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judithdcollins's review
3.0
I really enjoyed this debut novel by Deborah Meyler – The Book Store. First, the cover is a huge draw if you are a book lover. I enjoyed the e-book and was hard to put down – a mixture of some great literary quotes and references, classic authors, set in a cozy NY quaint independent bookstore. (Can envision myself and the characters on a cool rainy night away from the hustle and bustle of the city, curled up with a good read and a cup of tea). A mix of some quirky characters, from the homeless, celebrities, lesbian friend, vegans, nutty, to the rich and rude Van Leuven’s (with tidbits of humor) which will keep you smiling!
The book centers around the main character – Esme (Englishwoman) graduate of Oxford, now in NY, working on her PHD at Columbia – loving all NY has to offer -- meets her older prince charming Mitchell. Mitchell is not as he appears – he is rude, weird, and has somehow wrapped her around his finger. He is from wealthy Van Leuven family who does not accept Esme. When Esme – finds herself pregnant, Mitchell is not willing to support her decision to keep the baby. He goes back and forth from on and off jerking her like a puppet.
Esme finds solace at a quaint nearby bookstore- The Owl, and develops friendships with George and Luke as well as a cast of homeless helpers, among others. During her pregnancy she relies on her true new friends to help her through the trying times. Esme is naïve at times; however, she is smart and does the best she can to make a home and family for her baby within this culture.
Of course, we all despised the character Mitchell and loved Luke. With the ending left open, I hope the book will be continued with a possible relationship between Luke/Esme and her new baby daughter, Georgia.
Highly recommend this debut novel and look forward to more from this author. I feel with her experience living in Europe and NY, working at bookstores, being a mother and writer – she has great insights to the subject matter making this a pleasant and engaging read.
The book centers around the main character – Esme (Englishwoman) graduate of Oxford, now in NY, working on her PHD at Columbia – loving all NY has to offer -- meets her older prince charming Mitchell. Mitchell is not as he appears – he is rude, weird, and has somehow wrapped her around his finger. He is from wealthy Van Leuven family who does not accept Esme. When Esme – finds herself pregnant, Mitchell is not willing to support her decision to keep the baby. He goes back and forth from on and off jerking her like a puppet.
Esme finds solace at a quaint nearby bookstore- The Owl, and develops friendships with George and Luke as well as a cast of homeless helpers, among others. During her pregnancy she relies on her true new friends to help her through the trying times. Esme is naïve at times; however, she is smart and does the best she can to make a home and family for her baby within this culture.
Of course, we all despised the character Mitchell and loved Luke. With the ending left open, I hope the book will be continued with a possible relationship between Luke/Esme and her new baby daughter, Georgia.
Highly recommend this debut novel and look forward to more from this author. I feel with her experience living in Europe and NY, working at bookstores, being a mother and writer – she has great insights to the subject matter making this a pleasant and engaging read.
jacki_f's review
3.0
Esme Garland is a whipsmart 23 year old English student studying for a PhD in art history at Columbia University. Her boyfriend, Mitchell, comes from an extremely wealthy family and has issues that run deeper than the Grand Canyon. When Esme discovers that she is pregnant, Mitchell breaks it off with her before she even has the chance to tell him. Nevertheless, Esme decides to keep the baby and takes a part time job in a used bookstore to supplement her small scholarship income. The bookstore is run by a colourful cast of characters who will all take a great interest in Esme's life and become her surrogate family.
There are many things that I liked about this debut novel. Meyler has a lively writing style which brings New York to life. The opening chapter had me itching to jump on a plane and walk the streets. She has a way of picking up on the smallest of observations - how to pick the freshest bagel in the store, how the light falls between buildings - which make you feel like you're really there. The story hums along and is a very easy read. For the most part there are no major surprises, but there are a few little kinks in the path. Esme makes a likeable heroine and it drove me crazy that she couldn't see through Mitchell. I had to keep reminding myself how taken by exteriors I was at the same age.
