Given the nature of this book it may be triggering for some, there is loss of a sibling and the loss of an adult child. The story, on the whole, was very character driven and the author did a good job with describing them, yet I still think that Leni was really the weakest link and I'm guessing it shouldn't be like this, I was supposed to like her and because I didn't, well, the whole story was already from the beginning spoiled for me.

I know of her and I’ve seen her books and often been interest in them, but for reasons unknown to me, I have never actually read one.I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Quercus and I am leaving this review voluntarily. But thankfully this story wasn’t all misery, anguish and sadness as it could have easily descended into this vein. Seeing the McKenzies finding their way in this new reality, experiencing happiness again and creating ways to honor the Leni they loved and miss so much in their lives - I think I’m going to water my eyes all over again for each and every one of them. Then, some years later, along came Will and their parent's focus was somewhat distracted from the girls by all the time spent in hospital with their brother.

Her marriage is over as her husband can’t cope with what she has turned into and all the solid structures once in place in her life are gone. It is also about them coming to terms with Leni’s death and getting over the grief and living life to the fullest as Leni would have wanted her family to be.It’s grieving to the fullest, following all stages from denial to coming to terms to their new reality. As the sisters grew they inevitably parted ways to follow different paths but always knew that they had each other's backs. I think that grief is explored really well in this book, and through the different family members, we see how everyone deals with grief differently. You are desperate to get to know her and to read things from her perspective but you know this can’t occur but the further the story develops you do get a sense of who she was and how integral she was to the family and how loved she was.

She has constant reminders of what she had but once lost as she sees her family members doing well in life or she thinks. Lina McKenzie was the life of the party and also the glue that held her somewhat dysfunctional family together. Alice, her sister is angry, she’s lost a friend, and more so they were at odds with each other in the run up to Leni’s death. I love books by Lucy Diamond and this one was just as good as the others I’ve read, with lots of characters to keep you interested. A bittersweet ode to the highs, the lows, and all the shades of living in between , The Best Days of Our Lives is Lucy Diamond at her absolute best .Their fond recounting of stories about Leni was wonderful and following them all through their grief was so sad yet uplifting.

Shortly after her 35th birthday, Lina is out riding at night when she's knocked off her bike and instantly killed by a passing car. The only one who annoyed me was Alice, as what Leni was up to in her last days consumed her to the point of obsession and took over her whole life. Everyone is keeping secrets and the thing about secrets is that they will all be revealed in the end. But I admired him for his persistence and the fact he admitted to himself that things needed to change and with a new arrival due he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as he had done with his older children. He can’t believe this is happening and is not overly keen to get involved with preparations thinking everything will be just as it was when his older kids were born.We do, however, get to know her really well through her sister Alice, her brother Will and her parents Belinda and Tony. It’s unsurprising that the parent’s and children’s stories link as they’ve all lost the same person, but there are some secondary characters that pop up here and there that help tie it all together. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter. The Best Days of Our Lives is one of those books that makes you reassess how you live your own life. This leads to all sorts of complications as the months progress the family become ever more fractured.