A review by thewordwitch
The Bookshop of Second Chances, by Jackie Fraser
1.0
I had high hopes for this book. I tend to enjoy books that revolve around bookshops, libraries, and books in general. In fact, romances that happen in these settings tend to be a guilty pleasure of mine since I tend to not like romance in general. There's something about having the books present that just does it for me. Maybe because I do feel like bookshops and libraries are magical, so anything can happen there.
However, this book was a dud. Books don't play as much of a role in it, which is surprising since we are told our main character, Thea, loves books and inherited a large library from her uncle on his passing. She works in a bookshop for a man who buys and sells rare editions of books and is quite knowledgeable about them. Books themselves aren't really given their due justice considering the main characters are supposed to be so into them. It's more like that's just what they kind of have in common and is the jumping point for their relationship.
Their relationship is rocky throughout most of the book, and to be honest, Thea is just a massive doormat to this angsty man, Edward - the aforementioned owner of the bookshop, who is unable to let go of a high school grievance. In fact, he has been enacting petty revenge over this instance for 30+ years and has been unable to grow or move on from it. It's baffling that Thea could find him a suitable partner when he's so emotionally stunted. Like, her marriage just ended because she caught her husband having an affair, so she moves on to an emotionally immature philanderer? I can't work up a warm fuzzy for that relationship. I wasn't rooting for anyone in the book, and I just found myself exclaiming cries of frustration out loud the entire time I was reading it.
I would say it's a hard pass if you like bookish rom coms.
However, this book was a dud. Books don't play as much of a role in it, which is surprising since we are told our main character, Thea, loves books and inherited a large library from her uncle on his passing. She works in a bookshop for a man who buys and sells rare editions of books and is quite knowledgeable about them. Books themselves aren't really given their due justice considering the main characters are supposed to be so into them. It's more like that's just what they kind of have in common and is the jumping point for their relationship.
Their relationship is rocky throughout most of the book, and to be honest, Thea is just a massive doormat to this angsty man, Edward - the aforementioned owner of the bookshop, who is unable to let go of a high school grievance. In fact, he has been enacting petty revenge over this instance for 30+ years and has been unable to grow or move on from it. It's baffling that Thea could find him a suitable partner when he's so emotionally stunted. Like, her marriage just ended because she caught her husband having an affair, so she moves on to an emotionally immature philanderer? I can't work up a warm fuzzy for that relationship. I wasn't rooting for anyone in the book, and I just found myself exclaiming cries of frustration out loud the entire time I was reading it.
I would say it's a hard pass if you like bookish rom coms.