Having known of Hazel Hayes for a long time I was slightly concerned that this would be 'just another YouTube book'. Thankfully I was an idiot for thinking that, and knowing how beautiful Hazel's other work is, I feel ashamed for doubting her. This book was so beautiful. A break up story told in reverse, it dredged up old emotions from past experiences and made me reexamine them in new lights. Anyone that has been through a break up, or any kind of relationship, will be able to relate to events in this book, descirbed more eloquently than I ever could. It made me both laugh and cry in public, which was great, and it was so atmospheric that I was able to forget that I was actually in public. The backwards storytelling did cause me some confusion at points, but I guess that just adds to the unsettling feeling of trying to figure out what went wrong. All in all, a solid book with a unique concept and a beautiful execution.

I thought Out of Love was a charming yet heartbreaking novel about the end of a relationship, made all the more painful in that you see it happen in reverse. It felt very real, and I was absolutely rooting for the characters to succeed, knowing that they wouldn't. Thanks for the digital ARC.

I don't typically read romance novels, I find them a bit boring and tedious. However, I knew Hazel from watching her on Youtube and I kept hearing positive things about this book so I thought I'd give it a shot and....wow. I've never hated a character more in the first chapter, and yet wanted the protagonist to be with that same character in the final chapter.

This book made me feel so emotions and I can't say it was a romance novel because even as we started to see the romance, we all knew how it ended up. We even knew why it ended up the way it did, more or less.

Hazel has an extraordinary, yet very real, way with words. I felt like I was there with the protagonist, chatting with her and listening to her story. And the characters felt so real. At first, at the start, I thought, 'how could she be with him?' and it made more and more sense as I went through. Right at the end, I thought, yeah, I can understand how they got together. And it's painful, because it ends so horribly. It doesn't even stay good for all that long in the grand scheme of things.

My only criticism is sometimes the scene changes too abruptly and I'm not sure when or where we are. It got easier to navigate as I went through, but was a little jarring at the beginning.

Hazel is right that love is the true horror. I will admit this made me feel a little pessimistic with the notion, but perhaps, has also taught me just what to look out for, to make sure that I get the real deal. I really hope Hazel continues to write.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unbound for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is wonderful. I loved so much about it and urge everyone to read it.

The tale of a breakup told backwards is such a great concept and it really helped us to explore the relationship between Theo and our unnamed narrator, in a unique way. How you feel about each of the characters really evolves over the duration of the book. The characters are so well developed and authentic that you really become invested in them. My heart broke multiple times throughout the course of the novel.

The plot sounds unusual and complex, because it is a breakup told backwards so you know how their story ends, but I did not find this confusing at all; in fact, it is such a simple yet effective device to tell their story. Its obviously doesn't end with a happily ever after, yet it did not feel incomplete by the time I reached the end. It was a real bittersweet reading journey.

Hayes' writing is stunning at parts, and she has such a way with words that sometimes I just had to stop and really take in a sentence or section of the book. She is firmly on my list of authors whose next book I will be buying without hesitation.

One of my favourite books of the year so far. Thanks to Netgalley and Unbound for the eARC.

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes is a book that hurt me. It hurt me in so many ways but also made me laugh, and smile, everything in-between. This book was so beautiful, and the writing, ugh, the writing was magnificent. It was such an easy read, and I found myself at the end of the book before I knew it. It was one of my highly anticipated books of the year. I wanted to read this book since it was announced, and when I listened to Hazel reading the first chapter on YouTube, I was hooked.

Out of Love follows our unnamed narrator, navigating through memories of their relationship after it has ended. We follow in first person, as our narrator takes us through the memories, with chapters titled ‘The Last Good Day’ and ‘Are You a Banana?’ it ranges from serious, to funny, to heartbreaking in the space of a few pages.

From the beginning of this novel, we know the outcome, however, I couldn’t help but feel inclined to continue the story, to want to know how Theo and our narrator met, to know the things they went through, the good and the bad. It was mesmerising. I feel like the story being told backwards was done wonderfully, and Hayes played around with narrative structure to make it work, and it did.

