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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Festive read! There are quite a few characters and separate storylines to follow. However, lots of potential for future character development. I'm glad to see some of the Scottish Bookshop characters intertwined because they are my favorite Jenny Colgan books.
Exactly what I was looking for - light with some substance, found family but also repaired family, and just plain sweet. Yay!
Debating between 3 and 4 stars because this book took me a long time to get into. At the beginning…everyone is insufferable. What makes up for it is all of the character development, if you can hold on that long.
I'm a sucker for the pretty-much-guaranteed features of a Jenny Colgan Scottish escape novel:
* a heroine starting over after a job loss, relationship breakup, or both
* a local small business in Scotland in need of rescuing
* a fish out of water who finds purpose and belonging among quirky, charming locals
* romance
* a happy ending
As I've found in many of her past books, though, a reader also has to put up with insufferably obnoxious children (written by someone who either has no children or hates children?), often unlikeable love interests, and at least one aspect of the audiobook narration by Eilidh Beaton that drives me bonkers. The Christmas Bookshop delivered on all of the positive guarantees as well as the negatives in abundance. What this book had that most of her others do not, though, is a thoroughly unlikeable main character whose unlikeability is magnified a thousandfold by Beaton's grating narration. At least 50 times while listening I thought to myself, "Wow, Carmen's words alone are WAY less obnoxious than the tone of voice of the reader...why are the producers allowing Carmen to be portrayed as so irredeemably, rudely, awful?"
What I appreciated about the book:
* an escape with a well developed sense of place in Edinburgh
* the Mr. McCready storyline - he was charming, likable, interesting, and someone whose happiness I rooted for
* Eilidh Beaton's ability to create a wide variety of very different realistic voices (and thankfully, this time, she avoided the worst of her extremes of bratty Scottish child accents)
* a little escape time of imagining a Christmas holiday in Scotland
What I didn't enjoy:
* the main character...she only became remotely likable about 70% of the way through the book and I wasn't particularly invested in her happiness. I rooted for her success for Mr. McCready's sake
* the asinine love triangle -- one man who was so over-the-top unlikeable that even the unlikeable main character didn't like him, and the other man whose identity and storyline was so random and quirky (a Quaker dendrologist from Brazil?) that he seemed more like a post-it note character sketch than a real person
* Beaton's narration of the main character, which exponentially exacerbated her obnoxiousness
What I LOVED:
* the fact that my 8 year old son could listen in at various points and enjoy the book along with me
* the scene with Carmen doing her first holiday storytime for children, My son and I howled with laughter in the car while listening to this scene, which was fresh, unexpected, SO true to life and expectations about children's literature, and simply delightful. I had tears running down my face while listening, in a good way. That scene alone was worth the price of the book, as howling laughter like that has been rare for me through COVID.
Overall, my instinct to give this a 2-star rating belies a truth of my relationship with Jenny Colgan's Scottish books (and I hear this truth in Eilidh Beaton's voice): I will absolutely, positively read the next one. That truth as well as the strength of that one hilarious scene bumps this up to 3 stars.
* a heroine starting over after a job loss, relationship breakup, or both
* a local small business in Scotland in need of rescuing
* a fish out of water who finds purpose and belonging among quirky, charming locals
* romance
* a happy ending
As I've found in many of her past books, though, a reader also has to put up with insufferably obnoxious children (written by someone who either has no children or hates children?), often unlikeable love interests, and at least one aspect of the audiobook narration by Eilidh Beaton that drives me bonkers. The Christmas Bookshop delivered on all of the positive guarantees as well as the negatives in abundance. What this book had that most of her others do not, though, is a thoroughly unlikeable main character whose unlikeability is magnified a thousandfold by Beaton's grating narration. At least 50 times while listening I thought to myself, "Wow, Carmen's words alone are WAY less obnoxious than the tone of voice of the reader...why are the producers allowing Carmen to be portrayed as so irredeemably, rudely, awful?"
What I appreciated about the book:
* an escape with a well developed sense of place in Edinburgh
* the Mr. McCready storyline - he was charming, likable, interesting, and someone whose happiness I rooted for
* Eilidh Beaton's ability to create a wide variety of very different realistic voices (and thankfully, this time, she avoided the worst of her extremes of bratty Scottish child accents)
* a little escape time of imagining a Christmas holiday in Scotland
What I didn't enjoy:
* the main character...she only became remotely likable about 70% of the way through the book and I wasn't particularly invested in her happiness. I rooted for her success for Mr. McCready's sake
* the asinine love triangle -- one man who was so over-the-top unlikeable that even the unlikeable main character didn't like him, and the other man whose identity and storyline was so random and quirky (a Quaker dendrologist from Brazil?) that he seemed more like a post-it note character sketch than a real person
* Beaton's narration of the main character, which exponentially exacerbated her obnoxiousness
What I LOVED:
* the fact that my 8 year old son could listen in at various points and enjoy the book along with me
* the scene with Carmen doing her first holiday storytime for children,
Spoiler
reading the Little Matchstick Girl, and the absolute horror among the children as they realize it's a book about a physically abused child who freezes to death on the street.Overall, my instinct to give this a 2-star rating belies a truth of my relationship with Jenny Colgan's Scottish books (and I hear this truth in Eilidh Beaton's voice): I will absolutely, positively read the next one. That truth as well as the strength of that one hilarious scene bumps this up to 3 stars.
When I discovered that Jenny Colgan added another bookshop book to the series, I could not wait to read it. I loved the first two installments, and this one did not disappoint. This is the story of Carmen who has spent most of her life in the shadow of her very successful older sister, Sofia. The department store where Carmen has worked most of her adult life has recently closed, she is back at home with her parents and has no job. Enter Sofia who is a very successful lawyer in Edinburgh with a client that is about to lose his family inheritance unless he has a successful season at his book shop. So Carmen is off to Edinburgh to stay with her very pregnant sister, two nieces, one nephew and a very snarky nanny in order to help young Mr. McCredie save the family fortune. She arrives to find that she will be staying in the basement with the nanny, her sister is far more successful (and pregnant) than she anticipated, her nieces’ relationship is almost identical to the one she has with her sister, Mr. McCredie is not young at all and his shop is a mess. Despite all of this, Carmen is charmed by Edinburgh, Sophia’s beautiful house snd even the children. Per usual, there are visits from characters of past books (perfectly placed). I read this book in two days, and was charmed by the setting and the characters. If you are a fan of Jenny Colgan’s books, you will not be disappointed, if you have not yet read them, what are you waiting for???
emotional
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is simultaneously 2 stars and 5 stars. There were moments that I wondered why I was reading only to fall madly in love with the book a few pages later. The cozy “save the bookstore” vibe and the sweet owner were the 5 star moments. I wish we’d gotten to know Mr McCredie and the building itself better. There was so much potential in both of these characters. I kept waiting to learn the history of the building…how did it come to Mr McCredie’s family? Why didn’t they make use of the space a bit more? Couldn’t we have learned the mystery of Mr McCredie’s life a bit earlier so that we’d get to know his German family sooner and better?
Instead we wasted time on unnecessary romances. Oke just didn’t really matter. I wanted to like him but never got to know him or felt any real chemistry. And Blake was such a jerk I didn’t want him to be as important to the story as he was. Or, if he was then maybe offer him some growth or redemption?
Instead we wasted time on unnecessary romances. Oke just didn’t really matter. I wanted to like him but never got to know him or felt any real chemistry. And Blake was such a jerk I didn’t want him to be as important to the story as he was. Or, if he was then maybe offer him some growth or redemption?