An enchanting love story which is refreshingly different. Zoe Folbigg delightfully paints wonderful images of life in the snowy wastes of Norway with the extremes of seasonal daylight to the vibrant and colourful Mexico. The story covers 5 years of the main characters Cecilie and Hector communicating via the internet and their lives couldn't be more different. However they form a deep friendship/relationship on line with all the ups and downs of their lives in their respective countries. As a third thread there is a character, Kate, who lives in England and, apart from a connection with Hector before his relationship with Cecilie, it is hard to see what her character will add to the book, however, all is revealed in the closing chapters and it's very touching. I took to and empathised with Kate as a character and think she could certainly be the subject of a future novel.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the book and the only reason I didn't rate it as 5 stars was the actual continuity as the times and dates kept jumping about, this was OK at first to put the story in context but got more annoying as time went on as one lost when events were occurring. I kept having to return to the chapter titles to see the dates certain events were happening whether in the past, present day, or future. Apart from this the story flows well and makes a good read.

I found the settings delightful and well described but I couldn't connect to the characters so found I couldn't read on further. I'm sure others would enjoy the book and the diversity of the different worlds. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Distance ‘ in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

It’s the story of Hector Herra from Mexico-who meets Cecile Wiig on an online fan blog/chat room. They fall in love.
Beautifully written- It is a true love story and everything was described in such a beautiful way.
I enjoyed Zoe Folbigg writing I am now going to look at reading ‘The Note’

I am in love with this book. I opened it and got sucked into this unusual story of two people in two different parts of the world trying to find a way to each other and overcome everything in their way.

Two lovable characters connect over sharing love for the same band in online forum. Little do they know that such a small thing will ignite something a lot bigger. Friendship of Cecilie and Hector, two people living nearly 10 thousand kilometers away from each other, will grow into something more. Something they both realize is more like finding a soulmate than just a person they get on with. But they both have their lives on their side of the Earth. Cecilie is set in her ways, with jobs she loves and place she spends all her time at. She’s not really big on exploring the real world, she has her imagination to do that for her. Hector being in relationship with his girlfriend in Mexico is about to get married.

This story gives you this real connection to characters you fall in love with, your heart will break for them and you will cheer them on to take that leap in hope of their future together. You get upset over obstacles in their way and you would do anything to help them realize that all those little things stopping them are nothing when it comes to true love.

The book seemed a little slow to start but really we were just getting to know the diverse characters and the even more diverse settings for each character. I was very soon swept away with the drama that surrounded each of the players and the delightful way that they story was woven together. Each of the settings were beautifully described so that you felt the heat and dust in Mexico and the beauty of the Artic Circle. I loved this book, a truly lovely summer read

I read this book in one sitting.

This is a beautifully written story involving three characters and told from their points of view. Kate, Cecilie and Hector.
Cecilie lives in the Arctic Circle and signs up to a chat room for her favourite band and starts chatting to Hector, who lives in Mexico. Before long they swap numbers and are chatting on a daily basis via text and occasionally face time and Skype. Discovering that despite the distance, they have a lot more in common than you would expect. They, of course begin to develop feelings for one another but neither really acknowledges this to the other and Hector goes on to marry another woman.

Kate lives in England and suspects that her husband is cheating on her. For a while, I really wondering why Kate was popping up and why we were going into such depth of what she and her family were going through – obviously it was all going to tie in but, I could have done without the Kate parts. I don’t feel that it added anything to the story and although I found it interesting, I really just wanted to get back to Cecilie and Hector. The Kate parts would have been fine as a standalone book, I think, although I don’t think that I would choose to read it.

We follow their lives through many years, trials and tribulations, breaks in communication, and misapprehensions.
When we first meet Hector, he’s living the life of Riley. He’s enjoying life with a fantastic social life and is a real party animal. Cecilie on the other hand comes across as being very young,childish and rather like a stroppy teenager. Although through the course of the book, they both grow up and make the changes to their lives that we all have to as we take on responsibilities.

This is a story of heartbreak, finding love and taking a chance.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I give 5 stars to books that make me want to keep reading and not want to put the book down and The Distance by Zoe Folbigg is one such book. I loved the writing and I found the story between Cecilie and Hector quite charming. I did enjoy the story around Kate, although I sometimes felt that I was reading a different book when I was reading the chapters involving Kate and I didn't quite understand where she fitted into the story - even really the bit at the end in Paris. But that aside I really did enjoy the book and I look forward to reading more books by Zoe Folbigg! I am a huge fan!

