DNF @ 15%

This book was just not for me. I am not here for the insta-love relationship, and wasn't a fan of the characters.
It felt a little bit childish and messy..

When I read this book I remember really enjoying it! I really need to reread this book soon and add it to my physical shelves.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

This book was so, so good. It had a magical, lyrical quality to the writing that had me glued to the page. I read this book basically in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. Judging from other reviews, I wasn't the only one! 5 stars.

I didn’t finish because I was too sad to continue. I wasn’t in a good headspace to read about a best friend dying after a very stupid fight. The writing is fantastic but the story just wasn’t for me. The trip to find the author that was the reason for the entire stupid fight didn’t even make me feel good.

Amelia Unabridged was a hit to my heart because once you lose someone close listening to or reading books dealing with grief hits more intimately. While this story is straightforward in the plot without too many twists, it's the dialogue, conversations, and moments between Amelia and Nolan that I connected with the most. Their feelings about grief and death and moving forward were something I felt deeply and at moments my grief was on display with tears in my eyes. While this book takes place in the summer the overall feel and cover give it a more autumnal vibe and is a great read for this time of the year where things are changing! I have oddly found books like this comforting over the last almost three years and while I'm very late in my reviewing of this ARC. I think I read it at just the right time.

Thank you to NetGalley for this copy of Amelia Unabridged in return for my honest thoughts and review.

"There's nothing in the world a good book can't cure."


📚 Series? No.
📚 Genre? Contemporary Romance.
📚 Read for? ARC April
📚 Cliffhanger? No.

⚠ Content Warnings: Character death. Drowning. Trauma. Emotionally Absent Parents.
⚠ Book Tags : Books about books. Author Main Character. Bookworm Main Character.

I'm the type of reader who loves going into stories that are beautifully heartbreaking. I love the pain and physically feeling my heart crack when scenes get too heavy to bear. Amelia Unabridged gave me that and so much more.

First off, I would just want to applaud how elegantly written this book was. It was atmospheric and lyrical — many times I just felt like I was submerged into a fairytale world. The author gave a story that surrounds something special to most to us — reading — and she delivered it in a way that made me appreciate my love for books even more.

Amelia Unabridged told the story of Amelia, who after losing her best friend in an car crash, felt her world has turned upside down. Their friendship went beyond friendship, they built their world around each other, and books served as a bond to keep them even closer. The thing is, after her bestfriend's death, Amelia felt like she won't be able to read books anymore.

Until a first edition copy of her favorite book lands on her hands and the only thing she felt was that it was a gift from her departed friend. This journey brought her where her favorite author was. And like the dream of many author fangirls, they find comfort (and maybe love?) with each other.

What I love the most about this book is how Amelia Unabridged gave imperfect and realistic characters. They seem like people you would know in real life — I feel like they are my kids and I just want to hug and take care of them.

The love story, which is the focal point of this book, was well-written. I know you need a little suspension of belief to fully appreciate it, and that makes this book just the perfect escapism read, in my honest opinion. There are so many fun and sweet moments in this book. I loved all of them so much that I am still smiling now even a few weeks after reading.

This book also touches on the concept of friends, family, and found family. Everything is extremely written well and the flow just naturally blends toward each other. Not only that, here's an awesome bonus: There's a cute, clumsy, and cuddly dog!

☁ FINAL THOUGHTS & RECOMMENDATIONS ☁
I found a new favorite book. It's something I would enjoy rereading and revisiting from time to time. It's just so, so, so, so good! I can't recommend it enough!

☁ THE CRITERIA ☁

🌼 Synopsis:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Main Character:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Significant Other: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Support Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Writing Style:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Character Development:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Ending: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Unputdownability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌼 Book Cover:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

☁FINAL VERDICT: 5/5 ☁

A story about a young girl facing the loss of her best friend and a mysterious author also dealing with his past losses.

This isn't what I normally pick up - but the exploration of grief and depression while set in the world of books hooked me.

Amelia is fully developed and continues to grow and find herself throughout the novel. While she and Jenna - her best friend - had planned the perfect college and future together, when that was taken away Amelia had to decide if she continues on the safe and solid path decided for her or divert to a course that really is her own.

The characters are sweet, I still question if it's ok for the dog to be drinking all the coffee, and it left me with a lot of good feels throughout. I would highly recommend and would put it in high school libraries everywhere

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful and touching read. The ability of Schumacher to combine some beautiful prose and reflections on grief, regret, and tragedy with a pace that didn't hold back the flow of the plot was wonderful. The added love story added the perfect sweetness to this book to really round it out as a fabulous read.

I have mixed feelings about this book, I found grief very well and sensitively written but a,so found it difficult to relate to the main character. I would recommend if you are looking for a book that will make you fell.

I wanted to love this book as I heard amazing things from other readers. My issue with this book didn't lie with the world or plot itself. I was actually a bit heartbroken with the premise of it. Unfortunately, the reason why this was a two-star read for me was because of the main character. I didn't attach to her at all, and many times found her to be extremely annoying. Of course, this is subjective, so if the main character isn't a problem for others, I could easily see this being a four-star read.

This book was raved about and I was so enthralled to finally be reading it. That is until about halfway into it! I was so disappointed with the romance, it was TOO perfect. It was the kind that make you say "oh brother" followed by an eye roll. Needless to say, I had to put it down. I was so close to really loving this novel. It had it all with the bookshop setting....oh well.

