Wow! This book is an emotional rollercoaster! There are times where you are screaming at each character, “What on earth are you doing?!?!” However, it all comes clear in the end. I absolutely loved the ending and thought it was perfect how the jigsaw fit together.

I don’t recall seeing any novel with the main character working in a call center of some sort.. and even less in a mental health help-line! So I deeply appreciated the career choice; having that type of things in novels definately normalise the idea of calling one, which is amazing. I thought the subject was handled pretty well, as Nell clearly had some psychotherapy formation, so in times we get little tidbits about the depressed brain like for exemple why they tend to self-neglect themselves.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing to life complex, genuine characters, and my sympathies for each (both Charlie and Nell) are heightened. I also think the author portrays the many layers of grief in a relatable, true manner. But as much as I like the premise of the book--which is what drew me to it--this is not an insta love story. Instead, the future of lives was changed with that first sight. Is that bad? No. I honestly think the book has more depth than I originally thought, which is a good thing. My only other critique is that I didn't "feel" the pull between the main characters the way I would have liked to. But again, I think that was a bias set by the title and the description. Overall, if you're looking for a humorous, hopeful story, this might be for you.

A really hard hitting story on a topic that is rarely talked about, Hannah Sunderland has done a wonderful job portraying the challenges that people face and the wider impact.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly I wasn't a fan. I haven't read an insta love book in quite a while so I thought why not. This is not an insta lovestory. Frankly both characters were not all that likeable and they had no chemistry. Charlie is one GIANT red flag. He's between jobs, disappears without a word, as a seemingly difficult relationship with his family he doesn't want to talk about etc etc. And Nell investes way too much way too quickly. After seeing him twice she already imagines it's the big thing and after the third time she waits way too long for him to apologize/explain himself. They don't even really know each other and she demands way too much from Charlie while he behaves absolutely strange. I was very frustrated very quickly.

“At First Sight”, by Hannah Sunderland (Avon Books UK), explores the themes of grief and loss particularly through the character of the wounded hero, a male protagonist with a very dark past and personal story.
I liked how the author wrote the inexplicability and the sometimes diffuse, other times acute pain and despair surrounding the mental health issues addressed in the story, which aren’t glamorous at all, yet very real and a bit hard to read.
The suspense and a certain mystery about Charlie in the beginning were engaging, but I was finding the pace a bit slow going before I was halfway through the story and the dialogue not very interesting.
To a certain extent, Charlie and Nell are interesting, decent characters, but their romance wasn’t off the charts enough for me.
In the end, Charlie and Nell’s personalities didn’t appeal to me and I didn’t feel connected with them or the side characters and their stories. I usually love vulnerability in a hero, but the sadness about Charlie didn’t move me.
While I enjoyed some parts of the story and the courage to write about these issues, it wasn’t memorable enough.

This was a beautiful story about love and the difficult task that is overcoming grief. There is somewhat frequent mention of suicide/suicidal ideations, and loss plays a big role - these can be very difficult topics to write about, and even more difficult to write about with grace, but Hannah Sunderland really pulled it off. This the second of her books that I've read, and I look forward to reading more in the future. She is establishing herself as a fantastic writer that can tug at the heartstrings, cover difficult topics, and leave you thinking about her stories for days on end.

A rollercoaster! What a hard subject to explore, yet written in such a wonderful and sensitive way. Loved the characters and I wonder if there is more to come regarding them. Hannah Sunderland is a very talented writer and I really look forward to reading more by her.
Keep up the good work.

Nell and Charlie were the perfect protagonists. I really enjoyed how they met and how their story and the details of both of their stories developed over time. Nell was such a lovely and compassionate character and I enjoyed reading how she supported Charlie through his grief.. I really enjoyed this book - thank you for sharing

Ah Hannah Sunderland, you have firmly taken your place in the literary world. I read Hannah’s debut novel earlier this year – Very Nearly Normal – and that was just incredible. However, At First Sight has taken over completely and in the incredible stakes…wins hands down.

This is an unconventional romance in that it’s not often one that you read about. However the topics that Hannah explores are not uncommon and I love that there is finally a fictional book focusing on the reality of loving someone with depression, of love after loss, and of loss in general.

