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lola425's review against another edition
3.0
Cute book, especially if you love quirky, offbeat characters and musty old bookstores.
csemanek's review against another edition
3.0
this was written in the first person, so we were inside Esme's head. I still cannot understand why she "loved" Mitchell. I kept thinking we'd see a side of him that would redeem him and make the reader get it. I never did.
Otherwise, the bookstore was neat and Esme had wonderful friends - at home and at work. The book ended suitably, but on the whole, I am not sure I'm glad I read it.
Otherwise, the bookstore was neat and Esme had wonderful friends - at home and at work. The book ended suitably, but on the whole, I am not sure I'm glad I read it.
quaintrelle_chantelle's review against another edition
2.0
From the first page I knew this wasn't going to be an easy book for me to read. I persevered anyway, for reasons I'm unsure of & sadly put this book down with a bit of stink eye facial expression.
I love to read & I tend to read quickly, but some writers write in a way that is hard to read quickly. Their punctuation cutting off sentences before they've even had time to form. Deborah Meyler is one such writer. Her sentences are short & to the point. But this often makes them blunt & void of full emotions. Without having read the Author's description I had assumed that the book had been translated into English. I admit I was very surprised to find out that Meyler is in fact English, & this is just her style.
The story line is formed around young Esme Garland, who moves to Manhattan & forms a relationship with the very rich & elitist, Mitchell van Leuven. Both these characters irritated me to no end. Esme was ridiculous in her over the top devotion to this obvious creep. He was disgusting from the word go. I kept waiting for this story to get better but the more I read the more I hated the characters. I felt anger towards them both, her for not seeing what an idiot he was, & him for being so undeserving of her affections... & just plain horrible. Long story short, she gets pregnant, he walks away, then comes back, then walks away again.... all the while she's pining after him while being all awkward & weird.
This book really didn't do it for me.
I love to read & I tend to read quickly, but some writers write in a way that is hard to read quickly. Their punctuation cutting off sentences before they've even had time to form. Deborah Meyler is one such writer. Her sentences are short & to the point. But this often makes them blunt & void of full emotions. Without having read the Author's description I had assumed that the book had been translated into English. I admit I was very surprised to find out that Meyler is in fact English, & this is just her style.
The story line is formed around young Esme Garland, who moves to Manhattan & forms a relationship with the very rich & elitist, Mitchell van Leuven. Both these characters irritated me to no end. Esme was ridiculous in her over the top devotion to this obvious creep. He was disgusting from the word go. I kept waiting for this story to get better but the more I read the more I hated the characters. I felt anger towards them both, her for not seeing what an idiot he was, & him for being so undeserving of her affections... & just plain horrible. Long story short, she gets pregnant, he walks away, then comes back, then walks away again.... all the while she's pining after him while being all awkward & weird.
This book really didn't do it for me.
gigiinzim's review against another edition
3.0
Deborah Meyler has written some beautiful lines in this novel. I was drawn in and enchanted by The Owl and some of the quirky characters. And I loved Esme’s story. She isn’t a perfect character and she makes some enormously youthful mistakes- but I loved watching her find her way.
However, her romantic relationship was deeply flawed and her love interest is pretty toxic. It was a nice holiday read but I wouldn’t call it a must read!
However, her romantic relationship was deeply flawed and her love interest is pretty toxic. It was a nice holiday read but I wouldn’t call it a must read!
jillyfay's review against another edition
4.0
Good book, but I'd give it 3.5 stars. It kind of wanders. An interesting story. The characters are okay, but not really developed and some are not realistic. Also, it just kind of ends abruptly.
lgiegerich's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the bookstore/Columbia aspects of it, but a lot of the characterization was vague & seemingly different as the novel progressed, even the protagonist.
stierbri's review against another edition
3.0
I hate Mitchell! And I hate Esme for putting up with him! I would have given the book two stars, but I liked the end!
cowmingo's review against another edition
1.0
Yet another book where I feel stupid while reading. I fully expect to not know the meanings of a couple of words in a book but when it gets to be overwhelming, it's usually a good sign that the book and I will not be friends. I did love the description of the bookstore that the main character worked at and loved her co-workers. I found myself wishing that Esme and Mitchell would go away and leave me to talk books with the motley crew of employees at The Owl. Now that would have been a better book assuming I didn't have to pause every few sentences to define a word.
stephs_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn't what I was expecting, it was good but I did not agree with some of Esme's decisions regarding Mitchell, I really did not like him