Amelia is obsessed with N.E. Endsley’s books about the world of Orman and will do anything to meet the author. However, when her best friend, Jenna, dies in a car accident, Amelia’s world is turned upside down and her passion for reading dies as well. One day a mysterious special edition of the beloved book finds its way to Amelia. Was it sent from Jenna or someone else? Amelia flies to Michigan to find out and discovers her happy ending.

This book is so enchanting! I got lost in the beautiful imagery of thoughts and feelings experienced by the characters. It was like reading a real-life fairytale! It is a story filled with love, loss of someone close, friendship, and choosing your own path to move forward in life. I loved the friendship between Jenna and Amelia as well as the relationship Amelia forged with Nolan. He is a perfect fit because they are trudging the same path. As an avid reader, I enjoyed the quotes and references from other books scattered throughout this book. I also liked the happy ending. This book is perfect for bookworms of all ages, lovers of stories with quaint and quirky bookstores, and fans of fairytales!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Occasionally I stumble across a YA novel that people are raving about and of course I must read it. How could I bypass a book with an enchanted bookstore set in my gorgeous state of Michigan to boot. This started off really strong and had me raving about how good it was, but once Amelia meets Endsley things just fell into place a little too fast and neatly.

I received this books via Netgalley. I loved this book. It's about friendship and family and love. I would recommend it even if you don't normally read young adult. I highly recommend!

This book was simply not my thing. I have grown a lot as a reader in the past few years and this is simply not what I am looking for anymore. I would have LOVED this book a couple years ago, though, and would encourage anybody interested to still read it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions contained within are my own.

Wow, did this book just jump my feelings in a dark alley or what? Like… I knew it was going to be sad. I wasn’t prepared for exactly how emotional it would make me, though! How dare it be so beautiful and lyrical and heart-wrenching all at the same time 😭

In Amelia Unabridged, we follow a bookish young woman named Amelia Griffin. After her father leaves, Amelia finds comfort in books and her best friend, Jenna. They actually bonded over the first book in Amelia’s favorite series, the Orman Chronicles by N.E. Endsley. So, when Amelia and Jenna get the chance to attend a book festival and a book talk by the one and only Endsley, Amelia is over the moon. Things don’t go as planned, however, and, when Amelia finds out that Jenna somehow managed to meet the elusive author face-to-face and didn’t tell her, they have a huge fight. Shortly after, Jenna is dead, killed in a car accident while studying abroad. Now, Amelia is left to grapple with her grief, her guilt, and a mystery when an exclusive edition of the Orman Chronicles shows up from a bookstore in Michigan that she highly suspects was sent to her by Jenna. Now, Amelia is on a mission to figure out the origin of this beautiful book and what message, if any, Jenna was trying to tell her with this final gift.

As I mentioned, I knew that the main theme of this novel was grief. How it’s different for everyone, how it manifests in different people, and how terrible and all-consuming it can be. I was fully prepared to shed a few tears. There was something about this book, however, that dug deeper into my emotions and really made me feel Amelia’s grief over the loss of Jenna. I have to credit, in part, the absolutely gorgeous writing. Ashley Schumacher has a way of weaving words that completely envelope you and make you a part of the story. The writing is rich, beautiful, and something I want to experience over and over again.

I also loved the whimsical elements of this story. Amelia is, at heart, a reader and, beyond that, she is a lover of fantasy. Getting to live inside her head for the duration of this story was an absolute delight. Not because of her rage and grief and confusion, though those were all masterfully portrayed. It was because of her beautiful imagination. I loved when she would speak of the ‘clever wind’ or imagine herself watching a pod of whales swimming through the skies. I will say the whales get mentioned a lot and there were a few times near the middle where I was like… alright, we get it. But then, they were a big component of Amelia’s emotional coping mechanism, so it kinda makes sense.

The one thing that left me feeling a little ‘meh’ was the romance. Don’t get me wrong! I thought it was sweet and well-developed, I’ve just never been a fan of insta-love. And falling in love with some random and slightly anti-social boy you’ve just met in less than a week is definitely insta-love. Even if you strongly disliked him the first day. Again, I don’t mean to say that the budding romance was poorly written. The author did an incredible job subtly displaying their growing and changing relationship and, by the end, even my cynical little heart was rooting for them. But that particular trope is not and will never be my cup of tea.

Of course, I had the wonderful descriptions of the Michigan bookshop to tide me over, so I was okay with a little way-too-soon smoochiness 😂

Final thoughts: This book has a lot going for it. It’s beautiful written, with a main character that is compellingly conveyed and descriptions that transport you into the story. You’ll find yourself easily picturing the cozy bookshop in Michigan where Amelia finds herself wrestling with grief and falling in love. I’m not a fan of insta-love, but I will say that the romance is well-written and rather touching. The imagery in this story is gorgeous and whimsical, which I thought was a lovely touch when dealing with something as heavy as grief. Prepare to have your emotions assaulted and, in the end, be grateful for it!

This was a beautiful story of friendship, family, and love and the type of story that totally just sneaks up on your heart. Part of me thought it was going to be heavier than it was but I didn't mind in the slightest that it wasn't. I really enjoyed the authors writing and will be looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I found the story interesting with great writing and characters development. But somehow there are many scenes and overall things that I can’t feel that I can get a grip on them for some reason.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I loved this book so much. It has touches of magic and whimsy despite the grief that fuels the story, which is really a perfect blend for what life after loss is. It can still be joyful and hopeful even when it hurts.