The characters seem to be completely different from each other at the beginning of this book, but as the story progresses the author does an amazing job of highlighting the similar traits that they share. Well written!

I did enjoy this book. It was a gentle meander.
Hector has made a few injudicious choices in relationships and this book unravels some of that.
He has made an online connection with a lady in Norway, despite living in Mexico and there is a real strong feeling between them. Despite this ,he marries Pilar but the marriage is not successful.
There is also a girl whose heart he broke when she was 18 and doing a spell of work at a Children's home in Mexico.
This is a book about putting things right and second chances and all works out in the end.
Enjoyable. Thank you to Netgalley for the chance t oread and review this..

The Distance by Zoe Folbigg a five-star read that will make you smile. This author has a great way with words, you will read this story and fall in love with the characters. I am a fan of the author and adored The Note, and I was so glad that I had the chance to read this book. Cecilie and Hector have a story that will move you, you will laugh with them and you will fall in love with them. Kate was a character I liked but I didn’t warm to her as much as the others, but overall all of the stories were moving and deep. The descriptions of all of the places visited in the story are so beautifully written you can imagine yourself watching sunsets and listening to the music. An amazing story by an amazing author.

Overall this is a really good read. I liked most of the characters and felt so sorry for Cecilie. I liked the idea of the story. Long distance love via the internet with one person scared of going anywhere. So many things happen to keep them apart. I liked the writing style and the way the story was put together. My only gripe was that I thought that it was a bit too long in places. Overall I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the story of Hector, Cecile and Kate. I must admit I found it quite difficult to follow all the timelines and all the characters. They all have lots of friends and happenings, and it's not always clear how they interconnect. Because of this I struggled to connect with any of the characters or care about what happened to them.
Thank you anyway to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

This is another classic book from Zoë Folbigg, I really loved The Note and assumed it felt so real and intense as it was based on real life but unless Zoë has led a REALLY interesting life I guess this book just proves her talent at drawing you into her stories. She paints a picture of the brightly coloured hedonistic lifestyle of Hector partying in Mexico who connects to Cecilie who lives in cool shades of hygge in the Artic circle run through with a dash of the English church mouse, Kate in the heart of Suffolk. Had difficulty putting it down and rushed through to the end in hope.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I received a copy of The Distance via Netgalley for an honest review. I enjoyed this book with it's tale of long distance love and the trials and tribulations involved in getting the couple together (there is a HEA). I am not sure why the Kate chapters are included, they add nothing to the story and seem like the start of another story. But overall I enjoyed Zoe Folbigg's writing style and her use of words.

Fantastic cover, really fits the story.

I might not be the biggest fan of romance novels, so not so much experience there, but I've read a lot of YA books with love stories in them etc. And this lacked any real emotional attachment.

The story flows and the writing is good but I didn't feel my eyes tearing up once...and isn't that kind of the point for a story like this?

Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to Zoe Folbigg.

What a stunning book. It’s difficult to even find the right words to do it justice.

I liked Zoe Folbigg’s last book, but this one is even better.

It’s beautifully written, the story flows perfectly, the imagery and dialogue is so evocative, and the characters’ stories all intertwine so well.

The settings are amazing, such contrasting places, Mexico and Norway, and I almost felt as though I had been there after reading the book.

A story of love and hope, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys excellent literature. Quite possibly one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Cecilie and Hector live 8,909 kilometers away from each other. She's in Norway working 2 jobs and he's in Mexico living with his wife, Pilar. I reviewed the ARC of The Note, Zoë's previous book and both were very different but both wonderful. The characters were fleshed out very well and the pace was brilliant as were the visuals. Cecelie and Hector's method of conversation is online. Kate is in England. I found Kate and George's relationship realistic and each and every character had some tensions and happiness in their life.

I think that, overall, I enjoyed Cecelie and Hector's stories than Kate's, and the book would have been better if it was all in Cecelie and Hector's POV in alternate chapters. I felt the introduction of Kate, George and their family was like introducing too many characters and I also felt that Cecelie and Hector's plot was more engaging and more of a "main" plot that the one about Kate and her family.

As someone fluent in Spanish, I liked the inclusion of the Spanish words in the text, but there was one phrase, "puta madre," which is an exclamation that means brilliant or amazing in slang, is used in Spain a lot, and Hector, who said it, is Mexican. Also, only people who know Spanish would know that "desayuno" means breakfast. If you don't know Spanish this and the other words can take a good bit of work to decipher. Some English translation would have made these parts more accessible to everyone. Also, the word "chupito" comes from the word for (drink) shot. That is another one that people may not know.

