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Book Lovers
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Romance (2022)One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
377 pages, Hardcover
First published May 3, 2022
About the author
Emily Henry
18 books157k followersEmily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147,639 reviews
December 13, 2023
✨...I would…take the vasectomy over this✨
To get it out in the open:
No this is not a bitter rivals book at all, no she’s really not an ice queen and it’s literally not a secret, no he is most certainly not Roy Kent (even accidentally), and no the romance isn’t ultimately central to the story. I found this to be more of a sister relationship story with a romance subplot. The romance/relationship was basically reserved acquaintances to quick fondling friends. I thought I could love it but I just couldn’t keep making excuses or trying to convince myself that the next page would have the moment I’ve been reading for.
If I was really trying to start something, I’d call this Frozen fan fiction. I mean seriously the word frigid is used enough, and the amount of ice/ice queen/frozen/ice in my body/I’m literally a block of ice with eyes language is astounding.
I honestly don’t foresee many people having my same reaction to this book. I think it’s a fine, easy read but absolutely nothing special. Emily Henry’s name attached will make it special to a lot of readers and that’s fine. Sally Thorne is that kind of author for me. I thought it had potential, a lot of it, but it ultimately fell so flat. That disappointment made me the most upset. I gave it 2.5 stars for the “fine” easiness of it, but I didn’t round up because I think it could’ve been more than fine but it wasn’t and that’s the boob punch.
Full review below. Sorry if I’ve wrecked your dreams of this one. Personally, I didn’t like it but I’ve been told I’m petty. This is the part I should say “but I hope you love the book!” But my previously established petty ass will forever and always choose to write about how misery loves company and that I’m saving you a seat.
✨
Overview:
I was hopeful. I read the first 67% of this book super fast. I was t h r i l l e d that I was enjoying my time. I love to love books. I want to love books. It’s so much easier to love books. But I think looking back on that first two-thirds of the book, I was ignoring small and irritating things because I r e a l l y wanted to love this book. The relationship was cute, if surface level, and while the book was absolutely not rivals to lovers, I still liked the set up.
But I was waiting for that spark to happen. That b i g revelation in the relationship when tensions are high and trust is fragile. The “I have a l w a y s loved you” painted bedroom or even the errant vasectomy (iykyk) big reveal. Something shocking or surprising or different. My kingdom for s o m e t h i n g. Anything. I really thought we’d get one. Instead I got a whole lotta Libby (main heroine’s sister), a weirdly placed Hallmark “Big City Person turned Small Town Person and Local Store Savior” moment, and book metaphors. So many book metaphors. (Thinking about it now, the “something” twist was here I guess…but it’s not regarding the romantic relationship so no dice and it wasn’t even interesting. It made a could be interesting plot point uninteresting.)
✨
Steam:
I knew the last third of the book would feature their inevitable sex scene, but before we got to the Big Penetration Sensation, the moment that would wrap this book up with a bow, I was finally trapped by too many irritating things. They piled up to a height I couldn’t ignore; a height that cast a m o s t a g g r i e v e d shadow over the nice and tidy nothing special five-orgasms-in-one-sex-scene sex scene.
Since I was already annoyed by the time we got to The Sex, the language was just way too flowery and metaphorical for me. I don’t care what the idea of Charlie feels like. Or just how much he resembles a book. I just want to know how he feels in your v a g i n a. The phrase “we fall into each other” made me want to gag. Just say you fucked goddamnit y’all are falling into each other all over the place! Ya topsyturvy mofos.
I will say the sex was definitely more than I thought we’d get. There were three almost sex scenes prior to the Rolie Polie Olie fan fiction. The language went to the extent of “nipples” and “erection” but they did their jobs. The three prior scenes were each hot because the locales were super hot: front door, midnight pond, library. I think this is Emily’s hottest book. I would be fine with this sex/steam level in another book… with the one caveat that I actually like the rest of the book.
✨
Characters:
Libby pushed me too far with her not being able to understand that Nora had a job and couldn’t just take three weeks off from work. Nora only worked until 5PM and took O N E phone call and Libby just had to puppy dog eye it. Nora was so self-sacrificial when it came to Libby. Yes I was annoyed at Libby, but goddamn girl take a hint and stop trying to help! She kept *covertly* throwing money at her sister it was weird. She gave up a lot of things and was about to do it again! She got some huge news and was like “but I’m so selfish for even wanting this during Libby’s midlife Hallmark crisis.” And when Nora finally got to lay into Libby, we were interrupted in such an eye roll way. Literally for fuck’s sake. It was my Rocky montage cut short by an untied shoelace and a face-plant into a bunch of stairs.
I thought Charlie was pretty okay until he took a stab on the now communal blade of self-sacrifice. Out of nowhere, and only for the sake of previously non-existent tension, ol Chuck just had to fuck up his entire life for zero reasons. Nobody asked you for this rite of stoically unhappy passage sir. It was too much. This book was supposed to be a bloodthirsty shark and her grunting, broody nemesis. We got a minnow and a dude in a hoodie. She wasn’t really frigid, icy, or unfeeling at all. He wasn’t Roy Kent. He wore black once and I grunted more than he did. They had one semi-bad lunch two years ago that apparently made them rivals (it didn’t). I get that “underneath it all” she wasn’t supposed to be frigid or icy, but literally her exterior was just as nice and normal as her lukewarm inner self.
✨
Plot:
He was an editor; she was an agent. He rejected a book (about an old man’s dog dying, fun!) she pitched. Two years pass and now that profound dog death book is a best seller. Her sister is having a Moment and wants to travel to the real town of this—thankfully—fictional dog death book. A book described as if that Sarah Machlaclan commercial just ended with a basket of dead puppies. The agent finds the editor is also in the obscure small town, a big *shock.* She shows him the die-puppy-die author’s most recent manuscript and it’s so good! brilliant! fucking amazing! perfect! for no reason at all because it’s frankly quite bad! (You really don’t get any actual details to turn the idea of that manuscript into a plot that makes sense so… gotta trust their Midas touches there I guess.)
Since the author is *fragile,* frigid shark lady (?) must make sure the mean stormcloud dude (?) isn’t too mean. Yes the shark is actually being nice because she’s literally a nice person who rides a Peloton because she likes it. She was nothing at all like Margaret Tate—I love Margaret Tate. There’s nothing beneath the surface of either of the main characters, at least nothing intriguing. You get the basic plot points that check off the basic plot point list (including a great love for lists!). Her peloton is shoved so far down your throat you’re basically training for the Tour de France. The author seemed to think that owning a Peloton is the hallmark of a bitchy person so if she just! keeps! mentioning! pelofuckington! we’ll have to start to believe Nora is an unfeeling ice cube with thighs of steel.
Of course, it’s really supposed to show us that nice people can be blonde and ride Pelotons too, but it was just… poorly done. I thought the concept was fun at the beginning: Nora is the Big City girlfriend that the Big City boyfriend in a Hallmark movie dumps for the Small Town baker/Christmas tree farm heiress/struggling bed and breakfast owner because the Big City girlfriend is too blonde and too toned from the stationary bike she wants to fuck more than him. Cool but just so… not about that at all? How can that character be so boring??? Nora never proved to me that she had ever been a poisonous bitch worthy of Bob Spaulding’s scorn. Although she did declare herself “Heathcliff”…but I also think she likes Heathcliff…so back to square one.
✨
Conclusion:
By trying to subvert so many tropes, this book just reverted back to every other trope. Congratulations ya played yourself. I think parts were definitely meant to be tropey, but I don’t think the book really meant to be so wholly predictable and unsurprising. There was nothing about this book that would make me pick it up again or anything that makes it stand out from the crowd. The relationship was so…blah by the end. Maybe I’m the frigid wench because I felt nothing akin to warm and fuzzy.
Again, I liked this book for a lot of the book, but that was basically all hinged on the assumption that the relationship would go somewhere interesting and I’d be naming him the honorary mayor of my vagina. Once it was clear I wasn’t going to let Charles anywhere near a large pair of ceremonial scissors, the shiny, bright ribbon fell away and I was pissed. All the small annoying things just snowballed into Heat Miser territory and I literally broke into a musical number. So sorry family.
