In this charming and poignant novel that “oozes charm and wit and speaks beautifully about friendship and love, and the differences between the two” (Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know), teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it. But fourteen years later, everything Emmie has … everything Emmie has planned is up in the air.
At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached address, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.
Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship–she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?
Filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue “beautifully captures the heartache and frustrations of carrying our teenaged selves with us wherever we go” (Anstey Harris, author of Goodbye Paris) that is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.
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Just when you think you know where the story will go, Lia Louis surprises you.
Loved it! Gorgeously romantic!
99.0% “GAHHHHHHH!! This book is sooo wonderful. #AllTheStars #AllTheFeels #HappyHeart #MustReadRecommendation
Emmie Blue is one of my very mot favorite reads of 2020. While I’m writing a review for it nearly a year after I first read it, I still feel the pinch of my heart and my tummy. It gutted me and put me back together again. I felt like I knew where things were going, but I was constantly surprised by Emmie life, her emotional well being, and her strength. This is a story that deserves a re-read asap. #Mustread
This was a really good book. I probably could have read it in a day if I could have just sat down and read. I would definitely recommend this book. It was a cute, sweet book.
“You’re brave. You’re selfless and brave and moral and God, there are so many people out there that need that shit in their lives.”
From chapter one, I knew this book would be something different. Something special. What I didn’t know was how much it would grab my heart and hold on tight. This is the book that I instantly purchased as soon as I finished reading because I was sad at the idea of returning it to the library. It is a friend that I want sitting on my shelves waiting for the days that I will need that re-read.
It is beautiful.
Emmie Blue is mostly alone. An absentee mother and father she’s never known or met have left her to fight the world on her own. After a tragic event, heartbroken Emmie sends a balloon with a note out into the sky wishing for a friend. The balloon finds Lucas and an instant bond develops. Despite living in two different countries, they become fast friends. They share the same birthday and each year Emmie spends it with Lucas, his half-brother Elliot, and their family celebrating and enjoying time together. Lucas has always been Emmie’s safe place, her pillar, and what she thought would be her one true love. Until he announces his upcoming marriage and asks her to stand up with him as his best woman.
Emmie Blue is a beautiful tale of friendship, found family, and what true strength is. Louis’s writing is fantastic and so gorgeously done. I laughed so many times. At others, I teared up as Emmie’s tale is so heartbreaking at moments. You can’t help but love her and wish for her to find her happy ending just as she hopes for. While Lucas, and their friendship, is not always perfect it almost felt all the more real for it. You can’t help but love him right along with Emmie. And Elliott…Elliot is so kind and good and sweet in his own way. I couldn’t get enough of Elliot. The story of these three is one I will cherish reading over and over in the future.
I highly recommend this book. It is one that you will want to slow yourself down on so it never ends.
CW: reference to sexual assault
Dear Emmie Blue
By Lia Louis
This beautifully written heart warming book really struck a cord to me on how this was written that tugged in my heartstrings. I found the characters a true delight to read and relatable to say the least. I can see why people really resonated with this well written book and hits all the sweetness and good things about what life can bring you. In this case, it is serendipitous and when stars align, it is a beautiful thing.
When Emmie Blue releases a balloon that reaches Lucas a thousand miles away, Emmie thinks that her life would be spent with Lucas, and instead she is asked to be the “best woman” in Lucas’ happy ever after. In this poignant story you will fall in love with Emmie Blue – she is a character you will not soon forget.
The audio book was also amazingly narrated by Katy Sobey and be prepared to sob as your heart aches and swoons in this lovely story.
Dear Emmie Blue, you have stolen my heart! This book was nowhere on my radar, but when I was invited to read it from the publisher–and I saw those first few glowing reviews–I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m a sucker for romance and serendipity, and Emmie Blue did not disappoint.
Emmie has had a hard start at life. Her story slowly unfolds, gradually enveloping the reader until you can’t stop reading. Even though I’ve read similar stories, this one was different and refreshing. I wanted to find out what happened but I also didn’t want it to end.
