literallysam's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I've seen this one alot on bookstagram and was so excited to read it but it turned out to be just an average cliche love story. Even though the title “Book Lovers" suggests that it's romance, Nora and Charlie's sparking romance is not the main plot of the book... honestly all I wanted was a nice brewing love story between two people who are enemies-turned-lovers, but it is mostly about two sisters who have major daddy issues. Wait lemme explain-
The prologue was just so soo good but then after that everything got so boring. After reading the prologue I thought that this book was going to be different from those cliche countryside romance ones but it was exactly that- Nora & her sissy Libby decide to go on a one-month trip to this small village. There Nora runs into Charle, and it turns out that he's from that small town and his mum runs the local bookstore (yes, another cliche). Though Nora & Charlie haven't gotten along, they're working together on a new manuscript and spend a lot of time in close proximity where the sexual tension builds. Things heat up quickly, but then it's interrupted and this "will they do it or not" energy persists and that's an aspect of the novel that seemed a bit of a stretch. Given how in sync & smart they both are, I had a hard time believing they couldn't figure out a way to be together while still supporting their family.
Now let's talk about the main plot.🤡
Nora's concern lies far more with Libby, who seems to be keeping a secret from her and Nora is hurt that Libby won't talk to her and determinedly tries to get Libby to open up. And even I was waiting for her to open up because I hated this super cringe character of her's and just wanted a little more depth. She's a grown ass adult and still acts like a fkn baby. She has like two breakdowns in the story and yet her character was never fleshed out to be even a little bit intresting. She's Nora's sister- that's all I could gather about her.
I loved Nora. She is stony, bitchy and rigid just like me; soulmates? The only character development I saw was Nora's. Charlie on the other hand was a nice guy but honestly I didn't really find him interesting after the prologue. All the sexual tension just fizzled out after that.
So overall, I don't recommend it.🙂
The prologue was just so soo good but then after that everything got so boring. After reading the prologue I thought that this book was going to be different from those cliche countryside romance ones but it was exactly that- Nora & her sissy Libby decide to go on a one-month trip to this small village. There Nora runs into Charle, and it turns out that he's from that small town and his mum runs the local bookstore (yes, another cliche). Though Nora & Charlie haven't gotten along, they're working together on a new manuscript and spend a lot of time in close proximity where the sexual tension builds. Things heat up quickly, but then it's interrupted and this "will they do it or not" energy persists and that's an aspect of the novel that seemed a bit of a stretch. Given how in sync & smart they both are, I had a hard time believing they couldn't figure out a way to be together while still supporting their family.
Now let's talk about the main plot.🤡
Nora's concern lies far more with Libby, who seems to be keeping a secret from her and Nora is hurt that Libby won't talk to her and determinedly tries to get Libby to open up. And even I was waiting for her to open up because I hated this super cringe character of her's and just wanted a little more depth. She's a grown ass adult and still acts like a fkn baby. She has like two breakdowns in the story and yet her character was never fleshed out to be even a little bit intresting. She's Nora's sister- that's all I could gather about her.
I loved Nora. She is stony, bitchy and rigid just like me; soulmates? The only character development I saw was Nora's. Charlie on the other hand was a nice guy but honestly I didn't really find him interesting after the prologue. All the sexual tension just fizzled out after that.
So overall, I don't recommend it.🙂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
horizonous's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Apart from some small little nitpicky things I had a really good time with this 😊
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Bullying, Vomit, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, and Misogyny
◦ Chronic illness: Strokeamre23's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical trauma, Cursing, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Misogyny, and Cancer
rorythebean's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
katrinarose's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this, it was so much better than Beach Read for me, I’m glad I gave it a chance after that underwhelming experience. The characters were unlikeable at first but the character development is excellent and by the end I loved them. I also liked that the romance didn’t have any unnecessary dramatic miscommunication or fallout that didn’t make sense for their characters. Also, they had lives and values outside of the relationship that they didn’t compromise for. Such a well done romance, and I loved the familial relationship development that was done too, and not just second to the romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy
Minor: Medical content, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying
m_r3ads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny
cristinareading's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy and Misogyny
Minor: Medical content
marioosa517's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Excrement, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, and Vomit
cloudystars's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book has had mixed reviews among my friends for months, and so I've been *worried* to pick this up and really excited to pick it up at the same time. The complaints that I kept hearing were that this wasn't really a romance even though it was marketed as such, that it was more about the sisters. People came to this book for a romance and got familial trauma and a complicated sibling dynamic.
