She deftly handles them all with pure honesty and heart. I love the way that Hayes deals with the big themes in her novel such as writing, grief, mental health, family, relationships and sexuality. Some parts of the novel were beautifully written and I could easily have marked up lots of quotes that I loved, but I noted them on paper instead so as not to ruin the beautiful copy of the novel, although perhaps I will change my mind when I reread it. Hayes’ writing throughout was honest and often raw, especially where emotion was concerned. The characters were well-crafted and complex and I easily became wrapped up in this world as I turned the pages. In fact, it only served to draw me in to the narrative to unpick this relationship and find out what had happened to get the characters to that stage.Īs a whole, the novel felt like being filled in on a couple’s past and the more I learnt, the more I began to understand the characters, their relationships and actions. Yet this knowledge does not spoil the novel in any way and I found that it heightened the emotion throughout. Starting with the breakup gives the book an interesting twist because we already know that the worst will happen from the start of the novel. I find relationships really interesting and so this novel was definitely one for me.

The book itself is very clever and I love the premise of going backwards in order to unpick a breakup and explore a relationship and also to look at whether love is worth it and why we choose to do it. When I first heard about this novel, from following Hayes on social media, I was intrigued to know how a love story told in reverse would work and I enjoyed following the writing process via Hayes’ videos and stories. This review is a bit late so, for that, I am sorry!

Hazel hayes books