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emily_reyes_234 's review for:

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
4.5
adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

 This book is about a man named Frank who owns and lives in his vinyl shop. The book takes place  beginning in London around the 1970's- 80's to a more modern time period.
This book was incredibly wholesome and beautiful to me in the way that it explored the human condition through multiple people and their experience with music. Frank, the main protagonist, has a special talent of being able to listen to people, truly listen, and find the exact song they need to hear. The book formats itself by having cute anecdotes of the listening experience for each person he recommends music to, alongside the daily life of Franks life in the store, with his young employee, Kit, alongside a tight community of residents and other business owners on "Unity Street". The descriptions of music made me more appreciative of music and made all the songs sound so incredibly magical. The vivid imagery of the cozy store and the city in winter was just as magical and made it feel like a coming of age movie. This was a light hearted read, that showed the backstory of frank, his childhood, his relationship with his mom, how he affected other people, and ultimately showing his place in the community. The ending was frustrating, simply because you want to wish frank the best. However, it was resolved nicely and left me with a warm feeling.