I get why they didn't like it, I don't think that this book is for everyone, but I think because I knew going in that this was more about sisterhood than romance, I wasn't disappointed. Like its predecessor, "Beach Read," Book Lovers is heavy on the family dynamics and familial trauma, and is often flat out sad. There is still a romance IN it and its prevalent, but this is very much a story about the growth in the relationship of Nora and Libby (whether or not I liked Libby as a character is a completely different post altogether). While a lot of people hated this aspect, I think it made the book more memorable for me. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie but with more depth.
It was refreshing to see a female character from Emily Henry who is so starkly different from her other heroines, Poppy Wright (my beloved) and January Andrews (my other beloved). It was even refreshing to me for there to be a character in an Emily Henry book that I didn't like. I didn't know that was even possible, and instead of it making me rate the book down a star, it just made me more entertained.
People We Meet On Vacation is still my favorite Emily Henry book but, like Beach Read, this also captured me. Interesting characters and a great atmosphere from my newest auto-buy author.
This is the section where I'm going to share a critique - I know, wild that I'm adding a very specific critique to a 5 star book, but I feel like I'd be doing people who genuinely trust my opinions a disservice if I pretended this book was perfect.
Anyway, there is a line in the book that gave me pause. My best friend and I both raised our eyebrows at this line from Nora:
"Straight men have it too easy. A heterosexual woman can see a very normal looking, nonsexual appendage, and biology's like, Step aside, last four thousand years of evolution, it's time to contribute to the continuation of the human race."
My issue here isn't that Nora is straight and experiencing attraction, but the use of the word heterosexual specifically feels not only unnecessary, but unintentionally exclusionary. It seems to me that while writing this part, Henry - in order to not seem like she was lumping all women together (after all, not all women or afab people experience attraction to men and some don't experience sexual attraction at all, and furthermore, sexuality is obviously a spectrum and many women are attracted to men, women, and those who do not conform to the gender binary), she overcorrected and got too specific, which felt kind of alienating to read as a member of the lgbt+ community. It isn't a *big* thing, but it's still a thing that's been on my mind. I don't think that EH was trying to be exclusionary or homophobic here, but I think that line could've been taken out or edited a certain way so as to not come off strangely.
I get why they didn't like it, I don't think that this book is for everyone, but I think because I knew going in that this was more about sisterhood than romance, I wasn't disappointed. Like its predecessor, "Beach Read," Book Lovers is heavy on the family dynamics and familial trauma, and is often flat out sad. There is still a romance IN it and its prevalent, but this is very much a story about the growth in the relationship of Nora and Libby (whether or not I liked Libby as a character is a completely different post altogether). While a lot of people hated this aspect, I think it made the book more memorable for me. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie but with more depth.
It was refreshing to see a female character from Emily Henry who is so starkly different from her other heroines, Poppy Wright (my beloved) and January Andrews (my other beloved). It was even refreshing to me for there to be a character in an Emily Henry book that I didn't like. I didn't know that was even possible, and instead of it making me rate the book down a star, it just made me more entertained.
People We Meet On Vacation is still my favorite Emily Henry book but, like Beach Read, this also captured me. Interesting characters and a great atmosphere from my newest auto-buy author.
This is the section where I'm going to share a critique - I know, wild that I'm adding a very specific critique to a 5 star book, but I feel like I'd be doing people who genuinely trust my opinions a disservice if I pretended this book was perfect.
Anyway, there is a line in the book that gave me pause. My best friend and I both raised our eyebrows at this line from Nora:
"Straight men have it too easy. A heterosexual woman can see a very normal looking, nonsexual appendage, and biology's like, Step aside, last four thousand years of evolution, it's time to contribute to the continuation of the human race."
My issue here isn't that Nora is straight and experiencing attraction, but the use of the word heterosexual specifically feels not only unnecessary, but unintentionally exclusionary. It seems to me that while writing this part, Henry - in order to not seem like she was lumping all women together (after all, not all women or afab people experience attraction to men and some don't experience sexual attraction at all, and furthermore, sexuality is obviously a spectrum and many women are attracted to men, women, and those who do not conform to the gender binary), she overcorrected and got too specific, which felt kind of alienating to read as a member of the lgbt+ community. It isn't a *big* thing, but it's still a thing that's been on my mind. I don't think that EH was trying to be exclusionary or homophobic here, but I think that line could've been taken out or edited a certain way so as to not come off strangely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Medical content and Alcohol
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Abortion