This Is All Your Fault is about three very different girls who band together to save their indie bookstore where they work. Narrated from multiple points of view, this book explores not only how a common interest can bring together even the worst of adversaries, but also sexual harassment and the significance of privilege that some people unfairly have.
I really loved Daniella, Imogen and Rin. Their characters are so contrasting and unique and I loved how the author managed to give each of them life. They just shine out at you when you read! As a brown Muslim girl, I loved Imogen's unique character. Oh and Daniella's interest in poetry was so relatable and I'm glad to see a character who's a proud but closeted poetess. Really loved how the girls came together to root for each other and also to save their bookstore from the hands of a vindictive character!
I felt myself dozing at a few slow scenes which I felt were getting too dragged but I felt hooked back again soon. I really loved Jo the manager and her personality was really great too.
Overall, this book was such a treat to read ; a fantastic blend of frenemies, sweet romance and advocation of girl power (especially when girls support girls!)
This book came out on 13th October, 2020 and is available for purchase at your local bookstores!
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I just realized that I read this one a while ago and never reviews it!

What I remember is that one of the employees discovers that the bookstore is going under and comes up with a harebrained scheme (involving Nikes) to save it that involves using the last of the store's petty cash. Needless to say the brilliant idea bombed because the Nikes were fake. (This is not a spoiler as it happens in the opening scene. The character freaks out and now has to figure out how to recoup the money he stole.

The next morning the store opens and we meet the employees which include a moderately successful Booktuber and a moderately successful Instapoet. Throughout the course of their work day they will learn that the bookstore is about to close (and why), that there is a loophole that may help save it, and that if the community comes together they may succeed against all odds.

I really wanted to like this one. The premise sounded interesting and different. But the voice fell flat and it wasn't engaging. I felt like it needed more work.

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

First of all, I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan's Children for providing me an e-ARC of the book.

Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review arc, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.

Short Summary

This is All your fault is about three friends that wanted to save a bookstore. The three of them worked together in the Wild Nights Bookstore, and the three distinct personalities of each them will shed a light on how they will work together to save it from the brink of shutting down.

Personal Thoughts

This was an OKAY read for me. There were thing that I liked but there were also aspects of the story that fell short and mostly its due to the writing style.

Some of the things that I liked in this book
1) The connection that the three of them had with books.
- It was something that is both retable as a book lover and also a dream to actually work in a bookstore and team with your friends to help save it.
2) The mental health rep and issues that were brought in this book
- Rinn, Daniella and Imogen had their own fare share of problems and I like that each of their problems were talked about in this book and how they are solving their own problems as well
3) The very-everyday-life experience of everyday-girls
- In some ways, we can find someone that we can relate to in our real lives with the three main characters in this book. They all have their own worries and their own things to work on. They're all found in someone in each of us and I do like that in a sense that in some ways, they're very relatable.

Overall

This was a book that highlights the small businesses standpoint, bookworms in their own personal world and the in depth of what goes on in a normal daily life of three girls struggling in finding themselves and footing in this world while saving the bookstore that they worked in.

A smart story about three girls trying to get through their different teenage issues as they try to save the bookstore that they all work at. I love Safi's work, but didn't vibe as hard with this one as I usually do.

As a book lover and ELA teacher, I was very excited for this novel. The quest to save an indie failing bookstore can thrum in the hearts of many a bookworm. I did appreciate the multiple POVs throughout this book, but unfortunately found the narrative voice to be detached and it was hard to keep my interest in the storyline. Increasing some of the whimsical details of the bookstore across time or adding a bit more personality to the characters would have increased pizazz. I could still see some teens liking this story, but it fell a little flat for me. I am still appreciative to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

This is a fun story that feels a little bit too similar to the plot of Empire Records, but is definitely worth adding to a classroom library.

My book group had a discussion about this, saying it was very similar to the movie Empire Records from the 90s, which I had not seen at the time. After watching the movie, yes there are similar themes, but I do think this book is different enough and also brings in the bookish angle. CW sexual harrassment

This book was really difficult to get into. I didn't really enjoy it. I wish it had only focused on one character.

