***Review*** Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer

Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer

Released: February 1st 2011

Publisher: Maclehose

Series:  Yes #1 in the series

Format: Hardcover

Source:  Bought

Buy At: Amazon| Amazon UK| Barnes & Noble| The Book Depository

Goodreads Synopsis:

"Write to me, Emmi. Writing is like kissing, but without lips. Writing is kissing with the mind."

It begins by chance: Leo receives emails in error from an unknown woman called Emmi. Being polite he replies, and Emmi writes back. A few brief exchanges are all it takes to spark a mutual interest in each other, and soon Emmi and Leo are sharing their innermost secrets and longings. The erotic tension simmers, and it seems only a matter of time before they will meet in person. But they keep putting off the moment - the prospect both excites and unsettles them. And after all, Emmi is happily married.

Will their feelings for each other survive the test of a real-life encounter? And if so, what then?

Love Virtually is a funny, fast-paced and utterly absorbing novel, with plenty of twists and turns, about a love affair conducted entirely by email.

My Review:

This book was recommended to me by a good friend, who said I had to read it as she gave it top marks. She even bought me a copy so that I could see what she was raving about. Thank you!!

This book is written as a series of email exchanges between the two main characters of Emmi and Leo. The story starts with an email mistakenly being sent to Leo from Emmi. After numerous and sometimes witty exchanges the pair strike up a close and unique friendship. Over time you can see this friendship start to develop into something more. Throughout the book you can really feel both characters needs, uncertainties, and a whole host of other emotions just from the way they write the emails and also from the words they use. They vulnerabilities and fears really do come through. You only ever get to know about the two characters from what they write about themselves to each other.

This book really takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, at times I felt quite emotionally drained. But this just shows the writers ability to be able to manipulate the reader’s emotions. I think it is a very clever but simple concept; the author has really managed to capture a lot of feeling just from simple email exchanges between the two main characters.

This book was really easy to pick up and put down. There are no long chapters and sometimes the email exchanges are very short. I managed to fly through this book and I think it could even be devoured in one sitting.

I felt that the ending was brilliant; I actually sat there for a few minutes afterwards digesting it. There is another book following on from this story, it’s not yet been released (I have checked) and I can’t wait to get my hands on it so I can carry on with the story of Emmi & Leo.

Story Rating: 4/5 – A clever concept for a story that will leave you emotionally exhausted :D

Cover Rating: 3/5 – I can’t say it is one that jumps out at me, but there is a relevance to cupid and the name of the book is certainly fitting to the story.