Gosh I loved this book! It was so fun to read! I really enjoyed reading about Fawn, Butterscotch and her little bookshop. For some reason it gave me an Eleanor Oliphant vibe and I loved that it was written in a diary style. How fun! But seriously Fawn’s antics are crazy but you can’t stop reading about it! Going to recommend to my book club!

*received ARC*

I wanted to like this book. I was charmed initially by the twist on the You've Got Mail premise and the story structure told through emails/letters/journal entries (not new, but not yet overtired for me personally). However, I could not stand the protagonist Fawn, which made it difficult to become invested one way or another in her outcome. To the author's credit, this was a character that was very quickly and viscerally brought to life. After the first 10% of the book, I felt I fully knew her and her character foibles and quirks. However, that meant that by 20% in I couldn't imagine continuing to interact with her on the page for the next 80%. Her turn of phrase, manner of communicating, thought process --- she just seemed like someone who would truly annoy me and I would dislike "IRL." I'm all for flawed characters, but less so for annoying ones. I almost considered DNF, but given it was an ARC pushed through in order to leave a review.

2.5 stars
This was an okay read, I almost feel bad for giving it 2 stars but when comparing it with books I've given 3 stars it feels like the best rating in this case. This book was an easy and rather enjoyable read, I didn't find myself dragging myself through it with otherwise often is the case with books I end up giving lower ratings. With this book, however, I think it was just a matter of "this doesn't really make me feel anything", which isn't necessarily too bad. I found myself pleasantly surprised by the wrapping up of the ending, it felt like a proper way to end this book. I must say that I didn't particularly like the main character, and I did spend the first ~40% being annoyed as hell with her and I couldn't really tell if her being blatantly unlikeable was an artistic move or just not a very dimensional character (which would be understandable as well, seeing as the book is written in an epistolary (? is that the correct word even) sense from our main character's perspective). I did find myself feeling for Fawn more and more as the book progressed, but every time she would say/do something that made me not like her again, haha.

I think I might have enjoyed this book more if it was written in a novel format, just for the sake of adding dimension to it all. It is by no means a bad book, I just think there was something missing for me personally. Did enjoy the cats, though.

Unfortunately this book fell short for me, The premise for the story sounded cute and light but I just couldn’t get into it. There was no time to develop the characters and I felt myself skimming a lot for actually text and not emails or letters.

Although the premise sounded cozy and entertaining, I found this book poorly written to the point of painful. The voice of the protagonist was irritating, and none of the characters had the chance to be developed (which I will not blame on the epistolary style, because other books have achieved fully rounded-out characters in that style). I cannot recommend this book.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I didn't click with the main character at all and just couldn't get past that to enjoy the story.

Although I did enjoy reading this book, the story was a collection of Diary Entries, Letters and Emails to different people with no real character descriptions. So I did initially struggle with getting into the actual story of the book.
That being said I did find that the book told the true story of what working in a book shop would actually be like.

The main Character Fawn had obvious problems with her family as she was growing up and this lead to her becoming a fierce independent business woman, but because it felt like she was still struggling with what she went though as a child, it felt like she was taking all the anger and frustration out on people that she should have been doing business deals with.

Overall a pretty good read, left open ended and a little bitty in places where you were left to guess what happened in certain parts but not a bad read.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Really enjoyed this book, liked the storyline, liked the characters, basically liked everything. Worth a read.

Here's what I think Elizabeth Green was shooting for: A cranky, quirky protagonist who you end up falling in love with, such as "Eleanor Olyphant Is Completely Fine" or "A Man Called Ove." The problem is I never got there with the bookseller. She is total denial about the reality of her situation: Her Philadelphia outlet is going under. To make matters worse, a new bookstore opens nearby and sinks her. The whole book is essentially angry letters, snarky emails and flat-out lies to her family about how things are going. I felt myself rooting against her -- or rooting for her to be put out of business, so I could be put out of my misery.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

This book was hard-going, but I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. Fortunately, with the epistolary format, it was a pretty quick read because the protagonist, Fawn Birchill, is not someone I’d want to spend a lot of time with.

Fawn is a mid-fifties-aged woman who owns and runs a used book store in Philadelphia. It’s in a rundown old Victorian home and she lives above the store. The building is on its last legs and she doesn’t have the resources to maintain it. Her ongoing struggles with the building mirror her struggles with her falling-apart life.

Fawn had a difficult childhood. Her father was also in retail, running an unsuccessful general store, using his two daughters as his workforce. Fawn’s resentment of her “lost childhood” fuels a lot of her dissatisfaction with life. She refuses to visit her dying father, and avoids her mother and sister. Instead, she makes a family of her three salesclerks (or tries to) and spends time with the lonely, elderly woman who rents an apartment in her home. (The attention she gives to this woman is her most redemptive characteristic, even if she does rob her to pay the bills.) She also lavishes attention on cats.

So far, so good. But Fawn is a terrible businesswoman and her store is just eking by. When a new bookstore opens two blocks away, a modern store with coffee, book signings, and events, Fawn is unable to compete. Or, maybe it isn’t the competition. Fawn’s store was likely to fail all on its own.

