes Jugendbuch, das mir das Herz gebrochen hat. Es gibt so viele schöne Sätze in diesem Buch. Ich hab so unfassbar doll geweint.
Einziger Kritikpunkt: die 72 Stunden hätten mehr Raum einnehmen können, finde ich.

[Alessandra]

It makes me sad because I really, really, really like the premise of this book, but I had to DNF this at 30%.

Pop culture references are my nemesis, especially the modern ones: ¡¿Emily Henry, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Billie Eilish and COLLEEN HOOVER???!!!
Miss Schramm also names brands, couldn't she just go with something more like 'generic words' for those accessories, restaurants or social media to be named?

There's also a lot of swearing, which i don't mind, but dang, it is written 207 times F*ck/f*ck*d/f*ck*ng.

Also... Jules is kinda annoying.

[Haley ♡]

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I swear I don't remember requesting 🫢 but I'm not complaining

I didn’t have any expectations for this one, but ugh my heart was throbbing after reading. Think of fault in our stars with a sprinkle of a more cynical main character (Sydney)

So Sydney has a “power” if you want to call it that- she can see when someone is going to die 72 hours before - hence the title. It’s described as a little bar that pops up above their head. Blessing or curse to have this power? ehhh I’m between the middle, you can know and try to stop it right? But doesn’t always work that way because what if you stopping it is only allowing the chain of events?

So Sydney is a big BIG pessimistic character, doesn’t have hope for others, cynical, but also dark humor (I mean I loved it). It wasn’t a “woe is me” character more life can suck at times and it is what it is. I honestly loved her as a person in this book, she was blunt, honest even if it was harsh, & embodied humor.

Then you have Peter, good ole sweet Peter. New kid in town & happens to be partnered up with Sydney for a project and things take off from there but not that insta love !!

Packing of this was just the right amount, watching the relationship build, seeing what’s next. Now you *kind of* know what’s going to happen but still…

I did not expect to full on sob at the end.😭😭 this is not necessarily for the lighthearted if you struggle with grief, but the banter and relationship between Peter and Sydney id love to read about again.

Highly recommend!! - I’ll have to purchase and add to my physical shelf

[Potato [some assembly required]]

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Things I liked: I was SO HAPPY when I got this oh my goodness. It was giving They Both Die at the End but straight and I was so into it. The writing was fantastic and I really liked world building. The author set the scene so well for us and she did a ton of showing not telling which made me really happy. Secondly… the plot twist was SO GOOD. I thought I guessed it but I didn’t!! Although it was close to my guess, it was almost like a gotcha moment where I felt relief but then got punched in the face. I also liked how modern it is… up to a certain point (it kinda freaks me out that Chat made it into this book but oh well).

Things I didn't really like: The whole chapter with the “one bed troupe” was so cringe. They go to the hotel room and Peter was like “oh no, not the one bed troupe THIS HAPPENS IN BOOKS and I know because I READ” The whole time he was explaining what was happening if that makes sense and it was too meta for me. Let me be alone with the scene and figure it out myself that they’re gonna have to sleep in the same bed. I wasn’t giggling or really into the scene because it kind of broke the fourth wall. Also, literally nothing happened except their pinkies touched. Soooo all that for what? I’m not sure.

Another thing. Peter was not really described as attractive at all. I know that’s subjective, but Syd kept talking about his baby biceps and it freaked me out. Like THAT'S what you choose to point out? Baby? That kind of irked me. Lastly, Peter was WAY too okay with dying. Like genuinely she tells him, he cries for a minute, and then they frolic? Ideally I guess that's what you should be doing, but realistically it's just not gonna happen. They montaged eating a bunch of ice cream and jumping on a bed. He’s dying, not guest starring in a bluey episode.

TLDR: I liked 72 hours of you about as much as I thought I would. It was a nice quicky YA read that I didn't have to think too much about. There were some problems with Peter but honestly, this book was surprisingly introspective about death and had some really random deep quotes in it that I appreciated.

4/5 :)

[Beth England]

4.5⭐️

My gosh. Even when you knew what was going to happen, this one hit hard.

Sydney sees a pink countdown clock above people’s heads 72 hours before they die. This has given her a negative outlook on life, and has made her closed off and avoidant of so many things. She meets Peter who gives her a whole new outlook on the clocks. He runs around NYC with her looking for Clockers and helping bring some joy to their final days.

