This is a beautiful debut novel told over different time lines and the two main characters perspectives. A poignant story of love, secrets, grief and what it’s like to see your life flashing before your eyes.

I appreciated how the author also highlighted and discussed the condition Huntington's disease as this is an illness which is not often talked about and I found these descriptions relatable having a friend who lost her mum to this terrible disease

Very excited for this one as I loved The Man I Never Met. So excited to read Emma Steels work and share my thoughts. Will be sharing a full review and thoughts very soon. This would make an excellent book club pick or movie.

I'm left heartbroken. Spending the book seeing Jenn's life. The good, the bad and the ugly. Seeing how things could have been so much different if people just paid more attention.
While there were moments and memories that weren't as interesting for me. They do all play a bigger part in getting her to where she is by the end.
Speaking on the end. I'm broken. It's not the ending I expected.

Wow just wow, couldn't put it down. What a fantastic book about love, for parents, friends, partner's and how it makes us into the person we become.
Good and bad feed into how we feel and process things.
Loved this book

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This book will stay with me for a long time, the characters were so real and the story was so believable and heartbreaking, I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

3.75 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for the ARC.

I was super excited to read this book. I enjoyed the story concept, however, I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, especially switching back and forth to alternative perspectives. It was a bit jarring and confusing to read the first few chapters initially but you get the just of it later.

Echoes of You pulls you in and is a fast paced story that really did grip me. I found myself heading to bed early to read, something I haven’t done in a while.
I enjoyed jumping through Jenn’s memories and uncovering their love story in scene snatches. Jenn was compelling, and her journey was beautifully written. The structure meant we could follow Robbie and Jenn’s journey separately and yet also together, and I understood why she loved him.
Emma Steele’s writing is lovely, I enjoyed her sometimes unique yet perfect metaphors and she knew when to let her prose flow and when to write tight, quick moving scenes. It kept me turning the pages and I truly enjoyed this book.
Robbie though became more unlikeable the more we uncovered, and at times I couldn’t help but think she’d be better off with Duncan. Perhaps this was on purpose because of course our best leading men are floored, and Emma did give him his redemption! However, I gave it four instead of five stars because the ending left me a little unsatisfied. It felt abrupt after following them on such a big journey and we didn’t get all the answers. Some readers enjoy being able to make their own interpretation of events at the end, me I like everything wrapped up in a neat little bow, and this didn’t quite do that. Robbie finally uncovered Jenn’s secret (he mentioned it rather a lot, though it was a brilliant revelation, and similar to what I’d hoped for), and yet we didn’t quite find out everything, or see how what happened impacted not just Jenn but the cast of characters we’d met throughout the story.
A thoroughly enjoyable read though, and I’d absolutely read another Emma Steele book.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. The concept of this book was fantastic, but unfortunately, I didn't feel any connection between Jenn and Robbie so I struggled to root for their relationship. Although I was interested in Jenn, Robbie had little development. However, the final scenes were moving and well written.

I really enjoyed this. There are review out there drawing the more obvious comparison and that’s fine, but let’s not? Because this is a really original idea, well executed. If you already love a book any other book is going to struggle to catch up but I don’t think this needs to be compared. I’ve also read some suggestions the ending was predictable but I didn’t think so, I was hooked until the end and it had all the feels it needed. Despite their flaws, I liked the lead characters and I’d recommend this.

Spoiler alert


The only issue I had was overthinking the ending - not in a bad way but I did keep thinking that I wanted all the other players in Robbie’s life to sit down and have a good heart to heart with him.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Robbie and Jenn had been together for five years when Jenn suddenly receives some disturbing news and runs away, travelling for eight months.

She comes home, at the wedding of their friends they meet and reconcile again, but on the way home a big lorry comes their way, and suddenly, Jenn's life flashes before Robbie's eyes, from the time she is ten years old. Apparently this is called a shared near-death experience.

Slowly we learn a lot about Jenn's difficult childhood, her first boyfriend, her meeting Robbie and their years together. Robbie learns things he didn't know and realises that he hadn't been the best of boyfriends. He swears to be better if he could only learn her secret and thus avoid the lorry!

This is a very confusing and frustrating concept. We're hopping back and forth in time and from POV to POV with head-swivelling speed. It's all about Jenn's secret that she was about to tell Robbie shortly before the accident, and Robbie has it in his head that if he just knows it, they will be saved.
"If I do, she’ll wake. And if she wakes, we’ll live."
I have to say, I didn't understand that at all.

But all in all I enjoyed this book. It's a well-written debut novel trying something new, and I salute the author for that. If you disregard for a moment that we tenseley await the secret to be revealed which requires a ghostly Robbie to shout at memory Jenn, then this is a multi-layered story about relationships - with partners, parents and friends, and that understanding is a question of perspective. We do not always understand in the moment why people react the way they do, because people keep things to themselves. Case in point was Robbie calling the Sagrada Familia "just another weird stone building". He really was often clueless what Jenn needed from him, and he didn't try to find out.

And that ending! What are you doing to me!

"But as time goes on, and things get harder, you need to work at it. Like that unfinished cathedral Jenn wanted me to see, the work love requires never really stops."

