4.5 stars.

I'm honored to be part of the blog tour for Erica Bauermeister's incredibly memorable new novel, The Scent Keeper. Scents can provide some of our most potent memories, our strongest sense of time and place. It could be a perfume or cologne worn by someone you love, a freshly baked treat you remember from childhood, even the smell of the air after a rainstorm. Bauermeister's beautifully told book is an illustration of a life lived through embracing one of our strongest senses.

Emmeline lives in a cabin on a remote island with her father. It's a marvelous existence for a young girl—she has an entire island to herself to explore, and she and her father live off the land, enjoying all that nature has to offer. He teaches her how to use her senses more than anything else.

During the winter things get tough as food becomes more scarce, but she loves when her father tells her fairy tales and stories. In their cabin they are surrounded by little glass bottles which contain papers that have mysterious scents on them. Her father doesn't explain where they come from, or what the machine that creates these scent papers is, but he gives her powerful advice: "People lie, Emmeline, but smells never do."

But when she discovers the truth about the island on which they live, everything starts to change, and her father becomes more and more obsessed with the scent papers stored in their cabin, to the detriment of everything else, including himself. Without warning, Emmeline is suddenly thrust into the real world, forced to interact with people other than her father, and having to experience first-hand the violence, betrayal, and pain that people cause each other, willingly and unwillingly.

"There had been a time in my life when I had felt grown-up, capable. Now I was too scared of the world outside to leave the house. I stayed in my room mostly, telling myself the stories from my father's book of fairy tales. The girl in the red cloak, running through the trees. The genie waiting in the bottle, growing more powerful with time. The children, lost in the woods with only breadcrumbs to help them. I spoke the words in my mind, as if they could tell me how to navigate this place I'd found myself in, but the best they could do was help me forget. Still, I returned to the stories, wishing for something that would never come. An ending that had already happened."

When Emmeline learns the secrets her father kept hidden from her, she is determined to find out the truth about him and her background. She finds a world far beyond any she had imagined, where she can use her sense of smell professionally, and she finally feels like she belongs. But she also confronts one of her father's most powerful pieces of advice again, "People lie, but smells never do."

At first I felt as if The Scent Keeper was similar to Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing—a story of a young girl who is more in-step with nature than people thrust into an unfamiliar and uncomfortable world. And while there are elements of that in this story, this is also a book about the family we're born into and the family we choose, understanding what—and whom—to fight for, and how our senses give us insight into human behavior we may never recognize unless we let them.

I thought this was a fascinating and beautiful book, full of gorgeously lyrical imagery (how else could Bauermeister make you understand the scents that swirled around Emmeline and the other characters) and a powerful if familiar story of love, trust, family, and our relationship with the natural world. I enjoyed reading this book immensely, even when I wanted to shake the characters for not saying what they were thinking or feeling.

This is definitely a book that made me think about the connection between scent and memory, and how when I remember certain events or people in my life, I often associate a particular smell with them. The Scent Keeper is thought-provoking and memorable.

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

This book will be published May 21, 2019.

Emmeline lives on an island alone with her father where they hunt smells to harvest food, and her father tries to capture the scents around them on slips of paper in glass bottles. She is fed on fairy tales and science, and learns much about the natural world around her, though little of other people or the truth of her father's sad past.
At first full of beauty and magic, stories of mermaids who bring gifts and the deep permeating of wondrous smells which enlighten the imagination. Then sorrow and heartbreak and broken promises abound, and a girl's innocent trust in a beautiful world are shattered.
These words were written by someone who intimately knows loss, pain, and loneliness, knows the shock and relentlessness of its demanding to be seen. It will bring all these things to life, to reminder, but also it will remind you to hope in fairy tales, to be proud of and to master your abilities and talents, to not fear being different. And to appreciate the beauty, especially the smells, around you.
Filled with a euphony of poetic similes, this book teaches you how to hunt for scents and to believe in magic again.

The Scent Keeper was such a unique coming of age story! It’s not a book I normally would have picked up, and while I didn’t immediately connect with the story, I ended up really enjoying it! The premise was so different from anything else I’ve read, which was definitely refreshing, and the writing was great!
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Emmaline grew up with her father on a remote island, capturing memories through scents. After a tragedy changes Emmaline’s life, she must use these scents to learn more about the world outside the only place she’s ever known and find out more about where she came from.
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An interesting read outside of my typical thrillers! Huge thanks to @stmartinspress for the e-galley in exchange for a review and for including me in their blog tour!
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The Scent Keeper is available next week, May 21!!

