A review by valeriabee
The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I loved the experience of reading this book. I loved that it held multiple (but not too many) stories that would merge and find each other in indirect ways. I love that the love song would travel and influence every listener so deeply that they could not help but share it with their loved ones.

I did not like that Diana's love song for Arie would be lost to him forever. That even though he did hear the song and a different version of the song, he will never know everything that it meant to Diana, that it was her resolve to marry him. I dont love that he will never know that Diana was indirectly responsible for bringing Arie and Evie together. I dont love that Diana will never be known as the original composer of this song and the deep, passionate, and comfortable love that inspired it. Music was the best way for Diana to articulate herself, and Arie never got to hear what she had to say -- at least not from her directly. That's what makes the book so sad for me. All that was lost when Diana died. I am glad, however, that Bene finished the song in her manuscript so that wherever it went, it was the full story instead of the incomplete love that Diana had written in it already. I love Arie and Evie, I support their relationship, but the book left me with a sadness in my heart from the very beginning with Diana's death.

 
It is a beautifully written novel that captured me from the very beginning

Diana's death was written so elegantly

I kept wanting to know more about the song and about the lives and characters that are connected by it. Much like the song that drives this novel, this story is one you cannot resist sharing with your loved ones. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death