One week into the year and I’ve finally finished my first book of 2023! I really went in hot with the first read of the year being quite an emotional one.
The Man I Never Met follows Hannah, who receives a wrong number call from Davey one day as he’s trying to interview for a job in London. The two strike up a friendship that quickly becomes something more, counting down the days until he moves across the pond. But something unexpected puts those plans on hold, and both Hannah and Davey try to move on from one another and get on with their lives.
This book has a super fun rom-com style cover, but it’s honestly quite a serious and emotional book throughout. I was caught a bit off guard by this, but I did overall really enjoy the book. Let’s get into my review!
(Full disclosure: I received a physical review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This post uses Bookshop.org affiliate links).
What I Liked
The book is mostly narrated by Hannah, but we get occasional pop-in perspectives from Davey that shed additional light on what’s happening for him. I really thought this choice worked well and felt more natural than the books that force a chapter-by-chapter alternating POV.
Hannah and Davey both have to grow and change throughout the book, and I enjoyed seeing them develop as characters. This arc felt quite real and authentic, and I appreciated that they both made mistakes and learned from them.
I thought the friendships in this book were really well done overall, and I loved getting to know all of the characters and seeing what they mean to one another.
The Man I Never Met takes on some heavy topics, and I thought they were overall handled fairly well, save maybe one thing I’ll mention briefly below.
What I Didn’t Like
I thought the book was a bit slow to start. We spend a good deal of time with Hannah and Davey planning for the future the synopsis has already told us isn’t going to go to plan, and I felt like I wanted to get to the heart of things a bit more swiftly.
This next bit will be perhaps a minor spoiler, so skip to “SPOILER OVER” you don’t want small plot hints.
I had a really hard time with Hannah’s rebound relationship in the book. It felt quite controlling and unhealthy, but that’s never really addressed or unpacked. This is something I’m personally sensitive to, so I’m not sure how much it would bother other readers.
SPOILER OVER
In all, The Man I Never Met is a touching story about missed connections, timing, and a little bit about fate. I very much enjoyed this book, even if I had to take my time a bit due to the emotional weight of it. I recommend this book for fans of love stories that stray to the serious side of life while still adding a sprinkle of true love magic.
It came out in November 2022 so while I’m a bit late in getting my review up, that means you can grab a copy now if it sounds like your kind of book!
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