“If you liked Elinor Oliphant you will love...” - in the case of Lost For Words it’s actually true. I did like Elinor Oliphant, and I really like this one too - reminiscent, but not the same. It tells the story of first person narrator Loveday Cardew, who works in the Lost For Words secondhand bookshop, where she has been since she was 15 and larger than life proprietor Archie took her under his wing. The details of her earlier life come out in sections, in amongst current events and poetry. We meet her ex, Rob, whose odd behaviour hints at worrying issues, Nathan, the close up magician and poet who carelessly drops a poetry book out of his pocket, as well as lovely Archie and tour guide Melodie. Loveday’s reminiscences slowly paint the picture of her life as it fractured and fell apart, and the reasons why. She’s a good heroine, not perfect, self effacing and thoughtful, shy and brave. The bookshop sounds like the sort of place I’d love to be a part of, and overall this book made me want to keep coming backwith the warm anticipation of half an hour curled on the sofa for a read. I was sad when it came to an end, but I will certainly be checking this author out in the future. Grateful thanks to the publishers and author for putting this book on NetGalley and allowing me to read it with no requirement for a good review.

Lovely book, always enjoy reading about bookshops and broken people. A cosy kind of fiction.
But didn't manage the 'your past will catch up with you even if you hide from it in a bookshop' story as well as 'Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore' - unfortunately I read that one first and enjoyed the thriller aspect more.
Unfortunately the 'big reveal' in this wasn't as unexpected, but I did love the use of York and Whitby as settings; two of my favourite places.

I loved this book. It was well structured and I liked how it had the different chapters at different points in time, uncovering Loveday's past and keeps you guessing about what really happened.
Can't wait to read more by this author.

I am always attracted to books that have a bookshop theme. Lost For Words is a great name for an independent shop, of which there are too few remaining nowadays. Loveday Cardew works in this York emporium. An independent woman who loves books, indeed has the first lines of several books tattooed on her body. She has a vulnerable side, a past she does not want to talk about.

Archie, who owns the shop, is a sensitive man who cares a great deal for Loveday and wonders about her past. Her father is dead, the whereabouts of her mother unknown. Or so it appears. Nathan is a poet, who becomes more than a friend to Loveday and helps in his own way as past events begin to come clearer….

A complex multi-layered story that is beautifully written as it slowly reveals events in Loveday’s past that help her come to terms with her childhood memories. An intriguing tale that draws you in…

At times this book is witty and at times it’s very sad. Quite a mix, thought provoking and unusual. Loveday is an independent young woman with a secret, getting through the ups and downs of her insulated life the only way she knows how, using her coping strategies, most of which are found in books and her job in a second hand book shop. With her past life catching up with her, she looks back at her younger self and begins to heal with a little help from her new friend and poetry. I found that I needed an unexpected tissue near to the end of the book. The characters were real and charming. I would definitely recommend reading this book

I loved this book, from the first page the story just flowed. The storyline was warm and compassionate, and the characters were very believable. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Stephanie Butland for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

This is just a lovely book! Loveday loves books more than people but has found her niche working in Archie’s second hand bookshop. Then Nathan enters her life can Loveday make a change.
I enjoyed the fact the book was written in chapters of book genres and you got introduced to her past in one chapter and then the present.
Thought it was well written and I loved all the nods to famous books including some I haven’t read that are now on my to read list.

My oh my...what a treat that was. The characters just flew off the page. Loveday, haunted, lost even and certainly alone. But emotionally retarded, as another reviewer coins her? No. We are all products of our past and that’s the case with Loveday. The writer unpicks her previous life, her history, and now we see through a window chink; the girl she once was and the woman she has become. She’s not perfect. She’s not retarded. She’s just different. A brilliant slapping 5 stars. Excellent writing, well done to the author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters within who are totally believable and most of us will have encountered similar people at some point in our lives. Loveday had a basically happy childhood until the age of 10 when her whole world fell apart. She copes by making, as she called it, a shell around herself but eventually couldn't find her way out as she mistrusted everyone and their help. When she does let her guard down a little she gets only reaffirmation that her mistrust is the only way to get through the rest of her life. There are many twists and turns as she tries to claw her way back reality but she is so fragile but is surrounded by true friends who help just by being there realising she cannot be pushed. I found the last quarter of the book totally gripping and had to finish reading until late into the night whilst rooting for this poor girl to find her way. It is a well written and sympathetic read plus and a quite emotional roller coaster at times.

