(3.5/5) The Lost Manuscript is indeed a charming epistolary novel. I found it enjoyable with quite a cast of memorable characters. Some beautiful moments with a very satisfying ending. And because of Anne-Lise I will from here on after refer to IKEA as "the Nordic people with their twisted sense of humor." I found that quite funny!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Goodreads: 2 stars

The initial reason I was interested in this book was the premise alone- an abandoned manuscript written by separate authors and found by accident by someone who begins to connect everyone that has found it during the decades it was lost.

I tried to, I really did but I could not get into this book.

The way the book was written felt like there were far too many coincidences occurring at the perfect time to feel realistic. It was entertaining but began to not make sense as I read it due to the overwhelming amount of characters with names and connections that were hard to keep track of.

I did enjoy the way the book was written in a letter format but it felt like every person who replied to a letter went on unprompted tangents that had nothing to do with the story at hand. They were interesting enough and added personality and voice to the characters but were too eccentric and confusing for me to go along with. 

This was an interesting read if you like to follow the direction of the plot and its many twists and turns, but it unfortunately was not for me.

Thank you to the St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy.

The Lost Manuscript by Cathy Bonidan 💌

Thank you to @stmartinspress for the eARC via @netgalley!

The Lost Manuscript was a cute epistolary novel told through letters sent by Anne-Lise after she discovers a book manuscript tucked away in a drawer in a hotel room and seeks to track down the people who wrote and added to the story over the years. Her letters reveal that the manuscript has had an impact on so many lives, including hers, and in the end brings strangers together. It was a very charming, quick read, and the prose style and vocabulary were beautiful and a little old-timey (for lack of a better word), and very fun to read. Epistolary novels are not for everybody, but this was a perfect light read, and I highly recommend it to anybody looking for a quick and entertaining story told in a unique way.

A one-of-a-kind story that highlights the power of stories and words. Told in multiple voices and just through letters or emails, we get to know the story of Anne-Lise, Sylvestre, Maggy, William, and all the people who were touched, in some way, by a mysterious manuscript. The journey to discover the origins of the manuscript takes these people on a different journey and changes their lives in ways they were not expecting.
The book was fast-paced and was easy to read. It was enjoyable and peculiar in a very positive way. It makes you think about how much a book or a story can have an influence in your life, sometimes in life-changing ways. I really liked it; although I thought Anne-Lise was a bit too nosy, I liked all the characters and I would definitely read more books by the author.

Thank you for the oppurtunity to review this new novel. 

I had high hopes because who doesn't want to read about an old manuscript? Unfortuntaley I was a bit disappointed. I'm not a fan of the protagonist Anne-Lise. That character kind of messed up the novel by being irritating.

*I was given a free copy for an honest review*

This was a wonderful epistolary. I absolutely loved the writing and the way each character had differences in the styles. I enjoyed the description of the sights across multiple countries. The mystery behind the authors of the found manuscript keeps you engaged and excited for "Waldo" to be found. I enjoyed the ending. This was a light, fun read.

This was a solid 4.5 for me. An unfinished manuscript thought to be lost by its author leads to a hunt to find the author who finished the novel. As the journey continues, the books brings more and more people together, showing the power of words and story to bring people together and heal. A really fun epistolary novel with a lot of heart.

It’s the 1980’s and Sylvestre has lost a manuscript on his way to meet a friend in the publishing industry. It is a novel inspired by the love of his life, a woman he met one summer while he was in college. 

Fast forward thirty years later. It’s 2016 and a manuscript is found by Anne-Lise, a wife and mother on holiday in southern France, in her hotel room’s nightstand. Anne-Lise reads the manuscript and is touched by the love story. She notices that it appears the story abruptly ends and is picked up by another writer who has written notes and poetry in the margins. As someone who loves books and the writing process, she immediately wants to reunite the manuscript with it’s owner and find out the true story behind the novel. 

I adored this book! Written in epistolary format, the relationship between authors and readers and the beautiful and sometimes profound ways a book can touch someone’s life is brought to light. I couldn’t put it down and finished this sweet book in one day. There are several characters but they have so much depth it’s difficult to confuse them and by the end of the book you feel connected to them as if the letters they write are addressed to you. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! 
•
4/5 ⭐️ - I really liked it!