Both the narrator and Theo were wonderfully written. Theo as a complete asshole, and the narrator far from perfect themselves. They became different people in the space of knowing each other, and that’s so realistic to me, which made this book all that more relatable. Maya, one of the side characters, could’ve been included in the story a lot more, but it’s understandable as to why she wasn’t – it wasn’t her story. But every bit of narrative that included Maya, I loved. She was so kind, and friendly, and in the right places she displayed emotion wonderfully. I really loved Maya, if you can’t tell.

I found our narrator to be relatable, maybe because of the relationship experiences, the life experiences, or maybe just because I’m Irish too. From the way they spoke, to the way they described their home life, and relationship experiences, I honestly thought this book was talking about me. I found myself feeling for our narrator a lot of the time, as they reminded me of, well, me. I could also see other characters in the novel in the people around me, past and present. Others might not get the same experience from this novel, but it was relatable to me nonetheless.

It was also really nice finding out that our narrator has mental health issues, later in the book to be told they had BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder), which is something a lot of people struggle with, including myself. It was nice to see this novel navigate that in a simple and easy way, without mentioning it in an over-the-top way, but subtlety and it didn’t feel forced into the narrative. Therapy was mentioned a lot in this book, with our narrator starting therapy in Ireland in regards to her relationship. Mental health is an important part of both characters story. It’s handled in a realistic way too, which is very important to me. I’d elaborate, but don’t want to spoil much of the novel.

Overall, I thought this book was very heartbreaking, but lovely nonetheless. I loved every second of it, so much so, that I didn’t realise it was over before it was too late. I thought there was more! I would recommend reading this if you want to read an easy and somewhat emotional backwards romance. 5 Stars.

Out of Love is the story of a romance written in reverse which I was intrigued by but I felt didn't entirely work.

We know 'Angel' and Theo are going to break up, so I was looking for a reason to be invested in their story. Both main characters are so flawed but relatable and interesting to read about. However I still found myself at the end of the book thinking "what now?" due it not being the end of the story but the beginning. I would have preferred to have some reflection from the protagonist regarding the failed relationship and the lessons learned.

That being said, each chapter was like a short story in itself and Hayes writing is easily digestible with sarcasm and witt that still kept me entertained. Despite the heavy themes of abuse and mental health alongside the breakdown of a relationship, the prose is still light and thoughtful.

A great debut novel, and I look forward to reading more from Hayes.

This was a strange one for me and it took me a little while to get into. The story is written in reverse. We start the story at the point where the two main characters relationship has come to an end. Each chapter then goes back in time during their relationship and finishes at the point where they first get together. A clever idea which works.

Thank you NetGalley, Unbound and Hazel Hayes for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I finished this one a bit ago but realized I never got around to writing the review. A true shame because this book is a true gem. The format of this book, written at the end of a relationship and going backwards to where it all started. Truly brilliant and such an interesting take. The whole time I was reading I could picture this as an indie movie.
Your heart breaks more than once throughout this book so be prepared with a few tissues and maybe a pint of ice cream in the freezer. This is one of those books that leaves you with a bittersweet feeling. The kind of book where you need to spend a day or two reflecting on what you read before you’re truly finished with it. 5 stars!!!

hmm 3 stars maybe 2.5 for this book. It started off by breaking my heart and then just broke it again by letting me down and not fulfilling expectations until the end where it got good again. The concept sounded promising but then just didn't really deliver. I got invested in side characters only for the protagonist to not have met them yet which made me feel let down. I like to learn more as the novel goes on and in certain situations, I felt like I was learning less? The only fleshed out characters were the two main characters and their mothers with all others feeling distinctly lacking. Two scenes that stood out was the scene with the girl in the bar which I thought felt slightly non-consensual and deserved to be discussed further and the jump from the first chapter to the second which felt really jarring and like I was reading two very different stories with her emotions

Not my type of book. Book was over after the first twenty pages . Just skimmed the rest as no interest in the characters and how their relationship went south.

“You can’t fail at a relationship. That’s like getting off a roller coaster and saying you failed because the ride is over. Things end. That doesn’t mean the experience wasn’t worth it.”

