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fseely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Car accident, Antisemitism, and Suicide
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Death of parent
book_reader_lover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ashlyn can feel the Echo of Old Books when she holds them. It's a gift she discovered at age 12. She owns the bookstore An Unlikely Story. One day she gets a call from her friend, Kevin, who has just gotten a box of books in. Ashlyn picks one of the books up and gets nothing, until she opens the book. There's no author, copyright, or publisher in the book. She's never heard of the book, but something draws her to it. Soon, another book appears with the same thing just a different title. Ashlyn is soon on the hunt to figure out who wrote them and what happened in their lives.
Part mystery, part love story, but a whole lot of descriptive beautiful writing. There are flawed characters with great character development. I have never read Barbara Davis before, but know I want to read all her books, especially if they are all beautiful and well written, as The Echo of Old Books is. I highly recommend this book!
đ Happy Reading đ
#carlislepubliclibrary #lonokecountylibrarysystem #barbaradavis #theechoofoldbooks #readaway2024
Minor: Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, War, Cancer, Confinement, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
ams5x9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Antisemitism
Minor: Forced institutionalization
readtomea97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Self harm
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
tiiiger35's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse
Minor: War, Cancer, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Abandonment
dany_casimiro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Long Story Short: lots of echoes, very little books.
Finally, a fiction book that breaches the topic of antisemitism in the 1940s USA â a great way to foster its discussion.
I really liked the idea behind book empathy â some people are sensitive enough to touch an object and feel emotions from its past. Granted, the book part earned most of my interest in this case. Sadly, it was more of an initial plot device to be used only as the plot demands than an actual integral part of the story. By the end of the 430 pages, it makes a feeble reappearance to remind readers that it has been there all along when the protagonist is sharing her ability with her love interest.
It has âbooksâ in the title, the main character recovers and sells old books, and the only physical plot device is indeed a book. But on the topic of books, thatâs pretty much it. The focus shifts completely to the story behind the book that Ashlyn, the protagonist, is reading and where her quest to find out more leads her. Romance, mystery, social critique â everything feels but halfway done. An exception is due when it comes down to Ashlynâs traumatic experiences, as the author clearly couldnât decide between an abusive marriage, a traumatic divorce, or witnessing the death of a soon-to-be ex-husband. So, she chose all the above. It would have been more passable if these instances had been better explored, rather than merely used as â again â a plot device for an extra layer in romance building. It became increasingly frustrating and boring, especially because every issue got solved so easily. Their point besides plot reasons is beyond my comprehension. The literary quotes at the beginning of each chapter did not help at all; they quickly became an insistent reminder that this was supposed to be a book about books, and it became a doomed romance.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Antisemitism and Death
Minor: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
drnaynay's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Antisemitism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, War, and Suicide
amodernhobbitslibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
While slow to start, I was quickly drawn into the mystery of Regretting Belle, & her tumultuous love story. An argument penned between 2 books was an exciting storytelling twist that I hadnât come across before. The emotion was so real I felt as if I was sitting in the room listening to Belle & Hemi.
Ashlynâs inclusion in the story was perfectly placed, offering respite & light when Belleâs story grew dark. I was thoroughly pleased by the ending and know that this book will linger in my mind for days to come.
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Suicide
librarian_barbie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, War, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Suicide
tiffyb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I wonât put the bookâs blurb here because you can read that for yourself.
Let me condense my review into one paragraph, and you can optionally read the rest of my review (which is extraordinarily long and detailed, just like this book đ¤Ş). 1) Ashlynâs storyline simply didnât need to exist. 2) I wish her ability to âsenseâ books had any purpose or part of the story, but it didnât. 3) I wish any of the characters had been more likable. All of them turned out to be despicable. 4)I wish the author had simply switched gears and written a duel-narrative love story, because that was her strong suite 5) Every storyline was dragged on too long, and the âshocking twistâ was so obvious it could have been seen from outer space.
Now onto my detailed and eternally long list of complaints, plot holes, and irritations!!đŤŁ
- All three narratives (Ashlyn, Belle, and Hemi) are written in EXACTLY the same voice. I can imagine itâs really difficult to write with three different voices, but you shouldnât write a book with so many narrators unless you can do that. Near the end of this book, we randomly get a FOURTH narrative (older Belle), which felt haphazard and sloppy so late in the game.
- Ashtonâs ability to sense âechoesâ from holding books turned out to have no impact on story and was only used to introduce the novel. (Someone please tell me if thereâs a good book with a similar premise!!!)
- both of the âbooks inside the bookâ are actually super long letters written to the other jilted lover, yet itâs obvious that the books are just written for OUR reading. No ex would ever need to introduce people they both knew or remind their lost lover of details surrounding the first time they had sex or how they met, much less describing the color of a chair or the weather.
- Ashlyn is an AVID reader from childhood who owns a bookstore. How could she possibly be SO slow at reading these books?!? She spends hours reading the tiniest chapters. These two short books are taking her literal weeks to finish. WEEKS of engrossed reading, in spite of the fact that sheâs a single woman with few responsibilities.
- The âmodern narrativeâ portion of this book was placed in the 1980âs, and clearly Itâs placed in that year so that Ashlyn canât just google everything (instead she must run around pestering everyone and their mother, trying to answer her questions).