This book was both heartwarming and heartwrenching at the same time, and it dealt with the most complex of topics. Sydney was so closed off to the world. She was dealing with grief as well as this permanent weight on her shoulders with the clocks. Her enjoyment for life had completely been sucked out of her. Peter on the other hand is like sunshine and a pure breath of fresh air. He’s obsessed with books and lives in the moment, whilst dealing with his own troubles.

This book gave me ALL of the feels. I just wanted to hug everyone I love immediately after finishing it. This book made me just sit and think, in the sense of am I living life to the fullest? Do I hold myself back? It was that sort of emotion that I finished this book with and just sat there absorbing. This book isn’t just a love story, it’s so much deeper than that and it’s one that is going to stick with me for a while for sure.

The concept in itself was very interesting. You understand exactly why Sydney is as cynical as she is and you really feel for her from the get go. I loved seeing her change as she became closer to Peter. Peter understands her, is patient with her, and is just all round a beautiful character. Jules added some really fun moments to this book, she gave great little sister energy.

I highly recommend this book. So emotional yet so thought provoking.

[Lei]

I knew this book was going to be sad. The entire premise basically warned me. I thought I was prepared.

I WAS NOT. 😭

I finished this book on a flight and was literally trying not to cry in front of everyone. At some point I just had to accept that this book got me. I wanted to immediately start something light afterward, but nope. I needed a minute.

One of the reasons I was drawn to this book was because I loved You’ve Reached Sam, and I could see why this would appeal to readers who loved that book too. But after reading it, I want to make it clear that 72 Hours of You is very much its own story.

I loved the concept of Sydney seeing a countdown when someone has less than 72 hours to live. What made it hit me wasn’t simply knowing that death was coming. It was everything surrounding that knowledge. If you can’t stop someone’s death, does that mean there’s nothing you can do for them? Or can making the time they have left a little better still mean something?

Sydney and Peter’s journey made that question feel so much more emotional than I expected. There were moments that made me think about how differently we might live if we actually knew how limited our time was.

And somehow, even though I went into this KNOWING it would probably hurt, I still wasn’t prepared for how much it would hurt.

Darianne Schramm, you made me cry on a plane. 😭 You officially have one more fan, and I’ll absolutely be watching for whatever you write next.

Thank you to the Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing me with an eARC.

[Leggi&Sogna By]

BookLover questo libro mi ha spezzato il cuore e poi con delicatezza ha rimesso insieme i pezzi,battito dopo battito, ricordandomi che l’amore vale sempre ogni singolo, prezioso secondo.

“𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚.”

Sydney vive con qualcosa che nessuno dovrebbe mai dover portare sulle spalle, vede sopra la testa delle persone il tempo che resta loro da vivere. Per questo ha imparato a non affezionarsi, a stare lontana dagli altri e a mettere tutto quello che prova dentro un quaderno rosso.

Fino a quando non arriva Peter.

Peter è l’esatto contrario di lei, gentile, solare, sempre con un libro tra le mani e con quella strana capacità di non fermarsi davanti al lato peggiore delle cose. Sydney vorrebbe tenerlo a distanza, ma lui continua a starle vicino e, poco alla volta, riesce a farle vedere la vita con occhi diversi.

Quello che più mi ha conquistata sono la caratterizzazione dei due protagonisti.
Sydney. è sarcastica, chiusa, a volte anche difficile da capire, ma dietro quella corazza c’è una ragazza che ha conosciuto il dolore troppo presto e che ha scelto di non rischiare più.

E Peter… Peter non ha bisogno di fare grandi gesti per lasciare il segno. Lo fa con una semplicità che disarma. Lui non cerca di cambiare Sydney ma di conoscerla.

Tra loro nasce qualcosa di bello, ma soprattutto nasce la possibilità di tornare a vivere davvero, anche quando sai che perdere qualcuno fa paura.

L’autrice, al suo esordio, regala una storia che alterna momenti leggeri ad altri capaci di stringere il cuore. Ho sorriso, mi sono emozionata e in più di un’occasione ho sentito quanto sia difficile scegliere di lasciarsi andare quando hai già imparato a proteggerti da tutto.
Il finale, che ad un certo punto ho intuito, non è stato semplice ,né da leggere tantomeno da accettare ,ma è stato coerente.

72 ore di te è una lettura che parla di tempo, ma soprattutto di quello che decidiamo di farne.

