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A review by sarah984
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This was a quick read with a breezy, conversational style I liked, and the setting and most of the characters are pretty charming.
The plot and the main character were just really, really bad. The protagonist, Maggie, hates classics and makes no effort to learn about or sell them and then is disappointed when no one buys them. She has a little bet with her boyfriend where she reads a book he recommends and he does an activity she chooses, and while he at least tries everything she doesn't take her part seriously at all and doesn't even read one of the books. She lies constantly, including in a cover letter for a job she applied for (about her availability!!! Girl if they hire you that's the one thing they need to be true!), things that affect the livelihoods of people she claims to care about (including stealing something from her boyfriend), falsifies her sales reports at workand breaks into her boss's office to blackmail him about his grandfather. No one stays mad at her for long about this, which is absurd.
No idea how the "society" that runs the businesses in town was supposed to work, since it seemed like one guy just calling random shots and not a board or anything. No place in the history of the world would operate like this.
Also this is more pedantic but the author apparently majored in English and this bugged me: the bookstore didn't carry any books published after 1968 for Reasons (for a guy who wanted to make money the boss was really into making it hard to sell anything) and another character (who likes classics) implies that the only books by Black authors that it's possible for them to carry are slave narratives. I can buy Maggie not knowing about the Harlem Renaissance because she's stupid but Malcolm? Come on.
The plot and the main character were just really, really bad. The protagonist, Maggie, hates classics and makes no effort to learn about or sell them and then is disappointed when no one buys them. She has a little bet with her boyfriend where she reads a book he recommends and he does an activity she chooses, and while he at least tries everything she doesn't take her part seriously at all and doesn't even read one of the books. She lies constantly, including in a cover letter for a job she applied for (about her availability!!! Girl if they hire you that's the one thing they need to be true!), things that affect the livelihoods of people she claims to care about (including stealing something from her boyfriend), falsifies her sales reports at work
No idea how the "society" that runs the businesses in town was supposed to work, since it seemed like one guy just calling random shots and not a board or anything. No place in the history of the world would operate like this.
Also this is more pedantic but the author apparently majored in English and this bugged me: the bookstore didn't carry any books published after 1968 for Reasons (for a guy who wanted to make money the boss was really into making it hard to sell anything) and another character (who likes classics) implies that the only books by Black authors that it's possible for them to carry are slave narratives. I can buy Maggie not knowing about the Harlem Renaissance because she's stupid but Malcolm? Come on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Alcohol