I received this ARC from a contest with a couple of others, and this was not one of the top ones for me to read in that group, but the others were pretty good so I thought I'd give this a try. I have read one other book by Safi, These Are Not the Girls You're Looking For, and I wasn't a big fan. This book had some good points, like the diversity of the group, the love of books and bookstores and saving your small business, but the story still felt off for me. There were parts I found myself skimming just to get to the next interesting thing. I thought the characters were a little underdeveloped and the plot dragged in places. It may just be that Safi's books just don't resonate with me, perhaps I don't like this writing style, I'm not sure. But it's my second Safi, and it was just okay for me. Better than the first one, I think, but still just okay.

I'm a bit fan of Aminah Mae Safi, especially since her books go into so much more than just the dynamics of relationships and identity. In this book, her character development was attentive and mindful of difference, holding integrity and sense of self within each person in the story. I enjoyed the perspective chapters alternating, and the sharp dialogue and banter throughout that made every character's voice unique. Also loved that as an Arab writer, Safi doesn't solely focus on the torments and challenges that Arab and Muslim teenagers have to face, which is why her books are amongst my favorites.

God, I love these girls and the bookstore they all work at. I need them to be my friends! Read this book if you want feminism, soft girls, prickly girls, and bookstore love.

This is a great book of giving voices the space they deserve. I enjoyed the full story but some of the plot fell flat for me. I think I just may not have been right for this book but I think a lot of people would really enjoy the read.

I very much appreciated the way more than a few characters from marginalized backgrounds were developed and given voices that reflected their backgrounds but did not artificially focus on them. However, the overall writing of this novel didn't really click for me, and the characters' personalities fell a bit flat. I think this very much a 'me' issue and not the novel's fault, although beginning the novel with an entitled white boy who almost immediately screws up to a mind-boggling degree is an interesting gamble. (I immediately hated this character, so it was great that the majority of the remainder of the novel focused on the young women in the bookstore working to deal with said screwup as well as interpersonal relationships with each other.)

I was not a big fan of this book, but the last 20% definitely helped save it for me. Things that I liked and thought were interesting was the fact that almost the whole story took place over the course of one day, and it was mainly told from the perspectives of the girls that worked at the bookstore. Although their relationships with the guys played a large part in the story between their crushes and doing damage control for Eli, it still revolved around how the girls felt about themselves and each other.

I didn't really start to like the book until the end though. I had a hard time feeling anything for any of the characters besides Rinn. I liked her optimism and thought her crush on AJ was cute. It was also cool that she was a booktuber. But for some reason, I never felt drawn to the other characters or cared about what they were going through.

Overall, the concept and plot was interesting, but I don't think the characters drew me in enough to love the story,

I'm going to keep it short. I couldn't connect with the characters. It seems all the cliches were rounded up and portrayed as each character.

Also, one day's events stretched over 500 plus pages! Probably the first book where I wasn't happy reading more pages.

DNF @ 37%
I just couldn't get into this book unfortunately. With the setting being a cozy bookstore I was sure I would love this but I found that I just didn't care about what was happening with the story or with any of the characters and it felt like a chore to push through so I decided to give myself a break and DNF it. I hope others will love it but it just wasn't for me personally.

This book was so much fun to read. I love the bookstore environment, the strong female characters, and how relatable all the characters are. The book was written very well and has a BEAUTIFUL cover!

The book started out slowly, but I liked that it did because it gave me time to get to know the characters and their relationships with one another. The POV switched between Rinn, Daniella, and Imogen which allowed the reader to get a deeper understanding of what was happening and the struggles of the main characters. Everything in the book happens over the span of one day, which made me apprehensive at first but the pacing was really good and it worked for the book. Rinn, Daniella, and Imogen are VERY different characters and I loved seeing their love for the bookstore unite them.

I loved the diversity in the characters in the book. I also appreciated how mental health was represented in This Is All Your Fault. There was a mystery vibe in the book that made it impossible to put down (so I may have stayed up pretty late to finish it, sorry dad🙂 ). This book is one I would put at the top of your TBR list!

I love contemporary novels set during one day. I love books set in bookstores. I loved the author's previous book. So I was so sure I was going to love this book too.

Unfortunately, it really didn't work for me. I found it fell really flat and it just didn't feel developed enough for me to feel invested. I think the main issue was that there were too many characters, all of whom weren't really fleshed out. They were more ideas than people, really, but not in a way that worked.

A lot of the things that happened in this book just felt really random, and they didn't make much sense in the context of any kind of plot.

CWs: harrassment, gun