[sammi_reads]

I'm sorry to say, but this book does not have a happily ever after and you might even cry. But it was a good YA read. I get the comparisons to the Fault in Our Stars- they even reference it within the story.

Sydney inherits an unusual ability from her grandmother- she can see a clock above someone's head counting dien the time they gave left to live if they are going to die in tte next 72 hours. Sydney spends a lot of time not facing her issues with death and her gift- until she meets Peter, who wants to use her power to make positive changes at the end of someone's time.

Peter definitely was the manic pixie dream girl. I was thinking it immediately, and sure enough the two teens later joke about that. But he brought a quirky energy into Sydney's life that would make an indie film or a teenybopper film a hige hit. I could visually see most of this playing out as a really good movie. The sister was a bit annoying, her comments got old. I wish they gave her more depth, but otherwise this was really enjoyable.

Thank-you so much to both Darianne Scramm and Lavender Public Relations for my free advanced reader copy.

I actually mistakenly thought it said it was coming out on the 26th (9/26) when it obviously just meant September 2026, lol. So I had it on my reading schedule incorrectly, but the good news is it is already out for you to enjoy! It came out on September 1st.

[Rita]

NON CAMBIARE IL DESTINO, MA FARE LA DIFFERENZA

3,5 stelline. So benissimo che l'esito di questo romanzo per ragazzi è terribilmente scontato, ma io ne ho apprezzato molto la lettura per diversi motivi.
In primo luogo, inaspettatamente, la protagonista Sydney, che all'inizio trovavo insopportabile nel suo essere estremamente cinica e scorbutica. Man mano che proseguivo, tuttavia, realizzavo che l'autrice non avrebbe potuto produrre un ritratto più veritiero e realistico di una qualsiasi adolescente arrabbiata con il mondo. Nel caso di Sydney, tra l'altro, questa rabbia non è immotivata, ma scaturisce dal dolore che ha provato in passato e che quotidianamente rivive a causa del suo potere.
Le capacità predittive di Sydney, che per prime mi hanno spinto a leggere "72 ore di te", generano tutta una serie di riflessioni che costituiscono il secondo punto di forza del romanzo.

"Non è la morte in sé a essere brutta, ma il modo in cui pensiamo a lei. È come se ognuno di noi credesse di poterla sconfiggere. Di poterle sopravvivere. Basta mangiare bene e guardare a destra e a sinistra prima di attraversare la strada, no? Ma la morte è come un buco nero, e nel momento stesso in cui nasci, stai già puntando dritto verso di lei. Non c'è scampo. E non è una cosa negativa, è semplicemente così che funziona. Quando sei morto, sei morto. Non è né bello né brutto. Solo che... Solo che ci sono anche gli altri. Sono loro che soffrono veramente, chiunque resti in vita."

Veniamo quindi al protagonista maschile, Peter. Premuroso e dolcissimo, è forse leggermente irrealistico nella sua perfezione, ma fa indubbiamente bene al cuore leggere (e innamorarsi) di ragazzi del genere, seppur di carta e non in carne e ossa. Purtroppo, mi aspettavo la sua malattia, e ancora di più la sua morte (mi ha ricordato molto "Colpa delle stelle", tra l'altro esplicitamente menzionato). Eppure, nella scena in cui Sydney vede l'orologio rosa sopra la testa di Peter, il mio cuore ha avuto comunque un sobbalzo.
Allo stesso modo, la decisione di farlo morire nello scontro con Charles (padre di Caroline, la bambina a cui Sydney badava e di cui aveva predetto la morte) ha dato alla trama un tocco di originalità, nonché uno spunto per interrogarsi sul peso delle nostre azioni su un destino già scritto. E non solo in senso assoluto, nel senso di interventi che possano evitare una tragedia (chissà se e come sarebbe morto Peter se non avesse mai conosciuto Sydney), ma anche rispetto a gesti che, seppur incapaci di cambiare ciò che è inevitabile, possono comunque fare la differenza (un atto di gentilezza, ad esempio).

[Sky]

I absolutely adored 72 Hours of You. This was one of those books that was just genuinely FUN to read; the kind where you keep telling yourself “one more chapter” and suddenly you’ve blown through half the book.

The chemistry was EVERYTHING. The banter, the tension, the little moments between them… I was completely invested. Their connection felt natural and believable, which made all of the romantic moments hit that much harder. I was smiling, kicking my feet, and rooting for them basically the entire time.