The story is told through Fawn’s email correspondence with her staff, her family, and an old friend/penpal that she has never met in person. Through these epistles, we are introduced to a petty, self-aggrandizing, lonely, and essentially pathetic woman who lies, makes pitiful attempts at manipulating others, and whines. Her attempts to extort help from other local businesses are truly cringe-worthy. Her attempts at snark come across as desperate rather than funny. Just based on these bits of public persona, she is horribly unlikeable.

Fortunately, interspersed with these emails, there are journal entries that show a different side to Fawn. She is unhappy, drinks too much, and shows just enough insight and self-reflection to salvage the character.

There is a character arc with some growth. It takes the death of her father for her to realize how similar she has been to him and how much of her life she has spent trying to spite him with her own success– success that eludes her. Redemption comes late in the book but patience is rewarded. As Fawn rides off into the sunset, I do hope she’s destined for something better.

The cover makes the book seem a lot more interesting than it actually is, overall, an okay read, one for when on holiday e.g. on the beach or around the pool, not one that I would discuss in length with other people.

I received an E-Arc via NetGalley. I selected this book to read from NetGalley. It has two things I love a quirky main character and it's set in a book store. The premise sounded a bit like The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. Two movies I happen to adore!

I got 25% in and couldn't take it any more. The main character wasn't quirky she was an insufferable snob and the constant email thing got old very quickly! I get that cats and bookstores are a thing but as someone who's incredibly allergic to them the thought of them being all over the shop was really unappealing.

Confessions of a Curious Bookseller was such a fun read! The main character Fawn was both witty and bold and unapologetic when it comes to how she runs her beloved bookstore. Her passion for books and financial means to stay a float is tested when a new bookstore opens up down the street from her store. The new owner and her quickly go toe to toe in an advertising battle to gain more customers and increase sales. Fawn is struggling to make ends meet and has a hard time balancing her personal life with her work. The drive she has for success is undoubtedly questioned by her family and causes tension between the people in her life. Fawn experiences loss and heartache as well as emotional clarity that leads her to one of the most difficult decisions in her life. I really enjoyed reading this book, the story was very unique and both shocked me and had me laughing at the same time. The writing style of this book was interesting, as the story was told in dialogue between emails from Fawn and the other characters in the book and journal entries of her life and daily thoughts. This added to the content of the book, highlighting the title "Confessions of a Curious Bookseller" and I think it tied in the whole book. I loved it!

I was looking forward to a fun, light-hearted read and since the title and concept of this book intrigued me, I dove into the rivalry between two bookshops.

Unfortunately, the main character, Fawn Birdill, is so unpleasant and mean spirited that I found it difficult to find anything redeeming in her whatsoever. The book seemed full of half-formed characters that contribute nothing to the plot. The email/text format annoyed me so much that I almost did not finish.

I could not wait for this to end. I cannot recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately this missed the mark for me. It fell flat, the main character was not like able and felt that it was also poorly written over all.

I wanted to likecthis book so badly. The premise sounded fun and Ioved the different format.

However, I despised Fawn. She was an awful main character who, in my eyes, had absolutely no saving traits. She was moody vindictive and down right awful to everyone she came in contact with. Not to mention she lied so many times I lost count.

I'm happy the book ended with her losing her shop. She treated all of her employees horribly and she had awful business sense.

This really wasn't a book for me, unfortunately!

This book was not for me. I did not enjoy the writing, and I found the story to be poorly pieced together. The main character is a rude and unlikeable woman. This was not worth the read for me.

Fawn Birchill is a used bookstore owner in West Philly dealing with the recent arrival of a flashy bookstore up the street. She has been an established business owner for years, but lacks quite a bit regarding social skills and comes across as out of touch with reality. The book is comprised entirely of emails, blog posts, customer reviews, and social media posts. This style of writing makes for a quick read that is both manageable and fast-paced. However, there were several times where new ideas would enter into the plot via a short email exchange and then would be left unresolved as Fawn was distracted by another issue. I would have given this story a higher rating if the plot had been a bit more developed and if the main character had more redeeming qualities. I read this book in its entirety because the structure made it easy to just keep reading a bit more despite Fawn complaining and finding fault with something on every page.

This book is set apart from others by the way it is told entirely in a non-traditional way. People should read this book if they are looking to experience a different type of story-telling but should be aware that it is not an uplifting read and there are not many positive moments in this story.

I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded cute, and I’ve enjoyed other books that are told through different communications... emails, letters, journal entries, tweets, etc.

I think my biggest issue was Fawn was so unlikeable. Maybe if I was actually rooting for her, I may have liked more. But she was selfish, a liar, stubborn, full of herself and more. She treats her family poorly, blames her dying father for her unhappiness instead of taking any responsibility for her actions, and starts issues with everyone she interacts with from her employees to the new business down the street.

The ending seemed rushed. Her ‘ephinany’ seemed forced and not natural to the character. Maybe if Fawn engaged in any self-reflection earlier, it would be easier to accept but it didn’t seem true to who she is.

DNF. I really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t enjoy it. The concept of diary entries sounded fun and worked, but the protagonist is such a unlikeable character. They overshadow the whole story so much that you don’t want to finish it.