REVIEW: Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti

Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti: From the time they were in fifth grade Naomi and Luca have had a cute and playful pen-pal rivalry, over the years their banter began to grow into a more meaningful friendship that stood the test of time and distance. Well that is until two years ago when all communication abruptly ending, leaving poor Naomi reeling the loss of her friend. That is until an unexpected envelope lands on her desk at the local news station leaving her with the question; does she want to reconnect with Luca and get to the bottom of his abrupt departure or is she going to allow him to have the final say and leave her with more questions than ever?

Right of the bat I have to say that I really like the cover of this book, this alone had me wanting to read this cute debut romcom, add in the promise of a cute and playful story and I was already ready to dive right in. For the most part I have to say that I really enjoyed reading Hate Mail, there was humour, emotion and romance all to round up what shaped up to be a cute story. Normally I’m not a huge fan of reading a book with the letter back and forth exchange, but I do have to say that Marchetti has done a really good job in executing the penpal trope.

I really liked getting to see Naomi and Luca grow up through their letters and really getting to see them mature. I liked the fact that even though their two perspectives were told from in two different timelines, they merged at the pinnacle seamlessly. Now while I was not all that surprised to find out who Luca was and why he stoped with the letters, I will enjoyed figuring it out with Naomi. I will say there was something very relatable about Naomi and I couldn’t help but like her character, I mean how can you not root on the girl who fell for her penpal? As for our guy Luca, well the more we got to see things from his perspective the sweeter I found him.

The actual romance in this book was not bad at all, there was a bit of a love triangle – if you can really call it one – at one stage in the book but personally I liked this bit of angst. Personally I was not a huge fan of the supporting characters in this book, most especially Naomi’s friend Anne. I just couldn’t help but find her pushy and overbearing, definitely not the type of friend that Naomi needed.

All in all Hate Mail was a nice read, this book has a fresh take on the hate to love, enemies to lovers, second chance romance tropes, while pairing it nicely with the penpal to lovers trope.

Book Info:

Publication: March 14, 2024 | One More Chapter |

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade. Well, more like bitter rivals caught in an epic battle of insults and verbal jousting…

But what starts as a hilarious chain of hate filled letters, slowly develops into a friendship spanning coasts and years. That is until one day, years later, when the letters suddenly stop.

It’s been two years since Naomi last heard from Luca. Two years since the letter that changed everything.

But when a new envelope turns up out of the blue at her desk at the local news station, Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the final word.