It’s been over thirty years since Sylvestre lost his manuscript. Luckily for him, Anne-Lise discovers his long lost book in a drawer at her hotel while she’s on holiday. Finding Sylvestre’s address among it’s pages, Anne-Lise send the manuscript back to him with a letter of her commentary. The response she receives is surprising: not only that Sylvestre lost his manuscript so long ago, but that it was unfinished the last time he saw it. Somewhere along it’s journey, another author completed the manuscript and Anne-Lise won’t stop until she finds them. 

This epistolary novel really grabbed my attention. The short letters drew me in and made it impossible to put down! I love the interactions among the characters- their witty exchanges often had me laughing out loud. I also really enjoyed the hunt for the manuscript’s second author. Loving a bit of research myself, it was fun to live vicariously through Anne-Lise as she tracked the manuscript back through time.

3.5 stars

This often-charming but circuitous story about a lost book manuscript that reappears after a thirty-three year disappearance has quite a complex and meandering plot. Many of the characters have interesting back stories and are quite appealing.  

When the manuscript is discovered, the main narrator decides to return it to an address listed in its pages. She is often difficult to connect with as she is unbelievably pushy and meddling. Several times those involved tell her quite clearly to back off, but she disregards their wishes. She does make a monumental effort to trace the movement of the draft over the years and in the process meets and befriends quite a few characters. And her efforts ultimately turn out well for everyone.

Thanks to Net Galley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, All opinions are my own.
The Lost Manuscript was boring. There are so many characters with relationships with one another and I couldn’t keep them all straight. And no one endeared themselves to me in their letters either...I can’t name a single memorable thing about any of them beyond their names. I seem to be in the minority on this one, so it must be a “me” thing.

This was quite different from what I was expecting.  It was an okay book but I did not find it engaging. Because the book was told in letters, and the nature of the letters, I felt detached from the story. It seemed nothing was happening in the present; things were discussed that were going to happen, or the reader learned about things after they had already happened. I also felt the characters' voices were indistinguishable from each other-- maybe nuances and differences would be more evident upon multiple readings. Finally, I don't think there was any dialogue or even scenes where someone recounts a conversation. This also would have broken things up a bit.

I do love a book about a book!

Beautiful read, NetGalley, thanks for the chance to read and review this one.

I’m very sad to say this one was just not for me. I couldn’t get into it and it felt like a chore to get through. I couldn’t connect with the characters and thought the story was moving at an incredibly slow pace. However, I did love the format of this book (letters) and I also thought it was a very unique story. 

It looks like I’m in the minority with this one and I suggest you check out other reviews because there seems to be a lot of good ones for this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book just wasn’t for me. The premise sounded interesting but as I was reading I just got extremely bored. As another reviewer mentioned, maybe some things were just lost in translation and it’s better in its original French writing? Thank you though to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this arc.

I was unable to finish this so thus will not be posting a full review on my blog.  I think something was lost in the translation because the story seemed like it could have been compelling but the language was harsh to read and did not flow.  I'm sure it's beautiful in its original French but was too stagnant and unwieldy for me to enjoy

The sounded like a clever idea, but it didn't really work in execution. The storyline was too slow and meandering for me, and not particularly believable. Maybe if it had had the brisk pace, the solid structure, the compelling plot, the vibrant characters, and the gripping emotion of a Harlequin romance, it would have held my interest. DNF.

I loved the book! I thought the actual concept is quite interesting, and the narrative was nice to listen to/read/absorb. I love sort of email, chain, or other romance novels, so this was kind of all of them meshed into one. Although she becomes obsessed with the idea, which was kind of tedious at points, overall is a really nice read!

This is a charming, epistolary novel is about a woman named Anne-Lise who is on vacation in Brittany and finds a manuscript in a drawer. She is completely smitten with the story and makes it her mission to reunite the manuscript with its original author. The author responds in gratitude and lets her know that someone else actually completed the second half of the book, unbeknownst to the original author. In addition, a poem has been written at the end of the book by a third writer. Annelise makes it her mission to track down all of the manuscript’s contributors, inviting them into her life via their exchange of letters. There’s a nostalgic feeling to this book that harkens back to a time where people wrote meaningful letters to one another. This is a quick, light and delightful read. Although it’s categorized as romance, I’d call it fiction with light swaths of romance and mystery, but truly a book about human relationships and the ways in which writing (both letters and books) can inspire. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

This book was written differently from what I normally read. I was expecting something else too. It started out interesting but as people and their letters were added I had a hard time keeping track. It made it a bit confusing.
I’m not real sure about the ending either. 
I’m sure it will find an audience who will love it’s format.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy