Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

55 reviews

alanahcw's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Magical ❤

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

pasteldaydream's review

emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very intriguing story that isn't my usual go-to for books. While sometimes the characters felt flat, I did  find myself needing to keep turning the page to see what happened to them. The mystery and magic of the bookshop and the search for the lost manuscript definitely keeps the reader hooked to see how the past, present and future are all connected.

Of the three POVs used, I felt the most drawn to Opaline's storyline. I felt she was more a ctive in her own story vs. Martha and Henry. In fact, I would go so far as to say Henry's POV wasn't needed at all. I fully admit to sometimes skimming through his just to get back to Opaline and Martha.

Martha did feel somewhat passive at times though. She often had to be pushed by those around to do anything for herself -- the reading, going to school, dealing with Shane, etc. None of those choices really felt like they were truly Martha's decisions, just choices she was kind of pushed to do by those around her (Madame Bowden in particular). In contrast, you hav Opaline, who does have her flaws  too, but also managed to run away to Paris with no money,  escaped an asylum on her own and confronted her brother.

When it comes to Henry, again, I don't think his POV really added to the story. The entire subplot of him being engaged and becoming an uncle just didn't seem to fit the rest of the story. Maybe because he is not tied to the bookshop in the same way Opaline and Martha are. Often it felt as though Martha was his manic pixie dream girl -- existing only to make him feel better about his dull life.

I would have loved to see Martha take a more active role in her own story, maybe finding the bookshop on her own and Henry coming in as a platonic friend and having a slow romance build between them (did he even have to be engaged at all? I truly hated that aspect of his story.)

Henry just didn't feel as inspiring as Opaline and Martha. His POVs certainly helped us see Martha, but also we could have gotten that from her POVs, too, especially if she took a more active role in changing the circumstances she found herself in.

All that said, I did love how the present mirrored the past. I loved finding out Opaline and Martha were connected and Madame Bowden...listen, she is the real hero of this book.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Grief

ah_nailse's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

I honestly love the concept of this book. Really do. But it just felt poorly executed. The writing style felt a little juvenile, cliche, and not very mature. The characters were poorly developed, there were so many scenes and characters that offered nothing to the plot, and the author was trying too hard to throw in wise one-liners, but that got annoying. There were also a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes??? I feel like a better editor would have been able to help with that, tie together some of the plot inconsistencies throughout the book and give the characters a stronger voice. Woods poorly handled a lot of touchy subjects (domestic abuse, war trauma, etc) and I want to love this book and I can’t.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and War

emily_beth's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautiful. Magical. I LOVED reading this book. I got goosebumps reading the very magical moments. I felt lost when I finished it. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

bookwormcat's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

morgan_gensler's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Grief

Charming story! I loved Madame Bowden and Opaline’s characters the most.

kgreer's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

nooks_cranny's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I thought it was going to be a cozy read but it turned out darker than I thought. It was a good book to pass the time, I didn’t really feel any attachment to any character aside from Madame Bowden. I would love to know more about her but that would ruin the fun and mystery. I also didn’t know I would learn tiny snippets about Irish history

especially concerning the German soldiers

.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Ableism