Finding Romance Between the Stereotypes: A Review of 'Book Lovers
Favourite Quote:
…Life in New York was like being in a giant bookstore: all these trillions of paths and possibilities drawing dreamers into the city’s beating heart, saying I make no promises but I offer many doors. You may chassé across a spotlit stage with the best of them, but you may also weep over an unbought lime.
BOOK RATING:
3.5 out of 5
My Thoughts:
From the best-selling author of BEACH READ and YOU AND ME ON VACATION, Emily Henry delivers another book of the summer, BOOK LOVERS. The story follows Nora as a literary agent. After a series of dating disasters in the city, her darling but stubborn little sister Libby decides to change things with a month's holiday at Sunshine Falls. It is a enemies to lovers' romance book with a twist, exploring themes of self-perception, family bonds, grief and dreams. Book Lovers captured the close sisterly relationship between Nora and Libby, showing the vastly different personalities often shown in siblings, which Emily Henry did well to portray. Nora, the older sister, has everything planned and organised except her love life (mostly related to her relationship with her mother). Libby, the younger sister, grew up watching her mother and sister determined to go her own path but questioned practicalities as life unfolded. So the trip was what they both needed.
We witness the romance building between Nora and Charlie, the love interest who is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers against the backdrop of Sunshine Falls. Charlie, a small-town boy turned into a city resident, returned home to help with his family – feeling not in his own habitat as an outsider but helping Nora with her latest problem.
While I appreciated the attempt to flip the romantic stereotypes to focus on the woman that men in such romance stories often leave behind, the author could have delved a little more into the background of Nora. Based on her history, the book needed a more in-depth explanation of why Charlie was the best for her. The author could add more conflict between the main characters to enhance the storyline, making the romance more exciting and engaging. Introducing more obstacles for Nora and Charlie to overcome could create a more dynamic and compelling plot.
As the main characters are figures in the book world, this book references other well-known literary texts. It is a book for romantic book lovers.
