Reviews

Den sidste boghandel i London by Madeline Martin

kstephensreads's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book. Such a captivating, hopeful read after finishing Fahrenheit 451!

nainatai's review against another edition

inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

My sister recommended this one a few weeks back. As always, her recommendation didn't disappoint. The book is set in London during WW II. It's about a country girl who moves to London just before the war breaks out. She starts assisting at a bookshop and eventually turns it into a space for people to find comfort and distraction in from the war. The story itself is quite predictable and the writing feels a little over the top. It's almost like a Bollywood biopic with a hero who's more superhuman than human, with lots of cheesy dialog-bazi. But for the story, I'm willing to let go of the writing. 
I learnt a lot more of what people may have experienced during the war. Most of my readings around the second WW had been to do with the Holocaust. That part of the book has been done quite well. Going to check if this was we've made into a movie, I suspect it would do quite well as one. 

vardewoman's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

quinnjuliac's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was pleasant enough to read but not very compelling or original. It was interesting to learn about what life might have been like in London during the London Blitz bombings by Germany. It was very predictable regarding who would die, etc., and I didn’t notice any character growth or find the main character believable. It was a quick and pleasant enough read though, perhaps good for a beach read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

kallmekirby's review against another edition

5.0

Nothing groundbreaking but incredibly wholesome and warm and hopeful and sad all at the same time. A love letter to books!

pooperscooper3's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.5

athena_minerva's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

Describes life in London during World War 2, with a bookshop a stage, seen through the eyes of a young woman.

sharper's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

frenchfrybri's review against another edition

2.0

the title of this book really caught me, and it sounds like a neat story. it was a neat story, but it was so poorly written i just did not care about any of the characters. one of them died and i did not care and i wasn’t worried about the main character dying in any of the bombings. 2 stars because the story was a really neat idea and it couldn’t been so cute. but this was an excellent example of why when youre writing you have to show and not tell- i think this could’ve been good and i would have been far more invested if the author stopped telling us what was happening and how people were feeling and just showed us

cmcryst's review against another edition

emotional relaxing

3.0