Reviews

Nevermore Bookstore by Cynthia St. Aubin, Kerrigan Byrne

ericageorge91's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a white feminist wet dream. The good chronic pain rep from the FMC and the PTSD from the MMC was not enough to make up for the cringey writing and thin storyline. 

For reference, I’m using Book Roast’s CAWPILE rating system and SusanLynKnits’s detailed rating definitions:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhinxtTMFQ - Book Roast

https://susanlynknits.wordpress.com/2023/01/21/rating-books-tweaking-cawpile-to-fit-my-needs/ - Susan Lyn Knits and Reads, Update #3

Characters: 2/10 - I want to punch them. They don’t seem like real people.

Fox is this brooding, mAnLy MaN who’s too dangerous to be around so he lives in the mountains because he’s too feral (his words) for human consumption. Why? He’s a vet with PTSD after being a POW. I cannot understate how little I cared for him or about him. It’s like the authors missed the memo that Edward Cullen’s stalking was actually quite creepy and wrote Fox straight out of their wet dreams. The amount of snarling and growling from this man had me think that this was going to be a paranormal romance. I was sorely mistaken.  He’s just…like that. 

Cady was really good chronic pain representation. That’s all I got. She was quirky and not like other girls in a way that made my eyes roll. I think she was supposed to be fat rep as well, but the woman on the book cover looks perfectly average to me so I couldn’t say for sure 🤷🏾‍♀️ 

Fox, Cady, and this merry band of characters were supposed to provide comic relief with their banter and whatnot. I was not amused. When a book that’s supposed to be funny is not funny, it makes me mad. 

Atmosphere: 5/10 – No strong feelings. I love book stores, so there that. 

Writing Style: 3/10 – Why would you do that?

*cracks knuckles*

What could possibly possess two white woman to compare their white protagonist’s pubic hair to Colin Kaepernick’s Afro? QUICKLY. 

“How can you like it? It’s like I have Colin Kaepernick in a leg lock down there” (287).

This racist joke is met with laughter and then continues in an odd debate on whether these pubes were soft or “crispy” (287). 

On top of that, outside of an offhand remark about a minor character being racist, I didn’t see anything about black people, brown people, or other POC. The lack of any type of discussion in regard to racial identity made this tone-deaf comparison seem all the more glaring. Also, keep in mind that they wrote this joke about a black, activist who was protesting police brutality. This included cases of black men dying from illegal chokeholds so the “leg lock” comment seemed especially in poor taste. 

This book was full of pointedly feminist, anti-ableist, gender/sexual identity inclusive takes, all of which I agree with. However, Byrne and St. Aubin wrote them in such a heavy handed manner that I low-key understood when conservatives complain about people throwing shit in media just to check off boxes. And I resent the fact that these women’s writing put me off so much that I even have to admit that. 

Additionally, I don’t know how old and Byrne and Aubin are, but their sloppy attempts at sounding like Gen Z (or whatever tone they were going for) repeatedly pulled me out of the story. Here’s a small list of words/phrases that made me mutter “What?” out loud to myself: 

Shit snacks

Pecker

Shitheel

Mouth parts 

King shit of fuck mountain

They had a character say “TL;DR” out loud, which on top of people not usually using text-speak while talking, this LITERALLY doesn’t make sense because, again, this is a verbal! Conversation! 

I also struggle to believe that someone like Fox, a vet-turned-mountain-hermit, would describe himself as a “cisgender, straight, masculine-presenting, neurodivergent white man” (288). I don’t mean to say that such a vet doesn’t exist but it felt so out of place that it also had me rolling my eyes. 

I don’t know. I was told that this was satire, but I thought that satire actually has to be good for it to land 🤔

Plot: 3/10 – Totally predictable or confusing.

The love triangle was between a cop and a military vet. My disinterest towards both romantic prospects cannot be understated. 

I don’t know what was going on in the end with everyone popping up in this “J’accuse!” moment. I was confused about Roy and the mayor’s motivations. Why does Fox know Judy? What was happening with the affair? Nothing made sense and I don’t care enough to find out. 