That emotional and romantic payoff ending (and the big “I love you” “prove it” scene) was sacrificed for pages and pages of Libby and her bookstore charity case. The relationship got like the last two pages. Of course, more than a few pages were devoted to their “gut-wrenching” but oh so “righteous” split up. I initially said this was Emily Henry’s most romancey romance but I take it back. It ended up being way more about Nora and Libby than about Nora and Charlie. It is evident in the scope of the ending.
Just go watch The Proposal instead.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶.75/5
Spoilerish idfk: P.S. Really, when a character hasn’t cried for over a decade, there are certain expectations in a romance. Just saying. You don’t wait the whole book to cry and then cry over something other than the penis attached to the love of your life. You don’t make it your entire character trait and then wait until cry number four to cry over him. Ya just don’t.
*Thank you to the publisher for an advanced review copy! I really thought we had one bois I really did.
To get it out in the open:
No this is not a bitter rivals book at all, no she’s really not an ice queen and it’s literally not a secret, no he is most certainly not Roy Kent (even accidentally), and no the romance isn’t ultimately central to the story. I found this to be more of a sister relationship story with a romance subplot. The romance/relationship was basically reserved acquaintances to quick fondling friends. I thought I could love it but I just couldn’t keep making excuses or trying to convince myself that the next page would have the moment I’ve been reading for.
If I was really trying to start something, I’d call this Frozen fan fiction. I mean seriously the word frigid is used enough, and the amount of ice/ice queen/frozen/ice in my body/I’m literally a block of ice with eyes language is astounding.
I honestly don’t foresee many people having my same reaction to this book. I think it’s a fine, easy read but absolutely nothing special. Emily Henry’s name attached will make it special to a lot of readers and that’s fine. Sally Thorne is that kind of author for me. I thought it had potential, a lot of it, but it ultimately fell so flat. That disappointment made me the most upset. I gave it 2.5 stars for the “fine” easiness of it, but I didn’t round up because I think it could’ve been more than fine but it wasn’t and that’s the boob punch.
Full review below. Sorry if I’ve wrecked your dreams of this one. Personally, I didn’t like it but I’ve been told I’m petty. This is the part I should say “but I hope you love the book!” But my previously established petty ass will forever and always choose to write about how misery loves company and that I’m saving you a seat.
✨
Overview:
I was hopeful. I read the first 67% of this book super fast. I was t h r i l l e d that I was enjoying my time. I love to love books. I want to love books. It’s so much easier to love books. But I think looking back on that first two-thirds of the book, I was ignoring small and irritating things because I r e a l l y wanted to love this book. The relationship was cute, if surface level, and while the book was absolutely not rivals to lovers, I still liked the set up.
But I was waiting for that spark to happen. That b i g revelation in the relationship when tensions are high and trust is fragile. The “I have a l w a y s loved you” painted bedroom or even the errant vasectomy (iykyk) big reveal. Something shocking or surprising or different. My kingdom for s o m e t h i n g. Anything. I really thought we’d get one. Instead I got a whole lotta Libby (main heroine’s sister), a weirdly placed Hallmark “Big City Person turned Small Town Person and Local Store Savior” moment, and book metaphors. So many book metaphors. (Thinking about it now, the “something” twist was here I guess…but it’s not regarding the romantic relationship so no dice and it wasn’t even interesting. It made a could be interesting plot point uninteresting.)
✨
Steam:
I knew the last third of the book would feature their inevitable sex scene, but before we got to the Big Penetration Sensation, the moment that would wrap this book up with a bow, I was finally trapped by too many irritating things. They piled up to a height I couldn’t ignore; a height that cast a m o s t a g g r i e v e d shadow over the nice and tidy nothing special five-orgasms-in-one-sex-scene sex scene.
Since I was already annoyed by the time we got to The Sex, the language was just way too flowery and metaphorical for me. I don’t care what the idea of Charlie feels like. Or just how much he resembles a book. I just want to know how he feels in your v a g i n a. The phrase “we fall into each other” made me want to gag. Just say you fucked goddamnit y’all are falling into each other all over the place! Ya topsyturvy mofos.
I will say the sex was definitely more than I thought we’d get. There were three almost sex scenes prior to the Rolie Polie Olie fan fiction. The language went to the extent of “nipples” and “erection” but they did their jobs. The three prior scenes were each hot because the locales were super hot: front door, midnight pond, library. I think this is Emily’s hottest book. I would be fine with this sex/steam level in another book… with the one caveat that I actually like the rest of the book.
✨
Characters:
Libby pushed me too far with her not being able to understand that Nora had a job and couldn’t just take three weeks off from work. Nora only worked until 5PM and took O N E phone call and Libby just had to puppy dog eye it. Nora was so self-sacrificial when it came to Libby. Yes I was annoyed at Libby, but goddamn girl take a hint and stop trying to help! She kept *covertly* throwing money at her sister it was weird. She gave up a lot of things and was about to do it again! She got some huge news and was like “but I’m so selfish for even wanting this during Libby’s midlife Hallmark crisis.” And when Nora finally got to lay into Libby, we were interrupted in such an eye roll way. Literally for fuck’s sake. It was my Rocky montage cut short by an untied shoelace and a face-plant into a bunch of stairs.
I thought Charlie was pretty okay until he took a stab on the now communal blade of self-sacrifice. Out of nowhere, and only for the sake of previously non-existent tension, ol Chuck just had to fuck up his entire life for zero reasons. Nobody asked you for this rite of stoically unhappy passage sir. It was too much. This book was supposed to be a bloodthirsty shark and her grunting, broody nemesis. We got a minnow and a dude in a hoodie. She wasn’t really frigid, icy, or unfeeling at all. He wasn’t Roy Kent. He wore black once and I grunted more than he did. They had one semi-bad lunch two years ago that apparently made them rivals (it didn’t). I get that “underneath it all” she wasn’t supposed to be frigid or icy, but literally her exterior was just as nice and normal as her lukewarm inner self.
✨
Plot:
He was an editor; she was an agent. He rejected a book (about an old man’s dog dying, fun!) she pitched. Two years pass and now that profound dog death book is a best seller. Her sister is having a Moment and wants to travel to the real town of this—thankfully—fictional dog death book. A book described as if that Sarah Machlaclan commercial just ended with a basket of dead puppies. The agent finds the editor is also in the obscure small town, a big *shock.* She shows him the die-puppy-die author’s most recent manuscript and it’s so good! brilliant! fucking amazing! perfect! for no reason at all because it’s frankly quite bad! (You really don’t get any actual details to turn the idea of that manuscript into a plot that makes sense so… gotta trust their Midas touches there I guess.)
Since the author is *fragile,* frigid shark lady (?) must make sure the mean stormcloud dude (?) isn’t too mean. Yes the shark is actually being nice because she’s literally a nice person who rides a Peloton because she likes it. She was nothing at all like Margaret Tate—I love Margaret Tate. There’s nothing beneath the surface of either of the main characters, at least nothing intriguing. You get the basic plot points that check off the basic plot point list (including a great love for lists!). Her peloton is shoved so far down your throat you’re basically training for the Tour de France. The author seemed to think that owning a Peloton is the hallmark of a bitchy person so if she just! keeps! mentioning! pelofuckington! we’ll have to start to believe Nora is an unfeeling ice cube with thighs of steel.
Of course, it’s really supposed to show us that nice people can be blonde and ride Pelotons too, but it was just… poorly done. I thought the concept was fun at the beginning: Nora is the Big City girlfriend that the Big City boyfriend in a Hallmark movie dumps for the Small Town baker/Christmas tree farm heiress/struggling bed and breakfast owner because the Big City girlfriend is too blonde and too toned from the stationary bike she wants to fuck more than him. Cool but just so… not about that at all? How can that character be so boring??? Nora never proved to me that she had ever been a poisonous bitch worthy of Bob Spaulding’s scorn. Although she did declare herself “Heathcliff”…but I also think she likes Heathcliff…so back to square one.
✨
Conclusion:
By trying to subvert so many tropes, this book just reverted back to every other trope. Congratulations ya played yourself. I think parts were definitely meant to be tropey, but I don’t think the book really meant to be so wholly predictable and unsurprising. There was nothing about this book that would make me pick it up again or anything that makes it stand out from the crowd. The relationship was so…blah by the end. Maybe I’m the frigid wench because I felt nothing akin to warm and fuzzy.