Where the book fell down for me, oddly enough, was the bookstore where Esme works. I started to get irritated by the cast of loveable eccentrics and I also felt that the writer shied away from making a definite call on whether there was going to be a romantic sub-plot or not. Frankly, I would have felt it more satisfying if Esme had exhibited some personal growth over the book, if she had learned to see through Mitchell sooner/better, if she had realised her own worth. Even the ending read like the author couldn't quite decide how to finish things, so she just hit "save" on the file and sent it off to the publisher.
Having said that, I must stress that for me, a three star rating is not a negative review but an evenly balanced "there is good and bad here". If you are looking for an intelligent chicklit book which goes down easily and gives you a feel of being somewhere else for a while, look no further.
I received a review copy through NetGalley.
There are many things that I liked about this debut novel. Meyler has a lively writing style which brings New York to life. The opening chapter had me itching to jump on a plane and walk the streets. She has a way of picking up on the smallest of observations - how to pick the freshest bagel in the store, how the light falls between buildings - which make you feel like you're really there. The story hums along and is a very easy read. For the most part there are no major surprises, but there are a few little kinks in the path. Esme makes a likeable heroine and it drove me crazy that she couldn't see through Mitchell. I had to keep reminding myself how taken by exteriors I was at the same age.
Where the book fell down for me, oddly enough, was the bookstore where Esme works. I started to get irritated by the cast of loveable eccentrics and I also felt that the writer shied away from making a definite call on whether there was going to be a romantic sub-plot or not. Frankly, I would have felt it more satisfying if Esme had exhibited some personal growth over the book, if she had learned to see through Mitchell sooner/better, if she had realised her own worth. Even the ending read like the author couldn't quite decide how to finish things, so she just hit "save" on the file and sent it off to the publisher.
Having said that, I must stress that for me, a three star rating is not a negative review but an evenly balanced "there is good and bad here". If you are looking for an intelligent chicklit book which goes down easily and gives you a feel of being somewhere else for a while, look no further.
I received a review copy through NetGalley.
jbarr5's review
3.0
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
What first attracted me to want to read this book is for the simple fact it's about a bookstore. I love books!
Love all the detailed descriptions of New York, feel like I'm walking beside Esme. She is from England and has only been in a city a short while.
She meets up with Mitchell and they check out various restaurants. After just a few short weeks she is pregnant and rather than tell him, she was going to, til he broke up with her.
She is going to be able to afford the baby but has many doubts. College, job and the baby will be her life.
Love how the information at the bookstore is shared with anybody that walks in-especially like book titles and author's names and a quick summary of what the book is about.
She has just a few who support her decision...Love hearing of all the characters who pay a visit, so colorful!
Quite erotic sex talk and acts. When Mitchell comes back into her life, is it for her and is it for keeps or is he just passing by?
I received this book from Net Galley via Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for my honest review.
What first attracted me to want to read this book is for the simple fact it's about a bookstore. I love books!
Love all the detailed descriptions of New York, feel like I'm walking beside Esme. She is from England and has only been in a city a short while.
She meets up with Mitchell and they check out various restaurants. After just a few short weeks she is pregnant and rather than tell him, she was going to, til he broke up with her.
She is going to be able to afford the baby but has many doubts. College, job and the baby will be her life.
Love how the information at the bookstore is shared with anybody that walks in-especially like book titles and author's names and a quick summary of what the book is about.
She has just a few who support her decision...Love hearing of all the characters who pay a visit, so colorful!
Quite erotic sex talk and acts. When Mitchell comes back into her life, is it for her and is it for keeps or is he just passing by?
