A completely different read from my usual crime/psychological thrillers but I really liked the sound of this book, and it didn’t disappoint.
Sophie is contacted by her Uncle and offered a job that she can’t refuse. It means leaving her boyfriend behind, but she soon realises he’s not worth worrying about.
Sophie is taken to Ayredale Library and immediately feels like she’s come home.
Her mother disappeared when she was a teenager from this very place and the memories start to come back to her.
The library is filled with secrets and magic and it’s all a bit overwhelming for her at first.
Will is on hand to support Sophie and her memories of him also start to come back, as they grew up here together.
Many of the books hold magical secrets and there are people who will do anything to get hold of them.
Sophie, Will and her Uncle have a fight like no other on their hands to keep the library alive.
This is a great read with magic and love at it’s centre.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture, and Bookouture Audio! This book was perfection in every way.

I was approved for the electronic and audio versions of this book and will review them both separately below. However, spoiler alert, THEY ARE BOTH FIVE STARS allllll the way!

The Book—excuse me while I swoon over the absolutely brilliant writing of this story. The imagery was spot on and the characters were so dynamic I even loved the ones I hated! I could visualize the Ayredale Library so vividly that I thought I was standing among the books myself; able to smell the old leather covers and ancient papers bound between them.

Their was just enough of a “love” story to keep me interested, as I am an unapologetically hopeless romantic. Yet, there was so much more to this fantasy. I think this book would be perfect for those who love fanciful book that keep you on your toes and for those who like something a bit more general fiction. It totes the line but is not overly supernatural as to turn anyone off. (But I am a fantasy reader, so what do I know?)

The Audiobook—keep everything you read above then add the most fantastic narrator I have heard since Jim Dale into the mix. Mind blowing is what you get.

I have a long drive to and from work every day and love having audio books to whisk my mind away from the mundane drive. However, I am soooooo picky when it comes to audiobooks. I almost always hate them. Books I would have normally liked get ruined and characters become grating. But, not this time. I loved Charlie Norfolk’s reading so much I am going back just to listen to other books she has read.

Overall, there is so much to love. Read it, listen to it, or both. But make sure you get it! I can’t wait to order my physical copy just to have it on my bookshelf. I loved it that much!!!

As a child I liked the magic faraway tree, this is the adult version , full of suspense and surprises along the way.
The main character doesn’t have a clue of her power or role but she plays it well . It took me till about half way in to like the main character , she seemed weak and needy but then she became strong and powerful.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it .

I was so interested with the premise of this book. A magical library but in the 21st century!

Sophie is offered a job at an elite library, the same one where her mother was last seen 15 years ago.

When she arrives she finds a family and friends she forgot about and a whole load of secrets and lies as she tries to uncover the truth of her mother's past.

Sophie is a main character with a lot of depth. She is dealing with multiple levels of trauma, abuse, and mental health issues. I felt that she was written realistically.

I liked her development through the book as she experienced all the strange occurrences and unique individuals at Ayredale Library.

As for the world building, it was built up well as it was based off of England in the 21st century but had elements of a different time when magic reigned. The pacing of the book started off well, but things got a little hectic and rushed at the end. No spoilers, but there was a real chance for development between Sophie and Will at the end that was missed.

Overall, this was a great read with a great balance between the modern day and the history of the ancient library and its secrets.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was intrigued by the idea of this book. I don’t think I‘ve ever read a book set in a (magical) library before, and I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the main character Sophie‘s mother. This was an entirely unique setting which together with an overall captivating writing style had me excited for this read.

Sophie is a talented, dyslexic bookbinder who at the beginning of the book is still in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend Victor. However, after her father’s death, she catches Victor cheating and her uncle offers her a job as a bookbinder at his library - the place Sophie left when she was a teen right after her mother Elizabeth’s disappearance, and a place which she can barely remember except for a big tree with golden leaves.

The library is a magical place, but sadly enough the magical system is only explored very little. Spells are written down in books in a language most people cannot read (but Sophie can, and this is given as a reason for her dyslexia - a rather sorry attempt at representation if you ask me) and some people even cast these spells, but the reader never learns anything about it really,

However, I did enjoy the worldbuilding surrounding the library, its history and the tree itself.

Just like the place itself, Sophie barely remembers the people living and working in the library, including her childhood best friend Will. And Will honestly is my favourite character in this book. He’s kind and helpful and trying to do right by everyone. What I didn’t like about him and Sophie was how quickly their relationship was rekindled and they fell back in love. Sophie is supposed to be traumatised from her relationship with Victor and either way I would imagine it would take some time to get reacquainted with a person you’ve last seen fifteen years ago.

