This wonderful book left me uplifted and sad all at the same time, The bittersweet story of Jessica, a young single mum who finds out she has cancer, is engaging and moving. The author delivers weighty subject matter with a real lightness of touch. Jess has recently moved back in with her Mum with her baby daughter Edie and this narrative is interspersed with letters written by Jess to her baby. Each letter starts with ‘ I wanted you to know’ and through them we learn about her relationship with Jake at university, and her unexpected pregnancy. Jake is offered a tour with his band at the same time and the couple split up. Jess’s own father left when she was young and she doesn’t want the same for her daughter, especially when she’s given a cancer diagnosis. 

Her relationship with her Mum goes through some rough patches but we never doubt that her Mum loves her and wants to help, even if she does make some terrible mistakes in the way she handles things. Jess doesn’t want to ruin Jake’s tour, but realistically needs to let him know about his daughter, especially if she does not respond to treatment. 

However, the most compelling relationship for me was the friendship between Jess and Gemma. This novel is a love letter to female friendship and I liked that this relationship felt the most ‘fleshed out’ in the whole novel. Right from the start Gemma was backing Jess up while juggling a job and babysitting Edie when she’s not working. Where the other relationships gave complications, Gemma seems to know what Jess needs before anyone else. She counteracts Jess’s mum’s tendency to judge and make decisions that don’t include her. Instead she is quietly there all the time, and has an ability to sink into the background when Jess needs time alone or with Edie. This book is a love song to female friendship and highlights how the best friends sustain each other, even in the most difficult situations. 

I like that the last words In the book are Jess’s own in the form of a letter to her daughter. I did have a lump in my throat reading some parts of this and I would certainly read other novels by this author.

An excellent read! The characters were developed astoundingly! I read it in one sitting. Lots of crying, but such a great ending.

A heartbreaking read! Have tissues nearby!

Jess and Jake were in love and together. However after an argument. Jess leaves and returns home to her Mum with a bump.

Jess never imagined that she would be a single mother. Growing up without much of a father, she wanted more for her daughter Edie.

But Jess's world is turned upside down when she is diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 21.
A heartbreaking story of what to do with your life when you haven't got long to live it. Make amends? Cherish friends? new adventures? 

I requested this book as I was interested in it. My mum went for her first mammogram and they find the tiniest lump of cancer - she is fine and alive.

This book was funny, sad and kept me engaged from beginning to end. Sometimes I felt the pages were too long but it was a great story.

I am having a really difficult time writing this review, because of this book is sad. Sad, sadder, saddest. And you know, going in, that it is going to be sad - if you have read the abstract / blurb, you know it's going to be sad.

That aside, there was something here that didn't work 100% for me. Push the sad, dreadfully sad, subject matter aside, and you will find the book to be slightly.. "off".  The way it is written - letters in the first person, then story in third person - seemed to be written by two different people. Perhaps that is the point, I can't know for sure. But I enjoyed the first-person letters so much better than the narrative. If the book had been written entirely from Jess's point of view - as opposed to only the letters - I think for myself it would have worked so much better. So for me, I have to give it only three stars.

This is a gorgeous book full of both heart and heartbreak which I suspect will resonate with so many people. Beautifully written but in an easy to read style this tells the tale of 21 year old single mum Jessica and her shock diagnosis of breast cancer. Balancing her life and treatment now with her reflecting back of her life through letters to her daughter each chapter is full of sorrow and joy, the author has done an incredible job of making a devastating book uplifting too. There’s some wonderful characters especially the strong females in Jessica’s life as well as Jessica herself and the story is simple yet so poignant, this is a remarkable book which I highly recommend

This book was so brilliantly written. I was so moved by how each character was written. My mother recently passed at age 70 from breast cancer, going to the bones, and other areas. It was hard to read, but with those letters, I felt my mom speaking to me. Just so beautiful. thank you for writing this.

A lot of tears did occur while reading this book only because it was such a beautiful love story between a mother and daughter. I can't even imagine being only twenty two and not seeing Edie grow up. However, what she imparted in her letters and relationships is that without love, there is no life.

