774 reviews for:

The Borrower

Rebecca Makkai

3.54 AVERAGE

autumnxrose's profile picture

autumnxrose's review

4.0
adventurous 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

This book is very entertaining, but also emotionally challenging. I definitely had to do it in bits and pieces. By then end, though, I did find myself not wanting to stop listening. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was a story based on a sweet relationship between a kid and a librarian - nice. Throw in some bits about Russian revolutionaries, also nice. And it was partly a fun road trip story too.

My biggest gripe with this novel is the main character has a lot of self-pity and complaints about her life, yet she doesn’t seem willing to set anything into action to change the situation. That’s sorta just her personality, but it could get annoying at times.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I'm giving the book two stars because I felt like it had potential. I liked the characters, I liked the idea, but the book sort of gave out about 100-150 pages in and never really recovered.
adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes

A better idea than a book.
I loved the idea of this book and the two main characters, especially Ian. But the book lacked substance and by the middle, it was just super repetitive. It would have made a better novella or even a better short story.
emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The story is kind of a farce and the premise is bad-parenting

I had to suspend a lot of disbelief here, but I did like this. First of all, I was annoyed by the stereotypical single-librarian-girl, who thinks about everything in terms of book characters, blah blah blah. And her handling of the whole situation that is the crux of the matter was.... over the top. (Although it did get me thinking about what I would do in a similar situation - and what the ALA ethics would say, too.) The road trip part was more fun. Very funny, and lots of awesome book references.

not my favorite