What a complex personality Loveday is.
The story is wrapped round her memories, her fears, her unhappy years without her mother, her lack of knowledge about the truth of her father. It is so well related, and the use of poetry throughout gives an added dimension. Characters are believable and alive, in particular Archie, who has a huge influence, unknown to Loveday, on her life.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy of the book.

I felt this was a different kind of book to what I was expecting. Written in first person, I could feel the undertone of the main character's insecurities at all times. The plot flowed well and made sense. I enjoyed the secondary characters very much and also the setting of York.

Under the deceptively flippant approach to the narration by Loveday Cardew, lie deep issues. She has buried herself in the world of books in a second-hand bookstore for a long time. Her story is told in parts, parallelly giving us insights into the crucial stages of her 'story' as she sees it.

The lead character of Loveday is a very complicated person, we can see both the working of her mind and how she responds to the world around her. Her love for the world of books in evident in her daily actions.It is a delight to watch her figure out her life, while fighting her instinct to stay within her cocoon(and sometimes letting the instinct win). She has a well-meaning boss, two men interested in her and the past is beckoning to her. The title and the blurb and most other reviews tout this book as something that even a mild bibliophile would resonate with, and I concur. It is not just about the plot of the story but also about the style with which it is presented to us.I have requested another book by the same author from NetGalley ( This one also being an ARC received that way) since I had fun with this one and have my fingers crossed.

This was a roller coaster of a read. It is full of emotion and just when you think there cannot be any more twists yet another happens. Loveday the protagonist works in a bookshop. She has been there for ten years and it is her safe haven. The reader slowly learns about her back story as she is starting to gain in confidence but there are many obstacles put in her way which knock her back.

The characters are well drawn. The locations for the action are well chosen and well researched. The unusual use of performance poetry is an added dimension to the book giving insights into how the characters think in addition to the prose. The choice of book openings are pertinent to the plot and are another interesting addition. The reader is left with few questions at the end which is very satisfactory.

A well plotted, quite gentle story with a clever structure, alternating past, present and poetry, to tell a story and show how characters are feeling.

A very easy book to read, despite the fact that the subject matter is often quite challenging.

‘'I think window seats are one of those things that are always better in books, like county shows held in fields on bank holiday Mondays, and sex and travel and basically anything you can think of.'

Summary
Loveday Cardew is the perfect bibliophile, she works in a bookshop in York and has tattoos of the first lines from her favourite books all over her body. In fact, Loveday much prefers books to people, unless people is Archie the bookshop's owner, a kind, portly, eccentric man who took her under his wing when she was 15. Loveday has a dark past which has made her adult relationships pretty much impossible. But all that is about to change.

Review
Lost For Words is a very fitting title for this novel because that's exactly how I feel. I don't often request books these days which aren't either a) on my tbr or b) likely to go on there, but something drew me to Loveday's story, and as is often the case with that, I loved it.
Loveday is such a great character, yes she's a little tortured but she's also smart, and clever and good. A prime example being that even when she notices something bad about someone she sees this as a good thing, a way to make her more comfortable around them because they're not perfect.
I loved Archie as well, he's such a perfect guy, everyone's ideal boss, I feel like I just want to wake up tomorrow and go find a little bookshop and my own Archie to take care of me.
There was a lot of sadness in this book too, some that pretty much broke me and some that left me feeling angry and hurt on behalf of the characters who I felt like I knew. You know that rare feeling when you slip into a character's skin and become them, feel their feelings and see the story through their eyes? That's how Loveday felt for me, I can already feel the Book hangover coming on. It's always so amazing when you stumble across a book which is not only a great story which holds your attention but makes you feel all the feels too.
What a truly beautiful novel.

