Reviews

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

kristenjane's review against another edition

4.0

I reallyyy liked this book! I liked the setting, and the characters, and the plot. I think there may have been a few plot events that didn’t match up for me, or were done a little sloppily.

Also, I appreciated what she did with grief and disassociation. It was an interesting take.

Overall, I really liked this!

saycheeze37's review against another edition

3.0

I wasn't sure what to think of this book at first; it wasn't what I expected. I was thrown off by Kitty's dreams in an alternate reality. But the writing was good and I kept getting drawn further in. The ending totally surprised me. Maybe someone else would have seen it coming, but I didn't, and I'm glad. I love a good surprise ending and I really enjoyed how Swanson tied everything up. It was a really good story and wonderfully told.

auntbreesqreads's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this though I hate falling in love with fictional men from novels- they're never realistic. The book was really depressing me at the beginning but I was satisfied with the ending. It definitely addressed some difficult issues and I thought it did a pretty good job with them. And who doesn't love a novel that has a book lover as the lead?

elvenavari's review against another edition

3.0

I'm always intrigued by any book that has "book" in the title. When I started reading this I was unsure if I was going to like it. I thought the beginning was a bit confusing... it's not how I would have written the beginning, but I'm not the author. I kept reading though and it got better. I really liked Kitty's character. There's another reviewer who raved about Kitty's life vs. that of Katharyn's and I have to agree. Though Katharyn has what seems to be the perfect life, I liked her life as a bookseller better. The perfect life just seemed...too perfect. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this book, to see if there is some way Kitty can merge her two lives into something that really would be a normal type of perfect.

jessreads82's review

2.0

DNF
This book started really strong, but when issues of autism came up I found myself offended by how it was handled. Perhaps if I finished things would have cleared up, but I couldn't go on

thereadingknitter's review against another edition

3.0

This book was full of twist and turns. Some I could guess and some I couldn't. Overall it was an okay book.

bookishcat23's review against another edition

4.0

This book definitely kept me guessing as it traveled back and forth between Kitty's "real" life as a single, career woman and her "dream" life as a married mother of three. Up until about 2/3 of the way through the novel, I honestly wasn't sure where the author was going to take this story. The story raises questions about what it means to have a satisfying life as a woman and looks at the importance of not just romantic relationships but also friendships and strong bonds between adult children and their parents. The ending was not entirely satisfying, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and once I neared the end I had to stay up late to finish it.

betiana's review against another edition

5.0

A beautiful tale of loss, memory, trauma, and chance. The line between reality and fantasy is traced faintly to help us reflect on the world we live in and the worlds we create to deal with the difficulties and unexpected challenges of our daily lives.

daphnejameshuff's review against another edition

Slower pace in the first half, then picked up. The big twist wasn't quite as big of a moment as I was hoping for. I liked all the details about life in the 60s in Denver. And who wouldn't love to own a bookshop?

klord3's review

3.0

The story started out engaging, I wanted to know what was going on in her two lives and why she was bouncing between them, but the pacing was slow. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this book if I was reading it, but I have more patience for a meandering pace when listening to a book and it kept me awake.