The Scent Keeper was way out of my wheelhouse, and I'll admit that I was a little confused at first as to what it was about and where it was going. In the beginning, it felt a little like fantasy, but not quite, although there are elements that certainly stretched my ability to suspend disbelief. As the story progressed, it became more a coming of age tale than anything else. Regardless of genre and wheelhouses, the story did hold my attention, and it definitely had me posing a number of questions. Questions that I wanted answers to. Some of those were answered and some weren't, which brings me to the only real drawback in this book, at least for me. I wanted closure or at least some semblance of where everyone was going to end up. I know Emmaline's intentions, but this one has a rather open-ended conclusion - not something that leads me to believe there will be a second book, more like an ambiguous ending to let the reader decide what they'd like for these characters. That can work in some cases, but I felt like this one deserved more. Nevertheless, the book was definitely worth reading, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy the genre.

This is a beautiful, beautiful book - the cover is pretty, the writing is gorgeous, and the emotions that the story conjures up within the reader are strong and real. You definitely get Where the Crawdads Sing vibes, especially in the first quarter or so of the book regarding Emmeline and her father. It's a survivalist-type of story on several levels. What I'm not sure I liked was the ending - it seemed all too abrupt. I had invested a lot in these characters, and I really want to know what happens next to them! Maybe it was leaving room for a sequel? All in all, this is a novel I will be happy to recommend. You will root for Emmeline and Fisher the whole way. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister is the story of Emmeline, a young girl who lives with her father on an isolated island. She listens to her father’s stories especially the ones about Jack the Scent Hunter and she’s curious about the mysterious bottles with blank pieces of paper in them that her father stores in drawers. When her life on the island abruptly ends, she must adjust to life in a small town and struggles with who she really is as the information her father gave her seemed to be far from the truth. She slowly learns her father’s true story and leads her on a journey to discover who she is and the mother she thought she didn’t have. Will Emmeline be able to handle the truth? Will she be able to tell who is telling her the truth and who is still hiding behind lies?
From the opening lines, The Scent Keeper pull you in and doesn’t let you go until the final page. I was instant engrossed in Emmeline’s story with the beautiful imagery of their island, the stories her father told and the mystery behind who he was and the reason they lived on the island. At the end, I was speechless and in awe at this beautiful story. There were a few moments that I gasped with realization and tears filled my eyes at the pain and truth that Emmeline discovers. It is a gripping story from beginning to end. I didn’t notice the length as I read page after page until I finished it in a several hours. It is a story you will not want to put down! I highly recommend The Scent Keeper!

The Scent Keeper
will be available May 21, 2019
in hardcover and eBook

𝓔𝓿𝓸𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮. 𝓔𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓬. 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓷𝓽.

Erica Bauemeister has crafted a unique and lovely tail about secrets, forgiveness, and the power of scent. Emmeline spent the first 12 years of her life living on an isolated island with her beloved father. All they had was each other, the trees, their cabin, and a drawers of fragrance. As Emmeline gets older she knows there is more behind her father’s obsession with cent then he is telling her, but what is it? After a tragedy Emmeline finds herself thrust into the “real world“. For Emmeline the outside world is terribly challenging . If it weren’t for the loving couple that takes her in and a boy named Fisher she would be all alone. But as time goes on Emmeline knows it is time for her to confront the secrets of her past.

This was a beautifully told coming of age story bursting with quirk and charm. Loved Emmeline she had such a sweet spirit and her vulnerability really tugs at the heartstrings. I found the part that scent played in the story extremely fascinating. How scent can evoke a memory or how it can be used to manipulate you to feel a certain way. There is a lot about fragrance in the story and Emmeline has a crazy bond and talent when it comes to scent. Now I have a bit of a fragrance obsession myself, but I really have no idea if there are people out there that feel scent like some of the characters in the story.

This story had such a vibrant and unique vibe to it. I enjoyed every single minute I spent with Emmeline on her journey of self discovery. The story was quiet, but powerful. The characters were simple, but complex. I’m struggling to find the perfect adjective to describe thisbook. How about this? It is a book I am extremely grateful to have had the privilege of reading. and I hope you feel the same way when you finish it!