Again, I liked this book for a lot of the book, but that was basically all hinged on the assumption that the relationship would go somewhere interesting and I’d be naming him the honorary mayor of my vagina. Once it was clear I wasn’t going to let Charles anywhere near a large pair of ceremonial scissors, the shiny, bright ribbon fell away and I was pissed. All the small annoying things just snowballed into Heat Miser territory and I literally broke into a musical number. So sorry family.
That emotional and romantic payoff ending (and the big “I love you” “prove it” scene) was sacrificed for pages and pages of Libby and her bookstore charity case. The relationship got like the last two pages. Of course, more than a few pages were devoted to their “gut-wrenching” but oh so “righteous” split up. I initially said this was Emily Henry’s most romancey romance but I take it back. It ended up being way more about Nora and Libby than about Nora and Charlie. It is evident in the scope of the ending.
Just go watch The Proposal instead.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶.75/5
Spoilerish idfk: P.S. Really, when a character hasn’t cried for over a decade, there are certain expectations in a romance. Just saying. You don’t wait the whole book to cry and then cry over something other than the penis attached to the love of your life. You don’t make it your entire character trait and then wait until cry number four to cry over him. Ya just don’t.
*Thank you to the publisher for an advanced review copy! I really thought we had one bois I really did.
September 9, 2023
"'i already told you, nora,' he murmurs. 'i'd go anywhere with you.'"
OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD THIS IS MY FAVORITE ROMANCE BOOK EVER NOW EMILY HENRY I'D ACTUALLY DIE FOR YOU I'M SERIOUS
i finally read book lovers. and i literally want to DIE
this is about to be a ramble, so just bear with me.
here is a nice little dilemma: there’s a bright side and a not so bright side of emily henry’s books.
on the bright side, it fills me with hope and optimism and a belief that for one second, i am capable of love.
on the not so bright side, it fills me with hope and optimism and a belief that for one second, i am capable of love.
do you see that double edged sword?
book lovers is my perfect romance. it will never, ever get better for me than this. i know this is such a bold statement, but let me explain why:
book lovers had everything i want in a book, let alone a romance. it made me feel seen through nora. the workaholic city girl who’s seen as cold and withdrawn (nora’s ex’s you never even cry in the prologue was a personal attack). the neurotic control freak who’s terrified of even giving a tiny bit of that up. the older sister who would do anything for her younger sister.
i don’t think the way i 100% related to nora will ever be replicated in any other book (this book and conversation with friends will always be it for me).
this book is actually on my top 5 books EVER. my top 5 (in no particular order) now goes: the secret history, conversation with friends, persuasion, anna karenina, and…BOOK LOVERS.
if you’ve been following me…you know how monumental this is for picky romance bitch elle. this makes up for every single horrendous romance book i read last year that i one starred.
holy shit. this book is PERFECT. the characters, the chemistry, the emotions, the banter, the romance?? i actually cannot stress how perfect this is.
i am picky and i am a cynic. i have been so consistently disappointed by anything romantic in my life. but this book made me actually realistically hopeful for the fist time. because while romance was the main plot, nora and charlie’s respective problems did not get overshadowed. the heavy topics mentioned were nuanced and fleshed out and handled with such a great amount of depth.
nora is me. i can’t describe her another way. i have never read a character who so closely resembles my personality (frances from conversation with friends resembles the way i think + my self reflections, but nora’s personality is just completely me). emily henry crawled inside my brain and took my thoughts and my experiences. wow.
reading this made me stupidly optimistic that maybe i can too find a very hot and swoon-worthy guy who can deal with me in all my control freak, neurotic, workaholic, bitchy city girl glory. one can dream.
see? this is what good romance books do to me. it makes me actually have…(gags) hope.
charlie is the perfect combination of sweet and sarcastic and aloof and brooding. also, at one point, he lines up all of his utensils in a row which was just SO hot to me? and the way he’s so blunt and straightforward and honest and heartfelt without being an asshole or cringey. he’s loyal and understanding and never makes nora sacrifice anything, which is something we really don’t see in romance books. god. what a perfect, perfect man.
not only that, but this book has THE best banter and chemistry i have ever seen. and i don’t mean that lightly. and charlie. i promised i’d elaborate on charlie in my pre-review, so here is me trying to sum up just how much i love him.
and this book. this book is also a love letter to all eldest siblings. the way nora loves her sister and the responsibilities charlie had. anyone who is the eldest sibling or an older sibling will 100% understand. emily henry is always able to write family with such heart and depth, and this is no different.
i will never shut up about this book. i’m about to become SO insufferable for the next month.
i can’t get over how perfect this book was. i’m going to reread it again tomorrow.
August 28, 2024
welcome to my main character era.
i love emily henry.
i’ve loved her since the first incarnation of my reading accounts, when i discovered a million junes based on an act of love from the universe, probably, and never looked back.
i loved her fascinating, unique, sometimes creepy always lovely magical realism filled with banter and growth and stunning images.
when she moved to romance, her books felt less like My Books, ones written specifically for me, but it was kind of wonderful to see them be The Book for so many other people.
and then this one came along.
and i hate to center myself again, but…
just kidding. this is the same person who genuinely said yesterday that the rain was holding out for her walk home exclusively. i have no problem with indulging in narcissism, so:
this one feels pretty made for me.
i love sisters, and here our almost-as-important close-second relationship after the romance is between two crazy close sisters.
i love nora, our cold and tough and mean but on the inside very kind and lovely and of course book-obsessed protagonist. (it will come as no surprise that i relate to her. or, well, relate on the first and third points.)
i love charlie, who passes my single requirement for romance novel love interests with flying colors. (this single requirement is, of course, being obsessed beyond logic with our main character.)
i love banter. it is the best part of any romcom and it isn’t close. this has plenty.
i love having-it-all happy ever afters. i love when the magic perfect ending doesn’t just include love, but like 9 other neatly tied up subplots ending with confetti and rose petals or whatever too.
i love being a tall girl, and i love that this book recognizes our struggle!!!
i love dream jobs. i love tropes. i love mean-girl characters. i love little kids. i love books!!!
when it came to this book, it feels like — beyond my missing magical realism, and the not-very-enemies beginning of this enemies to lovers, and some excessive sister sneakiness — i loved (almost) it all.
bottom line: emily henry forever!!!
4.5
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reread update
there's no problem that can't be solved by rereading every emily henry book
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pre-review
please respect my privacy at this time (deciding whether to give my third romance five star ever).
review to come / it's either 4.5 or 5
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currently-reading updates
this is the best day of my life
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tbr review
anyone have any tips on hibernation?
i love emily henry.
i’ve loved her since the first incarnation of my reading accounts, when i discovered a million junes based on an act of love from the universe, probably, and never looked back.
i loved her fascinating, unique, sometimes creepy always lovely magical realism filled with banter and growth and stunning images.
when she moved to romance, her books felt less like My Books, ones written specifically for me, but it was kind of wonderful to see them be The Book for so many other people.
and then this one came along.
and i hate to center myself again, but…
just kidding. this is the same person who genuinely said yesterday that the rain was holding out for her walk home exclusively. i have no problem with indulging in narcissism, so:
this one feels pretty made for me.
i love sisters, and here our almost-as-important close-second relationship after the romance is between two crazy close sisters.
i love nora, our cold and tough and mean but on the inside very kind and lovely and of course book-obsessed protagonist. (it will come as no surprise that i relate to her. or, well, relate on the first and third points.)
i love charlie, who passes my single requirement for romance novel love interests with flying colors. (this single requirement is, of course, being obsessed beyond logic with our main character.)
i love banter. it is the best part of any romcom and it isn’t close. this has plenty.
i love having-it-all happy ever afters. i love when the magic perfect ending doesn’t just include love, but like 9 other neatly tied up subplots ending with confetti and rose petals or whatever too.
i love being a tall girl, and i love that this book recognizes our struggle!!!
i love dream jobs. i love tropes. i love mean-girl characters. i love little kids. i love books!!!
when it came to this book, it feels like — beyond my missing magical realism, and the not-very-enemies beginning of this enemies to lovers, and some excessive sister sneakiness — i loved (almost) it all.
bottom line: emily henry forever!!!
