My general reviews on Emily Henry are as follows:

Strengths: writing women, creating meaningful relatable familial relationships, writing friendships-particularly female friendships

Weaknesses: Annoying male characters (but maybe I just think male characters are annoying!), building romance that isn’t completely predictable and over the top, getting to the point (Happy Place was good but could have been MUCH shorter)

This book review will be vague so there aren’t any spoilers (hopefully)!

Book Lovers is a predictable but fun story about a “hard to love” “career woman” named Nora (after Nora Ephron) with an emotional backstory that slowly unfolds to provide reasoning for her character flaws. This backstory includes themes of trauma, parentification, love lost, and the varied perspectives family members hold. I found the dramatic lead up to the “love lost” theme did not match the actual story that was shared. The trauma and family perspectives however, were strong storylines that were well told and hit just at the right time. 

For Book Lovers the descriptions of the relationships between Nora and her sister Libby, and their Mom were beautiful, and sad, and made me feel all the feels. I have a soft spot for anything that is about siblings (it is why I loved Malibu Rising so much), sisters in particular (I have 3). 

I actually didn’t find Charlie, the main male character, to be as annoying as the men in Beach Read and Happy Place. Charlie is gruff when you first meet him, but that starts to fade pretty quickly once he takes his place in the main storyline. The build up of the romance and the questions about what was happening in Libby’s life were fun in this book. I was surprised by the reveal about Libby and enjoyed that very much!

Nora and Libby were raised in New York around books and theater. This is a main theme throughout the book. Nora is a book agent and Charlie is an editor. Stories and scenes in bookstores are plentiful throughout. In each of Henry’s books that I have read, at least one character is either some sort of writer or artist and bookstores are always mentioned.  

The general story is one about a big city career woman spending an extended period of time in a small sleepy southern town. A town that she actually has career ties to and as it turns out, personal ties to as well. She is trying to take care of her sister while proving that she isn’t a “shark” which, she is learning, is how other people see her. The ancillary characters provided some good laughs and insight into dating, family, and small town life. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the characters and the plot of Book Lovers. I am not sure I would say I liked it more than The People We Meet on Vacation, they are probably on par with one another. 

If you like strong women, stories about bookstores, sister bounds, and a little spicy romance then this book might be for you!

If I were to plan a vacation around Book Lovers:

1. A weekend in New York City in the fall. The Itinerary would include a broadway show and list of book shops to visit including The Strand and The Drama Book Shop.
2. A weekend in Asheville, North Carolina in the summer. The itinerary would include waterfalls, horses, swimming, and maybe a trip to a book shop.