I received this book from Net Galley via Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for my honest review.
bookslifeandeverythingnice's review
3.0
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler is good but didn't live up to my expectations. It's set in New York City, featuring a quaint bookstore. Second hand bookstores usually make for an interesting cast of characters, and this book is no exception to that. I wish the characters were more developed though. There was so much potential, but it never went quite in depth enough. I still really enjoyed the bookstore employees story lines. I also liked the excellent mix between the whimsical old fashioned nature of the bookstore and the hustle bustle of the city. Esme's relationship with Mitchell irritated me the most. He clearly was not a worthwhile guy. Yet, she continues to pine after him, believes he's a great guy, and trusts his continual lies. Her relationship with Mitchell was frustrating and took away from the rest of the novel. The ending mostly makes up for it though.
yousrabushehri's review against another edition
2.0
I am really disappointed with this book. I don't understand how its been getting good reviews. I really don't. The only reason I finished it was because I hate leaving a book unfinished once I've invested time on it.
Esme was an annoying, unrealistically romantic character who I wouldn't be surprised if she believed that unicorns that poop rainbows exist since that's as likely to happen as Mitchell waking up one day as a decent human being instead of the drama queen douche canoe that he actually is and aways will be.
I don't understand women who believe they can 'change' the man they're with. Why would you want to date or be with an asshole with the hopes of you inspiring the guy to wake up one day with the epiphany that he is a grade a A-hole. Do these women expect a Thank You card or a speech from the guy about how much he admires and cherishes her because she changed his life? How would you like it if a man dated you for the singular purpose of changing all the things he didn't like about you. Like he has a list of your characteristics that he wants to change. I don't know about you, but I want to be with someone who loves me just the way I am.
It's one thing if you actually like being in a relationship with an asshole, but it's just weird for me that some people actually stay with their significant other with the hopes of changing them 'for the better'.
Mitchell, has I have made it clear, is an entitled, drama-queen, momma's boy, with a silver spoon stuck up where the sun don't shine, and to top it all off, he's such a horrible partner. He's so damaged that I honestly couldn't find ONE redeeming quality about him. Nothing. He was just so...weird. One second he's this dirty talking guy who wants to do 'things' to Esme and the next he's talking about how much he values Esme's sense of 'innocence', whatever the hell that means...
I feel like this book was just a bunch of randomness stringed together by the overall story about a young english woman who gets knocked up by her horrible boyfriend. Everything the characters talked about and everything Esme thought -- her internal monologues -- were so random that I just didn't see the point of it. And as a 25-year old woman who isn't american but has lived in the US for four years for college, I didn't walk around with deep thoughts going through my head about life and the condition of man and how the snow falling looks like angel farts or whatever. I was getting on with my life. I was studying, being with friends, I was enjoying my time in the States without thinking about it too much. And I was a literature/philosophy/psychology student with a minor in Art History -- so I did my fair share of thinking. What I'm trying to say is, Esme didn't feel real. She wasn't relatable. She was just random. The most real thing about her was that she got pregnant and she was nervous about being a new young single mother.
I don't think I'll ever be rereading this book, but I'm glad I get to cross it off my TBR list.
I know my review is harsh and maybe unfair to some who actually liked this book, and I'm not saying that everything about this book was horrible. I really enjoyed the secondary characters -- even though they were sooooo odd -- and I loved The Owl. I just didn't connected with the book due to the main character(s) being such pains in my backside.
Esme was an annoying, unrealistically romantic character who I wouldn't be surprised if she believed that unicorns that poop rainbows exist since that's as likely to happen as Mitchell waking up one day as a decent human being instead of the drama queen douche canoe that he actually is and aways will be.
I don't understand women who believe they can 'change' the man they're with. Why would you want to date or be with an asshole with the hopes of you inspiring the guy to wake up one day with the epiphany that he is a grade a A-hole. Do these women expect a Thank You card or a speech from the guy about how much he admires and cherishes her because she changed his life? How would you like it if a man dated you for the singular purpose of changing all the things he didn't like about you. Like he has a list of your characteristics that he wants to change. I don't know about you, but I want to be with someone who loves me just the way I am.
It's one thing if you actually like being in a relationship with an asshole, but it's just weird for me that some people actually stay with their significant other with the hopes of changing them 'for the better'.
