Synopsis:

Fawn Birchill's quirky bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia. When a young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced his cushy couches and impressive coffee selection is a neighbourhood blight. As she wages her war, Fawn is forced to reflect on her misadventures in online dating, a strained relationship with her family and a devoted intern, not to mention what to do with her penpal with whom she hasn't been entirely honest. Now it’s time for her to dig deep and use every trick at her disposal if she’s to reclaim her beloved business—and her life.

Review:

I found it hard to read Fawn's cranky personality - she really is quite miserable. The book is really long and was a real struggle to finish. I felt like I was reading a very long extended rant. I'm sorry this was a miss for me.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for the digital copy.

Sigh. I'm not a fan of the use of texts, emails, and so on as a format for a novel as it makes for disjointed reading (at least for me) and makes it hard for me to feel the characters. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

I really liked this book, but I felt that there were lulls in the story that needed some help.. However I found this to be really enjoyable and entertaining and would recommend.

"Confessions of a Curious Bookseller" by Elizabeth Green promises an intriguing story set in a beloved used bookstore in West Philadelphia. However, despite its potential, the novel falls short in delivering an engaging narrative and memorable characters.

The protagonist, Fawn Birchill, is presented as a quirky and resilient bookseller, fiercely protective of her bookstore and the community it serves. Unfortunately, Fawn's character lacks depth and fails to evolve throughout the story. Her stubbornness and resistance to change become tiresome and hinder the reader's ability to empathize with her struggles. The supporting cast, including the amicable young indie bookseller and the intern, also lack dimension, making it difficult to form a genuine connection with any of the characters.

The narrative structure, relying heavily on emails, journal entries, online reviews, and social media posts, feels disjointed and detracts from the flow of the story. While this format may have offered an opportunity for creativity and unique storytelling, it ultimately hampers the reader's immersion in the plot. The constant switching between various modes of communication disrupts the narrative's cohesiveness and creates a fragmented reading experience.

The exploration of Fawn's personal life and relationships, including her struggles with online dating and her strained family dynamics, feels superficial and lacks depth. These aspects are touched upon briefly, but fail to contribute significantly to the overall development of the story or the protagonist's growth. As a result, the emotional impact of these personal challenges falls flat.

Furthermore, the conflict between Fawn and the new indie bookseller lacks the necessary tension and fails to engage the reader. The rivalry feels forced and lacks the depth needed to create a compelling narrative. The attempts at humor and wit also miss the mark, often feeling contrived and falling flat.

Despite its promising premise, "Confessions of a Curious Bookseller" fails to deliver on its potential. The underdeveloped characters, disjointed narrative structure, and lackluster conflicts make it difficult to fully invest in the story. Readers seeking a captivating tale centered around a beloved bookstore may find themselves disappointed by the lack of depth and emotional resonance in this novel.

In conclusion, "Confessions of a Curious Bookseller" falls short of its aspirations, leaving readers craving a more engaging and satisfying reading experience. Elizabeth Green's novel fails to capture the charm and emotional depth expected from a story set in the heart of a community and the world of books.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This was a very strange book. I enjoyed the format - it was written purely as a series of emails, texts, and journal entries.

Most of the entries were written by bookshop owner, Fawn, and it appears that many of these were written after a few glasses of wine had been consumed. Some of the entries are rambling, and the others are full of self-aggrandising thoughts.

I found Fawn to be unlikeable as a person, however, as I could see the inner working of her mind, I did find myself feeling sorry for her.

The ending seemed a bit rushed for me, but I was glad of a happy ending for all involved.

I found this book rather hard to get into. I will eventually (maybe) re-read it again and see if at a different time in my life I can, but I couldn't find anything to really pull me deep or relate too. I dislike that.

Probably only the title of the book most interesting thing in this whole book. A go for any book about books .The premise of this book was intriguing but the execution was poor plus the length of this book had me crawling to the end . 1 star for author's time and energy. 1 star for Netgalley for providing me with this book.

I adore a book about bookshops. This book made me laugh out loud a few times. The format was fun and interesting. I enjoyed this one!

What the heck? This could have been so cute and soooo good but all of the characters were shallow and unlikeable and I could not continue reading if I could not connect to the characters

This was such a cute book! I loved the story and the characters! I highly recommend this book! 5 stars.

This book was not what I expected but I did enjoy it. From the cover and the write up I thought it was going to be another You've Got Mail. But it was entirely different. Written through the perspective of Fawn Birchill who owns a used book store and all the quirkiness that goes with it. A new indie store is invading her neighborhood and she is not happy about it. A very unique book mainly using emails, letters and forms of social media to get the story across. It's long - almost 500 pages but I enjoyed it.

While I wanted to love this one due to the fact that it involves books, I could not. The writing was lacking and the characters just left me wanting more for them. I liked the ideas the book was working with but did not feel the follow through worked.

Found the main protagonist to be simply unlikeable and oftentimes atrocious - just could not get behind her or the story consequently. The first impression was just too damning

Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me.

Based on the cover I was expecting something light hearted and funny. I didn’t find the story flowed well and found Fawn to be quite an unlikeable character.

I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for generously providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this one but for me it just fell flat. While there were parts that made me laugh, I just was not into any of the characters, especially our MC Fawn. But I did appreciate the epistolary style as something that you don't always see. Overall I wouldn't write off Elizabeth Green as an author and would give other books of hers a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have to say that I really tried to get into the story as I love stories about bookshops and their owners however, I struggled through it. The owner of a not-so-successful bookshop, Fawn, is a quirky character that I just couldn't relate to and I think that was why I had such a hard time with it. Also, I found the letter/email writing back and forth was a bit tricky to follow.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
At the best of times I found this book quirky and interesting with relatable moments about difficulty of relationships with family, on line dating, and anxiety. At the worst I found the book to drag on and be predictable.
Fawn is a quirky character who we get to know through a series of letters, emails, texts, diary entries and on line ratings. She is verbose, romantic, out of touch and very self assured with a struggling business, a dying father, competition for her store, and 3 employees who aren’t always the most helpful. At times she is interesting but at times she makes me roll my eyes and want to tell her to shut up! But perhaps that’s the author’s intent.
If you enjoy characters you love to hate, then this is probably the book for you.

I honestly struggled to finish this one. Fawn drove me a little crazy and I think that was part of my issue....she was just unlikeable unfortunately. I honestly can't even put my finger on it, but at the end of the book, there was just something missing. I simply did not care for this one.

It was a difficult book to finish personally but I'm sure some will find it adorable.
I found some of the aspects of the story drawn out and illogical at times.
However the style of writing was fun.