altlovesbooks
Bland and forgettable to a scary degree. I finished this book maybe an hour and a half ago and already had to refresh myself on what happened. Not a whole lot, as it turns out. The title of this is actually a bit misleading, since this book really isn't about the bookstore at all, which also has me a little sore.
Takako, doormat, discovers her boyfriend had been cheating on her, and also lost her job at the same time. She's saved from having to make any tough decisions though, by her divorced uncle calling her up and inviting her to stay at his bookshop out of the city. She stays in an upper room above the bookshop, minds the store for her uncle, and meets some of the locals. She still pines for her old boyfriend though, and even when confronting him still seemed like she just wanted to pretend nothing happened. At one point in the book she starts pestering her uncle about why her aunt left him, and suddenly the book is not about Takako trying to grow a spine, but about her aunt and uncle reconciling. The book ends.
This is not about the bookshop or books really, beyond a casual plot point of Takako rediscovering her love of reading. The writing is flat, the characters are flat, and it's hard to actually feel anything for any of these characters if the writing isn't selling them to you. I also felt like the book spent time trying to build up Takako/the bookshop that it felt jarring when suddenly the point of the book shifted to Takako/the aunt/reconciliation.
Plus I sort of hated the scene early on between Takako, her uncle and the boyfriend. Her doormat personality made it hard for me to actually like her.
A perfectly readable book, but bland and forgettable by the end.
Bland and forgettable to a scary degree. I finished this book maybe an hour and a half ago and already had to refresh myself on what happened. Not a whole lot, as it turns out. The title of this is actually a bit misleading, since this book really isn't about the bookstore at all, which also has me a little sore.
Takako, doormat, discovers her boyfriend had been cheating on her, and also lost her job at the same time. She's saved from having to make any tough decisions though, by her divorced uncle calling her up and inviting her to stay at his bookshop out of the city. She stays in an upper room above the bookshop, minds the store for her uncle, and meets some of the locals. She still pines for her old boyfriend though, and even when confronting him still seemed like she just wanted to pretend nothing happened. At one point in the book she starts pestering her uncle about why her aunt left him, and suddenly the book is not about Takako trying to grow a spine, but about her aunt and uncle reconciling. The book ends.
This is not about the bookshop or books really, beyond a casual plot point of Takako rediscovering her love of reading. The writing is flat, the characters are flat, and it's hard to actually feel anything for any of these characters if the writing isn't selling them to you. I also felt like the book spent time trying to build up Takako/the bookshop that it felt jarring when suddenly the point of the book shifted to Takako/the aunt/reconciliation.
Plus I sort of hated the scene early on between Takako, her uncle and the boyfriend. Her doormat personality made it hard for me to actually like her.
A perfectly readable book, but bland and forgettable by the end.