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always_need_more_books's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
daja123's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
markalkman's review against another edition
1.0
Well. I guess this book is supposed to be romantic and poetic and lyrical. The main character is probably supposed to be a passionate dreamer and the setting is supposed to be idyllic. In my opinion, this book is none of these things. It's pretentious and shallow and just kind of weird. The way it's written feels like something that shouldn't be allowed but is considered literature. There are way too many relative clauses (idk, is that what it's called in English?) and way too many comparative descriptions. However it's called in English grammar: the author has pulled the sentences apart which makes it VERY difficult to read and to stay focused on the story. Maybe the translation is to blame, but I know for a fact that these kind of things are pretty much frowned upon in Dutch grammar. So I don't know why the hell the publishers thought this was a great idea. It's really not.
Storywise - the concept was promising, I guess. Juliette isn't really happy with her life and after meeting an eccentric man and his daughter, she decides to become a bookcrosser. Someone who hands out books to strangers after basically following them around for a while. Which kind of sounds creepy, come to think of it now... anyhow. What really bothered me is the fact that after meeting Soliman and Zaide only ONCE she immediately moves in with them and takes care of Zaide when Soliman has to go away for a while. This isn't romantic and poetic and lyrical at all. It's weird and definitely not normal. She also quits her job to dedicate her time to being a bookcrosser but we never actually get to see her in action? She hands out books to her former boss and colleague but she only tells Soliman about it. And she hands ONE guy on the subway a book but that's it. Pretty much a let down.
Some of the conversations were so vague and pretentious that I rolled my eyes on more than one occassion. I guess these type of books are really not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore books - I basically hoard books. I sell them, I buy them, I love them and I share them... but treating them the way they did in this book was way too much, even for me.
This entire book was WAY too pretentious for my taste and ugh. Kind of a let down. I was hoping for a cute read about a girl finding the perfect homes for books and instead I got this. Even the books the author referenced made me feel very inferior and stupid. I still finished it because I wanted to know how it would end, but I feel like I kind of wasted precious time I could have spend reading a different book.
And that's the tea on my 39th book of 2018.
Storywise - the concept was promising, I guess. Juliette isn't really happy with her life and after meeting an eccentric man and his daughter, she decides to become a bookcrosser. Someone who hands out books to strangers after basically following them around for a while. Which kind of sounds creepy, come to think of it now... anyhow. What really bothered me is the fact that after meeting Soliman and Zaide only ONCE she immediately moves in with them and takes care of Zaide when Soliman has to go away for a while. This isn't romantic and poetic and lyrical at all. It's weird and definitely not normal. She also quits her job to dedicate her time to being a bookcrosser but we never actually get to see her in action? She hands out books to her former boss and colleague but she only tells Soliman about it. And she hands ONE guy on the subway a book but that's it. Pretty much a let down.
Some of the conversations were so vague and pretentious that I rolled my eyes on more than one occassion. I guess these type of books are really not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore books - I basically hoard books. I sell them, I buy them, I love them and I share them... but treating them the way they did in this book was way too much, even for me.
This entire book was WAY too pretentious for my taste and ugh. Kind of a let down. I was hoping for a cute read about a girl finding the perfect homes for books and instead I got this. Even the books the author referenced made me feel very inferior and stupid. I still finished it because I wanted to know how it would end, but I feel like I kind of wasted precious time I could have spend reading a different book.
And that's the tea on my 39th book of 2018.
jessicakimmet's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the loveliest stories I have read in a long time.
brandidean's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure if this is just very culturally French or what. But it was just kind of nonsensical. Did it explain ever how these people who quit their jobs to give away books to strangers (not sell them, follow strangers around and try to figure out what books they should give them out of the blue) paid for food? And this poor little girl! Her dad just leaves her with a virtual stranger and doesn’t bother to tell the stranger that it’s because he’s having heart surgery … and then he dies having made more arrangements for the child or any clues of how to contact her mother.
It’s all very weird. You’d think that it must have been written by a reader, but … one character has a book of insects that he carries with him everywhere and just looks at over and over and one apparently does the same with a cookbook. That’s not reader behavior, is it?
Also, for being set in Paris, it never feels like it. The only reason you even know is by the street and neighborhood names.
It’s all very weird. You’d think that it must have been written by a reader, but … one character has a book of insects that he carries with him everywhere and just looks at over and over and one apparently does the same with a cookbook. That’s not reader behavior, is it?
Also, for being set in Paris, it never feels like it. The only reason you even know is by the street and neighborhood names.
kmthomas06's review against another edition
4.0
What a delightful fairy tale of a book. It can be a little disjointed but it is a book for booklovers, for those of us who have let our eyes wander around the subway car or the bus or the coffee shop and made up stories about those around us and judged them (a little) by the books being read. It is a book that, surprisingly, also loves Paris. Its main characters may be a bit scared to leave the safety of books but the city is always there and a character in its own right among the booklovers and those just seeing what books can bring them.
thedepressedcougar's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
zac_housedownbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.75