This is actually another point that confused me. To me, Sophie didn’t seem like someone who’s nearly thirty years old. She seemed naive, impulsive and overall much more like she was 10 years younger than her supposed age. I wonder whether it would have made much of a difference to the plot had the author chosen to, say, have Sophie lose her mother at age 10 and set the present story ten instead of fifteen years after this event. It would certainly have made her character and decisions and behaviour more logical. No grown adult who has just left a toxic relationship should simply agree to talk to their ex in private, after all. And she should definitely question all the blatantly obvious hints at things like Will’s identity.

For the first half of the book, the plot was well-paced and I was very invested in what would be happening next as well as finding the answers to the mystery around Sophie’s mother’s disappearance. However, in the second half the plot was paced very weirdly and too rushed towards the ending, I felt like I didn’t get to know the characters any better, and the memories of Elizabeth’s disappearance and her last words were repeated over and over again until I knew them by heart. I just didn’t understand the reasoning behind that, it didn’t even add to the plot anymore.

Still, I very much enjoyed the story and think the series has great potential. I would very much like to dive deeper especially into the history of the library and the nature and limits of the magical system.

This was a pleasant and entertaining read but maybe I have read too many books now about magical libraries and this one did not have enough weight to stand out in any way.

The main character, Sophie, is a very talented bookbinder but her personal life is going off the rails when she gets the chance to move away and work at a very special library. It turns out that she is actually going back to where she was raised and where her mother died in mysterious circumstances. There she meets a number of interesting characters including her childhood sweetheart, Will. She also begins to realise that the library is calling to her for a reason.

Everything is set for a great book but some of the best possibilities are never followed up. There are too many people keeping secrets from each other and the tremendous potential for characters such as Will and Tia is missed when we only see their reality briefly at the end. Mind you, the finale is pretty exciting!

Basically a good book to escape with from reality for a few hours.

I was completely lured into this book by the cover and the premise of a magical library (honestly, what's not to love as a lover of books?). It turned out that the descriptions of the library were indeed the most enticing parts of this book for me. While the story is set in a modern-day setting, the library has something that makes it seems timeless, somewhat Victorian. It was whimsical and written with love and beautiful prose.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story fell somewhat flat for me. I did not connect with Sophie at all, and found her to be a weak character. She also (and the same can be said for some of the other characters), seemed far younger than she was supposed to be. Similarly, I had issues with the pacing of the book, sometimes too fast and sometimes way too slow. There was a fair bit of repetition, and, while those repeated aspects were important to the story, it became too much for me to really enjoy the magic of the story. While Sophie might not have capture me, I did enjoy some of the other characters, particularly Will and Tia. They made me keep reading this one until the end. Both of them seem slightly more real, and easy to imagine.

I think in sum I would have liked more of the atmospheric library and its history, while I could have done with less of Sophie. No massive wow factor, but an okay read.

Reading my reviews for a while, you know books about books or libraries or both are an extra particular favorite of mine. The bookbinder's daughter encompasses everything I could want descriptions about old libraries, a mystery or two to unravel, and complicated relationships. Our main character has a crappy, controlling boyfriend, and she receives a mysterious letter from her uncle, who she barely remembers. She grew up in this famous research library but was forced to leave it when a terrible accident occurs her mom. Past is back in her life, and her boyfriend, a book seller, wants to control every aspect of how she goes about reading it and deciding what to do with her life. She accepts a new job and gives the boyfriend the boot, and we are off to the races and exploring this ancient library through the eyes of a bookbinder. Books about books are so great cause we get glimpses into the process of how books come to life. This library is extra special, and discovering how our main characters fit into all is a treat to read.

Sophie has never known what happened to her mother. So when an estranged Uncle shows up and offers her a job in the family business, her mother’s old job, it’s an offer too good to refuse. Little does she know that the secret of her mother’s disappearance isn’t the only mystery that will be unravelled.

When she arrives at Ayredale library it feels like home, but it is soon clear that the library is more than it had seemed from the outside world. Back in familiar surroundings, lost memories of her childhood start to drip slowly back in. Memories that she doesn’t understand how she could have ever forgotten in the first place. Memories like Will Rhys, her first love. Memories like the hauntingly magical tree that might actually be more than just a recurring dream.

The library is definitely a magical place. The books that it produces are far beyond any ordinary books. The people that it house are more than just ordinary people. Yet it is the mystery that makes it the most magical. Even the people who live there, who were raised there, do not fully understand the complexities of the library. Whilst Sophie does learn the answers to some of her questions, others remain unanswered and unanswerable and she finds that there are always more questions to be asked.

