Gabrielle Zevin

I discovered this novel a while ago and had it on my reading list when I saw it in a Street Library (where people share books in the community). Having a book to hand whenever you want is a nice feeling. After I finished with my library books I picked it up and enjoyed it immensely. It's about a man called A. J. Fikry who owns and runs a bookshop on a remote island in what is probably Massachussetts in the U.S. He has recently lost his wife and is a mess. Then a small child is left in his shop. What is he to do? The novel starts by introducing us to book rep Amelia who meets grumpy A. J. with his strict ideas about literature he will sell. https://readableword.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/the-collected-works-of-a-j-fikry-b...… (mehr)

[mild spoilers ahead, beware if you're very sensitive to that]
Not to be rude but I am genuinely shocked this book is as popular as it is. In short, I thought it was a little boring and often made me cringe in the first half or so, but I kept reading hoping it would get better, which it did! It had some merit, the characters got more realistic (or at the very least, relatable to me) and I thought I had decided to finish it after all. Then, I will not spoil it too much, but a character died that I really liked, in a way that I *really* did not like, in terms of writing nor story, and so I will not be finishing this novel (albeit I was relatively close to the end by this point). I've heard many good things about this book, so clearly it's something personal to me, or maybe the genre is just meant for further out of my demographic than I thought it was. To me, it felt like a knockoff of a John Green and/or Hank Green novel, both authors I thoroughly enjoy reading. I'm not sure what I didn't like about it other than generally "the tone/writing style," so I'm not sure how to articulate whether you should read it or not. Just know it's not for everyone I suppose, and if sudden character deaths make you angry then I would not read this.… (mehr)