4.5
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reread update
there's no problem that can't be solved by rereading every emily henry book
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pre-review
please respect my privacy at this time (deciding whether to give my third romance five star ever).
review to come / it's either 4.5 or 5
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currently-reading updates
this is the best day of my life
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tbr review
anyone have any tips on hibernation?
May 26, 2022
All these years spent thinking I had superhuman self-control, and now I realise I just never put anything I wanted too badly in front of myself.
Yeah, I agree with the general consensus that this may be the author's best yet.
I actually felt so-so about Henry's People We Meet on Vacation and almost gave this book a miss, but my friend convinced me to pick it up and I am glad I did. Book Lovers checks all my boxes for romance-- fun banter, hardass heroine (can't deal with blushing damsels), a guy who might have his broody moments but isn't a d*ck, and steamy encounters.
I'll get my one complaint out of the way and say I think we could have safely lost fifty or so pages of family angst, which pretty much always feels like filler in romance books like this.
Outside of that though, this was a hit. In addition to the usual stuff I like, I also really appreciated how the author made use of their careers-- she a literary agent, he an editor --to challenge, point fun at, and subvert the romance genre's tropes.
As a badass, hardworking city gal, Nora has been left by multiple past boyfriends for wholesome country women who bake and dutifully pop out kids. She's the b*tch in this trope; career-driven, ambitious, and particular about the shoes she wears, obviously not the kind of woman someone wants to be with in the long term. When her sister suggests a getaway to the country and, who knows, maybe her own country romance, Nora reluctantly comes along. There she meets, not a sexy lumberjack, but none other than Charlie-- a fierce editor from back in the city.
I love how this book doesn't change Nora or punish her for being ambitious and hardworking. It's so true that men are allowed to be obsessed with their work, whereas women who do the same are too often treated as if they have an illness. I'm glad that's not the case here. I always hated to see powerful women tamed.
May 4, 2022
i didn't like this :(
but i have reasons so let's discuss:
1. nora. god i so desperately wanted to love her. she's kind of stony and bitchy and so am i, ergo match made in heaven? not so much. the stony exterior was great but the immature center was irritating. i could understand her motives in wanting to keep her sister happy but her inability to solve problems and ask straight forward questions and allow her sister autonomy... big oof.
2. libby. her character was never fleshed out enough to be even a little interesting. she has 2 outbursts throughout the story and each time i thought they'd be break throughs in making her have something to really say. but no. she had a different perspective on her upbringing than her sister which was interesting enough but her life wasn't interesting enough to have motivations. she has babies, that's all i gathered.
3. charlie mcblandbland. he definitely feels more like gus than alex, which i guess makes sense given the similarities between beach read and book lovers. but beyond a decent sense of humor and some tragic backstory i again, did not find him interesting. i could feel emily henry attempting to make him a perfect match for nora with the older sibling, never picked by girls shtick but the sexual tension fizzled after the first encounter. boo.
4. setting was not my fave. i've heard people say it's schitt's creek-y but there aren't enough charming characters to make that a thing.
did i like anything?
i suppose i can admit that there is some growth on the part of nora. she chases her dreams, lets a man into her life, and finally lets her grown ass sister be a grown ass adult.
but that's kind of it. feels mean to do it but it's a 2 star read for me. at least beach read had that jaw dropping moment of unrequited love/mutual pining.
but i have reasons so let's discuss:
1. nora. god i so desperately wanted to love her. she's kind of stony and bitchy and so am i, ergo match made in heaven? not so much. the stony exterior was great but the immature center was irritating. i could understand her motives in wanting to keep her sister happy but her inability to solve problems and ask straight forward questions and allow her sister autonomy... big oof.
2. libby. her character was never fleshed out enough to be even a little interesting. she has 2 outbursts throughout the story and each time i thought they'd be break throughs in making her have something to really say. but no. she had a different perspective on her upbringing than her sister which was interesting enough but her life wasn't interesting enough to have motivations. she has babies, that's all i gathered.
3. charlie mcblandbland. he definitely feels more like gus than alex, which i guess makes sense given the similarities between beach read and book lovers. but beyond a decent sense of humor and some tragic backstory i again, did not find him interesting. i could feel emily henry attempting to make him a perfect match for nora with the older sibling, never picked by girls shtick but the sexual tension fizzled after the first encounter. boo.
4. setting was not my fave. i've heard people say it's schitt's creek-y but there aren't enough charming characters to make that a thing.
did i like anything?
i suppose i can admit that there is some growth on the part of nora. she chases her dreams, lets a man into her life, and finally lets her grown ass sister be a grown ass adult.
but that's kind of it. feels mean to do it but it's a 2 star read for me. at least beach read had that jaw dropping moment of unrequited love/mutual pining.
July 4, 2022
Book Lovers does a lot of things right with subverting Hallmark movies with a cold girlboss protagonist who, instead of changing her ways or mentality, is still appreciated for who she is and what she values, especially by the love interest. I like that being career-oriented, valuing independence, living in the city, and being childless are qualities that aren’t villainized nor expected to change in order to have a happy ending. The banter is fun, and I can see how the MC and love interest pair really well together. What gave the book more depth, though, was its focus on the MC’s own issues and relationship with her sister. This helped round the story to be both a combination of romance and interpersonal/family struggles.
Perhaps I just have low standards when it comes to 3rd act conflicts in romance books, but I was impressed with how the author tackled this one. Rather than relying on misunderstandings, the conflicts presented felt more realistic and honest. I was even more surprised that there were not one, but multiple realistic conflicts that made it difficult for the MC to have her happy ending - and I appreciated that, because that's how life actually works. “There’s no happy ending for a woman who wants it all.”
Sometimes it gets little info-dumpy for the sake of characterization and relationship building, and one could argue that the love interest isn’t fully developed, but I’m OK with letting these things slide. Book Lovers has much more positive things going on than negative, so I’m totally fine with rounding it up to 5 stars.
Perhaps I just have low standards when it comes to 3rd act conflicts in romance books, but I was impressed with how the author tackled this one. Rather than relying on misunderstandings, the conflicts presented felt more realistic and honest. I was even more surprised that there were not one, but multiple realistic conflicts that made it difficult for the MC to have her happy ending - and I appreciated that, because that's how life actually works. “There’s no happy ending for a woman who wants it all.”
Sometimes it gets little info-dumpy for the sake of characterization and relationship building, and one could argue that the love interest isn’t fully developed, but I’m OK with letting these things slide. Book Lovers has much more positive things going on than negative, so I’m totally fine with rounding it up to 5 stars.
April 14, 2022
i’m already convinced Emily henry personally writes to me in her books and this book just proved it. this book is made for book lovers by a book lover. and it is especially made for the older sister who has a younger sister.
i fucking love these characters with all my heart. idk i just feel like Emily can create some of the best characters that eventually become my comfort characters.
Nora is complex, deep, funny, and relatable. She’s like blood dripping from fangs as Emily describes it. Charlie says all the right things. i love the way Charlie can read Nora like a book (pun intended) i love the way Emily henry describes the men in her books. Their chemistry was tangible. Their emotions were deep. They are beautifully flawed puzzles pieces that fit together. i admire them so much. if there’s anything emily henry can put her whole ass and tits into, it’s creating the best characters.
the ending had me squealing and running laps around the neighborhood. it was so cute and wholesome.
Emily henry’s writing is so unique to me and refreshing. she’s always been one of my comfort authors. i feel like she’s THAT white woman who is MY white woman. she writes for poc first, i’m convinced. she deserves to get her ass ate for birthing this masterpiece that’s all.
also i think i love this just as much as Beach Read. like i can’t choose one over the other. i hold them both dear to my heart.
i fucking love these characters with all my heart. idk i just feel like Emily can create some of the best characters that eventually become my comfort characters.
Nora is complex, deep, funny, and relatable. She’s like blood dripping from fangs as Emily describes it. Charlie says all the right things. i love the way Charlie can read Nora like a book (pun intended) i love the way Emily henry describes the men in her books. Their chemistry was tangible. Their emotions were deep. They are beautifully flawed puzzles pieces that fit together. i admire them so much. if there’s anything emily henry can put her whole ass and tits into, it’s creating the best characters.
the ending had me squealing and running laps around the neighborhood. it was so cute and wholesome.