Laura Pearson's third novel is the heart-breaking story of Jess, a young college student who is dying of cancer. She wants her baby daughter, Edie, to know about her as she grows up and writes her a series of moving letters. 

I defy anyone reading I Wanted You To Know not to weep buckets. It is beautifully written from the heart and even though Jess's death is inevitable, there is hope for her daughter through the legacy of love from Jess's mum, her best friend Gemma, and Edie's dad Jake. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for the opportunity to read and review I Wanted You To Know.

Dear Edie, I wanted you to know so many things. I wanted to tell you them in person, as you grew. But it wasn’t to be.

Jess never imagined she’d be navigating single motherhood, let alone while facing breast cancer. A life that should be just beginning is interrupted by worried looks, heavy conversations, and the possibility of leaving her daughter to grow up without her.

Propelled by a ticking clock, Jess knows what she has to do: tell her daughter everything. How to love, how to lose, how to forgive, and, most importantly, how to live when you never know how long you have.

****

I finished this book last night, but didn't feel ready to write a review at the time. Having thought about it and slept on it, I now can.

Wow wow wow!! I absolutely adored this book. So much so, I was reading it in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping. Waking up an hour early for work, so I could read some more!

The beautiful way Laura  wrote the letters from new mum Jess, to her beloved baby daughter Edie, took my breath away. The way Laura also described how Jess was feeling with her breast cancer diagnosis at age 21 whilst having a new baby was just incredible. What makes it more profound is to know Laura's backstory of finding out she had breast cancer whilst pregnant. 

This story just had me in it clutches from start to finish and is one that I will keep thinking about for a long time.

This is a heartbreaking yet beautiful novel. Once I started it, I couldn’t stop reading. When I woke up the morning after finishing it, the first thing I thought of was these wonderful, tragic characters. It’s a story that tugs at the heartstrings before snapping them entirely. I absolutely adored this book and would recommend it to anyone.

This is such a moving yet uplifting novel. Told with tenderness, it moved me so many times. You definitely need tissues to read this with.

I Wanted You to Know is a story that will touch your heart and keep you thinking long after you have finished the story. Jess is a young college student that finds herself a single mom and facing breast cancer. Jess is barely 21 and she is facing things she never expected.  She struggles with what her daughter’s life will be like with her gone.  Jess is forced to face her own childhood issues and try to address them so her daughter will grow up knowing she is deeply loved.  Will Jess reach out to Jake? Will Jess find a way to forgive Jake so that Edie will have at least one parent? Will Jess’s mom be able to put aside her own past to support Jess as she reaches out to her father and Jake? How do you say good bye to the people you love the most?  What can you possibly write to your child that will help them to know you just a little bit long after you have gone?
It is through a series of letters Jess writes to her baby daughter Edie that she tells her all the things she wants her to know.  It really makes you stop and think are you really investing in the relationships that mean the most in your life.  What are the things you would want your loved ones to know about you?
I enjoyed this book even though it tore my heart out.  You can help but feel for the situation Jess is facing and think about how difficult it would be.  The most important thing to think about is that you should not wait for Cancer to be the driver in telling the ones you love how important they are to you.

Utterly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. There are moments of humour especially in the friendship between Jess and Gemma, which made me laugh, often with a wry smile. The depth of love from Jess for her daughter is awe inspiring and the strength it must have took simply staggering. It looks at love, family, friendship, terminal Illness and the impact it has on loved ones lives. Jess is so young to deal with this but you know this is real and cancer affects people and families at all ages of life. But most of all it’s a book that will stay with me forever as one of the most poignant I have ever read as Laura (the author) went through this battle herself so you know she is writing from the heart and personal experience. It’s made me cry a lot but I had to finish it. Completely brilliant, beautifully written, and it you know it will have such a deep impact on you as the reader forever. Thank you Laura for sharing your thoughts, experiences and feelings in this book, I can’t imagine how hard this was to write, so my admiration for you is off the scale! X

