Well hello to you my reader chums! I’ve been meaning to read Amelia Mandeville’s second book The Missing Pieces of Me for a while as I adored her first novel, Every Colour of You. I downloaded it on my travels and it’s safe to say I was hooked from page 1, I couldn’t put it down!

If you’re on the hunt for a page-turner, here’s my full book review of ‘The Missing Pieces of Me’ by Amelia Mandeville.

The plot line follows Willow and Dustin, two people who fall head over heels in love and after having their baby, Dustin feels like his world is complete. To everyone around them, they are the perfect couple. This is why when Dustin comes home one day with a note from Willow and discovers she has disappeared, his world crumbles. He starts to question why and the more digging he does, the more answers he learns, discovering who Willow really is.

In this book, I loved the diversity of the characters, how different they all are, and how everyone had a different type of upbringing. The character Willow, I really related to them on many levels as her anxiety was a large theme throughout the novel and some of the scenes, when she was having panic attacks, were on point. I understood how she was feeling growing up, and that level of shyness, wanting to hide away from the world. My heart went out to her when I learnt more about her upbringing, feelings and how it affected her happiness. The way the author describes Willow’s feelings is insightful, raw and human, and helps bring the character to life more.

Dustin is the type of character I can see at every social event, the confident, loving guy who everyone is a fan of - and you can see that love for him, even when he faces struggles throughout the book and his own family disputes. He definitely has more layers than initially shown and I enjoyed learning more about who he was and the love he has to give.

Willow and Dustin’s relationship was the most bittersweet thing to read about as it was incredibly honest, innocent and true to wanting to make each other happen. And when things go wrong, they still want that, they still love each other. I love how the waves of the relationship are described in the novel, it felt real and beautiful. It shows that no relationship is perfect and it takes work to keep the same level of love.

Overall, I adored this book in every way! From the first page, I was hooked on finding out what happened to Willow and learning more about the layers of the plot unfolding. It’s one of those books where more happens than first meets the eye. I expected it to be a romance novel, but it was more than that, it had a deeper meaning with honest dialogue. The book discussed many crucial themes, including anxiety, panic attacks, post-natal depression, childhood trauma and grief. With all of these themes woven into a beautifully planned story, it made the book a memorable and insightful one for me.

The ending I won’t give away, however, what I will say is that although it’s not what I wanted to happen after learning about the relationship, the ending occurred realistically. It felt human and right and perfect for both characters’ growth.

I hope you enjoyed this review. What are you currently reading?

Thank you for reading <3