Emily henry’s writing is so unique to me and refreshing. she’s always been one of my comfort authors. i feel like she’s THAT white woman who is MY white woman. she writes for poc first, i’m convinced. she deserves to get her ass ate for birthing this masterpiece that’s all.
also i think i love this just as much as Beach Read. like i can’t choose one over the other. i hold them both dear to my heart.
August 12, 2024
I’m speechless! I’m absolutely head over heels for this book!
This is the best romance story I’ve read recently and the smartest enemies-to-lovers trope I’ve ever devoured!
This is undoubtedly the author’s best work and likely my top pick for the best romance read of 2022. It’s earned my full vote for the Goodreads Choice Awards in the romance category!
I think Nora (named after Ms. Ephron, who gave us the best taste of romcoms) and Charlie are the best main characters the author has ever created!
I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to describe how I feel about this book! But if I could give it a billion stars, I would do so without hesitation!
This time, I’m not giving anything away because I’m still trying to recover from the emotional intensity of this incredible experience. So you have to read it and find out for yourself!
I’ll stop my rambling now! Just read it, and buy it for all your loved ones! This is a unique literary feast that you shouldn’t miss—a pure definition of perfection!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing the ARC of the best romance of 2022 with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
December 27, 2021
i wish i was capable of a teaspoon of the banter, humour, and snark that comes out of charlie and noras mouths. they are seriously a match made in heaven.
but OTPs are nothing new for EH. she has a real gift when it comes to creating a connection and understanding between two people. i loved her YA books, but writing adult romance is her true calling in life.
what i adored most about this particular book is how it doesnt take itself seriously. there is some serious themes and content, but the overall vibe is very ‘lets poke fun at hallmark movies,’ which i enjoyed. the big city girl in a small town trope always works for me, so it was fun to have her fall for a big city boy as they are both stuck in the small town together. both charlie and nora work in publishing, so i think the story might feel too meta at times for some readers, but i personally didnt mind it.
i think this is a fantastic addition to EHs bibliography. if you enjoyed her other books, you will definitely want to add this to your TBR, as its very much the same charm and wittiness and romance she has made herself known for.
a massive thanks to berkley for the ARC!!
↠ 5 stars
but OTPs are nothing new for EH. she has a real gift when it comes to creating a connection and understanding between two people. i loved her YA books, but writing adult romance is her true calling in life.
what i adored most about this particular book is how it doesnt take itself seriously. there is some serious themes and content, but the overall vibe is very ‘lets poke fun at hallmark movies,’ which i enjoyed. the big city girl in a small town trope always works for me, so it was fun to have her fall for a big city boy as they are both stuck in the small town together. both charlie and nora work in publishing, so i think the story might feel too meta at times for some readers, but i personally didnt mind it.
i think this is a fantastic addition to EHs bibliography. if you enjoyed her other books, you will definitely want to add this to your TBR, as its very much the same charm and wittiness and romance she has made herself known for.
a massive thanks to berkley for the ARC!!
↠ 5 stars
February 22, 2023
Read by a book lover who didn't love this book🙂
Don't get me wrong, it's no doubt so well written. The prologue and the first few chapters are brilliant. But soon after, it became incredibly dull for me. It didn't have the 'wow factor.' The characters are just bleh (sorry not sorry). I found Nora to be slightly more likable than Prem's dick- Charlie (Dating Dr Dil reference that has the potential to ruin any love interest named Charlie). So Charlie is just bland...like the rest of the book.
The concept is not new. I found it to be similar to Beach Read but in a very uninteresting manner. I wanted to like this book but simply couldn't. It did not work for me. But I would still suggest to give it a try, you might end up liking it more than me🤷♀️
Don't get me wrong, it's no doubt so well written. The prologue and the first few chapters are brilliant. But soon after, it became incredibly dull for me. It didn't have the 'wow factor.' The characters are just bleh (sorry not sorry). I found Nora to be slightly more likable than Prem's dick- Charlie (Dating Dr Dil reference that has the potential to ruin any love interest named Charlie). So Charlie is just bland...like the rest of the book.
The concept is not new. I found it to be similar to Beach Read but in a very uninteresting manner. I wanted to like this book but simply couldn't. It did not work for me. But I would still suggest to give it a try, you might end up liking it more than me🤷♀️
September 8, 2022
LMAO WHAT IS THISSSS
i have never struggled through a romance book as much as i did with this one??? nora? mid. charlie? mid. libby? mid.
i’m sorry but there is not a single thing about this book that makes up for the fact that there is no substance to it. it feels like emily henry considered every trope that sells and decided to bunch them all up and incorporated them into this mess of a book. some of it was just so unappealing. i’m so disappointed:(
i was so into the siblings relationship until they unironically referred to each other as “sissy” PUH-LEASE
i have never struggled through a romance book as much as i did with this one??? nora? mid. charlie? mid. libby? mid.
i’m sorry but there is not a single thing about this book that makes up for the fact that there is no substance to it. it feels like emily henry considered every trope that sells and decided to bunch them all up and incorporated them into this mess of a book. some of it was just so unappealing. i’m so disappointed:(
i was so into the siblings relationship until they unironically referred to each other as “sissy” PUH-LEASE
December 19, 2022
I'm usually not big on romance...
Quite frankly I'm often hoping the main female character will realize that the douche-canoe she's dating needs to be dumped but... this one was cute! I also really appreciated the positive representation of a childfree woman.
Enemy to lover done right, would recommend!
*It made it to my best books of 2022:
https://youtu.be/WmTndjsYFIc
Quite frankly I'm often hoping the main female character will realize that the douche-canoe she's dating needs to be dumped but... this one was cute! I also really appreciated the positive representation of a childfree woman.
Enemy to lover done right, would recommend!
*It made it to my best books of 2022:
https://youtu.be/WmTndjsYFIc
Read
May 17, 2022Nora is a ruthlessly ambitious literary agent who identifies more with the villains in romance movies than the heroines. Swayed by her sister to spend the summer together in a picturesque small-town, the last person she expects to run into is Charlie—the surly editor she’s avoided ever since their disastrous first meeting. Modern and fresh, this is a must-read for rom-com lovers.
February 13, 2023
I appreciated how deep the romantic relationship went in this one. A lot of romance books I read feel surface level at times, but this one felt very meaningful. The sibling relationship was a big highlight for me with this book and seeing them work through a big hurdle together was one of my favorite elements.
Read
September 28, 2021Edited to add, you can preorder here: https://www.josephbeth.com/book/97805...
The rumors are true: I wrote another book about books, and this one has accidental roy kent energy.
The rumors are true: I wrote another book about books, and this one has accidental roy kent energy.
February 15, 2022
emily henry's writing is a gift to the entire virgo supercluster send tweet
February 21, 2023
a book about book lovers read by people who love books and loved by a book lover
February 26, 2022
I wish I wrote this.
I wish I wrote this book first.
But i'm not that good.
I wish I wrote this book first.
But i'm not that good.
April 28, 2022
Once again, Emily Henry manages to make me believe in straight people again.
October 6, 2022
sponsored by pelaton
July 25, 2022
5 Huge Stars
"I'm not ashamed of my upbringing, but the more you tell a person about yourself, the more power you hand over."
I've been trying to write a review for this book that was about the actual book and not just a bunch of TMI about me, but...the struggle is real. For that reason, I will probably be keeping this short so as not to overwhelm ya'll with a bunch of personal information no ones cares about.
As all we crazy power readers know, sometimes it's timing...sometimes it's your mood...sometimes it's that you feel as if the characters were made from you and that you just get them.
This book was all three for me. And I just loved everything about it.
The pop culture references...the witty banter...the tongue in cheek meta-talk about romance novels and their cliched characters...the writing itself. All of it. Loved it. Every second. I mean, just look at this:
"This place looks like a Cracker Barrel had a baby with a honky-tonk, and now that baby is a teenager who doesn't shower enough and chews on his sweatshirt sleeves."
^I wish I had written that.
What did I love most though?
Nora.
I ADORED her.
Because I basically AM her.
In so many ways. And, crazy as it sounds, being with her in these pages made me feel like I was hanging out with a friend who accepted me for exactly who I am.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
As a blond woman who is obsessed with books, skincare, Peloton, and my spare room closet...and who also works in a super male-dominated field with resting bitch face and zero desire for children...yes. Yes, I loved Nora.
I also loved Charlie and just Nora and Charlie together. Their banter was absolutely delicious and the way they just understood each other...the things romance dreams are made of, folks.
Anyway, I'll stop this gush fest here as I've pretty much slobbered all over the computer screen. There is more, but again, TMI. Plus, the Peloton is calling my name.
"I'm not ashamed of my upbringing, but the more you tell a person about yourself, the more power you hand over."
I've been trying to write a review for this book that was about the actual book and not just a bunch of TMI about me, but...the struggle is real. For that reason, I will probably be keeping this short so as not to overwhelm ya'll with a bunch of personal information no ones cares about.
As all we crazy power readers know, sometimes it's timing...sometimes it's your mood...sometimes it's that you feel as if the characters were made from you and that you just get them.
This book was all three for me. And I just loved everything about it.
The pop culture references...the witty banter...the tongue in cheek meta-talk about romance novels and their cliched characters...the writing itself. All of it. Loved it. Every second. I mean, just look at this:
"This place looks like a Cracker Barrel had a baby with a honky-tonk, and now that baby is a teenager who doesn't shower enough and chews on his sweatshirt sleeves."
^I wish I had written that.
What did I love most though?
Nora.
I ADORED her.
Because I basically AM her.
In so many ways. And, crazy as it sounds, being with her in these pages made me feel like I was hanging out with a friend who accepted me for exactly who I am.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"...barking heartless advice from the seat of her Peloton bike. You can tell she's evil because her hair is an unnatural blond, slicked back a la Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, and also, she hates Christmas decorations."
"That's the thing about women. There's no good way to be. Wear your emotions on your sleeve and you're hysterical. Keep them tucked away where your boyfriend doesn't have to tend to them and you're a heartless bitch."
"I'm a career woman with a weekly housekeeping service, a spare bedroom I turned into a shoe closet, and a Sephora credit card. I don't imagine my dream man is a lobster hunter."
"Mom's theory was that youthful skin would make a woman more money...good underwear would make her more confident...and good books would make her happy."
"'And what, just because I don't want kids, I would supposedly punish a pregnant woman for making a different decision than me? My favorite person's a pregnant woman! And I'm obsessed with my nieces. Not every decision a woman makes is some grand indictment on other women's lives.'"
"I hate when I have to think about what my face is doing, especially because I'm never convinced it's translating."
"'I hated being a kid...I'd have no idea how to get someone else through it, and I definitely wouldn't enjoy it. I like them, but I don't want to be responsible for any.'"
As a blond woman who is obsessed with books, skincare, Peloton, and my spare room closet...and who also works in a super male-dominated field with resting bitch face and zero desire for children...yes. Yes, I loved Nora.
I also loved Charlie and just Nora and Charlie together. Their banter was absolutely delicious and the way they just understood each other...the things romance dreams are made of, folks.
Anyway, I'll stop this gush fest here as I've pretty much slobbered all over the computer screen. There is more, but again, TMI. Plus, the Peloton is calling my name.
September 20, 2023
Reading romances is ruining me, but I’ll never stop. Stories like these are too good to pass up.
Something about the stories that Emily Henry that hits all the right places. This woman just knows what the fuck she’s doing.
“It’s never taken effort—that’s what made me fall in love with reading: the instant floating sensation, the dissolution of real-world problems, every worry suddenly safely on the other side of some metaphysical surface.”
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So, this is love…
This is a 6 🌟 worthy read. Nothing less and everything more.
My feelings towards this book are bordering on not normal. They’re intense.
Anyone else experience slight breathing problems when they are *that* immersed in a story? Because the writing is so good and the characters are even good-er and you can’t wrap your mind around the fact that a story like this exists because of how well it speaks to you?
Okay, I’m calming. I’m calming down.
All I really knew going into this was that this was a book about books and I kept it that way intentionally. That’s all I needed to know. Partially because I like going into books somewhat blind but also because I trust Emily Henry to write a story that has all the right ingredients.
And I was right. I got everything that I was expecting and wanted and way more! Once I reached the ending and closed up the book, I felt calm and rejuvenated and fulfilled.
Thanks to all the crying.
I can’t wait to reread this again. It’s reread-worthy.
Thanks a million to Viking Books UK for sending me an ARC.
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Books about books just hit different.
“It follows literary agent Nora Stephens, a book-obsessed type-A go-getter who gives everything she has to her career but would really rather be the heroine of her own story.”
I mean… 😍
Something about the stories that Emily Henry that hits all the right places. This woman just knows what the fuck she’s doing.
“It’s never taken effort—that’s what made me fall in love with reading: the instant floating sensation, the dissolution of real-world problems, every worry suddenly safely on the other side of some metaphysical surface.”
————————————
So, this is love…
This is a 6 🌟 worthy read. Nothing less and everything more.
My feelings towards this book are bordering on not normal. They’re intense.
Anyone else experience slight breathing problems when they are *that* immersed in a story? Because the writing is so good and the characters are even good-er and you can’t wrap your mind around the fact that a story like this exists because of how well it speaks to you?
Okay, I’m calming. I’m calming down.
All I really knew going into this was that this was a book about books and I kept it that way intentionally. That’s all I needed to know. Partially because I like going into books somewhat blind but also because I trust Emily Henry to write a story that has all the right ingredients.
And I was right. I got everything that I was expecting and wanted and way more! Once I reached the ending and closed up the book, I felt calm and rejuvenated and fulfilled.
Thanks to all the crying.
I can’t wait to reread this again. It’s reread-worthy.
Thanks a million to Viking Books UK for sending me an ARC.
————————————
Books about books just hit different.
“It follows literary agent Nora Stephens, a book-obsessed type-A go-getter who gives everything she has to her career but would really rather be the heroine of her own story.”
I mean… 😍
June 6, 2022
Featured in this vlog: https://youtu.be/uXzba5_oHAM
Emily Henry is an incredible talent and this book proves that she’s brilliant at writing nuanced protagonists with stunning romantic chemistry. Nora and Charlie were just pitch perfect together. I will however say that I think this book is poorly marketed by labeling this as “rivals to lovers” because they simply are not rivals. They barely know each other and have had a vaguely bad first meeting but that does not a rival make. But I digress, they were fantastic together and Charlie made me swoon so many times! I loved all of their scenes and their love confessions actually made me cry.
If only the book was solely about them, however this book also focuses on Nora’s complex dynamic with her younger sister, Libby, and while I think that dynamic was well explored I personally simply did not care. It takes up so much of the narrative and so much mental space for Nora that her romance actually felt like a side plot to her relationship with Libby. The story just did not feel balanced particularly because it is marketed as a romance and her relationship with Charlie is not centralized nearly as much as her relationship with Libby.
Also this book is incredibly meta and because the characters are in the publishing industry, they are hyper aware of the character archetypes and narrative tropes they fall into. Which is cute at first but felt a bit grating to me after a while.
I’m conflicted, love Nora and Charlie, but I’m not sure I loved the book.
3.5 stars
Emily Henry is an incredible talent and this book proves that she’s brilliant at writing nuanced protagonists with stunning romantic chemistry. Nora and Charlie were just pitch perfect together. I will however say that I think this book is poorly marketed by labeling this as “rivals to lovers” because they simply are not rivals. They barely know each other and have had a vaguely bad first meeting but that does not a rival make. But I digress, they were fantastic together and Charlie made me swoon so many times! I loved all of their scenes and their love confessions actually made me cry.
If only the book was solely about them, however this book also focuses on Nora’s complex dynamic with her younger sister, Libby, and while I think that dynamic was well explored I personally simply did not care. It takes up so much of the narrative and so much mental space for Nora that her romance actually felt like a side plot to her relationship with Libby. The story just did not feel balanced particularly because it is marketed as a romance and her relationship with Charlie is not centralized nearly as much as her relationship with Libby.
Also this book is incredibly meta and because the characters are in the publishing industry, they are hyper aware of the character archetypes and narrative tropes they fall into. Which is cute at first but felt a bit grating to me after a while.
I’m conflicted, love Nora and Charlie, but I’m not sure I loved the book.
3.5 stars
August 12, 2022
I was disappointed by Book Lovers, here's a review in point form:
• My biggest issue with this book is that I simply didn't feel strongly about any of it. When I read a romance novel, I need to feel strongly about said romance--it can be a fun, lighthearted romance, or an angsty, hardhitting romance, but regardless of tone, all I want at the end of the day is to feel deeply invested in the characters' relationship. Needless to say, I didn't feel that way about Nora and Charlie. I didn't feel one way or the other about them, really. Their interactions were fine--and frankly, the worst thing aside from outright hating a romance is to think that it was fine. Fine is boring; it's lukewarm; it's forgettable. (Unsurprisingly enough, I've already started to forget this book even though I literally finished it yesterday.)
• As to why I thought the romance was mediocre, there are a lot of reasons. Namely, it wasn't developed slowly enough. There wasn't enough of a buildup, and the buildup is the best part of the romance: the tentativeness, the second-guessing yourself, the realization that you actually like this person, the tension--all of that was missing here. With the exception of their first encounter, Nora and Charlie pretty much immediately hit it off, and, like, good for them, but it's not very interesting for me as a reader to just have all that fun buildup stuff almost entirely skipped over.
• Emily Henry writes some really great banter in this (it's one of the few things I truly loved about this book), but banter does not a good story make, and the overarching structure of the romantic plotline was lacking. It was too vanilla in that it just wasn't dramatic enough: there was very little conflict, or a sense of there being narrative ups and downs. There were inconveniences and half-truths and little misunderstandings, sure, but there was just no underlying sense of actually significant highs and lows in the story (at least with regard to the romantic plotline).
• I feel like the whole time I was reading this, I was waiting for something to impress me--some "wow" moment that would stop me in my tracks--but it just never came. Part of that is the hype--a third Emily Henry romance!!!--and part of that was just my own expectations: I wasn't especially taken with Beach Read, but I loved People We Meet on Vacation--structurally, it's one of the most well executed romances I've ever read--and I thought (or hoped) that Henry's stories were on an upward trajectory. Sadly, this was a major step down for me. It wasn't bad, but it was underwhelming, which ultimately means give it a couple of weeks and I will pretty much have completely forgotten about this book.
• Some additional little gripes: first, the writing is overly sentimental sometimes, especially when Nora is waxing poetic about how much she loves New York and how much of a City Person she is. Like okay, we get it, you love the bodegas and trains or whatever, no need to tell us about it for the umpteenth time.
• Second, as with Beach Read, the fictional novel that Henry makes up for this book--a novel that Nora's author client, Dusty, is in the process of writing--sounds awful. Like it truly sounds so bad, and the fact that the characters talk about it like it's a literary masterpiece that they simply have to get their hands on boggled my mind.
• And third, I found it really annoying how Nora constantly had to babysit Dusty. Nora's workaholic tendencies are a big part of the book, so it was surprising to me that this was never addressed in any way. Nora is fielding phone calls from this lady left and right to coddle her and give her pep talks and make sure she's doing okay and like!!! Sure it's your job to make sure your client feels supported and all, but the way that it's written here makes it sound like Nora is just there to manage Dusty's emotions 24/7. That's not part of your job, Nora !!!!!
• My biggest issue with this book is that I simply didn't feel strongly about any of it. When I read a romance novel, I need to feel strongly about said romance--it can be a fun, lighthearted romance, or an angsty, hardhitting romance, but regardless of tone, all I want at the end of the day is to feel deeply invested in the characters' relationship. Needless to say, I didn't feel that way about Nora and Charlie. I didn't feel one way or the other about them, really. Their interactions were fine--and frankly, the worst thing aside from outright hating a romance is to think that it was fine. Fine is boring; it's lukewarm; it's forgettable. (Unsurprisingly enough, I've already started to forget this book even though I literally finished it yesterday.)
• As to why I thought the romance was mediocre, there are a lot of reasons. Namely, it wasn't developed slowly enough. There wasn't enough of a buildup, and the buildup is the best part of the romance: the tentativeness, the second-guessing yourself, the realization that you actually like this person, the tension--all of that was missing here. With the exception of their first encounter, Nora and Charlie pretty much immediately hit it off, and, like, good for them, but it's not very interesting for me as a reader to just have all that fun buildup stuff almost entirely skipped over.
• Emily Henry writes some really great banter in this (it's one of the few things I truly loved about this book), but banter does not a good story make, and the overarching structure of the romantic plotline was lacking. It was too vanilla in that it just wasn't dramatic enough: there was very little conflict, or a sense of there being narrative ups and downs. There were inconveniences and half-truths and little misunderstandings, sure, but there was just no underlying sense of actually significant highs and lows in the story (at least with regard to the romantic plotline).
• I feel like the whole time I was reading this, I was waiting for something to impress me--some "wow" moment that would stop me in my tracks--but it just never came. Part of that is the hype--a third Emily Henry romance!!!--and part of that was just my own expectations: I wasn't especially taken with Beach Read, but I loved People We Meet on Vacation--structurally, it's one of the most well executed romances I've ever read--and I thought (or hoped) that Henry's stories were on an upward trajectory. Sadly, this was a major step down for me. It wasn't bad, but it was underwhelming, which ultimately means give it a couple of weeks and I will pretty much have completely forgotten about this book.
• Some additional little gripes: first, the writing is overly sentimental sometimes, especially when Nora is waxing poetic about how much she loves New York and how much of a City Person she is. Like okay, we get it, you love the bodegas and trains or whatever, no need to tell us about it for the umpteenth time.
• Second, as with Beach Read, the fictional novel that Henry makes up for this book--a novel that Nora's author client, Dusty, is in the process of writing--sounds awful. Like it truly sounds so bad, and the fact that the characters talk about it like it's a literary masterpiece that they simply have to get their hands on boggled my mind.
• And third, I found it really annoying how Nora constantly had to babysit Dusty. Nora's workaholic tendencies are a big part of the book, so it was surprising to me that this was never addressed in any way. Nora is fielding phone calls from this lady left and right to coddle her and give her pep talks and make sure she's doing okay and like!!! Sure it's your job to make sure your client feels supported and all, but the way that it's written here makes it sound like Nora is just there to manage Dusty's emotions 24/7. That's not part of your job, Nora !!!!!
July 9, 2024
It was a book about books, it was a book about lovers. It was a book about books about lovers, it was a book about lovers of books. But above all, Book Lovers was a lovely book.
Emily Henry really charms here. She knows her audience and delivers with grace, harnessing the aesthetics of book love amidst the sexual tension of two publishing professionals with a tendency for ferocity. As a fellow book lover, what really resonated was the way Henry captures the tendency to find narratives in the world around us, though for Nora this sef-type casting has allowed her public life as ‘the villain in someone else's love story,’ to rule her romantic life ‘because people like me don’t get those endings.’ With a keen eye for the classic elements of a romantic comedy, Book Lovers delightfully both subverts and satirizes tropes while simultaneously leaning into them in surprising ways that makes this story as humorously engaging as it is endlessly adorable. ‘Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you,’ Nora thinks, and this book captures that feeling so effortlessly. It’s the anti-Hallmark film Hallmark film narrative that acknowledges, sure, its fun to mock the stereotypical cliches and feel like you are above them, but you know deep down you still enjoy watching them even if you don’t care to admit it. Besides, who doesn’t want to save a small business while also falling in love!? Now sprinkle in all the book lover joys of small town indie bookstores, enemies-to-lovers coming together while editing a riveting novel, metaphors about not wanting to finish books and endlessly referencing favorite books to better explain a situation, and you’ll see why it is nearly impossible to not fall in love with Book Lovers.
‘She wonders whether what comes next could ever live up to the expectations. She doesn’t know. You never can. She turns the page anyway.’
Seriously though, I really loved this. It’s such a feel-good book that I simply could not put down. I love the aspect of the novel of all the juxtapositions of people and places with their fictional counterparts. The adorable small town of a novel is lackluster and lame, though maybe a place that can be beautiful if you give it enough time. Or the fictional Nora, Nadine Winters, that shows up in Dusty’s newest novel and forces Nora to confront her own public persona. I also loved the characters. Charlie is so wonderful and I adored his full commitment to Nora, smitten and supportive every step of the way. He could certainly charm the pants off me, watch out Nora. But she was delightful too. It’s so easy to fall in love with them both. And I gotta say, Charlie running and indie bookstore while having a full time job really hit deep. Representation matters, thanks Henry. I also loved the discussion on book endings, especially the ones that are ‘a reminder that there are things in life so valuable that you must risk the pain of losing them for the joy of briefly having them,’ which warmed my heart as a fan of messy or sad endings. Granted, this book does run a big long and the ending starts to drag but overall this book just made me happy.
‘ Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either.’
While I found Happy Place a bit underwhelming, I found that all of the elements of this one worked really well. The banter is funny and adorable and I liked the calm pace that really let the scenes and characters breathe. The tension builds quite well and I enjoyed that Henry could discuss heavier themes amidst a rather sweet story as the slow understanding about Nora and her sister’s relationship was one of the most endearing aspects of the book. And not just the cutesy vacation checklist which leads to some good gaffs, but the tension between Libby wanting to he her own self and Nora wanting to always show she can support people and be reliable.
I think what really makes this work is that there is more than just a romance going on—in fact Nora find the romance to be stressful because it distracts from her other problems. It makes a good balance, especially with the sister narrative getting equal time as the romance narrative and Henry handling heavier subjects to counterbalance all the cuteness. Like a good mixed drink, gotta add a some bitters to balance the sweetness.
‘I still feel like a city person, through and through, but maybe it’s possible to have more than one home. Maybe it’s possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hundred different people and places.’
All in all, Book Lovers stole my heart. But how can it not when it so marvelously plays with the tropes of person and place aligning to make you swoon. Henry excels at giving a sense of place that draws you in and feels as much a character as those walking around it and here I found myself full up in this small town romance and everything that came with it. Because this book has a lot: publishing, small town charm while also embracing big city charm, hot guys, hot cousins of the hot guys, family drama, saving a small business, bad local theater, scandalous backstories, Bigfoot erotica, and did I mention hot guys? Book Lovers is a winner, and yes Emily Henry, ‘the romance gods would be proud.’
⅘
‘The last-page ache. The deep breath in after you’ve set the book aside.’
Emily Henry really charms here. She knows her audience and delivers with grace, harnessing the aesthetics of book love amidst the sexual tension of two publishing professionals with a tendency for ferocity. As a fellow book lover, what really resonated was the way Henry captures the tendency to find narratives in the world around us, though for Nora this sef-type casting has allowed her public life as ‘the villain in someone else's love story,’ to rule her romantic life ‘because people like me don’t get those endings.’ With a keen eye for the classic elements of a romantic comedy, Book Lovers delightfully both subverts and satirizes tropes while simultaneously leaning into them in surprising ways that makes this story as humorously engaging as it is endlessly adorable. ‘Sometimes, even when you start with the last page and you think you know everything, a book finds a way to surprise you,’ Nora thinks, and this book captures that feeling so effortlessly. It’s the anti-Hallmark film Hallmark film narrative that acknowledges, sure, its fun to mock the stereotypical cliches and feel like you are above them, but you know deep down you still enjoy watching them even if you don’t care to admit it. Besides, who doesn’t want to save a small business while also falling in love!? Now sprinkle in all the book lover joys of small town indie bookstores, enemies-to-lovers coming together while editing a riveting novel, metaphors about not wanting to finish books and endlessly referencing favorite books to better explain a situation, and you’ll see why it is nearly impossible to not fall in love with Book Lovers.
‘She wonders whether what comes next could ever live up to the expectations. She doesn’t know. You never can. She turns the page anyway.’
Seriously though, I really loved this. It’s such a feel-good book that I simply could not put down. I love the aspect of the novel of all the juxtapositions of people and places with their fictional counterparts. The adorable small town of a novel is lackluster and lame, though maybe a place that can be beautiful if you give it enough time. Or the fictional Nora, Nadine Winters, that shows up in Dusty’s newest novel and forces Nora to confront her own public persona. I also loved the characters. Charlie is so wonderful and I adored his full commitment to Nora, smitten and supportive every step of the way. He could certainly charm the pants off me, watch out Nora. But she was delightful too. It’s so easy to fall in love with them both. And I gotta say, Charlie running and indie bookstore while having a full time job really hit deep. Representation matters, thanks Henry. I also loved the discussion on book endings, especially the ones that are ‘a reminder that there are things in life so valuable that you must risk the pain of losing them for the joy of briefly having them,’ which warmed my heart as a fan of messy or sad endings. Granted, this book does run a big long and the ending starts to drag but overall this book just made me happy.
‘ Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either.’
While I found Happy Place a bit underwhelming, I found that all of the elements of this one worked really well. The banter is funny and adorable and I liked the calm pace that really let the scenes and characters breathe. The tension builds quite well and I enjoyed that Henry could discuss heavier themes amidst a rather sweet story as the slow understanding about Nora and her sister’s relationship was one of the most endearing aspects of the book. And not just the cutesy vacation checklist which leads to some good gaffs, but the tension between Libby wanting to he her own self and Nora wanting to always show she can support people and be reliable.
I think what really makes this work is that there is more than just a romance going on—in fact Nora find the romance to be stressful because it distracts from her other problems. It makes a good balance, especially with the sister narrative getting equal time as the romance narrative and Henry handling heavier subjects to counterbalance all the cuteness. Like a good mixed drink, gotta add a some bitters to balance the sweetness.
‘I still feel like a city person, through and through, but maybe it’s possible to have more than one home. Maybe it’s possible to belong in a hundred different ways to a hundred different people and places.’
All in all, Book Lovers stole my heart. But how can it not when it so marvelously plays with the tropes of person and place aligning to make you swoon. Henry excels at giving a sense of place that draws you in and feels as much a character as those walking around it and here I found myself full up in this small town romance and everything that came with it. Because this book has a lot: publishing, small town charm while also embracing big city charm, hot guys, hot cousins of the hot guys, family drama, saving a small business, bad local theater, scandalous backstories, Bigfoot erotica, and did I mention hot guys? Book Lovers is a winner, and yes Emily Henry, ‘the romance gods would be proud.’
⅘
‘The last-page ache. The deep breath in after you’ve set the book aside.’
June 2, 2022
It will surprise absolutely no one when I say that I adored this book. It made me simultaneously miss the heck out of New York but also want to call up my sister, get on a plane to Small Town, USA™ and just lose myself for a weekend with nothing but my kindle and an empty stomach. Emily Henry just has such a knack for writing books that feel like they were written specifically *for me* and I truly have yet to be disappointed. While I don’t know that this is my favorite of her novels (I love them all so much that it’s honestly kind of pointless to try to play favorites aside from writing this review lol), I am confident that the ending of this book is not only my favorite of her endings, but possibly one of my favorites book endings of all time? I read the last 50 pages twice and cried just as hard at the ending both times. I couldn't have dreamed up a better conclusion if I tried. Oh, also, Charlie is an absolute dream boat and I love love loved both him and Nora SO. FUCKING. MUCH. Emily Henry just has *such* a gift and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life reading her stories. Happy, happy sigh
CW: death of a parent, minor pregnancy complications
CW: death of a parent, minor pregnancy complications
January 9, 2025
The writing and the characters. No. Was looking for a good read with good character development and good chemistry. One of those books which look like it was written in a hurry.
And the cover could have been so much better 😩
And the cover could have been so much better 😩
May 27, 2024
reread june 23th 2023:
emily henry is literally mother 🤭.
original review: i would never, EVER doubt emily henry again.
original review: i would never, EVER doubt emily henry again.
February 1, 2022
YALL‼️‼️‼️ this is not a drill!!!! EMILY HENRY HAS OUTDONE HERSELF…. I know, I didn’t think it was possible either but here we are. This book had the most amazing small town vibe w such funny moments and yet so much depth too??? unreal. Nora was everything, I think everyone will see so much of themselves in her! & Charlie? obsessed. Their banter and conversations were my favorite thing, and the relationships & friendships within this book were amazing. I’m in love with everything about this, but are we even surprised?
May 25, 2022
I think my ranking of Book Lovers in the EH canon is 3rd out of the 5 that I've read. I was kicking and squealing at the banter, the writing was superb as always, and I really enjoyed reading the "grumpy x grumpy" dynamic which was very unique to the typical romance/WF novel. I didn't feel the same level of /completely understood/ as a person that i felt from the characters of January Andrews or Alex Nilson, but there were still definitely moments when I just started crying because certain lines were so me. I think audiences will love this just as much as they've loved Henry's prior two adult novels; it carries the same charm and authenticity that shines through the EH canon.
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