But what really made this a five-star read for me was how much heart it had underneath the romance. It was funny and swoony without feeling shallow, and the characters felt like actual people I wanted to spend time with. I loved watching their relationship unfold over those 72 hours, and by the end I genuinely did not want to leave them.

Fast, charming, romantic, and ridiculously easy to devour. This is exactly the kind of romance that reminds me why I love reading romance in the first place.

An EASY five stars.

[Cadence Boudreaux]

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy .

You can’t present me a mmc who likes colleen hoover and expect me to root for him.

This book was very similar to that genre of wattpad books like 27 days , that’s what pulled me in. The cover art and premise are both intriguing . The story fell flat for me , everyone felt one dimensional. Her entire thing was tragedy, his entire personality was being a quirky reader . I like that they attempted to break norms by giving this trait to the male love interest, but it felt very forced . In an emotional conversation and even in his final moments he’s ripping out random quotes and it made me roll my eyes .

I particularly held a grudge with the colleen hoover mention, for reasons most readers will understand . Just google a thread and you’ll find information on that.

The ending was also unfinished. This big shootout just ends and we don’t really find out where it was going or what happened or why.

[Lauren]

Thank you Electric Monkey for my gifted copy!!

This book is just so beautifully heartbreaking, in so many ways.

It really puts life into perspective. How short it is, how at any given moment it could all be over, and how many of us actually take that for granted. So many of us do.
But reading this book genuinely made me want to just LIVE.

Honestly? The writing was really good. Easy to read, it flowed beautifully and was 100% on par with a YA book. I really enjoyed that.
The storytelling was great from start to finish, and the characters all made complete sense within the story.
Although I wasn't particularly attached to Sydney, I did feel for her massively. I think when you throw a golden retriever like Peter into the mix alongside a character like Sydney, Peter is always going to shine, and that's exactly what happened.

I loved their friendship, their growing relationship and all the will they, won't they. One is too scared to let someone in, while the other wants it so badly that it becomes consuming in its own way.

Imagine living like Sydney does. Seeing a clock above people's heads, knowing they're going to die within three days, but being completely powerless to stop it. And feeling like you can't tell a soul.

It's such a heavy concept.

Then Peter comes along and, somehow, he starts opening her eyes to actually living.
And then something happens.

Suddenly, those 72 hours mean something completely different.

And then you throw THAT ending at me?
Absolutely NOT.

I genuinely did not see it coming.

The only thing I would have liked was a little more consistency with the pacing. I would have loved for the ending, especially that final 20%, to be stretched out a little more. It felt like it was over and done with before I'd even had time to process everything.

But either way, I loved this book.

It's one of those stories that makes you stop and think about your own life, the people around you, and whether you're actually living or simply letting the days pass.
And I think that's why it's going to stay with me.

[Kaye]

4.75 ⭐️

Okay, this was SO much deeper than I expected 😭 I went in thinking it’d be a cheesy YA romance, but it actually deals with some heavy themes like grief and so much death, so definitely check the TWs.

I loved Peter Beckett!!! He’s so smart and well-spoken that I kept forgetting he’s supposed to be 17 😂 Sydney was also really likable despite being depressed and pessimistic, and the banter between them was SO good. The writing is beautiful, too.

BUT THAT ENDING??? 😭 I genuinely expected something different. I was fully hoping for some plot twist about bending her rules… alas, I was just being delusional. Now I’m emotionally devastated.

[Aoife]

I was looking forward to reading this book, it seemed like a really interesting concept. I didn’t expect it to break my heart quite so quickly!
Sydney’s life is so sad and difficult I really felt for her. She’s so young to see the world in such a bleak way.
Peter is really good for her, I loved watching their relationship develop.
Okay…so that ending had me sobbing. I was expecting something to go wrong but not quite that. It was so devastating and beautiful it’ll stick with me for a long time I think.

[✨ Brianna Raquel ✨]

I loved the characters in 72 Hours of You, and their love story was so beautiful. I knew going into this that it was going to be sad, but wow... I didn’t think it was going to be that sad. It was totally worth it, though because I really, really enjoyed it!

The only reason I didn't give it a 5 stars is because of how the main character's grief was handled. She was carrying so much grief, but it felt like the book just lightly touched on it. Since death is such a huge part of the plot, I think the author could’ve gone deeper with that. Still such a beautiful, heartbreaking read.