🎧🎧🎧 Gabra Zackman brought the perfect tone to the story. She brought each character their own unique voice and really brought this beautiful story to life.

*** many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy ***

This review is a bit hard to write, because I’m having such mixed feelings about different aspects of the book.

First, I’d not read anything by this author before so I wasn’t familiar with her style. I found the writing beautiful... the author clearly has a talent for spinning a story! The words drew me in, and especially in the first section, there was a very vivid picture of the setting.

The second section of the book was my favorite because I really wanted to root for Emmeline as we watched her emerge from her shell and learn to navigate the world around her. I found Henry and Colette to be warm and very believable characters. (And Dodge. Sigh. I loved Dodge.)

It was in the third section that it lost me. I found the “olfactory genius” bit overplayed somehow, and didn’t find the characters to be particularly likable or well developed. The big reveals about the family fell a bit flat for me, and while I don’t need everything wrapped up perfectly, the ending was so abrupt that it left me feeling confused and unsatisfied.

This was an enjoyable story, but I’m thinking I may not have been the right audience. I’m a big fan of magical realism, and it felt like this was skirting the edge of that, but I had trouble following when it went in a different direction. Obviously this title has many strong reviews so if it sounds appealing, it’s worth a read! I’m giving it 3-3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and St Martins Press for a digital ARC of this title, and to the publisher for a finished copy of this lovely book!

First, let me say thank you to St. Martin’s Press for not only sending me an Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Scent Keeper in exchange for an honest review, but for also inviting me to be part of their blog tour for the release!

Here is the publisher’s summary:

Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world–a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.

So I’m going to be completely honest, the thought of scent-bottles as the main plot point felt like a gimmick when I first read the summary, but I was so very wrong. In reading The Scent Keeper, I was whisked away to a remote island and felt I completely escaped the real world. While the time period, country, or background info isn’t clear (at first), I wasn’t even looking for them. I was too busy living in Emmeline’s head, listening to stories from her father and learning every inch of their cabin. The Scent Keeper is so beautifully written, divided into three parts, and I tore through it in one sitting. The sense of smell in The Scent Keeper isn’t just a plot point, it’s much bigger than that: its about memories, emotions, and the people we love.

But it’s not all flowers and lavender, this book breaks your heart when you least expect it. When a novel gives me goosebumps or makes my heart swell, like this one, it not only proves great writing, but a great story. It means I was (and am) fully invested in the characters and what’s happening to them. I’m happy (and sad) to say that The Scent Keeper gave me that feeling not one, not twice, but three separate times. Each one more shocking than the one before.

One of my favorite things about this novel, is when Emmeline grows up and learns more about herself, the tone of the story does as well. The flowery, magical language at the beginning of the novel is more crisp later on in the book. It’s almost as if, while Emmeline gains clarity, so does the tone of the novel.

My advice to anyone picking up this novel: don’t expect an explanation, it will come in its own time, but don’t ask for one. Let the story carry you away, that’s the best way to savor this story.

Smells can invoke such nostalgic memories. The scent of vanilla takes takes me back to my mom's delicious cookies, a certain perfume will remind me of a dear, dear friend. Memory smells are such a strong part of my past and I know I'm not the only one who experiences this phenomenon.

The Scent Keeper is all about the smells and the memories attached to them. Emmeline is living a perfect life on an island with her dad. It's the only life she has known, surrounded by the scents in all of those little bottles. But suddenly things are not so perfect and Emmeline's life changes.

I loved everything about this book starting with, like I mentioned, the power of memory smells. I was fascinated with the idea that scents could be created to influence certain behaviors. This could actually be sort of a scary concept, if you think about it though. I also felt completely wrapped up in Emmeline's life—enjoying the peacefulness of her life on the island and struggling though the turmoil that came after.

The Scent Keeper had a magical, mystical feel to it for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was the perfect escape read for me, as I got lost in the pages of the story. I highly recommend it and I know that you'll love it as much as I did.

Stop what you are doing right now. Take a moment and take a deep breath. What smells flood your senses? For me it’s coffee with a hint a cinnamon, a warm dog curled up next to me, and fresh rain curling in through the slightly cracked window. Scents have the power to transport us. They can take us back in time to a memory, remind us of a place or person we love, as well as ground us in the current moment.

