Bookshop Girl by Chloe ColesPublished On: June 14, 2018
Published By: Hot Key Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 224
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★
Amazon | Goodreads
Bennett's Bookshop has always been a haven for sixteen-year-old Paige Turner. It's a place where she can escape from her sleepy hometown, hang out with her best friend, Holly, and also earn some money.
But, like so many bookshops, Bennett's has become a 'casualty of the high street' - it's strapped for cash and going to be torn down. Paige is determined to save it but mobilising a small town like Greysworth is no mean feat.
Time is ticking - but that's not the only problem Paige has. How is she going to fend off the attractions of beautiful fellow artist, Blaine? And, more importantly, will his anarchist ways make or break her bookshop campaign?
*A copy of this book was provide by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
A quick, fun read.
This was a nice short, fast-paced read that I managed to fly through. The plot was fun and the characters are definitely relatable for younger readers. I definitely think this is aimed at younger YA readers, I think I would have loved this at 14/15, but it felt very young to me as a not quite so young adult, particularly in the language used.
It was all about the books.
I really enjoyed the bookshop storyline and the fact that the importance of books was discussed a lot. Any book lover will easily relate to the passion these characters have when they talk about books and what their bookshop means to them. However, I felt like the saving the bookshop storyline was somewhat overshadowed at times by a lot of unnecessary drama.
So many pet peeves in one book.
This book contained so many of my bookish pet peeves that there wasn't really much chance of me loving it. We had a best friend fallout over the most insignificant thing and added nothing to the story, probably my most hated thing in books, and a girl becoming obsessed with a boy she knows absolutely nothing about. These things, among others, I just couldn't get past.
It tried too hard to be feminist.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for using an opportunity within a book to discuss important issues, like male privilege and treatment of women in society. However, going out of your way in the book to make crossing the road into one of these moments is a bit of a stretch. There were some really great moments within the book, such as one within an art class, where an opportunity arose within the story to talk about these things. For me, though, there were too many times where we were taken completely out of the story to do so, which made it feel less genuine.
The boy drama was too much for me.
Despite our main character talking a lot about women being more than just their bodies and the way they look, she becomes obsessed over a boy she has never actually spoken to because she likes the way he looks! She then claims to be in love with him after they've exchanged about four words and still no nothing about each other. I was over this 'relationship' before the real drama even kicked off.
It did have a good message.
The main idea of this book is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting for the things you want, which I think is a really great message to be portraying to young readers. It did a great job of showing that even a 16-year-old girl can try to make a difference and that you're never too young to put up a fight.
Overall, this book was not for me. I can see the appeal for younger readers and do think it is a book I would have enjoyed as a young teenager. However, their were just too many things that annoyed me and little issues that I couldn't see past in order to enjoy it as much now.
This was a nice short, fast-paced read that I managed to fly through. The plot was fun and the characters are definitely relatable for younger readers. I definitely think this is aimed at younger YA readers, I think I would have loved this at 14/15, but it felt very young to me as a not quite so young adult, particularly in the language used.
It was all about the books.
I really enjoyed the bookshop storyline and the fact that the importance of books was discussed a lot. Any book lover will easily relate to the passion these characters have when they talk about books and what their bookshop means to them. However, I felt like the saving the bookshop storyline was somewhat overshadowed at times by a lot of unnecessary drama.
So many pet peeves in one book.
This book contained so many of my bookish pet peeves that there wasn't really much chance of me loving it. We had a best friend fallout over the most insignificant thing and added nothing to the story, probably my most hated thing in books, and a girl becoming obsessed with a boy she knows absolutely nothing about. These things, among others, I just couldn't get past.
It tried too hard to be feminist.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for using an opportunity within a book to discuss important issues, like male privilege and treatment of women in society. However, going out of your way in the book to make crossing the road into one of these moments is a bit of a stretch. There were some really great moments within the book, such as one within an art class, where an opportunity arose within the story to talk about these things. For me, though, there were too many times where we were taken completely out of the story to do so, which made it feel less genuine.
The boy drama was too much for me.
Despite our main character talking a lot about women being more than just their bodies and the way they look, she becomes obsessed over a boy she has never actually spoken to because she likes the way he looks! She then claims to be in love with him after they've exchanged about four words and still no nothing about each other. I was over this 'relationship' before the real drama even kicked off.
It did have a good message.
The main idea of this book is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting for the things you want, which I think is a really great message to be portraying to young readers. It did a great job of showing that even a 16-year-old girl can try to make a difference and that you're never too young to put up a fight.
Overall, this book was not for me. I can see the appeal for younger readers and do think it is a book I would have enjoyed as a young teenager. However, their were just too many things that annoyed me and little issues that I couldn't see past in order to enjoy it as much now.
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