Published in November 2022 by the renowned author Rebecca Yarros, known for Fourth Wing, Things We Leave Unfinished is a poignant tale of love that prevails through war, lies and generations.
A Summary
Georgia Stanton returns to Colorado hoping for a quiet reset, only to find herself tangled in the one thing she thought she’d left behind: her family’s legacy. Instead of settling into a peaceful post‑divorce life, she’s suddenly responsible for sorting through the remnants of her great‑grandmother’s career, including a half‑written story that refuses to stay politely in the past. Enter Noah Harrison, a man whose confidence could power a small city and whose presence Georgia would happily avoid if the universe allowed. Working side by side, they dig into Scarlett’s hidden history and realise the old pages are stitched with real heartbreak, real choices, and real consequences.
Writing Style
There are two timelines within this novel - one being during WW2 and switches between the POV of Scarlett and Jameson and the other being in present day with the POV’s of Georgia and Noah. The chapters are fairly long for a typical contemporary novel, but there are multiple POV changes per chapter. The writing style is poignant, giving the reader just enough information for a high stakes love story, without it feeling pointless.
My Thoughts
The Things We Leave Unfinished floored me from start to finish with its heartbreaking foreshadowing and the portrayal of love throughout generations.
Firstly, I want to focus on Scarlett’s chapters, and their incredible ability to immerse the reader into a time of war. When every second could be their last, and yet they continue forward with some sense of normalcy in order to cope. Scarlett’s character was so full of life, with her headstrong, blunt and yet endlessly loyal personality, she was captivating to read as you flicked through the pages of her story. Jameson truly felt like the perfect person for Scarlett to fall in love with, and that makes it all the more devastating when the inevitable end comes their way. There is no plot armour, only devastation as the realisation hits you that Jameson is never found, and that Scarlett - the person you grew to love - died on a random street, bleeding out and alone. The writing was beautiful, and when I was going through some scenes again after finishing the book, there was so much foreshadowing that it wasn’t actually Scarlett that became the famous author. For example, her discussions with Constance about how she never wanted to finish her stories as then there were no more possibilities for her characters, or how she had so many stories in her head she felt she could never focus on one. Speaking of Constance, the arc she went on throughout the novel was amazing, despite being in the background for a lot of the novel. She went from a love stricken young girl, to a broken but brave woman intent on protecting the only thing she had left - her nephew. The thought of Constance hiding who she was for all of those years, and denying her love makes me want to cry. I cannot state enough that the writing, the immersion and the tension of these chapters really made the book as special as it was.
Now for Georgia’s chapters, which were admittedly less enjoyable for me, but only mildly so. I appreciate that the love dynamic was completely different than Scarlett’s and yet it still felt entirely comparable. Georgia’s complex familial relations were really the forefront of her character, with her constant hope her mother would change, and her protective loyalty to her grandmother. For me, it didn’t feel like as much happened in the present day setting, but I do think the best part was when Noah was writing in ‘Scarlett’s’ writing room. The sexual tension and denial of love due to her past heartbreak were really brought to the front in these chapters, and added layers to her personality that were very much needed.
Now, I will discuss the one thing that brought the book down from a 5 star read to a 4.5. The sex scenes. I understand that the entire book is a form of parallels between Scarlett and Georgia, but I think it went too far in the spicier aspects of the novel. Multiple extremely specific sentences can be found in the sex scenes with Georgia and Scarlett, and instead of coming off as sweet that they both found pleasure, it comes off as slightly weird to me. I don’t need to be thinking of Georgia’s gran as I am reading about her getting railed, and to some extent it felt like lazier writing.
Recommendation
Without a doubt I recommend this to those that love contemporary romance, enemies-to-lovers and/or anyone that wants to cry their eyes out.