While the premise of this one–finding a balloon with a note on the beach–may sound juvenile, it wasn’t at all. It worked, and left me with all kinds of feelings. I laughed and cried along with Emmie. I wanted only the best for her.
This is a romance with depth and heart. Lia Louis has created characters that are real, flawed, and changing, something I always appreciate. I would say this one was just about perfect. My only complaint: I need the songs on those Mix CDs pronto!
Ok first things first that I have to address READ THIS BOOK DO NOT LISTEN TO IT! The narrator is not good and it actually made it quite hard to get into it so READ it!
I was gonna give this book 3 stars but that wouldn’t be fair because I really enjoyed the book I just didn’t love the narrator!
After getting past the narrator this book is brilliant!
This book follows Emmie and she lets a balloon go and Lucas finds it and messages her and they become the best of friends and she believes that he is the ONE for her but one thing….he just asked her to be his best woman for his wedding!
This book stole all my attention and it made me stay up til 1 to finish not only this book but this dress. I had so much fun listening to this and making this dress which was inspired by the cover
When I started this book, I figured it was another cute romcom, but Dear Emmie Blue was so much more! Emmie has experience some really tough situations and relationships in her life. The beginning of the book was somewhat sad, but I feel like that gave me a reason to feel more invested in Emmie’s happiness. There is a sweet romance but Emmie’s story is about growth, friendship and learning to embrace who you are and not letting circumstance define you. There was such great redemption in this beautiful story.
I was able to participate in an author chat with Lia Louis and she was so sweet. I loved hearing her explanations for how she felt about certain characters or scenes in the book. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by Lia Louis.
“Maybe home isn’t a place. It’s a feeling. Of being looked after and understood. Of being loved.”
4.5 stars
What a poignant, moving book. I am so glad I requested to read this and mad at myself that I left Covid interfere with completing it. But, am I ever glad I did finally finish it. This book was everything I didn’t expect rolled into a complete package.
Emmie Blue, at the age of 16, released a red balloon into the air with her name and email address. Weeks later she gets a response from Lucas in France. Over the vast 14 years they formed a tight, unyielding bond, along with his brother, Eliot, and his parents. They became a surrogate family to her in a way. But all of that is about to change when Lucas lets Emmie know he is engaged and wants her to be his best girl.
Her traumatic past thrusts Emmie forward in search of family, love and acceptance. And if she’d only open her eyes and let down some walls she would see what’s in front of her. But it feels as though her life is spiraling apart as not everything goes according to how she wanted it to be.
You will definitely want to pick this book up – you will not be disappointed to find that things happen for Emmie how they were meant to be.
This is one of my favorite books from 2020 so far and I cannot recommend it enough.
16 years old Emmie stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon with a tag containing her name, email id, and a secret. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau found the balloon and immediately emailed on the attached address and this kick-started the friendship between the two of them. Now, fourteen years later Emmie is hiding the fact that she is in love with him and hopes and patiently wait for him to admit his feelings to her but she finds out that he is getting married to someone else.
The author has touched and highlighted so many crucial topics like family, love, dreams, career, and past experiences and have dealt with each one of them so well. The execution of the story is so good.
While reading this book I was in love with Emmie. I wanted to protect her and was rooting for her to find happiness and her happily ever after. I felt all kinds of emotions while reading this book. The end of this book is so perfect.
There are so many other things I want to mention in this review but I don’t want to spoil it for others. Read it and you will love it to the core.
Just finished this wonderful book and thought it was funny and depressing, yet beautiful. I enjoyed every moment of it. I’m glad I read it. And I’m sure you would be too if you gave it a shot!
Lia is a magician. There’s no other way to describe the magic she sews into this beautiful story.
I was initially underwhelmed and overly saddened. Emmie is a bit tragic. She has little going for her and her life is fairly depressing. No supportive family – her mother is atrocious. Few friends with exception to her best friend, Lucas. And a dead-end job. Despite it all, Emmie has a great sense of hope about her and is generally positive.
Emmie is in love with fate. Fate brought her Lucas and, after a 14 year friendship, she is convinced he is finally on the same page and realized they should be together. Lucas tells her he has a big question for her on their shared 30th birthday. What else could it be?