I was incredibly lucky to be offered the opportunity to review an advanced copy of The Scent Keeper (thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley #partner). Guys, this is an absolute treasure of a book. If you scroll no farther just know this was a 5 star read for me and was so beautifully written I didn’t want it to end. It releases next Tuesday 5/21 so pre-order it immediately.

The Scent Keeper is a coming of age novel about Emmeline who lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain is anything about their past. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.

The Scent Keeper would be a wonderful pick for anyone who loved The Great Alone and I’ve also seen it compared to Where the Crawdads Sing. This is an immersive book that highlights how scent can transport you, transfix you, and break your heart. I can’t say enough about the writing in this book. I was savoring every sentence. In a bookstagram world filled with thrillers and rom coms The Scent Keeper stands apart as a beautifully told story that will stick with you long after you turn the last page.

I immediately fell in love with the idea of this book. The ideas of how scents can evoke memories and bring back ideas and moments in time to us is fascinating. The beginning of this book felt magical and I loved Emmeline and her view of the little scent bottles though she didn’t really understand them. Then she’s forced into the real work and that magic is somewhat lost. While I loved the story and enjoyed the ideas of scents and their ability to influence us that was carried throughout the whole book, I missed that magic in the second half. It was, overall, a wonderful read and one that made me stop and think about the power of scent in my life. Highly recommend.

Emmeline and her father live on a small island—all alone and in the middle of nowhere. Emmeline knows next to nothing about how they got there, and whenever she works up the courage to ask her father, he only answers in riddles or short “end of conversation!” statements. She loves the island, and she loves her father, so she doesn’t push.

What she does know is that they need to protect the scents. In their small cabin is a whole wall of tiny drawers filled with little corked bottles. Each bottle contains a slip of paper with a specific scent on it—maybe spruce wood or lavender. The bottles can’t be opened often, lest the scent escape, but from a young age, Emmeline understands that her father will do anything to preserve all the smells trapped inside.

I don’t want to say too much more about this book, because it is a lovely mystery that reveals itself ever so slowly and subtly over time. The story is unlike anything I’ve read before, and the writing is beyond. Like beyond beyond. It’s poetry. You know when you read an amazing book and it makes you feel a little depressed, because you know you will never write something as good as what you just read? Yeah, that’s The Scent Keeper. Some of the descriptions of Emmeline’s scents left me honest-to-God breathless. I’m still in awe.

My only minor complaint is that the conclusion felt abrupt—not by too much, but by just enough that I’m going to whine about it. Is the ending like one of Emmeline’s scents? Am I supposed to supply the missing note? I don’t know, but I needed a three-page epilogue, something to give me the closure I was looking for.

But this is a minor gripe, and I still loved, loved the book. The Scent Keeper is going to stay with me a long time, and I will definitely be checking out author Erica Bauermeister’s other work. What a phenomenal story.

**Review will be published to blog on 15 May 2019 at 12:00AM EST**

This is a story of love, grace, and acceptance, and it starts with a daughter and her father, who live alone on a remote island and spend their days foraging for food and… for scents. It tells Emmeline’s coming-of-age in three stages. Disrupted from her fairytale childhood, she searches for the secrets of her past, trusting the scents that never lie about the memories they hold, and discovers the realities of a world beyond what she’s known.

Starting this search for truth from an enchanted childhood, I, along with Emmeline, was trying to discern what was fantasy and what was reality, as I wasn’t sure what kind of world this story was set in–was it fantasy or realistic fiction or magical realism? (Every time someone asked me about my current read, I felt like my description of this book was changing haha.) I was reminded of Disney’s Enchanted, following a sweet and naive protagonist into a world where fantasy and reality collide.

Emmeline’s reality kept changing, so I don’t want to say too much else and instead encourage you to let go of your expectations so that you can discover her world with her as I did; the lyrical writing and unique sensory/olfactory experience was so immersive.

The only qualm I had was that I felt the ending was too open and I still had some questions I wanted answered, but perhaps it’s more realistic to not have all the answers in life anyway.

But for anyone who’s read the book and would like to discuss, here are some questions/thoughts I had left: [highlight to reveal spoilers]

1. I thought Emmeline’s father’s *reaction* was extreme and was hoping to better understand him–and particularly that reaction–by the end but didn’t really.
[spoiler]
2. I thought Emmeline’s mother’s character was kind of flat (typical cold female figure bent on success) and was hoping to understand her better as well. The end gave a hint to there being more about her, but just a hint.
3. I didn’t like that Emmeline moved to the city for a boy, and didn’t get the sense that she found her independence from him. I guess learning from mistakes is part of growing up?
[/endspoiler]

Maybe I’m not this book’s target audience. Not only do I have such bad allergies and sinuses that I rarely smell things anyway, but so many smells annoy me and give me a headache that I can’t imagine being so in love with smells. It’s not only that. I kept waiting for more. For a story that grabbed me. Occasionally I thought I was getting to it, but then it faded away. Most of the time it just turned ridiculous.

Overall, the characters were inconsistent and mostly unlikable. The plot was unbelievable but not in a good way. Not in the fantastical way I was expecting. If it had continued like the second part of the book and delved into the main character's journey into the real world, I would have loved it. If it had turned into a fantasy based on the first part, I would have liked it. If it had all been like the last section, I would have hated it.

This book has become one of my fave books! I loved how lush the whole world was, with the scents and magic. Emmeline was such a strong character and I really liked how no matter what happened, she took matters into her own hands and made her own way in life. The romance was very sweet too, and I loved how it slowly blossomed into something more. I love stories featuring friends falling in love and this was a nice twist of that because it had the elements of that classic trope but more drama and angst. All in all, great novel!

This might take a little patience- I almost gave up on it in the first section because it felt so...Emmaline and her father are living a charmed life alone on an island where mermaids make periodic deliveries of things like goats (you know it's not mermaids, don't you?). This is the oddest section and there's a key plot element (no spoilers) that makes no sense whatsoever given that this is an island. The second section, when Emmaline is taken in by Colette and Henry and has to deal with the "real world" was interesting. It's also where she builds her critical relationship with Fisher. The third section feels distinctly different but it is evolutionary for her. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. On balance, a good read. Fans of Bauermeiser will greatly enjoy this one.

Where are all my Crawdad lovers? Chances are if you were a fan of the smash hit Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, you are going to love The Scent Keeper by Eric Bauermeister!

It's funny because as I was reading the book, I started making the connection, and I was curious if anybody else felt the same. Until I went onto Goodreads and saw so many reviews from readers who drew the same conclusion. The main character, Emmeline, had so many similarities to Kya from Where the Crawdads Sing and I loved it! I would also mention that there were pieces of the story that reminded me of Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone. As Hannah is my favorite author, I'd say that's quite the compliment.

The Scent Keeper starts with Emmeline and her father, living on a remote island, living off the land, foraging for food (except for the times her father tells her mermaids have dropped off supplies), and surrounded by hundreds of glass bottles. Within the glass bottles? Scent papers that hold precious smells that invoke memories of Emmeline's past. What follows is Emmeline's journey from the island, the only place she has ever called home, into the modern world.

This is one of those books where I can't give a synopsis that is very complete because it will ruin the fun. Just trust me that the story is magnificent.

My favorite part of the book was Emmeline's warped view of the world and her subsequent enlightenment. The way Erica Bauermeister wove this tale and the way Emmeline's character evolved as the pages advanced was nothing short of extraordinary.

If I had one complaint it would be that the ending felt somewhat abrupt. It was almost as if it was missing a last chapter or could have benefited from an epilogue, although I can appreciate that the author may have wanted to end on a thought-provoking note. That being said, although the ending was sudden, it didn't take away from the magnificence of the preceding 300+ pages so I would still give it 5 stars overall.

Prepare to be transported to another time and place. Prepare to have the scents Bauermeister describes jump off the pages and ignite memories of your own past. Prepare to fall in love with The Scent Keeper.

Highly recommended for those who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing and The Great Alone.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Erica Bauermeister, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review.-

I did not finish this book. It's was very slow in the beginning but the writing was beautiful. I think I will try it again later on but it couldn't hold my attention at this time.

I had no idea what to expect with this ARC and I was pleasantly surprised! The plot was pretty fast paced and the story unfolded quickly. I really loved emmeline and fisher and how they took care of each other. Henry and Colette were just the sweetest people. I loved learning and scents and how powerful they are. This was a sweet and interesting book.