A review by stateofgrace
The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick

3.25

The set-up was interesting but the mystery elements weren't enough to save the boring plot. The characters were difficult to relate to. I could tell that the author wanted Liv and Essie (and Georgia) to come across as charming and quirky, but I just wasn't charmed by any of the characters. Liv's relationship troubles is one of the strongest plot threads throughout the novel, but I hated the way that it was wrapped up. I never got the sense that Liv's husband or sons ever actually learned to respect her.

The writing itself wasn't great. There were a lot of grammatical errors and at least two occasions where the wrong character's name was used. There was also a lot of telling rather than showing, which makes me wonder how this book made it through the editing process.