I struggled with the narrator especially and think I would have enjoyed the beginning more had I read the e-book. All I can say is that it completely turned around maybe a third of the way in. It is lovely and smart and clever and completely bookshelf-worthy.
Loved the writing, loved the story, and loved the perfect ending. This book had a lot of “feels,” but there was a heavy melancholy undertone for a large portion of the story that demanded a happy ending. Thankfully there was also a lot of witty banter and amazing friendships that helped lift the story out of it’s somber moments. For readers who enjoy women’s fiction with wit, strong friendships, and romance, Dear Emmie Blue is a stellar choice.
5 stars
Dear Emmie Blue is the book I had been looking for for quite awhile. I love historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers; however in the months of this pandemic we are fighting, I needed a book that just made me smile and a character to root for. Emmie Blue is this character. Her mother never learned how to be a nurturing mother. Grrrrr! Emmie is in love with Lucas who found her red balloon that she launched with a message on her sixteenth birthday. They become good friends over tIme and she is hoping that he is going to have a marriage proposal for her when they celebrate their 30th birthdays. Unfortunately, he has other news. I loved following Emily as she maneuvers through life after finding out Lucas’s plans. Thank you Lia Louis for the ending you wrote. My thanks go to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis is a most beautiful contemporary novel about friendship, love and being lost.
The novel is beautifully written and very emotionally charged. It is about feeling lost and longing to belong.
I loved Emmie Blue, the main character with her huge heart and her searching for a home. Setbacks did not keep her down. Her heart and her huge capacity to love kept her going when most of us would have been floored. She brought out the maternal mothering gene in me as I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and give her a home.
A family is all Emmie Blue desires – a family to love and to be loved. There are some beautiful friendships within the novel. There are friendships that will self-sacrifice for love.
There was the theme of rejection which broke my heart. No child no matter how old should ever be rejected and starved of love.
Dear Emmie Blue was a bittersweet novel and so beautifully written. My heart and soul are full of love as the love Emmie Blue had is infectious. The reader cannot help but love her. Dear Emmie Blue was a marvellous debut novel. I cannot wait to read more by Lia Louis. Don’t forget the tissues!
I will leave you with a powerful quote:
“Nobody once talked about the money he’d saved, the car he had, the holidays he took. They… missed him… because that was enough.”
What legacy are you leaving behind?
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Emmie “meets” Lucas when her red balloon is let go with a message inside and finds it sends her a response to her message and becomes her savior. Lucas becomes the friend that she desperately needed at age 16 and continues that friendship as they celebrate birthdays, holidays, and now a wedding. The two of them share secrets, share dreams, share heartaches, and share their lives.
I read this story as we were traveling to visit my daughter’s college town. In a car, on a highway, in the rain and I noticed almost nothing. I could not stop reading Dear Emmie Blue. I was invested in the marvelous storyline and I was intrigued by the fun characters. My heart broke as Emmie’s was broken also. My hopes soared as I realized that there was much more to Eliot, Lucas’ brother than I originally thought. I could not get enough of this book. Dear Emmie Blue was the perfect book to devour on a car ride.
From the cover to the last page, I loved this book! The main character and narrator, Emmie Blue, has just turned 30-years-old, and everything she has been counting on is gone.
The start of the book is melancholy, and I deeply felt each of Emmie’s losses and disappointments. Author Lia Louis made me completely empathized with Emmie’s insecurities and feelings of being “less than”. Her lack of a stable family and parental support have colored her every action and response. While Emmie feels inadequate and alone, each step of her journey shows her inner strength and resilience.
The story toggles between the past and the present. Emmie Blue tells us how she was rescued by an email from the boy who found the balloon she had released. The sweet serendipity of their eventual meeting is balanced with the ongoing love and support she gets from Lucas, “Balloon Boy”, and his family.