Will doesn’t question the library. He just protects it. And he doesn’t question Sophie, just protects her. It is a deeply committed kind of love that is beautiful to read. As is the love between him and his mother; he loves her unquestionably and takes only what she can give without expecting anything more. In return she also loves him unquestionably and, although their relationship is not a conventional mother-son relationship, there is no denying the care and attention that they pay each other. By the end of the book this is clearer than ever and I came away from reading with a heart-warming understanding that love comes in many forms, even when it isn’t always visible from the outside.

Overall I liked this book but it didn’t wow me like I hoped it would.
I have to say the characters were not extremely likeable at all.
I think readers that enjoy a fantasy and magical storyline will enjoy reading The Bookbinder’s Daughter.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Jessica Thorne for the early read and listen! The first thing you see is "An absolutely magical and gripping page-tuner". So true! What a magical story! It caught me and did not want to let go until the end. I was a little sad that the story did end. Hope to see more of Sophie and many of the other characters in the story. I would name them but I feel that would be a spoiler. Enjoyed reading about Sophie and how she grew into the strong woman that was inside her all along. The loss she had to bear and the love she found once again.
You can lose yourself to this story!
Highly recommend and will be reading more by this author. She knows how to immerse the reader into her story.

3.7 Stars

Sophie gets a job offer to work at the Ayredale Library as a bookbinder. Her uncle, Edward, holds a prominent position at the library. Her mother has last disappeared from the same place fifteen years ago. Her father, too, used to work there until the incident made him break his ties with the Library and everyone associated with it. Sophie has little memory of the past but wants to find the truth.
Getting away from a manipulative ex, Sophie finally begins to feel at home in the strange Library. With Will, her childhood friend and first love, being the guardian, Sophie starts to reestablish herself and dig through her memories to fill the gaps. The Library and the antique books have always called to her. In fact, they sing to her, luring her into a place of no return.
However, the ancient power demands sacrifice and control. As Sophie’s memory returns in bits and others fill in the blanks, can she give what it takes to be the Binder of the Library?
The premise and the cover were enticing, and I couldn’t resist requesting the book. The story starts with Sophie in London, living with her ex and working as a binder at another prestigious library, albeit a non-magical one.
After much hesitation and a reality check, Sophie accepts the offer to work at the Ayredale Library. She realizes that she can remember much more than she imagined, and Will occupies a good portion of them.
The writing is engaging. I wasn’t sure of the insta love between Sophie and Will, but it worked decently well in the overall plotline. Will’s character sure helped to see their love track in a positive light. The imagery is vivid and easy to imagine.
The pacing went a bit up and down; sometimes slow, sometimes too fast. A couple of other characters were interesting enough but could have had more depth. They don’t ‘come to life’ in the book. The same goes for Sophie, in a way. Somehow, it feels odd that she would choose to live with someone like her caricature-bad ex, even when none liked him. Only Will seemed to be ‘real’.
Of course, my favorite character is Tia. I could visualize her and Sophie’s mom, Elizabeth, with ease. Sophie paled in comparison, and even during the climax, her presence didn’t really elevate the scene. She just didn’t seem strong enough despite the scene being written for her to prove her worth. That diminished the impact a little, but Tia's presence made up for it.
To sum up, The Book Binder’s Daughter has a lovely premise and beautiful world-building. The premise demands nothing less than the best, and the story needed better execution. It’s good but doesn’t make me go wow.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC

Where do ideas come from? It’s a question authors get asked a lot, and I loved this tale of a magical library and the secret society that protects it, which tries to answer this question.
Sophie, a talented book binder, has been hoarded like a valuable possession by her abusive boyfriend, but manages to escape when offered a job to work at the private library where she grew up. She has no memory of the place after the trauma of losing her mother there fifteen years before caused amnesia.
I got serious The Librarians and Warehouse 13 vibes from this book. I love libraries in fiction, and magical ones are even better. I thought Victor’s hold over Sophie was very realistic and well done. I wanted to punch him in the face! I loved how the events of Sophie’s past were revealed, as well as the identities of the library’s inhabitants, and how it all related to the exciting finale.
My only tiny quibble is that Will was supposed to be the guardian of the library and he was terrible at it.
This is my first Jessica Thorne book, and I look forward to reading her other novels.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with an arc and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I'm definitely going to be reading this book again when it comes out except in the paperback version

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for review

In college, I worked part-time in a rare books and special collections library, so I was excited at the idea of a magical version of this environment. Unfortunately, The Bookbinder's Daughter did not deliver on this premise. Sophia, the protagonist, binds a few books and does little else the whole novel. Her past trauma and a series of controlling men in her life are provided as explanations for why she is so passive, but even at the end of the book she is barely exhibiting any agency at all, which made for frustrating reading. In fact, Sophia and several other key characters follow roles prescribed by magical destiny, which made the story's outcome seem rather inevitable. I didn't connect with any of the characters or the plot (such as it is) and the whole book felt incomplete and underdeveloped.

