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3.02 AVERAGE
3.02 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC copy of this book.
I was excited about this book based on the description - an enemies to lovers with bookstores sounded great! I was very disappointed with the result. The writing was average, which was fine. It was the characters that made me lose interest and the number of irrelevant subplots.
First, there were way too many minor characters. People who didn’t need to have names or a place in the book were all of a sudden there. For example, every single friend of the MMC were named and given lines during a dinner party. Not necessary in the slightest and, frankly, added to the confusion. The man who assessed the grimoire? Unnecessary (as was that entire plot line - what value did it have other than giving Aunt Flo an income she ultimately turned down?)
Second, the FMC, Jules, is a horrible human. All she does is complain. It’s her job, her mom, the MMC (Roman) from a decade ago in high school, her alleged best friend…it never ends! She is so incredibly rude to everyone and takes no accountability for herself. Right off the bat, she is relating being fired to genocide. It’s extreme and unbearable to read.
Roman? No personality. He’s just there.
The biggest complaint I have is that Jules and Roman have zero chemistry. After Roman’s store opens and Jules storms over there is when I almost put this book down. Their argument is petty, immature and amounts to a Middle School tantrum. Their first kiss came from nowhere and seemed implausible. And then they’re all of a sudden in love and Jules exclaims that Roman is her best friend during a fight…I couldn’t even tell they were more than acquaintances, let alone in love.
I could go on, but ultimately, it was pulling teeth to finish this book. I think there is certainly potential behind the idea, but it was poorly executed and I would not recommend it.
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
I think owning a bookshop by the seashore would be a lovely way to spend my life. Being able to live above said bookshop? Even better.
Jules grew up in the town of Portneath, where her dear Aunt Flo owned Capelthorne Books. Aunt Flo is just the latest to caretake the amazing small bookshop which has been in Portneath for nearly 100 years. When Jules’s mother Maggie leaves her a message that she must come home immediately due to Aunt Flo’s demise, Jules panics. After all, Aunt Flo was more of a mother/grandmother to Jules than her own mother Maggie.
In London, Jules works for a small publishing house with an evil headmaster. When Jules asks for a bit of time off to tend to her elderly aunt, her boss will not comply. Furthermore, she essentially tells Jules, be here Monday morning or don’t come back at all. Jules is owed the time off. Family is family however, and Jules is not going to put her job ahead of her loved ones needing her.
Turns out that Aunt Flo definitely did need her, but her demise was seriously exaggerated. In any case, now Jules is home. She realizes how old and frail Aunt Flo is, and that it is her turn to be there for Aunt Flo. Jules goes about getting Aunt Flo settled downstairs and taking over the running of the bookshop.
Until an empty building across the street is unveiled to be another bookshop! Even worse, it is owned by the Montbeau’s eldest, Roman. The Montbeaus and Capelthornes have a longstanding feud. It goes back to a drunken card game some 100 years ago, but it is still going strong.
Roman is a beautiful man, and Jules is once again smitten, other than her disdain for the family and now the bookshop. Yet, when the two are forced together over and over again, it becomes clear that maybe it’s time to let the feud die with the previous generation.
Excellent read. Quick, cute, boy and girl enemy trope. Still I loved the play on the Montagues and Capulets with not only the names but the plot. The Capelthorne bookshop sounds like a dream of a place, and there are so many side stories in this novel to keep you enchanted. The characters are very likable, even enemy Roman. I could read about these two again and again. Or even the whole town. Portneath is a place I’d love to inhabit.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-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:
No
"Battle of the Bookshops" by Poppy Alexander is a modern-day "Romeo and Juliet" with a bookstore twist. The story follows Jules Capelthorn, who returns to her small hometown from London to help her great-aunt run her bookshop after an injury. Her homecoming is complicated by Roman Montbeau, a sworn family enemy, who opens a new, flashy bookshop directly across the street.
While the premise was fantastic, I had some trouble getting into the story. It felt like an element in the flow of the book, possibly the slow-burn pacing, kept me from being fully engaged. The plot had sections that dragged, which made it hard to stay focused.
