Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis is heartwarming and hopeful story about love, family, and fate.

My Overview

In a tragic instant, Noelle’s life changed when her best friend died in a car accident during university. Now, years since her graduation from university, she’s still struggling to find her way and accomplish her goals. Following Daisy’s death, Noelle fell into depression. Then, since her mother’s stroke and subsequent agoraphobia, she became her caretaker. Noelle’s life is at a standstill, and her dream of being a florist seems unattainable.

One evening, on her way back from her university reunion, she gets stuck in a blizzard. To make things worse, her cellphone dies and she has no way to charge it 😖. While Noelle’s sitting in her car freaking out about her situation, a stranger (Sam) knocks on her window and offers to let her charge her phone in his car. Reluctantly, Noelle agrees, and they spend eight perfect hours together. Once the blizzard is over, they part ways, expecting not to see each other again. Fate, however, has different plans and their paths cross over time, changing their lives in unexpected ways.

Overall, this is a heartwarming story but it’s much heavier than I’d expected. While the storyline is based on Noelle and Sam’s chance encounter during the blizzard, there are various tangents that distract from that storyline. Each tangent is based on a heavy topic such as grief, anxiety, postpartum depression, and strained relationships. Every character is dealing with heavy issues, and I wish they wouldn’t all have been explored in the same story. Perhaps if Noelle and Sam had spent more time together than apart throughout the story, it would’ve all worked much better.

My Recommendation

While I didn’t enjoy this book as much as others by this author, I still recommend it. In spite of the heaviness of the story, this is a heartwarming story that takes the reader on a full circle journey with Noelle and Sam. The audiobook narration was great, so I recommend it.

Other books I’ve enjoyed by this author:

• The Key to My Heart
• Dear Emmie Blue