Mitchell, has I have made it clear, is an entitled, drama-queen, momma's boy, with a silver spoon stuck up where the sun don't shine, and to top it all off, he's such a horrible partner. He's so damaged that I honestly couldn't find ONE redeeming quality about him. Nothing. He was just so...weird. One second he's this dirty talking guy who wants to do 'things' to Esme and the next he's talking about how much he values Esme's sense of 'innocence', whatever the hell that means...
I feel like this book was just a bunch of randomness stringed together by the overall story about a young english woman who gets knocked up by her horrible boyfriend. Everything the characters talked about and everything Esme thought -- her internal monologues -- were so random that I just didn't see the point of it. And as a 25-year old woman who isn't american but has lived in the US for four years for college, I didn't walk around with deep thoughts going through my head about life and the condition of man and how the snow falling looks like angel farts or whatever. I was getting on with my life. I was studying, being with friends, I was enjoying my time in the States without thinking about it too much. And I was a literature/philosophy/psychology student with a minor in Art History -- so I did my fair share of thinking. What I'm trying to say is, Esme didn't feel real. She wasn't relatable. She was just random. The most real thing about her was that she got pregnant and she was nervous about being a new young single mother.
I don't think I'll ever be rereading this book, but I'm glad I get to cross it off my TBR list.
I know my review is harsh and maybe unfair to some who actually liked this book, and I'm not saying that everything about this book was horrible. I really enjoyed the secondary characters -- even though they were sooooo odd -- and I loved The Owl. I just didn't connected with the book due to the main character(s) being such pains in my backside.
mfumarolo's review
3.0
ARC provided via NetGalley - Thank You!
As a lover of books, I of course am naturally interested in books about bookstores. Meyler's novel is a fine addition to this category, telling the story of Esme and balancing an unplanned pregnancy (fathered by a less than reliable man), a doctoral program, and a job at a secondhand bookstore in New York City. While I quickly came to love the people Esme worked with at The Owl, most of the book focuses on her sour relationship with the baby's father. My frustration with him and Esme's refusal to stay away when good people who loved her were right there became a hinderance after a while. It was a one-time read for me, so if your library gets a copy, it's worth borrowing if the mood should strike.
As a lover of books, I of course am naturally interested in books about bookstores. Meyler's novel is a fine addition to this category, telling the story of Esme and balancing an unplanned pregnancy (fathered by a less than reliable man), a doctoral program, and a job at a secondhand bookstore in New York City. While I quickly came to love the people Esme worked with at The Owl, most of the book focuses on her sour relationship with the baby's father. My frustration with him and Esme's refusal to stay away when good people who loved her were right there became a hinderance after a while. It was a one-time read for me, so if your library gets a copy, it's worth borrowing if the mood should strike.
amandahart's review
5.0
Great book, couldn't put it down, and haven't had that happen with a modern book in a while. Can't wait for more, really hope she picks up with these characters. They are right at the edge of believable and not, the kind of people that exist, but only in a city like New York and in a pre-read bookshop will you find so many great crazies put together
balletbookworm's review
3.0
This gets a star bump because Esme has pluck. She doesn't have a spine, however, and I think it would have been a much better book had she some spine and we could have done some better relationship development with a different character. The passage of time in this book is weird and hard to keep track of.
Also, oddly enough, Esme only sounded English to me - in comparison to the rest of the characters who are on the balance Americans - when she was using specific non-American verbs. Otherwise she just sounded like any old small-town person unused to New York City.
And Mitchell is a weasel. Couldn't he have got run over by a cab or something?
Review at Brazen Reads: http://brazenreads.com/review-the-bookstore-by-deborah-meyler/
Also, oddly enough, Esme only sounded English to me - in comparison to the rest of the characters who are on the balance Americans - when she was using specific non-American verbs. Otherwise she just sounded like any old small-town person unused to New York City.
And Mitchell is a weasel. Couldn't he have got run over by a cab or something?
Review at Brazen Reads: http://brazenreads.com/review-the-bookstore-by-deborah-meyler/