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A review by lediamond4
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read “The Dictionary of Lost Words” two years ago and absolutely loved it. A huge bookworm growing up, I went through a long period of time where I rarely read anything. I like to credit “The Dictionary of Lost Words” as being one of the first books to get me back on the road of reading. So I was really excited to read her follow-up book, “The Bookbinder.”
Unfortunately, this just didn’t live up to my expectations. I found the characters, especially the main protagonist Peggy, extremely difficult to connect to. For some reason that I can’t quite grasp, I did care about their relationships with each other whether it was family, friends, or. . . otherwise. 👀❤️ the characters themselves were rather dry and uninteresting, but I thought that the connections they had and made throughout the course of the novel were fairly well done and endearing.
The plot was tedious. Clearly a well researched book, but it could have been 100-150 pages less and I think it would have been a better read. It meanders through the years of World War I, and while I understand the importance of telling the stories of those who fought their own personal wars on the home front, I had so much trouble being invested. The conflicts were pretty weak and never seemed to settle long enough to be an actual part of the plot. I feel a little guilty in saying this but I also thought that the bookbinder work was repetitive and in general pretty dull. It was obviously supposed to be a huge part of the book but it just seemed to slow the pace of an already slow moving story.
Unfortunately, this just didn’t live up to my expectations. I found the characters, especially the main protagonist Peggy, extremely difficult to connect to. For some reason that I can’t quite grasp, I did care about their relationships with each other whether it was family, friends, or. . . otherwise. 👀❤️ the characters themselves were rather dry and uninteresting, but I thought that the connections they had and made throughout the course of the novel were fairly well done and endearing.
The plot was tedious. Clearly a well researched book, but it could have been 100-150 pages less and I think it would have been a better read. It meanders through the years of World War I, and while I understand the importance of telling the stories of those who fought their own personal wars on the home front, I had so much trouble being invested. The conflicts were pretty weak and never seemed to settle long enough to be an actual part of the plot. I feel a little guilty in saying this but I also thought that the bookbinder work was repetitive and in general pretty dull. It was obviously supposed to be a huge part of the book but it just seemed to slow the pace of an already slow moving story.