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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Who knew a book about four friends opening a bookstore could be so messy. Celeste, Leslie, Yasmeen and Toni are just a few months away from finally opening their bookstore, Books, Besties and Bevs a place where other book lovers can come together. But before the bookstore opens their worlds are upended. Toni learns months before her wedding she’s unable to have kids. Her ex-boyfriend also comes back into her life threatening to ruin everything she’s worked for. Celeste’s failing marriage collapses when she refuses to get therapy to work through the trauma she and her husband suffered. Yasmeen wins the lottery but her new found fortune isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. When Leslie’s daughter falls sick and needs a bone marrow transplant Leslie learns she’s adopted which completely shatters her world. Through all the trials these women face the strength of their sisterhood shines throughout the book.
💭 THOUGHTS💭 (spoilers ahead)
These women had me stressed! Toni should’ve been honest about Skins, and Celeste refusing therapy made no sense, but I was so proud of her when she finally went. We advocate for therapy over here. Yasmeen stressed me out with her spending and Darryl drama, but hiring Cashmere as a financial consultant? Unbelievable. Losing her money was the wake-up call she needed. Leslie’s adoption storyline hit hard—her pain over her sick daughter and bio family’s life without her was raw, but I was glad she forgave them and her dad.
Honestly the ending was the best part of the whole book. Leslie may have lost her marriage, but she regained her freedom. Toni shared her truth, Kent and the ladies still loved her. Darryl got it together, went to culinary school, and he and Yas could be together. Celeste took steps to heal and got her man back!
💭 THOUGHTS💭 (spoilers ahead)
These women had me stressed! Toni should’ve been honest about Skins, and Celeste refusing therapy made no sense, but I was so proud of her when she finally went. We advocate for therapy over here. Yasmeen stressed me out with her spending and Darryl drama, but hiring Cashmere as a financial consultant? Unbelievable. Losing her money was the wake-up call she needed. Leslie’s adoption storyline hit hard—her pain over her sick daughter and bio family’s life without her was raw, but I was glad she forgave them and her dad.
Honestly the ending was the best part of the whole book. Leslie may have lost her marriage, but she regained her freedom. Toni shared her truth, Kent and the ladies still loved her. Darryl got it together, went to culinary school, and he and Yas could be together. Celeste took steps to heal and got her man back!
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was weird honestly. Follows four friends (three black and one white) who decide to open a bookshop together. In the process of doing this, each of them experience something that will change their lives forever...
The start felt a bit like a sequel (like I didnt really get the closeness of these women, because so many characters were thrown at me it felt like I was missing something). The book references felt a little too forced at times for me, and I didn't like some of the messaging at all.
I'm gonna go by character because I think its easier that way:
Celeste - our 'main' character (opens on her and closes on her)
Mild spoiler for start of book (from first couple of chapters):Celeste is struggling after the after math of a carjacking at gunpoint and is refusing to go to therapy, even though she can barely get in a car without having a panic attack. Her husband gets annoyed and asks her for a divorce.
Spoilers for later on:It turns out that her husband did that so she would get the therapy and never expected to actually divorce her, which WHAT. If a man tried that with me, I would be fuming and would NOT ask to renew our vows jfc
Toni - the influencer
Toni is about to get married to her dream man, who wants to have kids. She finds out that she might not be able to have kids (and I have a MASSIVE issue with the doctor who told her outright that she can't have kids because she's stil having a period, so she can still get pregnant, it'll just be difficult) and decides to hide this from her fiancé. also she starts getting messages from an account that turns out to be her old boyfriend, who knocked her up when she was like 15, forced her to get a backstreet abortion and tricked her into committing a crime. He's out of prison and is now blackmailing her or he'll tell everyone.
Authors need to stop writing influencer characters without actually knowing what it is like. She goes live constantly and has a ridiculously high viewer count, but isn't being swarmed constantly? Those are like Drake numbers she's doing honestly. But she can still live a normal life? alsothe idea she could put her wedding info out on social media and not expect gatecrashers is ridiculous.
I also think her story raised a lot of issues in my opinion.It does get addressed, but the fact that Toni goes so long talking about her abortion and how she can't have kids that i read it that she thinks she can' have kids because of her abortion. Which is not true, and i think is quite harmful.
Also i need words with her fiancé becausetelling a woman that he can't wait to see her 'belly swell with his child' is the least sexy thing I can think of and dude needs better dirty talk lines.
