Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Book Lovers

It was a really fun and easy read. Super enjoyable and funny, Henry is always great at breathing life into her characters', their dialogue and their dynamics. Personally, I thought the way that Nora and Charlie got together was too smooth, too easy, or else that the conflicts they had were relatively easy to solve.

I became a Henry fan after reading People We Meet on Vacation which had fantastic drawn out angst and turmoil. I found the conversations more meaningful, but no less funny. Book Lovers was a great book and super enjoyable to read and digestible. Most of my friends preferred Book Lovers because the pacing and structure of the story makes more sense compared to PWMoV. I agree, but overall I still prefer PWMoV. (Also this is a teeny tiny complaint but the book feels like it was marketed as a summer book, and the story took place in August but all of Sunshine Falls gave me such fall energy)

I did enjoy Book Lovers very much, though! I read it in one afternoon. Charlie and Nora's dynamic was so fun and delicious. But other parts of meaningful dialogue I found a biiittt repetitive and too blatant in how 'emotional' they were meant to be. So I had a lot of fun reading this book, but I would have appreciated more subtlety or nuance in its flavour.

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joey1914's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.75

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kdailyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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amaranthingly's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

PROS

✨ the January Andrews mentions are giving me life! my girl will be forever famous.

✨ the portrayal of Nora and Libby’s relationship as sisters is something that hits close to home. I loved that their conflict was not depicted as “pros and cons” to having a sister; it was shown that there are ups and downs they have to face together despite the strength of their bond and how they’re each other’s person.

✨ Sally and Clint’s short scene times (get it, screen time?) were still so wholesome. sure, I would’ve loved to see more of them together, but it didn’t feel like I didn’t know who they were and their relevance to Charlie’s life.

✨ I see no red flags in the hero, Charlie Lastra. his humor was the perfect blend of snark and wit. he was organized, orderly, and neat. he had sense of style and understood the love for impractical shoes. he had good communication skills and expressed what he wanted. he was understanding, loyal, and empathetic to a fault. as if if Emily Henry was god, she sent Charlie Lastra to apologize for the creation of other men.

✨ I found Nora Stephens relatable. always composes lists (especially color-coded ones), checks emails and answers calls after work hours, thorough with her makeup and skincare, also has fashion sense and in favor of wearing impractical shoes. but despite being perceived as this cold, relentless, workaholic, fastidious, emotionless bitch, she had a “sunny” side. she loves her nieces, goes great lengths to make her sister happy, is a softie, snorts at really good jokes (particularly Charlie’s), and is surprisingly capable of falling in love.

✨ Nora and Charlie’s banters either had me chuckling or uncontrollably smiling.

✨ the grumpy-grumpy here is SPECTACULAR. well, this is the first book i’ve read of that trope, but Book Lovers did it so well, especially with such an underused archetype.

✨ despite being grumpy-grumpy, Nora and Charlie weren’t remotely close to one-dimensional. there were so much more to their attributes and manners that went deeper than being thunderclouds. it is, after all, a reality that everyone is not just grumpy or not just sunshine, we are all a mix of both.

✨ the third act conflict was so nuanced and fleshed out. their situation was so realistic and it was actually high stakes.

✨ oh, to be in the shoes of someone who’s going to read this for the first time. I would love to be torn apart and put back together all over again.

✨ not to be that person but this book felt like a love letter to me

CONS

💫 did too much of an excellent job of raising my standards with men

CONCLUSION

💡 still at odds with deciding my top emily henry book, but this is 6 stars.

TRIGGER WARNINGS

⚠️

adoption, anxiety and panic attacks, bullying, child neglect, death of a parent (recounted), drug abuse (mentioned), divorce, estrangement, grief & loss depiction, overdose (mentioned), pregnancy, stroke (parent)

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hannalizzy's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

SOOOOO CUTE made me giggle and squeal and geek, Charlie Lastra is my new book boyfriend frfr. I did feel like it was slowww getting into it, but the ending was sweet and so tender.

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