Intrigue: 1/10 - It’s only how many pages?

The only thing worse than a book being bad is it being long and bad. I dreaded picking up the book and kept counting how many pages I had left to keep me going. 

Logic: 3/10 – The author never explained stuff. 

See “Plot.”

Enjoyment:  1/10 – Why didn’t I DNF?

See above sections. 

2+5+3+3+1+3+1 = 18/7 = 2.57

1.1-2.2 = ⭐

2.3-4.5 = ⭐⭐

4.6-6.9 = ⭐⭐⭐

7.0-8.9 = ⭐⭐⭐⭐

9.0-10 = ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

= 2⭐️

TW: Grief, panic attacks, 

Rep: Chronic pain (ankylosing spondylitis), PTSD, queer FMC, ADHD minor character

littlebittylaura's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

jaydennjeann's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

i loved this so bad,, the characters obviously had intense chemistry from the start but it's abt the journey ya know
both main characters having life altering permanent illnesses was also so real and did such a good job highlighting how it fiches every aspect of life
fox was cute as hell and i love that they started bonding solely from intellect and reading :) he was goin thru some shit fR but

i'm glad that he came down that damn mountain! what i'm pissed off abt is that he went back up to run from her and then proceeded to not even hear her out when she was trying to make a case for him to TRY

and our sweetest cadence, the woman she is, was so excited to finally meet her anonymous friend/boyf and

then had to be blindsided that he was her new employee (granted she did pick him up off the streets but whatever)

she was so slay tho i loved how cute she was when she was fucked up and was nothing but honest

fox didn't always deserve the grace and patience she extended to him but that's love am i right?? the fact that she basically committed to him for the rest of her life even tho he told her to fuck off was very sweet and the house? she had built to cater to both of their needs would've had me proposing on the spot tbh

vikreadstons's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

ginnymiglierina's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

joanna1905's review

3.0

Nevermore Bookstore tells the story of a sweet but struggling bookstore owner and her slightly odd relationship with a certain mysterious customer...and a mysterious drifter that happens to have quite a bit in common.

Reeling from the death of her aunt Cady is somewhat treading water, she's working hard to keep the family bookshop running but is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her beloved guardian and only family member. Fox is her mysterious customer who calls at 8 pm once a week allowing their bond to grow deeper and deeper. When a break-in occurs at the shop swift changes occur in Cady's life that leaves her torn between her beloved Fox, a helpful drifter she names bob and the local copper.

All in all, this was a nice little read, it was enjoyable and I was interested to see how it would end but I don't think it'll be particularly memorable in the long run and it's not something I think I would ever reread. It's 365 pages but it somehow felt a lot longer, not necessarily slow but just felt long for a romance book. I liked the disability and PTSD rep and think it was executed fairly well however I think a little could've been done in terms of actively showing the process of coping with these realities.

It was interesting how ambivalent Cady seemed to be about books, she was obviously passionate about keeping the family store alive and had some classic lit references but "I don't know how anyone reads genre fiction" comment was super weird... like you run a book store in a small town I'm sure that's most of what she would've sold also she literally had a romance club? So we're left with this odd reality of Cady loving the shop, while also not being a regular reader herself but yet she still looks down on genre readers...

I did love the Ice Planet Barbarians and Twilight references made by the side characters though.

Thank you to Oliver Heber Books and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

ecstaticrhubarb's review

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Overall, I liked it and I laughed out loud at several parts. I noticed quite a few logic errors, which kind of took me out of the story at some parts. The MMC would be standing in front of her, and then all of a sudden she feels him pressing up to her back. He's taking off her shoes, and then in the next sentence he's laying underneath her on his back. It advertises itself as kink positive, which I didn't really get but that's fine. I'd say it was more just....kink neutral??

beautifulxdeformities's review

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

fmcfranny's review

5.0

this had it all. Romance, mystery, heartfelt drama. It was wonderful and sweet and I loved the characters.

2catmom's review

Creepy how he’s watching her with binoculars.  I couldn’t get into book