CONTENT WARNING: emotionally abusive relationship, death of a parent, trauma, infidelity, death, violence, gun violence

I started reading this and got some serious Sorcery of Thorns vibes right away. The story takes place in a huge library, that’s magical, of course. The love of libraries and books comes through loud and clear, so naturally I was on board early. I liked the characters, and I was pleasantly surprised to see some dyslexia representation.

However, the dyslexia was erased partway through the book because … magic. As a person with a disability other than dyslexia, it irks me when a disability is magically fixed — it’s a form of erasure, and I think that it could have been represented better by keeping it. It means a lot to people with disabilities to see ourselves in a character, and it’s heartbreaking to see ourselves erased magically.

I enjoyed learning a bit more about the book binding process, especially since this is done in an old-fashioned way. Sophie genuinely loves books, and it’s a family business that she’s taken up. All along the way, there are hints and foreshadowing informing us that there’s more going on in the library, but I was always surprised by the plot twists that arose.

The story was a fast read, but there’s some action, some mystery, and some romance. The romance was a bit on the insta-love side of things, although Will and Sophie were reunited childhood sweethearts. Overall, the story was unique and intriguing, and I truly did enjoy it. I couldn’t put it down, and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Plus, the writing style was easy to process, and I liked how it was written. All I need is to find a library like Ayredale and I’ll be happy for life!

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a mystery. Sophia’s mother disappeared when she was a teenager. What happened to her? Why won’t her father talk about her, or about their life when she was alive. Sophia has a few partial memories of her mother, and a necklace her mother gave her; but nothing more. Her mother’s disappearance and her own confusion about it led to what was diagnosed as a mental breakdown and her current situation. She is an extreme introvert who has willingly let her life be controlled by Victor for several years. Sophia is a talented bookbinder who loves creating them for their beauty. Victor loves to exploit them for the wealth they can yield. BUT WAIT…

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a fantasy, a tale about a remote place where there is a magical library. A place where the books talk or sing to Sophia as well as some other residents. A library that has some legacy employees whose families have been part of the library for generations. Sophia learns she is a legacy, but she doesn’t yet know how that will change her life. BUT WAIT…

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is an adventure story. All her adult life, Sophia has dreamt of a beautiful tree whose leaves are of gold. In her dreams the leaves fall from the tree and scatter around her; but when Sophia tries to pick them up they turn to ashes in her hands. As Sophia encounters a tree that reminds her of the dream tree, she begins to explore more closely and eventually finds the actual tree that has spawned her dreams. The necklace she wears grows warm when she approaches it, and she feels the tree calling to her. BUT WAIT…

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a romance. Sophia encounters Will, a young man with whom she fell in love in her early days when she lived with her mother and father at the library. As their relationship is slowly rekindled, Sophia ultimately must decide who she can trust. Is Will nothing more than a young man who works as the guardian of the library, or is there more to him. Occasionally Sophia senses something different inside Will. What is it and can it be trusted...BUT WAIT

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is also a literary work celebrating libraries, books, knowledge, and new ideas. Readers may find it calling them as they consider the possibilities of living in an elegant building filled with beautiful books, a place that hums with knowledge. The library in this book is all that, and more.

Readers will be captivated by the imagery of the tree, that isn’t an aspen, but has golden leaves. They will be fascinated by the thought of the building which houses the most significant books from around the world. Scholars come from everywhere to do research at this library. They will want to know more about the Keeper of the Library, a seemingly ancient woman with incredible calm who becomes Sophia's boss when she is given a job at the library.

In addition to the characters names above, there is Edward, Sophia’s uncle. He’s a suave, sophisticated man who is involved in acquisitions to the library. He also delivers a job offer to Sophia that brings her back to the library. There is Arthur, Will’s half brother. Arthur is a few years older than Sophia and Will and when they were children he was the one they would follow around. The three were frequent companions, but why does Sophia have memories about the three of them being in the center of things when the library is almost destroyed and what are his goals now as an adult? Finally there is Tia, a woman of indeterminate age and unparalleled beauty. She defies definition of any sort, even the most mundane such as how old she might be. The only concrete thing Sophia learns is that Tia is in love with Edward; but that relationship is as complex as the rest of the things Sophia encounters at the library.

