How one day can be the start of a year filled with every kind of emotion

Synopsis

They didn’t know – when Winter gave way to Spring that year – that their lives were all about to change…

Marnie didn’t realise – when she stormed into a bookshop one day, demanding a self-help book – that she was about to make a new best friend.

Bookshop-owner Rae didn’t know she had been living like a shadow since her parents died. But then Marnie exploded into her life. And suddenly she realised things had to change… more so when she meets handsome nurse, Jack.

And when Forrest’s life is turned upside down by a fatal car crash, he knew he was being given a second chance, but didn’t know why. He thinks Marnie might just be the woman he’s destined to be with. But – as she discovers that she has an illness she may never recover from – what if it’s too late for them?

Can it ever be too late though? To make friendships that change everything. To grow, to change, to start again. Even – for two unlikely new best friends to find love at last…?

The Last Days of You and Me is a heartbreaking, uplifting, magical story about friendship, love and above all what it means to truly live. Perfect for fans of Me Before You, Love Actually and One Day.

My review

Marnie and Rae meet in Rae’s bookstore when Marnie is looking for a self – help book. Marnie did not leave the store only with unexpected books, but also with the start of a brand new and strong friendship.
If only Marnie didn’t have to cope with an obnoxious lawyer, trying to get his client out of wrongdoings. But when that same lawyer has a car crash, Forrest realizes that he has had a second chance in life and is ready to things right again. And meeting Marnie may even show him that even love can be in store for him. But with Marnie’s discovery of an illness, is it perhaps too late for them?
An illness that makes everyone ponder about their own lives and its fragility. And where Rae realizes that keep on mourning the death of her parents, especially after meeting nurse Jack…
With the days passing by, and Marnie’s days are slinking, feelings arise and grow, but with the inevitable approaching, what will happen? 

When I began reading this book, I knew beforehand it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. This author knows how to touch her readers, even when heartbreaking events are taking place in her stories.
And from the blurb already I knew that my heart would have to face a lot of pain, yet I wasn’t prepared of how deep that pain would go…
But like I said, the pain was accompanied by a feeling of warmth and love, because it’s in the most hurtful moments in life, amazing people will be there by our side, taking one step at the time during the most difficult bits… 

This whole enlightening journey starts on a day where four characters meet by perhaps sheer coincidence, or perhaps Fate put them on each other’s path… 

Marnie and Rae’s start of a wonderful friendship begin with Marnie entering Rae’s bookstore. Isn’t it somehow ironic that Marnie is looking for a self – help book yet ends with a best friend? And isn’t it wonderful to read how this amazing friendship just takes off? 

Both Marnie and Rae aren’t in a great place when they meet, for totally different reasons. Yet they connect in a way that is just meant to be. These two friends are both scared, once again for totally different reasons, yet they manage to help each other in a way, to step out of their comfort zone and eve face the most brutal outcomes they could imagine. 

Their friendship, no matter how ‘young’ is it, is a genuine one, and one of the strongest possible, because they are there for each other, supporting each other even when not asked…
And Marnie’s diagnose broke my heart, because I could easily envision how their future would look like if only they had years to spend together as best friends… 

But Marnie in the same moment she meets Rae, she also meets Forrest, and this encounter wasn’t a successful one… Let’s just say they clash on that occasion!
Forrest for sure doesn’t make a great first impression, not only to Marnie but to me too! He’s acting like he’s all that and he is rather ruthless.
But like often happens, it takes an eye – opening accident to discover how wrong one’s behaviour has been, and change it for the better. 

The Forrest after the accident is a complete different persona, a man that ‘has seen the light’ and now only wants to do what’s right, and not what gains him more fame and fortune. And this Forrest for sure shows his worth, as he isn’t scared away when learning about Marnie and how her life has an expiration date… 

And then there is Jack, who also is a customer of Rae. Jack, who for sure immediately earned my respect and admiration for his choice of career.  But it’s also his compassion for his patients, and him going lengths for those under his care…
He is exactly what Rae needs, even if she doesn’t know it yet…. And he for sure shows his worth when even Marnie needs him. His heart doesn’t look if a patient needs him, or a friend. He wants to help out those in need, no matter who they are or what they need. 

This book is needed to be read with an open mind, as there is an aspect that perhaps may seem far – fetched. While initially I was a bit sceptical, by the end of the book it left me wondering if perhaps it truly was all that impossible as I thought it would be. Because wouldn’t it be wonderful if in fact it could truly be possible? 

The end of the book left me a bit flabbergasted, as the final revelation wasn’t something I saw coming. And normally I am rather quick on getting the small hints hidden in the story. But I just figured it out at the very last, shocking me. Yet when I thought about it later, it was clear that Debbie Howells did indeed leave some obvious hints, but being so enthralled by the story, I just didn’t pick them up… 

I found this a beautiful yet also heart – breaking one, as we see characters finding their person in life, whether it’s a best friend, or even the love of their lives. It shows us the strength of love, and how far we would go for our loved ones, standing by their sides in the most difficult moments, even when the inevitable is imminent… It shows us in a heart – breaking, eve tear – jerking way how far love can and will go, even defying the impossible…