Leslie - the white one
Spoilers:Leslie's only daughter gets sick and then she finds out that she was adopted and her dad isn't her biological dad. She needs to find a match for her daughter so reaches out to find her birth parents and turns out they are still together and have a bunch of kids. She gets the match, makes up with her dad and has more family.
Leslie's story was maybe the weakest for me because I felt that she was overreacting a lot. I get she went through a lot (probably the most) but for a 34 yo woman, damn she felt whiny.
Yasmeen - the poor one
First, I think it is crazy to see how well off her friends are and how she struggles to get a job that pays well, and how any of them could have helped her, But whatever.
Spoilers:Yasmeen wins the lottery but starts spending like crazy, ends up meeting a woman who scams her and she loses most her money. Also there is the subplot because her parents disagree with gambling and so don't want any of her money (despite literally having their lights turned off at the start of the book, I just think that's unrealistic)
Overall, this felt like a lot of drama and not what I was expecting. Really didn't like this one.
Also maybe the audiobook was different, but I;ve heard people talking about sex in this book and everything I heard was 'fade to black' at the most. Mostly people talking about having sex and no actual sex shown.
The start felt a bit like a sequel (like I didnt really get the closeness of these women, because so many characters were thrown at me it felt like I was missing something). The book references felt a little too forced at times for me, and I didn't like some of the messaging at all.
I'm gonna go by character because I think its easier that way:
Celeste - our 'main' character (opens on her and closes on her)
Mild spoiler for start of book (from first couple of chapters):
Spoilers for later on:
Toni - the influencer
Authors need to stop writing influencer characters without actually knowing what it is like. She goes live constantly and has a ridiculously high viewer count, but isn't being swarmed constantly? Those are like Drake numbers she's doing honestly. But she can still live a normal life? also
I also think her story raised a lot of issues in my opinion.
Also i need words with her fiancé because
Leslie - the white one
Spoilers:
Leslie's story was maybe the weakest for me because I felt that she was overreacting a lot. I get she went through a lot (probably the most) but for a 34 yo woman, damn she felt whiny.
Yasmeen - the poor one
First, I think it is crazy to see how well off her friends are and how she struggles to get a job that pays well, and how any of them could have helped her, But whatever.
Spoilers:
Overall, this felt like a lot of drama and not what I was expecting. Really didn't like this one.
Also maybe the audiobook was different, but I;ve heard people talking about sex in this book and everything I heard was 'fade to black' at the most. Mostly people talking about having sex and no actual sex shown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Medical content
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Abortion
Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual violence
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Too much drama. Was looking for a cozy, unbothered, friendship and bookshop forward novel.
Content Warnings
Histories included statutory rape, botched abortion, PTSD, and more
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was exactly what I was looking for, a comfort read. That being said it was kind of cringy and predictable. But you know, I got what I wanted.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love books about sisters and books set in bookshops so when I saw this I jumped to read it. Unfortunately, it fell so flat and I was so incredibly bored I skipped the second third of the book to finish faster.
Celeste, Yasmeen, Toni, and Leslie have been best friends since college. They love reading and one day at their book club meeting they decide to open a bookshop together. The book follows them on a multi month journey in which all four of them face massive life challenges that threaten to upturn their bookshop plans and quite possibly their friendship.
As I stated before I love books about sisters and books set in bookshops (neither of which this book has). I hate books with characters that make bad decisions and all 4 of the women in this do exactly that. In addition to that there are so many times something happened that didn’t add to the story and in some cases, so much bad happening to one character that it made this book beyond unbearable. The cover and title grabbed me, but I’ve really got to get better at actually reading the synopsis because this is not the first (or even the second) time I’ve been fooled by the actual story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy of this. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. The Bookshop Sisterhood hit the shelves on July 30th.
Celeste, Yasmeen, Toni, and Leslie have been best friends since college. They love reading and one day at their book club meeting they decide to open a bookshop together. The book follows them on a multi month journey in which all four of them face massive life challenges that threaten to upturn their bookshop plans and quite possibly their friendship.
As I stated before I love books about sisters and books set in bookshops (neither of which this book has). I hate books with characters that make bad decisions and all 4 of the women in this do exactly that. In addition to that there are so many times something happened that didn’t add to the story and in some cases, so much bad happening to one character that it made this book beyond unbearable. The cover and title grabbed me, but I’ve really got to get better at actually reading the synopsis because this is not the first (or even the second) time I’ve been fooled by the actual story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy of this. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. The Bookshop Sisterhood hit the shelves on July 30th.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes