Reviews

The 24-Hour Café by Libby Page

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kxtiebooks's review against another edition

5.0

The most perfect book for this very dark, very weird time we're finding ourselves in. It's light, funny, heartwarming, hopeful and lovely. Just what I needed to escape the recent events for a little while. ❤️

alattebooks's review against another edition

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Feels like a rip off of before the coffee gets cold .. written in a way that just seems cringe

helen_t_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Hannah and Mona are best friends, flat mates, waitresses, and dreamers, both trying to make their way as performing artists: Hannah as a singer and Mona as a dancer.

Whilst waiting for their big breaks, they both work at Stella’s 24 hour cafe. They love the people they work with, the different customers they meet and the insights to their lives that the job brings, as well as all the small kindnesses exchanged.

But for Mona and Hannah, a big change is coming, and it's time for each of them to step outside their comfort zones, and make their own way in life.

This heart-warming read mostly takes place over one 24 hour shift - 24 hours that will alter the lives of not just Hannah and Mona - but, it also includes flash-backs into the past of several characters, and concludes with a 12 months later wrap-up at the end tying everything up in a satisfying way.

With the touching stories of the beautifully drawn cast of characters, this lovely book is a celebration of friendship, especially female friendship, and the strength, support, love and laughter that it brings.

It also highlights the importance of kindness and community, especially for people carrying burdens of worry and anxiety, as many people do....
"However self-reliant and composed we may seem, none of us are quite strong enough to get through life shouldering these weights on our own"

A truly lovely, feel-good story, with important life insights and a valuable message. If you've read any of Libby Page's novels you'll recognise this as her signature style, and she does it terrifically well.

calturner's review against another edition

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4.0

The 24 Hour Cafe by Libby Page is a beautiful, heartfelt and uplifting book that embraces the themes of love, female friendship and belonging. I couldn’t help but fall in love with this magical book and the characters who inhabit it from the outset. The many and varied stories so beautifully told within its pages captured my imagination, tugging at my heartstrings and making me feel a myriad of emotions as I allowed myself to be swept along by the gorgeous storytelling.

Hannah and Mona are best friends, work colleagues and housemates. They love working at Stella’s Café, a place where people from all walks of life can meet and connect, secure in the knowledge that they’re always welcome no matter what’s happening in their everyday lives. This book not only tells Hannah and Mona’s story, but also the stories of the many different people who walk through the doors of Stella’s 24 hour cafe every day.

Oh, how I loved this book! The 24 Hour Café is warm and welcoming, like being enveloped in a comforting hug as you begin to lose yourself in its pages. We see only glimpses of the lives of the people who walk through the door, but each one leaves an impact, their brief stay making us feel so many emotions, their stories real, raw and brutally honest at times. But above all I was left with a feeling of hope as I turned the final page, bereft that the journey with these characters was finally over.

But Hannah and Mona are at the heart of this story, their friendship reaching a crossroads as they must decide which path their lives are going to take them down next. Is it time to make some changes?

Libby Page has written a gloriously uplifting book that I absolutely adored! This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it definitely won’t be the last! A heartwarming read I would highly recommend.