3.75 stars

I found the alternating timelines too confusing and was very slow start. Didn’t really feel connected to the characters or story unfortunately.

Really really loved this book! Such a cute book and loved the main characters! Highly recommend! Thanks Net galley

Emma Steele's "The Echoes of Us" is a complex dive into memory, secrets, and relationships, told through dual perspectives and timelines. At first glance, the story can feel disorientating due to its narrative structure, but as you sink deeper into the tale, the pieces start to come together, unveiling a poignant story of love and redemption.

The novel alternates between Jenn and Robbie's points of view, weaving between past and present. This storytelling choice can be both intriguing and challenging; it immerses you in the characters' minds but also requires careful attention to navigate the shifts in time and perspective. The intentional disorientation seems to be a stylistic decision aimed at mirroring the characters' emotional turbulence, successfully achieved albeit at the risk of confusing the reader.

The initial chapters might feel slow as you adjust to the alternating viewpoints and timelines. However, as the layers of Jenn's secret unfold, the tension mounts, driving Robbie's desperate attempt to understand and save their relationship in the face of imminent danger.

One of the book's strengths lies in its character development. Robbie, flawed and somewhat unlikable in the past, evolves into a more sympathetic figure in the present timeline, driven by a desire to rectify past mistakes. Jenn, on the other hand, is a relatable character whose vulnerabilities stem from a history of abandonment and yearning for affection.

The predictability of the ending could be a drawback for some readers, particularly those who enjoy more unexpected twists. Additionally, the story's length and occasional repetition may test the patience of readers seeking a more streamlined narrative.

Overall, "The Echoes of Us" is a compelling exploration of memory, forgiveness, and the complexities of human relationships. While it requires patience to unravel its intricate threads, the emotional depth and character evolution make it a worthwhile read for fans of contemporary fiction. Emma Steele adeptly captures the fragility of love and the power of redemption amidst the echoes of our past selves.

I rated this book 3.5 stars.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliant book. Loved the relationship between the main characters. Absolutely amazing and highly recommended.

I really wanted to live this book but it just didn’t grab me and I found myself skipping paragraphs and the pages. The premise was good and had echoes of other books I’ve read but I just didn’t feel with Jenn enough to care what happened to her. The ending, although not entirely predictable, wasn’t satisfying and I felt a little deflated.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Fall in love with Jenn and Robbie. An accident. Flashbacks. &a lifetime of memories revisited. A 360degree experience. With an eye watering ending…

It’s like you’re always somewhere

Perfect read for those who enjoy:
- A story that stays with you
- Complexities of families and relationships
- Out of body experiences & time travelling
- Self reflection fiction

If you loved David Nicholls ‘One Day’ you will LOVE this one!

With thanks to Headline | Mountain Leopard Press and Netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Oh my goodness, I was not prepared for that ending.

When I first began the book, I didn’t think I would be able to get into it. The subject matter felt a bit stranger I was very wrong and now I will hold a special place in my heart for Robbie and Jenn.

I probably should not of finished it at bedtime because I know I will wake up with my eyes stuck together from all the ugly tears I have been crying.

Emma Steele, you’ve broken me. Five MASSIVE stars.

Such a beautiful , yet heart breaking love story about Robbie & Jenn. I still can't believe that this is the authors first book, hope she writes another soon. Loved it

If you’re going to compare a book to luminary comparisons such as David Nicholls’ One Day and Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, then you really are raising the bar of reader expectations. To be honest, that’s probably why it took me a few chapters to get into The Echoes of Us. And then suddenly, it seemed, I was one third of the way in, realizing how very much I had been captivated by this story … and that yes, it does compare to Nicholls and Niffenegger.

With her debut, Emma Steele has come up with a super device (I’m not a jealous writer, honest!) that shows us how what we perceive to be true and real in a relationship is very much tainted by our character, our situation, and our level (or lack thereof) of empathy.

If Robbie shares a number of traits with Dex from One Day, then Jenn perhaps does too with Clare from The Time Traveler’s Wife, at least in terms of being with a partner increasingly long on issues and short on ability to invest in the relationship. So, no surprise then that as Robbie moves through Jenn’s memories of significant times in her life, he finds his memories and impressions don’t quite gel with what he’s seeing.

What’s clever is how The Echoes of Us this is more than a simple second-chance romance trope novel, as Robbie is navigating Jenn’s memories, watching primary moments of her life. Can he find a way to understand and communicate with Jenn before it’s too late? Will they get their second chance?

I was captivated all the way to the very last line. And beyond as I spent days, in fact, processing the story. I’ll be purchasing a copy of the book when it’s released this summer and re-reading because I think an awareness of certain issues and certain time points in Jenn’s remembered life will enhance the reading and takeaway.

The Echoes of Us is a near-masterpiece in its genre: clever, insightful, aware, and never shying away from the truth of its characters. I can’t wait to see what Emma Steele does next.

Thank you to the author, the publishers, and to NetGalley for this ARC.

An unusual love story, a life flashing before your eyes story which I really enjoyed but I was still rooting for Duncan the whole time. I did not like Robbie. Worth a read.