Such a wonderful debut, you really wouldn’t know it ! It’s an addictive and enjoyable book, entertaining you from the first page. I loved the fact this is so raw and real, it shows how everyone has issues, we all struggle and no one has an easy ride, no matter how it may appear. The characters are wonderfully written, relatable and such brilliant representation. A great book that will connect with readers ya and older.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I loved this book right from the first page because this is such a wonderful love letter to books. If you are a reader, you are definitely going to identify with the Paper and Hearts Society because they love books and book shelves and this whole thing kicks of with a visit to the library! How awesome is that? Classics are represented here as well as young adult contemporary and fantasy, graphic novels and even some childhood favourites. I want to be a member of this society and I defy you not to want to as well after you read this book.



Tabby is a book lover and so I could identify with her right away. But she is also a teenager having to deal with everything a teenager has to deal with and so teens picking up this book will definitely have something in common with her right away. Tabby is also a great character to read about because she has some anxiety issues and also some self-esteem issues which are also very easy to relate to. These do build over the course of the novel and we see her trying to hide these aspects of her life from those around her, and we all know how that is going to go!



The other members of the society are great and wonderful and diverse and I can't wait to spend more time with them. I love the fact that they are brought together through their love of reading but that they are all dealing with other issues in their lives that they can support each other with. Henry is a fun character in the group and I loved how thoughtful he was. It is not often you find someone who is as kind and caring as he was. Olivia is bright and bubbly but she is not as confident as she may seem and she is hiding something fairly major about herself that we do get to find out a way into the book. Cassie is guarded and finds trust difficult but we also get to find out the root of that issue and Ed is just the best. He is welcoming and kind and I really hope we get to dig a little deeper into this character in future books in the series.



This is a great debut novel. It really does have something for everyone. I flew through it in two sittings and it definitely motivated me to get on with the rest of my TBR because of all the books and authors these characters talked about. Lucy has explored so many issues that are prevalent for teens today and there is so much relevant technology in the book right down to them texting to let each other know they're outside rather than ringing the bell-I loved that. I highly recommend this book, pop it on your summer TBR now!

If you're stuck on what book to read, there are two great reasons to pick this one up. The first is because it's such an engaging read. You'll find yourself wondering why Jess and Tabby fell out, cheering Tabby on as she makes new friends, and it's overall a wonderfully warm read.

The second reason is there are so many books mentioned here, you'll be spoiled for choice on what to read next. I took a list of every book mentioned and there are a lot. There's also far more I haven't read than I have. I've now got a teaming TBR, more full to the brim than it was before, all thanks to Lucy.

The representation in this book is fantastic. There's asexual and anxiety rep, and they're both done really well. I can't commend Lucy more for it. It also features five main characters with five very different personalities and interests, something a lot of teenagers may worry about when they look to their own friendship groups. Olivia gave me some serious Kristy Thomas vibes so she must be related to the BSC president in some way.

I really wanted to like this book - I love Lucy's YAbookchat on Twitter, and she seems like a lovely person. It's a cute premise for a book - a sort of younger Jane Austen Book Club - but I just couldn't engage with it. It took me a long time to finish it because I picked up and read about five other books in between; I kept coming back to it thinking 'maybe it will improve', but it didn't. A large part of the problem for me was that it felt like it needed at least another two rounds of edits. So many repetitions that it became annoying - poor Olivia, for instance, squeals ALL THE TIME. This would be fine if she was in fact a piglet, but she's not. Scrappy formatting, even for NetGalley, and I found Tabby's interspersed thoughts in combination with the third person POV difficult to switch to. Maybe I'd have enjoyed it more in first person? It's not like we get anybody else's point of view. And Cassie. Why so angry? We find out later, but really - if you start a book club and leave invitations and people turn up to the club, it makes no sense to be randomly angry at them for joining the club.
The early book name-dropping felt very forced, and I feel the titles mentioned will make this book date.. If this book has the effect of making its readers pick up and read some of those books, that will be wonderful - but it tails off and I doubt many readers will remember the books mentioned near the beginning. Except, perhaps, The Bell Jar.
Frothy fun, I'm sure it will be heavily promoted and will sell well, but like Zoella's Girl Online will likely go out of fashion.
I won't leave any public reviews as I don't like to put authors down - I appreciate how very hard it is to write a book and how much time and soul goes in to it. . Lucy is very young - this should really have been her 'practice' book and left that way. I'm sure she'll get better.

A young teen moved to a new town and discovered a book club that pushes her out of her comfort zone.
Honestly, this was a little disappointing, considering how positive the reviews were for this book. I really wanted to love this book, but this book was just not for me. This is a story I would say good in concept, but the execution was so bland.
I have no issues with references to certain things, but this book really overdid it with the book mentions. Like I genuinely thought this book would’ve collapsed on itself if it didn’t mention another book. Yes, this is a book about a book club. But the way it was written was definitely meant to namedrop, which I don’t have an issue with, but it just wasn’t smooth.
A majority of the book is:
Tabby/ Anyone else: Oh, wow. I love [book title] by [author]! Spends a couple of lines on how great it is.
A lot of the books mentioned were prevalent Young Adult/ Contemporary novels. I understood wanting to celebrate UKYA, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot of it because it was so just so cringey.
I also found the characters to be quite snobby at some points. And a lot of them act as if reading is such a weird thing that makes them different. Like, you know when people say “Am I the only one who does [something that everyone does]?” Tabby and some of the others all tends to give off that similar vibe, and it was just a little frustrating.
I’ve never watched a video of Powrie’s, but from work I’ve seen, but I can definitely see how her own reading taste has influenced this book. It’s not a bad thing, nor am I calling her taste terrible, but I just know this is a book club I wouldn’t be joining. It all felt very forced and I couldn’t find myself to commit with any of the characters.
When Tabby’s not in the club, she’s dealing with personal issues. She has moved away from her old town, but that doesn’t stop her past from following her. I found this part of the book much better and far more interesting to read than the activities of the book club. This is where the book doesn’t fail; in my opinion, it’s rather uplifting when we can see how the book club helps Tabby. And it also showcases the danger of online bullying and toxic friendship.
Overall, I wouldn’t say this is full on terrible book. Out of the booktube crowd, it’s actually one of the better ones. But Paper & Heart’s biggest downfall was that it was trying way too hard to be a great book WITH fantastic references to other contemporary novels when it could’ve just been a great book. I don’t plan on continuing this series.

This was the sweetest story! I’d say it is aimed at 13-15 year olds because it is very PG and innocent, and I definitely would have adored it at the age. It is a little young for my taste now, but I will be recommending it to younger cousins.

The only thing that makes it drop a star is that the dialogue felt a bit too young for the age the characters were meant to be. I had to keep reminding myself that they weren’t 13. Maybe that is just because I am 21 myself so I couldn’t put myself in their shoes, but it did just seem a bit misplaced.

Other than that, an excellent debut, spotless writing and a very promising start to a career in fiction writing for Lucy!

The Paper & Hearts Society by Lucy Powrie

The Paper & Hearts society is a heartfelt YA novel, which focuses on embracing the things and people you love. It is hard not to engage with its affectionate tone, and characters in this endearing debut novel. The book follows Tabby Brown, book lover and the type of girl who shuns stereotypes and enjoys doing what she wants to do. She quickly finds herself in a book club, and it’s within this that friendships and first loves appear.

The novel is fun, pact full of YA references and general bookish love out, it isn’t afraid to focus on the joys books and friendships entwined give. This book doesn’t play on how they are all different and have somehow found each other within the society, they know what they love and get on with it. This made the novel all the more enjoyable, embracing their the characters quirks and get on with the adventure. It was unafraid to challenge difficult subjects and is a perfect summer read for the younger YA market.

I have to start off by saying that I don’t usually read YA fiction, so I’m writing this as someone trying to read a bigger range of genres. I think The Paper & Hearts Society deals with certain issues extremely well, and very sensitively. I particularly liked the references to demisexuality, which isn’t something I’d ever really come across in books. The story is very much aimed at 12-17 year olds I’d say, and I definitely think this book would have impacted me more if I were younger.
There were a lot of literature references: Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and then plenty of references to YA authors as well. Sometimes this felt a little forced, but I guess it is a nod to several generations of book-lovers. I loved the literature book tour they went on, and having recently visited Bath, I could perfectly picture the time they spent there.

I think the book is well written, and it’s a very quick, easy read. I think it deals with issues of bullying very well – particularly how social media can play a part, and it touches on anxiety, although I think this could have been explored in more depth. If you love YA fiction, you’ll absolutely love this, and even if it isn’t your usual kind of book, it’s an enjoyable read.

This was a fun, quick, entertaining read for summer.
If you're a bookish person and have a love for classics, then chances are higher you will love this book :)
It's about adventures of a group of teenagers with a bit of whimsy, fun, romance. It's definitely good for a light, summer read.
Thanks a lot NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Witty and wise, this is a story for book lovers everywhere, and one that will particularly resonate with Y9-11 students. I only wish there had been a Paper and Hearts Society around for me to join at that age!

Will have to make sure I have all the referenced books available in the Library once this one hits the shelves :)

So, I want you to read this review with the huge caveat that I'm not a typical contemporary YA reader - so I'm writing for the people like me, who might see the hype for this book and wonder if it might slot in with their fantasy reading as a nice palette cleanser.

Firstly, I think this book has some strong aspects. Thinking back to when I was reading YA contemporary as a habit (around 2008-2012 ish) this felt like it would have been something I picked up and enjoyed - so it's probably doing pretty well for the target audience. I liked the friendship dynamics, I liked the representation of different identities, I liked some of the redemption arcs - I thought the overall plot was pretty classic for a YA contemporary, with the added niceness that it was such a love letter to books and to being bookish. 

However, it took me a while to relax into this book because my hackles were put up in the opening chapters. There was some really incongruous name dropping of various book titles throughout the opening chapters that felt...just strange to me. It was a bit as though the author was name dropping her favourite authors but not doing it in a way that felt natural or, to be honest, believable. I would have preferred it to either be a little less obvious or to maybe have had a list of recommended reads at the end (oh that could have been fun...). Maybe it's a nice thing to see people talk about your favourite books within a book - for me, it just felt too obvious and was annoying enough that it coloured my opinion of the rest of the book. 

I suppose you have to read this book with the knowledge that it has been written for people who are already very bookish and who already know and love both classic fiction (there's a lot of references to Austen, Bronte, Shakespeare etc.) and contemporary YA. So, imagining 2008 Judith picking up this book - would I necessarily have related that hard to the characters - perhaps not? But reading it as a book lover who has also found her people I can see the value of the story. I suppose my question is how does that fit into the market for younger teenagers, who might be more likely to pick up the book in isolation in their library - will they relate to the story or is it written for a very specific audience - and does that help or hurt? I'm just asking the questions...

I've given myself a couple of days to process this book before writing the review because I didn't want to come across as biased against contemporary YA. I've come down on the side that this is a great book for people who already love the genre. If you're already a YA contemporary reader then this is great. If you're not...maybe don't start with this one - pick it up later on.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. 

The Paper & Hearts Society is available June 13th!

This is such a charming little read, full of bookish adventures, a bit of romance, and whimsy. It’s certainly not a story that will stay with me very long, but it makes for an enjoyable and quick read. It’s definitely a book that I would have loved more if I’d read it as a teen. It’s certainly a book for teen girls who love books and pop culture. I did think that the protagonist was a little grating and the friendships in the book moved just a little faster than I would have liked. Given that Powrie has a lot of fans herself, I don’t doubt that this will be a summertime hit.

Wow! What a lovely read! I have to admit I had lower expectations purely based on other youtuber's attempts at fiction, but Lucy really proved me wrong! Youtubers are often given book deals purely because of their fanbase and marketability, but they were right to do it here.

Lucy's story is incredibly thoughtful and inspiring and something that every book lover from aged 12-18 should read. I would have loved this even more at that age, however as a slightly older person I can't relate as much. I do remember the same anxieties at that age so would have loved a book like this at the time.

The one thing I will say is that the anxiety aspect isn't explored as deeply as I would have liked. It comes across as slightly superficial as it leaves out some of the other thoughts or symptoms that one has at these times. However, it's a wonderful attempt and definitely addresses something that more books should do! I also love the use of a queer character as it feels very inclusive and natural to the story, which will definitely help any reader going through something similar.

Another thing I loved was the locations! They're used so well with the story, the different houses, the park and the road trip really add that little bit of something to the idea of this book club. And I also now desperately want to join a book club like this! I need a Harry Potter marathon!

Overall a wonderful job and I would love to read the next one.

This book was received free from Netgalley.

A story about friendship and a shared love of all things bookish.
Tabby has moved to live with her gran, desperate to avoid the bullying from her supposed best friend. As an attempt to find something to do, she responds to an invite to join a book club. In so doing she meets a whole new group of friends.
Olivia, Cassie, Ed and Henry have known each other for ages. They have in-jokes and could be intimidating, but they’re good people who help Tabby learn to trust her own judgment again.
We drop in on a few meetings, a road trip and share their summer as they all take steps to become the person they want to be.
Thanks to NetGalley for the early access to this.

Ok, so I'm going to be honest; the main reason I wanted to read this book was because of it being written by the lovely Lucy Powrie (if you've lived under a rock in the book world, she's a booktuber and creator of #ukyachat and is just generally a very good bookish person to be aware of!) and because I wanted to support her and to not be the only person not reading this book. The synopsis, whilst fairly good, just sounded too...happy for me. But,

OH. MY. GOD.

I hold my hands up; I was wrong. So completely and utterly wrong.

The Paper & Hearts Society is now one of my favourite books of all time, and if I can throw it at people and make them read it I will. Yes, it was fluffy and happy, but it also had all the feels that make a perfect teen/young adult book! This is exactly the book that I needed when I was a teenager. It makes you feel like you belong and captures exactly how it feels to be a teenager or, in my case, an adult who still feels like a teenager!

The Paper & Hearts Society members are like a little family of people who I instantly took to and they all bring something unique to the group. Please hear me out on the next bit; I've tried to word it right! The one thing I was worried about going into this book was having heard about the diversity and I wasn't sure how that was going to be handled - I like diverse books, but I don't like it to be the sole focus of the book or character. Personally, for me, it needs to just be a fact of life that doesn't detract from the main story but adds depth and realism to the characters.

Lucy has mastered this perfectly.

I love how you get to know a character without any judgement and the diversity that's included in the story is written sensitively and in a way that just makes it normal and accepting, which is how it should be.

So, what are the main things that I took away from this amazing read? Number one has to be the fact that it's okay to be different and unique and to be passionate about something that you love! Secondly, you have no idea what people go through behind closed doors. Take the time to get to know people, and try not to judge too quickly. We all have our own battles and sometimes not everyone can see that. Finally, books! Above all, this is a book about books for bookworms and I saw books I love, and books I hate, feature throughout this book. It really reignited my love of books.

Now, if you don't mind me, I'll be impatiently waiting by my postbox for my preorder and my Paper & Hearts Society member pin to arrive...

This was a fun debut about book lovers that would be perfect for teenagers feeling unsure about their place in the world. I loved the themes of friendship and thought the representations of anxiety were brave and realistic. I’d have liked to have spent more time in each of the road trip locations to really feel like I was there but the book packed a lot in so I understand why this wasn’t done. I hope this brings some peace to those who read it and expect there will be some for whom this comes at JUST the right time.

Review written by Emma Perry, My Book Corner
The Paper & Hearts Society, the debut Young Adult novel from Lucy Powrie, is a huge hug in book form - perfect for book lovers and introverts everywhere.
Meet Tabby, she's staying with her Gran over the summer holidays. She loves that, but this summer is different - at the end of it she'll be staying as Mum and Dad are moving up too. Gran thinks she really should try and get out, meet new people even try the Zumba class - but to be honest Tabby would much rather curl up on the sofa and tuck into a great book. Only problem is, she's left her favourite one at home... so she heads to her local library.  And that's where things start to change for Tabby - when an invite to a new book club for teenagers falls out of the library copy of The Bell Jar.
We really sense Tabby's vulnerability as she finds the inner confidence to meet the group, Powrie conveys this brilliantly. Tabby battles with feelings of social anxiety,  she's keen to fit in. Why? A past friendship has left her bruised. The same past friendship won't leave her alone, and threatens to ruin everything. Join Tabby as she experiences as summer of huge ups and downs as she finds 'her tribe'.
Be prepared to finish the book with a wonderfully eclectic TBR pile of delicious books, and a HUGE yearning to embark on a book road-trip. 
The Paper & Hearts Society deserves to be at the top of your summer reading list.

I was honestly so excited for this book when the book was first announced. First of all, it was written by a person who is also a part of the bookish/bookstagram and all in all bookish community and I'm so happy for her achievement. Secondly, the premise of this story was intriguing too and absolutely relatable for a bookworm like me. I had a pretty high expectation going in this but find myself getting disappointed gradually. I just thought that don't worry and lets remain neutral until I finish this book but it was just that. It was overall a pretty decent read, nothing much spectacular about it.

My favourite parts were when Tabby and her friends in the book club were talking a bookish stuff. Like I could totally understand their excitement, giddiness, and happiness whenever they're around books and bookish friends. If anyone wants to know and feel exactly how it feels to be obsessed with books, you should read this book because it is pretty accurate definition of every book lovers out there.

I too get frustrated whenever Tabby's bully has managed to get to her. I don't get people like her who would go to such length just to make others' painful, its not worth it and definitely stupid. I hope karma gets to her.

It is scary to move into a new place and try to get situated just find and nice. The introvert in me could never just make friends easily and so fast and though not everyone is like this, especially having go through what Tabby went through, her friends really should show more compassion towards her. They friendship really is sweet and Tabby didn't need to worry about nothing much because just as much as they accepted her into their group, she should have the effort made and meet them halfway.

The Paper & Hearts Society is a beautiful name for a book club-of bookish discussions, movie marathons, dance party, roadtrips and a whole lot of fun adventures. There is so much to learn in this one and so full of hope about friendship and seeking help because its okay to do just that. There is so much potential in this debut author and I'm hoping that the books will get even better than this.

I've been looking for to the publication of The Paper and Hearts Society for months so jumped at the chance to read an advanced copy. And it has completely lived up to expectations.

Book lover and new girl Tabby picks up a copy of The Bell Jar (which is also my favourite!) and finds a flyer for a new book group.

With Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed, Tabby goes on a bookish journey of self-discovery and finds out just how resilient she really is.

I loved the characters and would have loved to been part of this group when I was their age. They story is perfectly set up for the sequel. A fantastic YA read!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for a review!

This is a very sweet story of new friendships/relationships and a love of reading. I really enjoy books sprinkled with references to other books and this was a good example of that.. The main character Tabby bravely puts her fears of rejection aside in favour of the common ground of reading shared by her new pals. Still haunted by previous toxic friends, Tabby slowly unlocks secrets within her new group, as well as coming to terms with, and walking away from, her past. This book had a very genuine and innocent narrative, which made for a delightful read. I look forward to the sequel!