I don’t know what to say. Through tears, I believe this book was sent to me by a greater power. From the subject to even the publication date of my birthday. I lost my mother last year to cancer and three months later breast cancer took my best friend. I have struggled with the loss of both of them so deeply. As a woman, the closest to you are your mom and friends. Jess, in this book, gave me the peace I needed. She answered many questions I held silently. I learned the struggles my best friend felt as she worried about her young children and husband she was leaving behind.  I thought about my mother and the worries she held for me. Ms Pearson, thank you. Thank you for the beauty in your writing, the pictures playing in my mind and the chance to try to understand what struggles as mothers, daughters, best friends and lovers we face. I loved your book and I recommend it to anyone who is losing or has lost a loved one. It brings beautiful closure to your soul.  The story is incredible.

It is often a rarity to come across a piece of literature that does not merely tell a story, rather its speaks directly to the heart. As Jess' tale unfolded, the clean and natural prose exuded the strength and conviction of her will, and her message throughout never faltered, illuminating the power of a mother's love in its purest form. 

A heartbreaking yet uplifting must-read. Beautiful story. 

Thank you, Laura Pearson, for this truly amazing gift (and a really ugly cry).

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Laura Pearson for an ARC of 'I Wanted You To Know' in exchange for an honest review.

Last week I finished Laura Pearson’s latest novel - I wanted You To Know. It’s taken me a few days to put into words my feelings about this book because quite simply, it broke me. This novel is beautiful and bold, it will break your heart, but it will leave you cherishing those you love all the more. 

Once again the author has delivered a heart-breaking, honest and raw insight into family life and relationships. 
The novel focuses on 21-year-old new mum Jess and her battle with breast cancer. But it isn’t just the diagnosis Jess has to face, or knowing that she may not be around for her daughter Edie, she also has to handle the emotions of those closest to her. Jess’s friend Gemma stole my heart. Everyone should have a friend like Gemma by their side. 

At no point did the author take the easy road in dealing with this challenging topic. At no point did she give anything less than a stark and painful honesty about a disease and situation no one should find themselves in.  
Yes, this is a sad book, yes you’ll need tissues at the ready, but it is also a beautiful novel that will leave you wanting to live your best life. 

Thank you to Agora Books, Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this wonderful book.

Wow what a beautiful and moving story After Jess becomes pregnant at a young age and things don't work out with her partner she decides to go back and live with mother and bring up the baby on her own Little does she know that she might not get the chance Laura Pearson writes this  novel so beautifully and movingly it breaks your heart and when Jess desides to write some letters for her daughter's future the story is so poignant Can relate to all the characters and when the chips are everyone pulls together A wonderfulstory but beware you will need plenty of tissues

This has got to be one of the SADDEST books I’ve ever read. I think I’ve only cried reading 3 books and this one sure had me at the end! I knew what was coming but it still got to me anyway. How could it not?? Cancer just plain sucks - for EVERYONE involved. I’ve sadly lost a couple of friends and family members to cancer and it was one the worst things to go through. But I also have several friends who are cancer survivors!! Thank you NetGalley for granting my wish to get this book. All opinions are my own.

An excellent novel with a fascinating depiction of characters. I very much enjoyed this wonderful story and highly recommend it.

"From best-selling author Laura Pearson comes her most devastating book yet. Honest, heart-wrenching, and emotionally raw, I Wanted You To Know is a true love letter to life: to all its heartache and beauty, to the people we have and lose, to the memories and moments that define us."
How does one say goodbye? How does one leave a lasting legacy? How does one prepare for death?
A story of compassion, heart wrenching honesty, loyalty above all else and love to those left behind...
It's one mothers story to her daughter after breast cancer threatened to change her life and that of her child forever.
Single moms will certainly relate and those of us who know this story all too well will bow down to our knees in praise for a well written piece by Laura Pearson.
My best friend from grade school happened to have the exact same experience with breast cancer while pregnant with her 2nd child.
I'll never forget her strength, her courage, her determination to not leave this world. What shown through the most was her beauty, her heart, and her soul.
I never knew this side of her until I witnessed it first hand myself. She was always smiling but this time her smile carried her pain, her emotions, her depth of despair.
I applaud those who carry on and overcome adversity as this is one must read novel for all!