The Last Chance Library is Freya Sampson's debut novel, and is just as deeply charming as it is indicative of problems that communities are having across nations. June Jones is the local library assistant, and the embodiment of the rural community's source of reading - a bit out-of-date and a beacon of caring for the village's inhabitants. Bookish June gave up on her dreams of attending university to become a writer when her mother became terminally ill. Once she lost her mom, June took her role at the library and had not left it since. Now, the library is being threatened with closure after budget cuts, and June must find herself to find a future for the community.

This book was so heartwarming - and not totally predictable! The cast of village characters is wonderful, and the grief that June carries is a great exploration for readers. While there is a romance narrative, with a man from June's school days coming back to support his dad, it doesn't dominate the story and is an authentic addition. If you're looking for a safe and cozy weekend read - this is a great bet!

If you loved - The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver, The Switch by Beth O'Leary, Why I Held Your Hand by Augusta Reilly, Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher, I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella - you'll totally fall for The Last Chance Library!

This book hit every librarian stereotype, which I wholeheartedly embody, but at its core was an utterly heartwarming story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

Thank you @netgalley and @berkleypub for this Advanced Readers Copy.

What a delight! I loved digging into this cute story of literacy, hope, ageism, love, and community building. The main character, June Jones, is a 28 year old library assistant who has lost herself. June’s mother passed away and June has found herself stuck in a well routined life- she lives alone and works at her local library, comes home to a microwave lasagna, and re-reads her beloved books. When the local council threatens to close the library, the community rallies around the cause and fights back. With many misadventures along the way, June finds passion and courage again.

I loved that this book features a lot of older adult characters. This is a population that isn’t featured in many mainstream fiction books, and I found it so refreshing! And heartbreaking of course, I adored Stanley’s character. Check this book out for a quick read that is quirky, heartwarming, and passionate!

Delightful, beautifully written, lovely and inspiring. Freya Sampson is a genius and I cannot wait for her next book!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC

This is a cute story of a girl who finds herself while saving a local library.

A charming and heartwarming story about giving voice to a cause that is near and dear to the heart. Library lover's rejoice can rejoice in The Last Chance Library.

What a sweet story about saving a library. The characters were quirky, likeable and full of love. I enjoyed this book and loved the ending!

For lovers of books about books with a small town setting and some romance. There are times when this is just the ticket for me! Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

‘The Last Chance Library’ by Freya Sampson (Berkley, Aug. 31, 336 pages, “26)

If you love books, it’s almost impossible to pass up any story with “library” in the title, and Freya Sampson’s “The Last Chance Library” is one not be missed. From its opening line, “You can tell a lot about a person from the library books they borrow,” to the charming sleepy English village locale of its setting, you know this is a story that promises charm and comfort. The promise delivers in the form of lonely librarian June Jones, a 30-year-old woman who would rather live in books than the world around her. When both worlds are threatened by the library’s closure, June joins with outside forces — an eclectic group of like-minded locals — in a campaign to keep the facility open. A simple story on the surface delves deep into the exploration of how one woman grows into the strength of family, friends and love.

"The Last Chance Library" was just the book I needed after reading a handful of heavier books. This is an adorable British novel about saving a library. The characters are fantastic and the setting is perfection; WHAT BOOK LOVER DOESN'T LOVE A LIBARY?!

This was a cute little British book about saving a library. I didn't love it, but I still enjoyed it. The cast of characters was fun and the library setting was great - I loved how the author emphasizes how much the library serves the community. Would be a book I'd recommend to others to read after a really heavy read.

A love story to libraries for library lovers anywhere. A story of a young woman overcoming her grief and finding the courage to take risks and live her life again through the fight to save her beloved library.

I feel like I should have known what I was getting into when I started reading this book but I let my want of a book about books cloud my judgment. The Last Chance Library follows June, a painfully shy library assistant through the events that unfold after finding out that her library will be getting shut down due to budget cuts.

I'll get straight to the point, this book was pretty much as cut and paste, change the details a little bit women's fiction as it could get. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. This was pretty much right in the middle, hence the three star rating. The eclectic cast of supporting characters was about as stereotypical as they could get, kind old man, mean old ladies that end up just being misunderstood, a young kid who is too smart for his own good, a struggling teenager. They had seemingly interesting backstories and I've got to admit I think that June absolutely paled in comparison to them. June was painfully shy to the point that her complete and utter lack of personality made me want to pull my hair out. I understood bits and pieces of who she was, and her grief from losing her mother was very apparent but for her to be such a pivotal piece of her community and yet none of the people she interacted with on a regular basis cared to take the time to sit her down and talk to her about what was truly going on in her life was very odd to me. I also didn't love the fact that she wouldn't even try and help save the library until over halfway into the book. This place was her second home, it was a huge aspect of her memories of her mother and yet she was so weak and shy and nervous that she wouldn't even give this a second thought. Oh and don't get me started on the complete lack of chemistry that she had with her love interest. It was weird and it didn't make sense, I think this could have done without that completely and the story wouldn't have changed at all.

The main thing that I actually found myself enjoying about this book was the plot. The writing was fine and it was easy enough to fly through this book in an afternoon. I liked seeing where the story was going despite the fact that I would have preferred it to be narrated by someone other than June. I also enjoy reading books that could potentially help other people who may find themselves in similar circumstances. It was nice to see a community come together to try and save their library because in their community, as in most, the library was absolutely vital. This is where I think that the book redeemed itself, always nice to read a story that could inspire someone else who might be about to lose a vital part of their own community.