What an amazing read. I can't decide which book to read first as I have a few but decided on this.
I was given this by netgalley for a review and here goes.....
It's a well written book and I cannot believe I've not read anything by this author before. I would say if you love to read then this is for you, for the quirky bookworm as it's set in York. The main character runs an old bookshop and it's full of great characters. I'm so glad to have read this.
If you love books with quirky charcters and want some warmth then look no further. Absolutely amazing

I don’t exactly know what I was expecting when I started to read this book but it certainly wasn’t what I read. I am not saying that as a criticism simply that the old adage is true and you cannot judge a book by its cover or indeed its title.

Loveday has worked in a second hand bookshop since before leaving school. Books are her life and her escape from reality. As the book progresses we find out more about her previous life and why she has shut herself off from almost all human contact. We find out about relationships past and present and we begin to understand her just that little bit more.

I really enjoyed this book and getting to know the handful of characters within it. It was beautifully written and the author fleshed out each of the characters just so.

I look forward to reading future offerings by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book as it is set in the city where I live - York.

There aren't too many books set here (although it is mentioned occasionally!) so I could imagine the bookshop where this book is set and the surrounding area.

I found it to be quite an easy book to get lost in and I think that is because the author made it feel like she was actually talking to you and that you weren't just reading words in a book.

I will definitely look for other books by this author.

What bibliophile can resist a novel about a charming used bookshop, with even more charming and quirky protagonists? I can't. To further my interest, I've read some great reviews of this novel by some of favorite fellow bookbloggers. And... did I mention it is set in York, England? What a package!

This delightful novel features a memorable protagonist, Loveday Cardew. She has worked for "Lost for Words" for the past ten years, is twenty-five years old, has a nose ring, and several tattoos which depict lines from her favorite novels. She'll be the first to admit that she likes books much better than she likes people. An introvert, she avoids confrontation at all costs. I confess that in the first chapter or so I wasn't Loveday's biggest fan, though over the course of the novel I came to love her like a daughter. The author cleverly put forth her bristly and sarcastic character so as to show how Loveday put up walls against the people she meets.

"I word hard, but I know that I'm also hard work."

Loveday's poem explaining why she loves books:

"I like books cause they don't care if your knickers match your bra. If you've washed your hair. I like books cause they don't invade your space. They sit on your shelf and don't get in your face. I like books cause they don't mind what your heart contains, who you've left behind. I like books cause they don't give a shit when you get to the end - what you think of it. Books don't care if you've got a degree or what you watch on TV. Books don't judge if you've got tattoos, if your friends are few. I like books cause they don't care."

Loveday's one true friend is the owner of "Lost for Words". More like family than he is a boss, Archie is a portly, gregarious gentleman. Generous in size and generous in nature. Archie wears a lot of tweed, smokes a pipe, and has a luxuriant moustache. He adores Loveday like a father and calls her his little 'stray waif'.

"Archie says I keep all my interesting bits well hidden and getting to know me is an exercise in faith rewarded."

One day Loveday finds a poetry book on the pavement. As any true bibliophile would, she rescues the book from the elements and takes it back to the bookshop. She posts a sign in the window "Found" with the books details. This small, seemingly inconsequential event will profoundly impact the lives of three people.

Nathan Avebury, a poet and magician, notices her sign in the window and comes in to claim his book. Nathan seems to see beyond Loveday's off-putting demeanor to the person she is underneath.

"When you're a child you don't always know the right questions, and you don't know that you don't have forever to ask them."

Though part of this novel are flashbacks to Loveday's childhood days in Whitby, her past is a well guarded secret that is not divulged until near the end of the book. We know that she suffered a great trauma in her childhood and that when she was ten years old she was put into the foster system.

"Small memories come from the kind of tiny reminders that you simply can't predict, and so can't protect yourself from, and they catch you, paper cuts across the heart."

All of the characters in this novel are so genuine and so very 'human'. Villains and angels are both represented - showing that no one is completely one or the other. This is a book that will steal the heart of ardent bibliophiles and those who carry emotional baggage from their youth. "Lost for Words" is laced with moments that will alternately make you laugh and make you weep. If you were expecting a 'cutesy' chick lit book, you will soon discover that "Lost for Words" has hidden depths with some very serious themes. In a nutshell - I loved it!

My sincere gratitude to Bonnier Zaffre Books via NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this novel. I was only too happy to write this review.