I don’t always like to make comparisons between Authors but when there’s a certain book or Author that just clicks with you, it’s good to know who out there is quite similar. So if you enjoy Hannah’s books or you enjoy Holly Miller’s books – then the writing style that they both have is beautiful and very similar. The books, however, are worlds apart. But yes, both incredible Authors… both new to the literary world this year…both wonderful.

This book does, as I said above, deal with difficult topics. There’s a trigger warning just before the first Chapter which gives details of what you can expect the book to cover. I urge you not to gloss over it, it’s right there to help point out that this book may be difficult for some people. Huge thanks to Hannah for respectfully including that and for dealing with the very difficult topics so well.

I cannot put into words how utterly in love I am with this book.

I cried, I smiled, and I felt related to. This is my first time reading a book by this author, and it surely won’t be my last! I am a sucker for sad books, so this was right up my alley and it didn’t disappoint.

I seen parts of myself in the protagonist and her wisdom, loyalty and caring heart. I adored her until the very end.

This plot had intrigued me from the get-go, and I appreciated the trigger warnings (as most authors are inconsiderate of their readers triggers and mental well being)

I loved every page, I will admit, I had to put the book down once or two to process what was happening but I loved every moment even if it ruined me.

I almost decided to DNF this book, because it dealt with some very heavy topics (death of a spouse and suicide) and wasn't expecting that from the description. I wish it had a trigger warning and/or a content warning. I think i may have enjoyed it more with a trigger warning.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A chance meeting in a cafe for Charlie and Nell, when he leaves she regrets not getting his number but little does she know that she will see him again. It is clear that he is struggling but can she help him work his way through it. Some twists and surprises along the way.

At First Sight, is one of those great books you stat and can't stop reading. Charlie meets Nell in a coffee shop and the two hit it off from the start. But, as time goes on Nell realizes that Charlie has a lot of issues and he might not be ready for a relationship. I really liked this book and my heart broke for Charlie and Nell but I kept reading hoping these two would have their happy ending.

Many thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This story explores some sensitive issues around grief and suicide ideation. Although the book is well written, I felt that credulity is stretched way too far by so many coincidental meetings, and especially that Crisis Helpline operators meet service users IRL, and have ongoing relation ships with them. I found this whole contrstuct unacceptable.
There were are. Umber of colourful characters who had a se se of realism about them, but overall for it was a decent romance with some flaws.
3.stars

How to say this...... I liked this book but didn't love it. I mean the plot was promising and the writing was great but I couldn't relate much to the characters so it became a but boring for me. I thought that I would love it, I really did since I loved the previous book by the author but it didn't do much for me. The story is nice but just not for me. I would still recommend it though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the early readers copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for a arc copy for a honest review.

I wish there was a trigger warning suicide and a death of a spouse. I almost DNF At First Sight but I wanted to know where this story was going to take me. I’m giving 3 star’s.



Happy Reading
Lisa

I received an advance copy of, At First Sight, by Hannah Sunderland. I did not like this book at all. the main character has no morals, I just could not get passed that, she was a bit annoying too.

@flounderinghanauthor has done it again and blown me away with another amazing book.
At First Sight is due to be released April 2021, so preorder your copy if you're a sucker for romances like me! After her debut novel Very Nearly Normal was released earlier this year I wasn't sure anything could top my love for Effie, but both Nell and Charlie have officially stolen my heart!

Trigger Warnings - Loss, Grief, Depression & mentions of suicide
First of all a huge thank you to Avon books for sending me a free copy via Netgalley and thank you Hannah for writing another book for me to fall in love with.

Nell & Charlie meet by chance in a cafe and there is an instant spark that all us romantics hope for, then fate brings them together again when Nell gets a phone call at work and Charlie is at the other end.

Nell is about to risk it all to fall in love and save the stranger she met the cafe. Charlie has a secret he isn't ready to face up to yet, but can Nell help him once and for all?

Once again Hannah has written the perfect yet flawed characters for us to fall in love with and root for throughout. I didn't want to put this down and deal with real life until I knew how this book was going to end, and I held my breath praying it ended the way I needed it to.

This book needs a huge trigger warning for suicide and death of a spouse. Based on the description, I didn't quite realize what I was getting into. There were a few things/coincidences that happened (that I don't want to spoil) that were a bit unbelievable.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.