Loved One

A Novel

De: Aisha Muharrar

Narrado por: Emma Ladji

Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR and Newsweek

“[A] funny, heartwrenching novel.” —People

“A genuine pleasure to read.” —Vogue

“Full of wildly astute, delectably thorny questions about love and loss and possession.” —Maggie Shipstead, New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle

From an Emmy Award–winning writer comes a funny, wise, heartbreaking story about a woman journeying into the unknown in the wake of sudden loss

When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at twenty-nine, thirty-year-old Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar—one of the departed indie rock musician’s dearest belongings—for reasons Julia can’t understand. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.

An emotional mystery spanning years, continents, and relationship statuses, Loved One introduces Aisha Muharrar as a novelist intimately attuned to the intricacies of love, memory, and ambiguous loss. What happens when we admit that the deepest feelings never die? How do we reconcile various—and sometimes contradictory—truths about those closest to us? An engrossing and profoundly moving coming-of-age story with a powerful love at its heart, Loved One is poised to become an instant classic.

Tel them you love them every chance you get!

This book had so many beautiful moments in it! It had a realism and authenticity that was very relatable to Angelenos, but also served as a loving tribute to those who have touched our lives in so many different ways after they have passed. You could easily put yourself in the shoes of these characters and understand their feelings and motivations towards one another. An excellent story that is a very easy binge-listen till the very end! Kudos to the audible reader!

Just how people grieve differently.

I loved it. It touched me and I connected to it in an unexpected way. It made me really immerse myself in my feelings that I was looking not to feel.

Quick read

Loved One was my first read by Aisha Muharrar, chosen by a book club I attend 📖👯‍♀️

While the writing is thoughtful and emotional, the story just didn’t connect with me the way I hoped 😕💭 The pacing felt slow, and I found myself waiting for something more to happen. Instead of being pulled in, I struggled to stay engaged 😴📚

That said, I can see how this book would resonate with readers who enjoy quiet, introspective stories about love and grief 💔🌿 It just wasn’t the right fit for my reading taste—and that’s okay 😊

The mysterious death

The catty interaction between the two former lovers was engaging to me. I appreciated the little surprises that were slowly revealed throughout the book

Mispronounce

Well written but sad. The constant mispronouncing of jewelry was distracting. It’s jewel ry,not “jewelry” or “jewerley”