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A review by mcdermottcecelia
Scotsman in the Stacks by Alana Oxford
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
I'm having a very conflicting reaction to this book. I found this book browsing online and thought it sounded like the perfect cute romance book that ties in a love of reading through the main character Paige's career as a librarian. It seemed like it'd be a pretty standard romance book with the added touch of the library, but it still fell a little short.
The Good:
This book was off to a pretty decent start. I could feel the frustration from Paige in the first chapter, and I was ready to see how her story would change as she moved on from the long-term relationship that just ended. The word choice itself in the book was also nice. I liked the ways in which the author balanced dialogue and non-dialogue, and things like sentence length or paragraph-length never stuck out as an eyesore. The third-person point of view was beneficial, and I think Paige was the right character for this book to follow. Furthermore, I think the main conflict of the story was reasonable, and it didn't fall into some of the overused cliches I try to avoid when reading romance novels. I wasn't really mad about anything in this novel, and I think it was a very promising start that could shift into even better work as the author continues to write new stories.
The Bad:
While the beginning chapters were promising, I quickly found my opinion changing as the love interest James was introduced shortly thereafter. The initial strength of their connection felt a little off, and it was hard for me to find the chemistry between their characters despite the majority of the plot solely being their relationship. The plot itself somewhat lacked depth or any significant side plots that would've helped the reader connect more with the characters. It felt like Paige and James's characters were defined only by their jobs and their connection to each other, and even the side characters felt trapped in being solely tied to one part of their identity (such as Paige's best friend existing only as a pregnant woman). Making both the characters and the plot more dynamic would've gone miles toward improving this book. I wanted to hear more about Paige's work in the library and her efforts with the discussion group, but it felt like those were only mentioned when James was somehow tied to it. Despite this being a romance book, I think it's totally okay to include scenes that push the characters forward even if it doesn't directly impact their relationships. The other main problem I had with this book was how James's accent was written into the novel. This is definitely a personal preference, but I really find myself disconnecting from books that spell out how characters with accents sound instead of spelling the words as normal while mentioning their accent. There were too many "dinnaes" and other wordisms for me to really enjoy the love interest, which was especially hard since the whole plot revolved around James interacting with Paige. This book had a lot of potential, but it ultimately ended up falling short for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and 8N Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Good:
This book was off to a pretty decent start. I could feel the frustration from Paige in the first chapter, and I was ready to see how her story would change as she moved on from the long-term relationship that just ended. The word choice itself in the book was also nice. I liked the ways in which the author balanced dialogue and non-dialogue, and things like sentence length or paragraph-length never stuck out as an eyesore. The third-person point of view was beneficial, and I think Paige was the right character for this book to follow. Furthermore, I think the main conflict of the story was reasonable, and it didn't fall into some of the overused cliches I try to avoid when reading romance novels. I wasn't really mad about anything in this novel, and I think it was a very promising start that could shift into even better work as the author continues to write new stories.
The Bad:
While the beginning chapters were promising, I quickly found my opinion changing as the love interest James was introduced shortly thereafter. The initial strength of their connection felt a little off, and it was hard for me to find the chemistry between their characters despite the majority of the plot solely being their relationship. The plot itself somewhat lacked depth or any significant side plots that would've helped the reader connect more with the characters. It felt like Paige and James's characters were defined only by their jobs and their connection to each other, and even the side characters felt trapped in being solely tied to one part of their identity (such as Paige's best friend existing only as a pregnant woman). Making both the characters and the plot more dynamic would've gone miles toward improving this book. I wanted to hear more about Paige's work in the library and her efforts with the discussion group, but it felt like those were only mentioned when James was somehow tied to it. Despite this being a romance book, I think it's totally okay to include scenes that push the characters forward even if it doesn't directly impact their relationships. The other main problem I had with this book was how James's accent was written into the novel. This is definitely a personal preference, but I really find myself disconnecting from books that spell out how characters with accents sound instead of spelling the words as normal while mentioning their accent. There were too many "dinnaes" and other wordisms for me to really enjoy the love interest, which was especially hard since the whole plot revolved around James interacting with Paige. This book had a lot of potential, but it ultimately ended up falling short for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and 8N Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review.