The book begins in the mundane world of a very timid Sophia who is controlled by a manipulative Victor. It moves quickly from there and begins to unfold in a world that not only embraces Sophia but has been waiting for her to return to it for years. The new world is a beautiful combination of knowledge, history, and future, waiting to reveal Sophia’s rightful place in it. To say more might spoil the reader’s journey as the story unfolds before them. I would like to thank Bookouture for an advance copy for this review. The opinions here are entirely my own.

Jessica Thorne's The Bookbinder's Daughter introduces readers to a magical library that holds all the secrets and mysteries of the world since the beginning of time. For hundreds of years, the Special Collection held a place at the heart of the library and archival world. The library is right up there with the Library of Alexandria and the Vatican SecretArchives for its mystical properties and secrecy. Sophie Lawrence works in the Conservation Department for the Academy in London. The Academy has always been Sophie's refuge from the world. Sophie works on rebinding, repairing, and restoring older books.

After bereavement leave after the loss of her father, she receives a visitor. The visitor is Head of Acquisitions at Ayredale's Special Collections who just happens to be her uncle Dr. Edward Talbot her mother's younger brother. For Sophie, the Special Collections is the place where she grew up and had a special connection to until 15 years ago when her mother disappeared, and her father took Sophie away which ended up with Sophie losing all memories of her past in the library. It's a frustrating thing not to know what happened 15 years ago, and why she has been having vivid memories of a mysterious tree which she apparently has a connection to.

So, when Edward offers her a position within the Special Connection as a conservator and specialist binder, how can she say no? Coming back to the library sparks Sophie’s memory and she begins to start remembering bits and pieces of what happened the day she lost her mother. She begins to remember that this library is not just an average library but a powerhouse for the world's history and creativity, and the staff are not just librarians but keepers and guardians of all the world’s knowledge and treasures. And so is the boy, Will Rhys, she left behind.

One of the most prevalent storylines in this book is Sophie's memory loss and her supposed Dyslexia. Despite being dyslexic, Sophie finds a particular book, the oldest book on display actually, and it is full of spells - spells that apparently only she can read. How is it that she cannot read even the simplest of things without difficulty but she can read these spells in what is most certainly a forgotten language?

Will Rhys is an assistant librarian as well as the guardian of the library. Sophie and Will grew up together. Will was heartbroken when her father took Sophie away. Now that she's back, the past needs to be revealed as well. What really happened the day 15 years ago when Elizabeth Talbot disappeared? Her family has been associated with the library since its creation many millennia before our story. Her romance blossoms with Will, though thankfully not in exquisite, sexual detail, and not so much that it takes from the story.

I personally thought the final chapters were the best in the entire book. I hated Sophie's alleged boyfriend who was a controlling butt head. He can't stand the thought of Sophia having a life, or a life without him controlling every aspect of her life. There are villains and there are good people. It's up to you to figure out who is who.

Books are themselves a subtle magic and libraries mysterious places full of stories waiting to escape and infiltrate the minds of the readers.

The Bookbinder’s Daughter weaves all of these together into a magical story with a few surprises.

Thorne is an excellent writer and the first few chapters were immediately gripping and engaging, full of intriguing characters, mythology and peril. It’s entirely believable as we see Sophie find her strength and escape her controlling relationship and return to her childhood home where she belongs.

Nothing is as it seems so we are suspicious of everyone and questioning everything to try to understand what is going on.

The attention to detail when it comes to the descriptions of each element are stunning and my mind’s eye could picture everything clearly.

The finale is perhaps a little rushed and chaotic, and I think it could have been structured slightly better so it fitted better into the rest of the book. Perhaps Thorne was not confident enough in the ending and chose not to devote the same time and meticulousness of her word choices to the last few pages.

That said, I was engrossed in the characters and the magic of the library and thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Thank you to @netgalley @bookouture for the digital ARC and ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Interesting plot. This book started off strong and interesting. But then the plot became quite slow a quarter of the way through. Fortunately, I was approved for the audiobook as well, and that worked better for me in terms of keeping my interest. This book had a lot of potential. There were themes, such as Sophie’s memory loss that became repetitive. Although necessary, it was mentioned too often that it became distracting. Tia was a great character because her character was the most developed; the others were okay, acting more as secondary characters, even though they had important roles. The narration was good and read like new adult/young adult. I did enjoy the whole concept of this magical and fantastical library though.

3.5 ⭐️