Apart from that, I loved the book. The mix of different cultures places and plot between Cecelie and Hector was magical.

Thanks to Zoë Folbigg and Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus, for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. Thanks also for an opportunity to take part in the blog tour for this title.

Cecilie Wiig, who works in a library and a cafe, is a fan of Depeche Mode. As you will see above she goes online and finds Hector Herrera, who is living a very different life in Mexico, where he is being emotionally blackmailed by his girlfriend of six years, Pilar, into marrying him. The book has a timeline that skitters about, as we see both through the forum and everyday life, how Cecilie and Hector are kindred spirits, even though they are literally worlds apart. We also get another pov, that of Kate, who suspects her husband may be cheating on her. I found Kate's story the easiest to read and looked forward to how the three stories were going to join up.

I enjoyed Hector and Cecilie's exchanges, even though their music and other cultural and artistic tastes didn't really resonate with my own. I also found the Norwegian bustle a bit confusing at times. There was surprisingly one or two scenes, both set in Mexico, that I winced a little at, finding them quite tough, but in a way I suppose I could marry it with the book in setting the scene of how different Mexico was from Cecile's cozy Norway, or Kate's very relatable home in England. That being said I was mesmerized by tragic back stories that made my gut twist and marvelled at fantastic settings that made everything so real that I was right there. I was very much taken by the story itself, looking to see how, if they could, they would end up together. Thanks so much to Aria for the book in return for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

The first thing that drawn me into reading this book was the cover which greatly captures the setting and reflect the story’s theme. However, the way the story was laid out felt more like all over the place. I found the timeline a bit confusing that if you’re not really paying attention with the sudden switcheroo of the year a specific chapter was told, you wouldn’t know where were you exactly in the story.

The author tried to weave Kate, Cecilie and Hector into a web of both their past and present lives but Kate was more of a filler in which to be honest, I would like to read in a separate novel given that she has an interesting life story to tell about her experience of betrayal in her marriage.

Well, it happens that Kate’s character has something to do to spice up a little bit, or more likely to delay Cecilie and Hector’s finally meeting in person after five years. Well in the end she had done her part, didn’t she?

While I admire Cecilie enduring the painful moments of her heart being broken so many times, from the endless waiting to almost giving up, I didn’t quite find her character strong or appealing. She hasn’t actually changed a bit except for that one time she chop her hair into a bob or going out with Andreas. Other than that, she never made a life-changing decision and I wished she became more firm or quit being weak when Hector tried to win her back.

Hector, who felt miserable to be with a woman he really doesn’t love, has becoming selfish more and more as the story went on. Even after Cecilie pointed out that it was both unfair to her and to Pilar, he still wanted to keep her for a friend, which in fact, was impossible when he knew Cecilie’s feelings for him.

For me, Hector's backstory and friendship with Benny made so much sense since I learned how much of a changed man he is, leaving the crooked ways he once led his life with and putting the bad influence behind him. And for the most part, I understand why he stayed with Pilar or why he looked after her.

Mexico’s vibrant culture, which is a total opposite of the simple, quiet Norwegian life impressively, speaks volume on how two people from poles apart could fall in love without seeing each other.

Even I had some issues with the story; I still find this book a fair read. It has a cute, romantic ending like those I’ve watched in the HEA movies with bubble hearts floating in the air before the closing credits. Perhaps, like that of Love, Rosie.

The Distance by Zoë Folbigg is a story about finding love on the other side of the planet, taking chances and waiting no matter how it truly hurts. 

***Thank you to Melanie Price of Aria Fiction for including me on this blog tour, to NetGalley and to Zoë Folbigg for providing me an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

A beautifully written love story telling the tale of Hector and Cecilie. They meet online in a fan website and live completely opposite lives. She is in Norway, land of the midnight sun and lives a cool, quiet organised life. He lives in Mexico and is passionate, erratic and in a mess. His past is catching up with him and he stumbles into marriage with his long time girlfriend Pilar. There relationship is based on drinking and destructive behavior. Cecilie brings calm and light into his life, the question is can he escape and find her and will she still be waiting. The writing is has real depth and you can feel the heat in Mexico... I also now want to visit Norway and try cloudberry cake. It will bring a huge smile to you face, I would recommend it.