Unlike Holly Bourne’s “The Places I’ve Cried in Public”, I don’t think that the narrative style worked for this book. To be honest, I wasn’t able to sympathise with the main character here, which might have been my biggest problem. From the beginning, the reader knows that Theo is a horrible man, but, after finishing the book, the main character could have seen this from the beginning of their relationship. The more I read, the less I cared about their relationship.
I saw other reviews that say that the book is a lot of telling and little showing, and I absolutely agree with this statement. While I definitely liked the banter between the main character and her friend, nothing else really stood out. However, I think Hazel has a knack for writing and I can see myself picking up another book by her, if she writes one.

I liked a lot about this book. Hazel Hayes is a good writer, with the sort of modern millennial voice I've come to expect and really enjoy from UK-set contemporaries. The concept of a love story told in reverse is definitely intriguing, and I did feel like I was still invested in seeing the trajectory of the break-up and learning more about the characters, despite knowing the ending from the beginning. I did feel like some of the book suffered from too much tell, not enough show, and that there were times when Hayes gave away a bit too much detail or not enough. But for a debut (especially a non-traditionally published crowdfunded one!) I think this shows a ton of promise and I'd look forward to reading more from Hayes in the future.

I had high hopes for this book but they didn't work out. I found the book to be quite bland. It is a love story in reverse but it lacked a lot of detail, I found the plot underdeveloped and couldn't gel with our unnamed protagonist.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book - unlike a traditional romance novel where there's a happy ending. Here you see the unhappy beginning and then get taken back to the 'honeymoon period at the beginning of their relationship. I really liked how it dealt with other sensitive issues like mental health and eating disorders. In general I thought it tried to do too much and there were negative aspects of Theo that I didn't really feel were addressed. I'm unsure of how the reader was meant to feel. It also felt quite disjointed, as I said I loved the concept but think it could have been done in a way that flowed more.

If I actually had a paper copy of this book, I would have flung it across the room at the end. It’s basically a love story in reverse, but it’s literally all over the place, and left me unsatisfied. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unbound for an ARC of the International Edition of Out of Love.

Out of Love tells the story of a young woman and her partner and the ending of their relationship, The twist to this is that the story is told in reverse, you begin with the end of the relationship and steadily progress back to their meeting.

This is a debut novel and that is very clear in the writing style, as with many debuts it feels as though the author is adding too much detail in the wrong places and not enough where it is needed. That being said, I would be interested to see what Hayes writes next and how her writing develops.

"I think I like stories because they're simple and contained. You establish a status quo, create conflict, then resolve it. In life, nothing is ever really resolved. Your story never stops. How can it, when all our stories are woven together, part of some greater tapestry of tales that make up our lives and the lives of those around us?"

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes is a love story told in reverse. It begins with the unnamed protagonist and her (ex) boyfriend Theo sorting out their belongings after recently breaking up, realising that this is probably the last time they'll ever see each other. Every chapter on takes a step back in time, as the protagonist tries to work out where it all went wrong. By starting at the end, the reader is able to see all points of the relationship through a different lens analysing the complexity of how we act and the flaws of people closest to us.

This bittersweet debut novel holds up a magnifying glass to modern relationships, exploring every detail including the highs and lows. Out of Love is filled with humour but also touches on serious discussions of mental health and sexuality which I wasn't expecting. I enjoyed reading this book, I'm almost tempted to read it backwards and pick up on any little details I missed 😂

this hurted.
When I finished this book, my Kindle displayed that I still had 13% left. I was shocked and dismayed. Which isn't to say that the ending wasn't satisfying. But I definitely would've taken more.
This falling out of love story was definitely vaguely reminiscent of The Last Five Years, which is a delightful musical streaming for free on YouTube right now... you're welcome. It opens with a breakup that gets more painful as you move backwards through time and see all the good moments.
These characters felt so real. I read this book at the same time as I was reading a memoir, and they honestly felt like such similar tones. This is truly a character study of beautifully flawed people.
I loved most things about it. The witty dialogue. The beautiful descriptions. The realness of it all. When I would take breaks from reading this book these characters would side in the back of my mind, in the pit of my stomach.
It did take a little while to get used to the backwards narrative style and I worried that I was missing out on Easter egg themes or objects that would crop up throughout the book. The transition near the middle from kinda bad to perfect seemed a bit fast and disconnected, but maybe that's just because I refused to see any bad in the good.
This one is definitely worth your time if you want to be sad but also happy but also sad.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. Thank you Hazel for your brain.