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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-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:
Yes
Ugh. This book was all kinds of bad—but also just ok enough that I kept reading. It had potential with its triple narrative structure, following Opaline in 1920s Paris, and Martha and Henry in present-day Dublin. A mysterious, possibly magical disappearing bookshop? A lost Emily Brontë manuscript? Escaping abusive relationships and defying societal expectations? It should have hit. But instead, it dragged, and when it ended I honestly said, “That’s it?”
The men in this book? Awful. Abusive, manipulative, dismissive—and while I get that much of it reflects the time period, it’s still exhausting and infuriating to watch women repeatedly reduced to property, silenced, and institutionalized for “hysteria.” The rage is real.
The characters were mostly hard to connect with, the dialogue often felt forced or flat, and the “magic” of the bookshop never truly landed for me. That said, I did enjoy the bits of mystery, especially around Madame Bowden and Opaline’s storyline. But overall, this felt like a wasted opportunity wrapped in a beautifully marketed cover.
slow-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This was a decent story. I loved the full circle moment, but Henry made me PO. He was so clueless during the entire book and I’m sorry, that’s not attractive. I loved Opaline’s story and Martha’s but I pictured Martha being in the 1980’s or 90’s, not present day. Martha I think needed more character development because I didn’t understand her fear of books…
i was really excited for this, it just fell a bit flat for me? i was honestly just bored
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot