Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Nora Stephens’s life is books - she’s read them all - and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laid-back 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.
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Spoiler Free Review
She knocks it outta the park! How does Emily Henry manage to crank out these amazingly relatable, heart-warming, introspective romances without once missing the mark?! This is the author that got me into romance and I’m so happy to be reminded why. She is a genius with words and characters. She has a way of crawling into your brain as you read and learning all your deepest thoughts and longings and then purging them into the most relatable books you could read. Books that make you feel seen and heard and that you never want to finish reading. The banter in this book was UNMATCHED. I don’t even think Lorelai Gilmore could keep up to the fire and witticisms flying between Charlie and Nora in this book. The story was such a great nod to so many timeless romcoms and beloved tropes. I absolutely will be reading this again and will continue to buy anything Emily Henry writes.
The characters in this book had such great growth and development and Henry has a way of writing her characters in such a realistic way that you can’t help but empathize with them. They leap from the page fully formed and every character written has so much depth. I’m in love with the idea that this novel was written as an almost anti-hallmark story. It told the story of “the other side”, of the people who are ambitious and driven and headstrong. The people who enjoy luxury and city life as opposed to the usual small town sweethearts we are usually subjected to. Nora is the opposite of me. I am not a workaholic, I’m not the ice blond who needs complete control, I’m not the older sister with too much responsibility on her shoulders, and yet, I STILL found her entirely relatable. That’s talent. Nora, like most main characters, has some deep seated insecurities that become a major part of the plot and the character arch and I loved that the issue chosen was mental health. I feel like anxiety isn’t something that is well represented in a lot of romance novels. At least not accurately. I really enjoyed Charlie’s backstory as well. I’m keeping this a spoiler-free review but I will say, I found his childhood extremely relatable and he has quickly become one of my favourite love interests in an Emily Henry book.
The humour in this book was delightful. I tabbed every line that made me laugh out loud in yellow and by the time I was done the book, most of my tabs were yellow. The banter between the characters was great, not just between Nora and Charlie but between Libby and Nora as well. Their sisterly relationship/banter reminded me of Rory and Lorelai: Fast paced, sarcastic, and hilarious. I wish my brain could come up with zingers like that. Every scene from first online dates to dramatic declarations had such wonderful moments of humour sprinkled throughout that, even though this book tackled some heartbreaking topics, kept it light and warm. This book felt like a safe and fun place to escape for a while.
This book felt like therapy. It made me feel happy and healed. It touched on the delicacy and faithfulness of sisterly relationships. It highlighted the importance of honesty and communication. And it did an excellent job portraying trusting, supportive, and equal partner relationships. My favourite thing about Emily Henry is that, no matter the trope, whether it be enemies to lovers, or miscommunication, there is no toxicity to be found. I loved this book, I’m sad that it’s over, and I’ll definitely be rereading it. If you haven’t picked up Book Lovers yet, go now! It’s a 5 star read for me.