Overall, this book was fine. I wouldn't say I would never recommend it but I'm not jumping to tell everyone to go out and pick this up. As someone who has terrible anxiety I usually find some way to commiserate with shy characters but June really kept me from enjoying this book more because even though it had potential, I spent most of the book waiting for June to grow up and make some decisions for herself. The Last Chance Library really could have built itself up from the cast of characters to flourish into a community centered plot and while it had moments like this, most of it ended up falling flat in the end.

June Jones, thirty-two years old, has been a library assistant for eight years. She’s shy, lonely, and she has never moved on since her mother passed away. She’s in a holding pattern until her library is targeted by the council that administers her small village. To save money the library, along with several others in the area, may be closed. As June bands together with a group of loyal library users, she begins to explore the possibility of spreading her wings. Meanwhile, the library won’t be closed without a fight.

The Last Chance Library is a gentle story with quirky characters. They all have interesting backstories and it was fun watching them banding together to save the library and then discovering new friendships as well. June was a difficult character to like in the beginning and she was never one of my favorites. But, the others made up for that. Even though it’s somewhat predictable, there are still some unexpected events and I enjoyed how everything evolved and unfolded. I recommend The Last Chance Library to anyone who loves books and their local library. Thumbs up with 3.5 *s.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

June is forced out of her comfort zone to help defend the library she loves. 📚📚📚

This is a charming story, with major Hallmark vibes. Filled with quirky characters and tons of delightful book references, this is a very fun read. I love a good book about books, and this did not disappoint. ⭐⭐⭐

I love books about libraries and books about finding yourself. This combines two of my favorite things. June is a likeable character, but she leads a very sheltered and quiet life. Her ability to open up and let people in, even those who have forced their way, is a great example for all of us who may need to change a bit.

June Jones returned to her home town to help take care of her mother as she was dealing with a medical hurdle, and when she died June Jones stayed and maybe was a little stuck in one place. And June Jone had been living that life until the town council announces their intentions to close the library she works at and her and the regular patrons are going to fight hard to stop them.

A fun cast of characters and a reminder to book lovers of the importance of a library for the community no matter if you, yourself visit it or not. I loved how the author painted such a fun cast of characters who visit the library and are thankful to have a place that can meet their needs - no matter what they are! It was so heartwarming to see these people through June Jones' eyes as she appreciated each of her patrons.

While there were for sure parts of the book that were predictable, it didn't take away from the heart of the story. I may have called a few of the plot points before they occurred, but it didn't ruin things for me. I would recommend this sweet book to any reader who loves a love letter to reading and readers.

This is a fun book about a small town with a quirky cast of characters.

June is 28 years old and has never lived anywhere outside of her small town. After her mom passed away, she took over working as a librarian’s assistant and live in her mother’s house alone. When the library is threatened with being shut down, June is forced to face some of her fears and figure out how to grow as a person.

I’m going to start off with the aspects of the book that I enjoyed, and then I will share some of the bits I wasn’t as crazy about. I’m a sucker for fun side characters and this book had them in abundance. All of the frequent library patrons were colorful and they made the desire to save the library feel real. I also appreciated how the fight for the library went down. It felt realistic to me, even if there were some moments that were a bit silly, it never got too over the top.

The unfortunate thing is that I didn’t love June. I liked parts of her character but found her to be annoying overall. She is painfully shy and it started to grate on my nerves. I needed someone to smack her upside the head and tell her to get over herself. There was a scene when she goes to a hen do (British for bachelorette party) and they’re playing Never Have I Ever. June doesn’t raise a glass for having done anything. At all. I get that she’s been a bit shy and sheltered but this goes full on recluse status and just made me roll my eyes.

I enjoyed watching her growth but would’ve appreciated it happening maybe a little quicker. I found the romance storyline to be a little bit rushed and, honestly a little unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Alex’s character but I almost with there wasn’t that aspect of June needing a man to help her feel complete.

It was a cute, quick book with some well written characters. I liked the overall story but because I wasn’t in love with the main character it didn’t fully connect with me. It’s not that it was a bad book by any means, but will likely be one I forget about quickly.

A charming, fun read. As a librarian at the library going through issues, I found the solidarity of the staff and patrons here both realistic and convincing.

It’s no secret that I love the library, so The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson, a book all about saving one, was right up my alley!

June Jones works as a librarian in the small English village where she grew up. In fact, she’s never really been anywhere else. Always introverted and someone who preferred books to reality, June took over her mom’s job when her mom got sick and never left. Now the council is doing an “analysis” to see if the library is worth investing in and it seems likely the library will be closed. June must fight through a sea of self doubt to burst out of her shell and help save it.

The book is full of delightful characters. A precocious home-schooled boy who reads everything, a elderly man who comes to the library to do the crossword puzzle every day, a woman who complains about every book she reads but keeps coming back, and an activist who is ready to get back in the fight.

There is a small romance thread in this one, but this book is mainly a love letter to libraries and all the ways they are vital to communities. I really enjoyed seeing June’s journey which is partly about actually grieving her mother and figuring out how to move on with her life.