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The Letter
436 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 22, 2026
This is a bit of a tough one to review. I'll say up front, this is the first book by this author that I've read, so the others by them may be better or worse.
As it stands, the writing in this book was desperately in need of an editor. The prose was very much reminiscent of a detailed deposition testimony, e.g. (not an exact quote but basically most of the prose):
"I woke up alone and went to the kitchen. I saw the coffee machine had been used. I walked over and poured myself a cup. I sat down and drank my coffee. I looked for Bailey and eventually assumed she had gone for a swim. I went outside to find an elevator to go downstairs to reception. Next to reception, there was a large tank with water flavoured with cucumber slices. "What the heck is that?" I said to the person at reception, giving her a look like what the heck. I then decided I would try this brand-new drink. I had three glasses of the cucumber water. It was delicious."
It gets so terribly tedious as we narrate every single moment and thought in Erin's head, most of which really should have been edited down to only retain that which is relevant or interesting. The writing in the messages the main characters exchange is stilted and unconvincing as well, and it's really hard for me to buy that there is any sort of chemistry between them.
Aside from the long-winded, exhaustive writing (and exhausting to read), the primary relationship in this romance feels very unbalanced to me. Bailey/Jules is rich, initiates the visits, gets annoyed randomly at perceived slights, never shares anything about her own life or work, and also writes a very nasty letter (the titular letter) to Erin. The entire relationship is full of situations where an honest conversation would clear the air and communicate expectations and feelings instead of the endless misunderstandings, communication issues, and eventual breakups. There is also some very odd sexual assault behaviour from a secondary character that everyone just explicitly excuses and asks the victim to excuse as well? There are very unnatural feeling dramatic problems that are clearly meant to speed up the plot and inject some action into the proceedings, as well as some really strange coincidence that tie together a large group of characters with really odd personalities. I can't say I found anyone in this book particularly likeable or even emotionally healthy (
Honestly, I'm glad this (very long) book is over, and while I love giving new authors a chance, I hope this one decides to take some of the above on board for next time because I am certainly put off reading any more of their work based on this experience but appreciate that writing a book takes a lot of work and the author will hopefully be learning and getting better with each book.
As it stands, the writing in this book was desperately in need of an editor. The prose was very much reminiscent of a detailed deposition testimony, e.g. (not an exact quote but basically most of the prose):
"I woke up alone and went to the kitchen. I saw the coffee machine had been used. I walked over and poured myself a cup. I sat down and drank my coffee. I looked for Bailey and eventually assumed she had gone for a swim. I went outside to find an elevator to go downstairs to reception. Next to reception, there was a large tank with water flavoured with cucumber slices. "What the heck is that?" I said to the person at reception, giving her a look like what the heck. I then decided I would try this brand-new drink. I had three glasses of the cucumber water. It was delicious."
It gets so terribly tedious as we narrate every single moment and thought in Erin's head, most of which really should have been edited down to only retain that which is relevant or interesting. The writing in the messages the main characters exchange is stilted and unconvincing as well, and it's really hard for me to buy that there is any sort of chemistry between them.
Aside from the long-winded, exhaustive writing (and exhausting to read), the primary relationship in this romance feels very unbalanced to me. Bailey/Jules is rich, initiates the visits, gets annoyed randomly at perceived slights, never shares anything about her own life or work, and also writes a very nasty letter (the titular letter) to Erin. The entire relationship is full of situations where an honest conversation would clear the air and communicate expectations and feelings instead of the endless misunderstandings, communication issues, and eventual breakups. There is also some very odd sexual assault behaviour from a secondary character that everyone just explicitly excuses and asks the victim to excuse as well? There are very unnatural feeling dramatic problems that are clearly meant to speed up the plot and inject some action into the proceedings, as well as some really strange coincidence that tie together a large group of characters with really odd personalities. I can't say I found anyone in this book particularly likeable or even emotionally healthy (
Honestly, I'm glad this (very long) book is over, and while I love giving new authors a chance, I hope this one decides to take some of the above on board for next time because I am certainly put off reading any more of their work based on this experience but appreciate that writing a book takes a lot of work and the author will hopefully be learning and getting better with each book.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review