Despite this, the characters themselves had compelling arcs. Jules is a kind and caring character who genuinely wants her great-aunt's shop to succeed, but I felt she was also a source of some of the problems. Roman initially comes across as arrogant and cocky, but his point of view reveals a much softer, more complex side. I really enjoyed the rivaling bookshops dynamic, as it effectively showed that new and flashy isn't always the best. The book also weaves in great themes of community, second-chance romance, enemies-to-lovers, history, and antiques. A fun detail was the fact that Roman worked for HarperCollins, the publisher of the book.
Audiobook Review
The narrator did a good job, and their British accent was great, fitting the characters perfectly. I believe the pacing of the plot was what bothered me, rather than the narration itself, as some sections of the story felt like they dragged on. However, I do feel the book would have benefited from a second, male narrator to distinguish between the male and female characters more easily. Although the narrator did a good job of differentiating between male and female voices, I had some minor problems distinguishing between characters within the same gender, with the exception of the great-aunt.
I received this ALC from HarperAudio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this ALC from HarperAudio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I did not enjoy this book. From the beginning, I had a hard time getting into the story. The writing felt fairly dense, but not a lot happened. I also don’t hold this against the book, but despite being someone that regularly reads books set in the UK and having an English degree (from the US), there was so much slang and British words that I found myself looking up multiple words per chapter.
This book is not billed as part of a series, but is set in the same world as the author’s previous books. The FMC from 12 Days of Christmas is featured heavily, and I was constantly confused about her character, not having the backstory from reading that. There’s also characters from her other books, although slightly less prevalent.
My least favorite part of this book was the romance. The characters hated each other, were rivals, truly could not stand each other, and then randomly suddenly the MMC does a single nice thing (walks the FMC home when she’s drunk) and she decides she wants to kiss? and then less than 3 chapters later the characters are in LOVE? Then, there’s a third act breakup over the most predictable ‘twist,’ the characters break up, but then there’s one small incident that immediately pulls them back around ‘turns out you’re the most important thing to me’ ‘I’ll chose her over my family’. This is all in the span of less than 7 months - it was messy and chaotic, but not in a way that’s fun to read, but in a way that’s hard to get through and even harder to root for.
The book is also pulling from very Romeo and Juliet themes, which was…. a choice for this story, but then it’s even more weird and meta when the characters themselves start making those connections. It was a lot.
I also found the POV to be slightly confusing - 95% of the book was third person from the FMC, but then there were a couple of random chapters from the MMC, and even a couple chapters from misc. other characters.
I was provided a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC. Unfortunately, this will be a DNF for me.
After reading reviews I was nervous to read this book, but I tried to go into it with an open mind. However, within the first minute of reading this book, the FMC compares her boss to genocide. Later on, the MMC says he has no interest in “yes-women” and that he “likes a challenge”. I was also not a fan of the generations-old battle between the Capelthorne and Montbeau families There are many enemies to lovers books and even many bookstore books, and this one fell far behind the others.
After reading reviews I was nervous to read this book, but I tried to go into it with an open mind. However, within the first minute of reading this book, the FMC compares her boss to genocide. Later on, the MMC says he has no interest in “yes-women” and that he “likes a challenge”. I was also not a fan of the generations-old battle between the Capelthorne and Montbeau families There are many enemies to lovers books and even many bookstore books, and this one fell far behind the others.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Thank you @netgalley and @avonbooks for this ARC of Battle of the bookshop.
Release date 8/19
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
💕This was a cute cozy romance with a Romeo and Juliet retelling to it. The story was all around cute vibe and the main plot was the battle of the bookshops.
It’s a perfect read for by the beach and pool or just looking for something light to pick up.
So grateful to receive this book via ARC through NetGalley. The cover instantly had my attention and I was curious to see how the author would incorporate the Romeo and Juliet theme into her modern story.
