Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Eight Perfect Hours

Brought together under less-than-ideal circumstances, after spending an evening stranded but enjoying each other's company and conversation, Noelle and Sam go their separate ways. What follows is a series of serendipitous encounters that leave Noelle questioning whether fate is trying to bring them together or she should reunite with her ex-boyfriend. The serious side stories with her friends and family occasionally seemed to be taking up a lot of time, even darkening the mood. However, though somewhat predictable, the additional "coincidental meetings" between Noelle and Sam helped to lighten the mood and made for a fun, sweet story.

Content Warnings

bookrecsbyjess's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was so cool to see how interconnected Sam and Noelle’s lives were. Parts of this were pretty light, but I like how the author also included the discussion of grief and guilt in this story. Overall, I would recommend it.

Content Warnings

miblette's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a charming, feel good read to end 2022 and begin 2023. Some of the plot was very predictable, even cheesey at times. But the overall message and ending was pretty darn uplifting.
I felt like the narrator was on two separate journeys - romantic and self growth. I'm really pleased with the way the author balanced them.

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Eight Perfect Hours is a sweet “meant to be” story. Noelle and Sam meet when their cars are stuck next to each other during a snowstorm. Eight hours later the roads are clear and they go on their way not expecting to see each other again And yet their paths keep crossing in unexpected places - again and again. This story was underpinned by grief, regret, anxiety and depression but the characters do grow, move on and let go so it isn’t unduly heavy. Some of the meetings and connections feel contrived and unrealistically coincidental, so this is best enjoyed in a go-with-the-flow manner rather than read through a critical, analytical lens.

Content Warnings

embxr's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

mmalone's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

now_booking's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this soft sort of uplit-esque romance… it’s actually not QUITE romance but it has romantic elements in it- it’s sort of reminiscent of that golden era of Brit “chick lit” (hating to use that nomenclature but you know what I mean) from the late 90s/ early 00s that was women’s coming of age stories. In that way, this is very similar to this author’s previous novel (Dear Emmie Blue). It’s about family and friendship, but also about loss and grief and being stuck and reconciling either being okay with that feeling or doing something to change it, without privileging the latter option as most books do.

The premise of this book is that Noelle is kind of stuck in a rut, grieving the loss of her childhood friend, looking after her housebound mother, and mourning the end of a long term relationship when she meets Sam on a highway when they’re both stranded due to a blizzard. Over the next few months they continue to meet randomly through no effort on their part leading them to question what fate is trying to tell them,especially since they’re both battling demons and dealing with blasts from the past.

This is a book that happens very much in Noelle’s head. It’s not that there is no plot action, there is, but you have to have a lot of patience with Noelle’s worries and fears and internal monologues and doubts. I found that I related to her a lot but perhaps because of that I found her a little tiresome at times because it was a lot like looking into a mirror of my own psyche and staring down all my issues. Noelle rambles a lot and arguably her internal monologues can run on and tend towards the precious- but overall I found her endearing.

I thought the way the author tackles mental health in this is quite good and I found realistic and diverse. Consider if this might be a little triggering if you have struggled with mental health or have had to take care of someone with severe mental health struggles. One major theme of this novel is grief and the ways people deal with or don’t deal with it- a lot of Noelle’s internal monologue centres around her trauma over losing her friend and this is reflected by the way she lives her life and also mirrored through Sam.

I feel like I struggled with this book in the sense of the romantic relationships. One thing I liked in this book as in the previous book is the way past romantic relationships are not villainised but rather seen through a lens of reality and seen for what they were- both the good and the messy with some 💩-holery that happens without you consigning entire characters as 🍑-holes. That said, I think because of the nature of fate as a character in this book, it made the actual relationship-building parts a little weak and underdeveloped for me. It’s not that I didn’t love the characters and the role of fate, but I wanted more of Noelle and Sam together on page. For such a “real” book, their epic love story felt a little rushed and unsubstantial because of how fate-based it was. And the thing is that when they were together it was good, at least from Noelle’s POV- Sam barely speaks now that I think of it, but there could have been more.

There are certain changes that happen in the book that seem out of nowhere and certain problematic family dynamics that are never resolved. If you like things tied up in and tidy now, this might be a struggle- but I liked the realism of leaving things open-ended in some aspects especially since this is otherwise such a fate-driven novel otherwise.

Overall, I liked this and recommend it perhaps not as much as Emmie Blue but still it’s a wonderfully uplifting read. Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for the complimentary copy!

Content Warnings

michelles_books9's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...