Emmie is one of those characters that make me want to jump into the story and shake some sense into them. She has coworkers who she likes but keeps at arm’s length. She and her landlady are silent ships that pass in the night; neither is very talkative and both are fairly introverted. It takes Eliot’s (Lucas’ older brother) re-entry into her life to shake everything up for Emmie. Even then, Emmie’s friends and landlady really have to push to get her to open her eyes to the truths that are oh-so-obvious to the reader.
Does Emmie Blue get a happily ever after? Oh yes, and in more ways than one, but there are bumps in the road and hurdles to jump. Dear Emmie Blue is an endearing story of Emmie’s journey from feeling empty and alone to being open to the love and support around her.
Hopeful, gut-wrenching, inspirational, tear-jerker, Emmie Blue gave me all of that and more with her incredible journey. As a teenager, Emmie released a balloon into the sky which gave her Lucas, her best friend, the person she leans on. Her life has been full of challenges which have caused her to exist from day to day and essential hide from the world. When Lucas needs to ask her an important question, she believes all her dreams are coming true, she has loved Lucas since she was 14. But that doesn’t happen and Emmie is forced to reevaluate her life and what she thinks she knows. Eliot is Lucas’ brother and he had been friend too but an event pushed him away from her. As Emmie and Eilot work together to plan an event, Emmie is reminded of the fun and comfort she has with Eliot. The one thing Emmie longs for is family and having someone care about her life. We get to meet Rosie and Fox, co-workers that have become friends and confidants. She rents a room from Louise, who doesn’t talk much until Eliot starts to visit and this opens up a new friendship for Emmie. It’s like she found a grandmother she never had. Her mother isn’t involved in her life and would leave her alone when she was a teenager. And for years, she tried to find her father without any luck but maybe, there is a chance that she will. There is so much to enjoy with this story that I don’t want to reveal. I was immersed in Emmie’s life and felt every up and down she experienced as a laughed and cried along with her. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
I. Loved. This. Book.
Dear, dear Emmie Blue. She loves Jon Bon Jovi, straight to video movies, and Lucas Moreau. As best friends, Emmie and Lucas are #bestfriendgoals, but Emmie has a secret-one that could shatter their friendship. When Lucas makes a major announcement that turns Emmie’s life upside down, his brother Eliot-once part of their inner circle-steps out of the shadows to catch Emmie as she comes to terms with the new status of her friendship with Lucas.
I loved the characters. Emmie’s vulnerability; Lucas’s imperfections; Eliot’s steadfastness. Emmie’s coworkers, Rosie & Fox, who had a singular ability to take a serious moment and make readers laugh and Louise, Emmie’s landlord, who quietly made her way into Emmie’s (and this reader’s) heart. All of these characters were made unforgettable by author Lia Louis.
There really is so much to like in this character-driven story. I loved Emmie and how easy it was to relate to her. Emmie Blue is the quintessential British heroine that I never grow tired of reading about. She’s not out to change the world, just her little part of it. While we know Emmie’s a waitress, her career or lack of isn’t that important to the story. What’s important is Emmie’s search for family and some place to feel safe, something that has been elusive after surviving an assault years ago. Having a place to feel safe and people to depend on is something anyone of us can understand, which draws readers deeper into Emmie’s life and her story.
It’s Emmie’s love for Lucas that sets her down the road to finding her way. It’s as if she’d been in a holding pattern, happy enough to be Lucas’s best friend until the status quo is threatened. And, as I read it was easy to see why Emmie loved Lucas. Author Louis does a fabulous job of slowly revealing more of Lucas, and of his brother, Eliot. Honestly, the entirety of DEAR EMMIE BLUE is a beautiful, emotional revelation of each character, no matter how small.
I felt as though I ran the gamut of emotions reading DEAR EMMIE BLUE. I laughed at Fox and Rosie, I flushed with anger at Emmie’s mother, and I cried too many times to count. But, mostly, I cheered as Emmie finally opened her eyes to see how much she was loved. As the reader, I already knew how wonderful Emmie was, but it was a joy to share Emmie’s journey to figuring it out for herself.
Thank you to the Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books, and Amazon Vine for an early copy of DEAR EMMIE BLUE in exchange for honest feedback.