- Also like WHY DOESNT SHE JUST FINISH READING THE BOOKS before contacting the entire state of New York trying to find out more info on these people?!? For example, she foes wild trying to find out Goldieâs real name, when Goldieâs real name is right there in next chapter (which btw I think was a slip-up by the authorđ).
- ALSO Ashlyn is desperately sleuthing to find these people in real life, but doesnât notice that a key person has his first and middle name, occupation, birthday, AND place of birth are all laid out (Teddy, the ex fiancĂŠ)! Either we are to believe that Ashlyn is sosososo dumb (a reasonable guess based on the rest of the book), or this is a huge plot hole.
- Then Ashlyn CHASES this Ethan guy with the intensity of a psycho stalker, demanding info about his family and answers to her questions⌠before even finishing the books she has. Like the books are clearly here to answer her questions, so why in the world is she leaving repeated messages on a strangers phone and SHOWING UP AT HIS HOME when he said he wasnât interested and doesnât know anything about his family?!? Especially when she could A) finish the book and B) do some research using the names he gave her??? Thatâs Ashlyn for you!
- And how is this possibly the first time sheâs found a book this fascinating?? She can literally feel past book ownerâs feelings, and she is a USED bookstore owner. So Iâm sorry but she would have likely felt many intense and mysterious stories.
- Plus Ashlyn is kinda awful. She asks a librarian friend to do major research for her, doesnât even take the time to finish the books to get more info, THEN straight up refuses to tell the friend why sheâs researching this (âIâm gonna wait till I know more before I say anythingâ). Sorry but what?!?
-She also spends the whole book feeling bad for herself because (amongst other things) her abused and battered mother âallowed herself to die from cancerâ (yes you read that right), leaving Ashlyn alone. đŤŁđĽ´
- Another reason to dislike Ashlyn is that every time she sees a picture of A CHILD (Zachary) she comments on how attractive he is and also on his full lips??? Weird??
- Note that there are very jarring references to suicide(several suicides, in fact), physical and mental abuse, and racism just tossed around in here like a trauma salad
- Did I mention that nothing in this book was surprising? I knew every single plot twist BEFORE 40%. I genuinely thought I was a few pages or maybe a chapter from the end of the book (because everything was so obviously laid out for us!), so I decided to look at how many pages were left (I was reading on a Kindle). I was at FIFTY PERCENT! Thatâs how predictable this book was! The second half of the book was an insanely slow uncovering of every single predictable thing I knew would happen.
- To find out at over 75% of the way through that we were essentially covering a backstory to the âmain storyâ is wild. We could have skipped most of the book. I couldnât believe we suddenly were getting a whole new narrative from present-day Belle.
- Sorry Iâm so nitpicky but Hemi is the worst nickname ever (I assume pronounced âhemmyâ - just say it out loud a couple times and then consider if youâd ever call your steamy lover HEMI!). Seriously if you want to shorten Hemingway, call him Hem. Or just nickname him something else or call him his name.
- Every little thing we had learned about Ashlyn was repeated *in detail* around the 60-80% mark, so why have it all spread throughout the book? Almost the entirety of Ashlynâs story happens right around 70% through this book, and then her timeline just disappeared -because it doesnât matter and never did.
- When Belle and Hemi finally meet each other, it is entirely separate from Ashlyn. She had no part in Belle and Hemi reuniting, finding out the truth, or making up. So I ask again, why is Ashlyn in this book?
- I kinda hate the whole âevil person sabotaging perfect relationship but lovers are too immature to communicate for even five minutes and see that they still love each other and it was just a misunderstanding and this lasts for way too long while said lovers spend endless years being angry at (but also in love with) one another before finally talking for five minutes and finding out that their relationship was sabotaged so they can finally reuniteâ trope.
- The fact that they wrote letters to one another, and those letters were BOOK LENGTH, yet they managed to randomly leave out the single detail that would have fixed everything is just so dumb haha. I mean every other inconsequential detail is spelled out.
- And finally. Belle was truly awful. Anyone who keeps her child from their father without the father even KNOWING THEY EXIST is horrific - unless the father is dangerous or a criminal. This was SO PETTY of Belle and she did NOT deserve to be forgiven for this. Especially when it was easy to find Hemi. And then! Hemi only needs *2 1/2 hours* to decide that heâs totally cool making up with Belle and forgiving her for THAT. When he spent 43 years, bitter and hardened, hating her, all because he thought she had written him a letter, saying she was going to STAY WITH HER FIANCĂ. Please. They had ten weeks of relationship before deciding to run off and heâs bitter she didnât do it, but heâs cool just forgiving her for stealing his son from her for forty-three years. I cannot with this book.
Honestly?? After all that, I actually feel like the author is this book is still a good writer. Sheâs eloquent and had great ideas for characters and storylines and plot twists. I get the feeling that she was really passionate about the topics touched in her book, especially that she wanted to send out a message of forgiveness and letting go of hatred and hurt. I think she just got really caught up in writing and her editor was the one who failed here.
Moderate: Car accident, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Death of parent, Infidelity, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and War