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A review by starkiwi
The Bookbinder's Guide to Love by Katherine Garbera
2.0
A hallmark movie in book format (though maybe with a better premise). The story idea itself was cute, quaint, and cosy. I actually really liked seeing the main couple bond over books and the main character bond with her sister-like friends. However, this contrasted heavily with the actual writing. If you've ever heard the phrase ‘show don’t tell’ in reference to writing, this book does a lot of telling.
About the *spicy* scenes; I‘ve done a lot of thinking about them - because there were quite a few. Occasionally, a relationship in a book will benefit a little from a little spice. However, that depends mainly on how it is portrayed and the way emotions are involved. Handled well, the scene can be meaningful. On the other hand, it can become overly cliche and cringe. Unfortunately, this book falls in the latter category. Mainly going back to the fact the writing is mainly telling instead of showing. The language was explicitly plain (which is not always a bad thing) with no euphemisms or flowery-ness to be seen. And it is that flowery poetry-ness that gives a written story true beauty. In this case, a fade to black would have served the book much better.
That was my main problem with the book. There was too much badly written spice. I would have appreciated more focus on the cute moments that really showed the main couple bonding.
Everything else felt forced and unnecessary.
About the *spicy* scenes; I‘ve done a lot of thinking about them - because there were quite a few. Occasionally, a relationship in a book will benefit a little from a little spice. However, that depends mainly on how it is portrayed and the way emotions are involved. Handled well, the scene can be meaningful. On the other hand, it can become overly cliche and cringe. Unfortunately, this book falls in the latter category. Mainly going back to the fact the writing is mainly telling instead of showing. The language was explicitly plain (which is not always a bad thing) with no euphemisms or flowery-ness to be seen. And it is that flowery poetry-ness that gives a written story true beauty. In this case, a fade to black would have served the book much better.
That was my main problem with the book. There was too much badly written spice. I would have appreciated more focus on the cute moments that really showed the main couple bonding.
Everything else felt forced and unnecessary.