Millie Chandler had no intention of ever sending all the emails she wrote for the purpose of venting, but somehow, all 100 plus were sent in some sort of computer glitch. Millie is devastated, not only because they were sent, but also because of the havoc they wreak in the lives of others. She apologizes in every way that she can think of, but so many people are still not speaking to her. When her crush, Jack Spurlock comes along and tells her that she shouldn't worry so much about what people think of her, she starts to wonder if he might just be right.

Some parts of Better Left Unsent don't click for me. The mistakenly sent messages trope is done more romantically in To All the Boys I've Loved Before. This book focuses more on the way the emails effect the other people in Millie's life, and frustratingly, some are left underexplored. The romance is definitely a subplot, so we learn very little about Jack who is supposed to be the love interest, but his part of the story is more about offering advice and seems superficial. Also, the humor mostly falls flat, making this more of a romantic drama than romantic comedy. Overall, Better Left Unsent is a mildly enjoyable read, but offers nothing new to the genre. ( )

Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis
Contemporary romance, chick lit. Location - United Kingdom, Leigh-on-Sea.
Two years ago, Millie Chandler had her heart broken. And everyone knew about it. Since then, she’s kept her feelings and dreams to herself. She doesn’t want to go through another humiliating event. To deal with her feelings, she writes emails that will not be sent. Private emails where she can express her frustration, her anger, her hurt, and her interest.
A server outage at work somehow ends up with all those emails being sent and Millie is in trouble. Her coworkers know she still loves her ex. Her best friend knows how upset she is with her behavior. The list goes on and on. Millie can’t afford to quit her job and hide in bed for a year. Time to fake it and deal with the consequences.

What a nightmare! I have a lot of those emails myself. They are cathartic. But never send one! Time for me to review and make sure there aren’t any legitimate Send To addresses in those.
Responses around Millie are interesting. The ex’s new relationship seems to implode because of her email. And the hot crush is now talking to her!
Humor, light self derogatory dialog, and hope. Provocative.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. ( )

This was a quick but thoughtful read about Millie, who was unceremoniously dumped by her ex Owen two years ago. Millie has spent the time since then trying to live a quiet and un-noticed existence, until one day her life is blown up in spectacular fashion after her entire email draft folder is mysteriously sent out. The same draft folder that she's quietly and privately been using as a cathartic personal diary to tell the people in her life what she really thinks of them without having to actually tell them. How did it happen? And how does she handle the fallout from all these inadvertent truth-bombs? This story turned into more of an existential journey for Millie than I expected, but that's what she needed: to learn how emotionally brave she could be when there weren't many options left *but* to be brave. Millie seems like she's been stifling herself for a long time, and it was great to watch her navigate her life A.E. ("after emails") as she realized what she wanted and who she truly wanted to be. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this story in exchange for my honest review. ( )