Review- I Love You To Death by Natalie Ward

Summary-

When Ash loses her boyfriend, she is consumed by grief, loneliness and an overwhelming sense of guilt for her role in not only his death, but the deaths of everyone she has ever loved. Refusing to let anyone in for fear of losing them too, she becomes withdrawn, spending her days reliving the nightmares from her past. 

Until she meets Luke. 

Initially scared by his intensity and interest in her, Ash tries to push him away. But as Luke slowly starts to chip away at the walls she’s built, Ash finds herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again — falling in love. 

When the familiar feelings Ash had hoped were long buried with her past begin to resurface, she is forced to ask herself if falling in love again is really worth the risk.


Review-

I picked up I Love You To Death on a complete whim. I went in without any expectations or preconceived notions and I'm so glad to have found this gem of a book. It took me completely by surprise how good the book actually was and how uncommon the whole theory behind the book is.

Ash is a girl who by the age of 25 has lost 12 people closest to her. She doesn't know if its just some cruel twist of fate or if something's wrong with her which causes the people she loves to die. In one way or another all of their deaths somehow link back to being her fault and she is left to bear the devastating pain and loss with the guilt. Having already been through so much she decides to keep to herself and just get through her life without love or affection.

Then comes in Luke, with his patience and kindness. He is so completely smitten by Ash and yet he gives her space and time. He never gives up, respecting her needs. He never pushes her. He sees the struggle  and pain inside of Asha and does all he can to help her heal and believe in herself and them. Luke was a genuinely good character whom I won't be forgetting anytime soon. The romance was slow burn, which I loved.

The book moves from Ash's point of view from the present to her having flashbacks of each of the deaths in her life. I loved the scenes between Luke and Ash. Their love story was beautifully portrayed. It was sensual without being graphic. You actually start feeling protective of Ash while rooting for Luke to make her his. Ash's story breaks your heart while giving you hope and you can feel yourself going through a wide range of emotions.

Natalie's Ward's writing style was extremely unique. Ash's voice is filled with melancholy but you understand and connect with her perfectly. The story is simple but it still completely manages to enthrall  and captivate you. I loved that each chapter number was in the form of a quote. Also, each chapter had its own playlist so I found a number of new for me artists which I shall be looking into. This book was deeply entwined with music. It was intense and simply I devoured this book.

 X5

Janhvi