Thanks to the community surrounding Jules and Roman we met so many characters. Aunt Flo and Freya were two of my favorites! I feel like there were several side stories that could have been explored to give better context into the actions of our main plot. However, the author jumped around in time quickly and it left me confused about how we got to the current place in the story.
Overall, it was a very wholesome Rom-Com with cute banter to keep the story moving along,add in a cozy bookshop and a mysterious discovery found within and you have a light read good for anytime of the year!
Well, I made it to 56%, and I’m officially calling it quits. I usually try to stick it out with ARCs, but honestly, I don’t want to spend any more time with this book.
Battle of the Bookshops follows a failed literary agent who returns to her sleepy hometown to help her aunt run the family’s beloved bookstore. Unfortunately, a long-standing family rival has just opened a shiny new shop right across the street, kicking off a full-blown bookish battle. And to complicate matters (or maybe help them?), the rival is… handsome. Will Jules step up and save the store that’s been in her family for generations?
I was really drawn in by the cute cover and fun premise, but for me, the execution just didn’t deliver.
Right from the start, I was confused about the main character’s deep-seated insecurity—supposedly caused by one awkward school incident. And yet, halfway through, that whole trauma seems forgotten, and she’s suddenly in love with the guy who laughed at her? The backstory, which should’ve helped us understand her better, felt shallow and underdeveloped.
The writing style also didn’t work for me. The pacing felt off. It gave me whiplash—like one minute we’re in a conversation, and the next we’re in a completely different scene, day, or subplot. Speaking of subplots, there were way too many. I couldn’t tell what was supposed to aid in the main storyline, and honestly, I just didn’t care enough to sort it out.
Overall, a miss for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyage for the advance copy.
Battle of the Bookshops follows a failed literary agent who returns to her sleepy hometown to help her aunt run the family’s beloved bookstore. Unfortunately, a long-standing family rival has just opened a shiny new shop right across the street, kicking off a full-blown bookish battle. And to complicate matters (or maybe help them?), the rival is… handsome. Will Jules step up and save the store that’s been in her family for generations?
I was really drawn in by the cute cover and fun premise, but for me, the execution just didn’t deliver.
Right from the start, I was confused about the main character’s deep-seated insecurity—supposedly caused by one awkward school incident. And yet, halfway through, that whole trauma seems forgotten, and she’s suddenly in love with the guy who laughed at her? The backstory, which should’ve helped us understand her better, felt shallow and underdeveloped.
The writing style also didn’t work for me. The pacing felt off. It gave me whiplash—like one minute we’re in a conversation, and the next we’re in a completely different scene, day, or subplot. Speaking of subplots, there were way too many. I couldn’t tell what was supposed to aid in the main storyline, and honestly, I just didn’t care enough to sort it out.
Overall, a miss for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyage for the advance copy.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a lighthearted, rom-com centered around a bookstore in a cozy English seaside setting. The setting of the book and the character relationships between Jules, our main female character, and Flo and Charlie, two side characters, were delightful. I enjoyed their companionship, dialogue, and support of one another. I didn’t click as well with the relationship between Jules and Roman, the main male character. The author alludes multiple times to their relationship being a “Romeo and Juliet relationship”, but I didn’t see much connection, other than their families hating one another. The relationship between Jules and Roman seemed to go from dislike and competition between their two bookshops, to romance and understanding of one another’s dreams quite suddenly and without much explanation or build-up. I enjoyed the story of trying to keep an old bookshop alive more than the competition between the two bookstores, but even then, some of the big bookshop events that Jules plans seemed to fall flat in the plot.
Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an early access copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fun, fast read with all the right vibes for enemies-to-lovers fans—bonus points for rival bookstores and a charming Romeo and Juliet twist. While the pacing dragged in spots, the relationships (especially between Jules, her Aunt Flo, and Charlie) made it worth sticking with. I also loved the little nods to the classic tale woven throughout. If you're into slow burns, literary rivalries, and modern retellings, this one's definitely worth adding to your TBR.
Big thanks to Avon Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC!
Big thanks to Avon Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC!