Member Reviews
I wanted to love this book, and while it was a sweet and easy read - I didn't love it. I found it a little predictable and not so "laugh out loud". I can see how it might be loved by others, it just wasn't exactly my taste. It was well-written and charming, though.
A lovely story that keeps you involved from the beginning right through until the end. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this type of book.
I loved this book, it follows on from Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop. I recommend reading that one first if you haven't, as it shows how Rosie and Aria became best friends. Arias Travelling Book Shop picks up from Rosie's story, and we see the friendly duo back on the road. Rosie and her partner Max are all loved up and Aria is starting to feel a bit lonely. Although we find out Arias husband TJ passed away and he was her one true love, we get to find out more about the story through a diary sent by her mother in law who's very bitter. This book takes us through Arias grief but it's not all doom and gloom she does meet Jonathan an author who they've met along the way. Although she doesn't want a relationship eventually she works through her grief to a happy ending. I don't want to give too much of the story away as some parts were predictable especially with Rosie but the story is an easy read that I enjoyed when the world is on lockdown.
The story is set around Aria and her perceived idyllic life travelling around France in her camper van cum bookstore. She is a widow of three years and had promised her husband TJ that there wouldn’t be another man in her life and then after a drunken night out, she meets Jonathan. Torn between her promise and allowing herself to maybe fall in love again, she heads to France to escape. The story is funny, poignant and reads at a gentile pace also sad at times but uplifting at others. If you know someone who has been in this position, it makes it even more profound to read – for me it was a widower whose wife died quite young and he promised not to remarry however he will be next year and it is good to see love overcome grief at times.
The book may not be to everyone’s taste, however if you want a bit of escapism especially in our current climate, then it’s a good read.
I read this book as an ARC for my book club to review
Lovely story and can’t wait to here about about the adventures of Aria and her friends as they travel around Europe
Aria’s Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin -
“Aria is looking forward to a life on the road with best friend Rosie and her beloved camper-van-cum-book-shop, and definitely, definitely, no romance.
But when Aria finds herself falling – after one too many glasses of wine, from a karaoke stage – into the arms of Jonathan, a part of her comes back to life for the first time in years.
Since her beloved husband died Aria has sworn off love, unless it’s the kind you can find in the pages of a book. One love of her life is quite enough or so she thinks.”
A very pleasant cozy about nomad life. Traveling in vans to peddle their wares at the different festivals across the region. The book always had pleasant scenery and environments. Some nomads travel to escape. I enjoyed this book as it was a pleasant read. I recommend this book. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader’s copy.
DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy (eBook) of Aria's Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin from HQ Digital and HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Aria's Travelling Book Shop's digital book tour ran from April 8th through April 30th.
Back in January, I read my first Rebecca Raisin book, The Little Bookshop on the Seine, and I was blown away by her writing and storytelling. Rebecca Raisin's new book, Aria's Travelling Book Shop was no different. In fact, it might be my new favorite! Once again, Rebecca has written a book that has warmed my heart and immersed me in a world of all the things I love: romance, traveling, and books. Although this time, the bookshop isn’t on the Seine in Paris, France, it’s on wheels!
Overall, Aria's Travelling Book Shop was an AH-MAZING read! That is to say, I flew through the story and enjoyed every minute of it. For instance, the story wasn’t overly dramatic and there weren’t any crazy plot twists. Which consequently, made the story real, raw, and relatable in every way. For one thing, I loved Aria’s character, her love of books, and her adorable traveling bookshop. Not to mention, her friendship with Rosie gave me life and brought a lot of humor to a story that covers lots of deep topics. Rebecca Raisin wrote about love, loss, and grief in a way that’s both heartfelt and healing.
Without a doubt, I give Aria's Travelling Book Shop 5 out of 5 stars! Moreover, it was a fabulous book that gave me all the feels. It made me laugh, it made me (almost) cry, and made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even if you can’t relate to everything in the story, you will fall in the love with the characters and they will feel like your family.
Check out my blog to read my full review:
http://www.candisbarbosa.com/book-review-arias-travelling-book-shop-rebecca-raisin/
This is my favourite book of the year so far. This was such a joy to read as it was all about my favourite things, campers, books and travelling. I loved the descriptions about France and food also the festivals. With a romance beginning, this was a great story and would highly recommend it. Now, where shall I go next to my camper and should I take some books to sell?
This was a lovely story about friendship, overcoming loss and moving on. Aria is a van lifer, she owns a travelling bookshop van. She is travelling across France with her bests friends Rosie and Max- also van lifers. The characters come across as likeable, the story is uplifting and heartwarming. A very enjoyable easy read.
This was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for something like "The Little Book Shop of Love Stories", but it was rather dull and boring. I was constantly shaking my head at Rosie and Aria.
Why on earth would Rosie be a nomad if she's scared of everything, obsessively planning things and she hates change. That's like the opposite of a nomad.
Aria was super annoying, because the majority of the book they talked about how she wants Jonathan, but she doesn't allow herself and she "doesn't deserve" to be happy, although her deceased husband gave her the "okay" to move on. She was so overly dramatic and self-obsessed. We have to grown-ass women whose only topic is men instead of the amazing things they can discover while travelling.
Wow wow wow! I absolutely love Aria and Rosie! I think I fell in love with the pair of them on the first page! They are such relatable and lovable characters that you just can’t help but feel for them. I adored the ending! I am so so happy that it went the way it did. I want to read it again already and would love to see it in a film!
I have previously read Rosie’s story and was looking forward to this book but it took me a wee bit to get into. It was good to catch up with the ‘Van Lifers’ and it absolutely made me want to get in a camper van and head off to France!
Aria has resigned herself never to love again after her husband tragically passed away. She thinks she is happy enough watching others, like Rosie and Max, fall in love.
However, she hadn’t planned on the bookish Jonathan catching her eye or her his. She is quick to keep him at arms length but their paths keep crossing. Is it fate?
A bit of romance, fun, laughter and tears all mixed into the one book which was great. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I loved the cover, the pastel hues were so appealing to me. Here we follow Aria who's husband TJ died three years back from a terminal illness. After that she joined as a van lifer alongwith some others and now has a traveling bookshop of "happily ever afters". She is a romantic who has sworn off love and will fall for fictional characters. Then one day she meets Jonathan, a famous author and her walls start falling. Is this her chance for second love or will she not succumb to fate's twist?
This book had so much potential but was such a big disappointment for me. The plot had so many loopholes. There was no chemistry whatsoever between Aria and Jonathan. Aria most of the book kept on whining about her situation. Even when they get to France, it was as if she didn't want to have fun. Why go in the first place then? I liked Max and Rosie much more. The descriptions of French cuisine was good and that was all I liked. I wanted to like this book so much. I like second chance romances, because it shows hope and is very relatable, but here the execution made the experience very bad. I will definitely re read it before the year ends to see if I have a different opinion. This one put me in a reading slump and I took way more time to read it than required. I just hope the author's other works are better than this.
Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.
This is the first book that I've read from this author - this is a dream book for a book lover. It was so easy to read, heartlifiting, sad and happy in equal parts. I can;t wait to read more of Rebecca Raisin's work
I loved this. It took me ever so long to read it as during lockdown I have had no time to myself. But when I did get a chance, I adored this. Aria is the sweetest character, and it was great to catch up with Rosie and her Travelling Tea Shop. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to read a genuinely nice story, to feel moved and to be transported to the sunshine in the French Riviera.
I would rate this book a 1.5.
A story about a book shop? How could I not. Aria's Travelling Book Shop is a second novel in a series about van lifers. Those who make money by living and running their business out of a van while travelling all around Europe. Aria runs a travelling book shop out of her van. Still grieving over her husband TJ, Aria travels through France with her best friend Rosie, and Rosie's boyfriend Max, selling books and attempting to deal with her emotions. Aria has sworn off love-a promise to her deceased husband, but she can't help but falling (literally) into the arms of Johnathan, a sweet, book loving man who always happens to be in the right place at the right time.
I was very excited for the book and it did start out promising. I thought Aria and Rosie were great characters and friends, the book was written well and all that book talk, I mean come on, what's not to love? The book was light and easy to read. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. In the end, I thought the book was extremely cheesy, especially TJ's diary entries and Aria's inner monologue-they came off extremely cringey. I liked Rosie a lot, but I found everything about her, and the rest of the book so "G" rated. There wasn't any exciting romance going on. Rather than focusing on the romance, the majority of the book is Aria and Rosie talking, Rosie trying to convince Aria to move on and Aria refusing. It just got very repetitive. It almost felt like this was a YA book with the way it was written. I also thought the romance was too convenient and the supporting characters weren't explored enough or were just unnecessary to the story. I struggled to finish it. I hope others enjoy it more!
"Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!"
This is my first introduction to Aria and Rosie. I hadn't read Rosie's Traveling Tea Shop, but thankfully, I didn't face any problem in reading this book.
This book was a mixed bag for me. There were quite a few instances where I was going to put this book down but I am glad I didn't.
This was a light story with some heavy emotional moments set in beautiful locations with tons of books. The lifestyle of VanLifers was very interesting to read about. The characters were decent although I didn't feel much attachment to the character of Aria. I was more intrigued by the character of Rosie than that of Aria.
“True love doesn’t always last forever. We have to be prepared to open our hearts again, no matter how damaged we might be.”
My fav character in the book was someone who wasn't present in the book at all, atleast actively- TJ. The way he was described and his personality was total goals. Poor soul had to depart so early :/
The parts of the book where Aria reminisces about him and reads his diary are honestly are the greatest highlight of the story. His words really tugged at my heartstrings.
I loved the friendship between Rosie and Aria; in fact, I lived for their interactions. It reminded me of my interactions with my friends. The author has beautifully captured it.
Now unto the greatest issue I had with the story. I felt zero chemistry between Jonathan and Aria and I simply couldn't buy their relationship. It won't have been much of a problem if this was a lesser important sub-plots but this was the MAIN CORE of the story. All of their interactions were plain awkward and I definitely didn't get the feeling that they were made for each other. Yes, I agree that they had spent a day together before the story started and that they felt sparks for each other then. However, from what I saw in the story wasn't enough to convince me that they were in such deep love that Jonathan risked his career and wrote a book for her. I don't ship them!
This book is a good choice for readers looking to read something light-hearted and undemanding. Not a perfect book for the time when you want to get some serious reading done.
Arias Travelling Bookshop
by Rebecca Raisin
I would say this book was a pleasant story with a sad but meaningful , underlying story throughout.
It is a love story, in more ways than one.
I loved that Aria travelled around in her camper van full time.
Also, that she loves books..... perfect!
I loved the descriptions of the scenery and the food throughout her travels.
The bonds built with others nomads.
Especially the one she had with her friends Rosie and Max.
The way they made their living.
The way everyone was on there own journey, for different reasons, but could all relate so much.
I really liked the ending too.
I would recommend.
This is a great read. Aria is a lovely character. Looking forward to more from this writer.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.