A review by allingoodtime
The Boy with the Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith

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

3.0

 
Both Joelle and Max are wonderful characters. They have a great connection and the makings of a beautiful relationship. Their downfall, over and over, is they do not know how to fight.

Joelle has always been the one to make everyone around her comfortable, often at her own expense. She is giving, caring, selfless, and just pretty amazing. She also grew up in a very loving and supportive family. While there was a bad thing that happened to her family years ago, there isn’t a lot of conflict in her family. That not only makes Joelle ill-equipped to handle conflict in a relationship but also gives her blinders when it comes to how families often act in other people’s lives.

Max grew up neglected and unwanted, or at least that’s how it felt to him. He’s been without a family for years, since cutting the toxic people out of his life and never looking back. Yet Max never dealt with the ramifications of those past familial relationships and how they shaped him. He hasn’t learned to deal with his anger and find true peace. Max doesn’t understand that harsh words and disagreements do not mean you no longer care.

After initially giving in to their attraction, Joelle and Max hit a roadblock and things get downright tense and nasty at times. To a point that I was getting annoyed and felt it was too much. Once the couple finally works things through, they have a delightful romance. I loved how much they were so obviously into one another and built each other up. But again, they do not know how to fight. When things were good they were very, very good. When things were bad they were horrid.

Overall this is a solid romance read. While I felt the characters had a strong connection, I didn’t necessarily get a lot of warm fuzzies. The side characters are warm and interesting. An odd complaint I have is the cover. There are plenty of covers I’ve disliked throughout the years and it’s not even that I dislike the cover. I dislike it for this story a lot, though. The characters of Max and Joelle are supposed to be polar opposites in looks, like nobody would guess they would be a couple. For some reason, this cover (maybe because I’ve seen it a lot since the book was published?) stuck in my mind and I couldn’t settle the characters in my mind with how they were being described. Maybe that’s partly a writing issue, but it bothered me for some reason. I told you, it’s an odd complaint. 
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