Maggie Banks is not what the Bell River society wants in their small town, but she’s what they need. She has to push through a lot of obstacles and barriers while trying not to ruin her best friend’s livelihood in the process.

I quite enjoyed this feminist look at literature and small towns.

I'm always a fan of a book about a bookshop. I like that there is a community of people that love, support and do good things for those around them. I love to stop and witness the moments of kindness in the world and loved that this book had them.

While I was impressed with the lengths Maggie would go to try and save the bookshop, I was surprised the risks she took with someone else's livelihood.

I enjoyed watching Maggie grow and while I wasn't sure it was a good idea in this instance, I loved the underground book sales and book club.

Overall the book was entertaining and charming and had me chuckle a few times.

Very cute novel! Enjoyed the characters. The story line was engaging. Great way to wrap up the story!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this book about a woman who moves to a small town and solves a mystery, falls in love and finds herself.

This book is rich with amazing other characters and a compelling storyline that draws the reader in. It's a little about feminism and a little about found family. There's also rampant misogyny and crimes again femanity (not a real word - don't care).

If you like stories about books, about how history has been shaped and how we can reframe it for future generations, this is the book for you.

SUCH an adorable book. I loved the anti capitalist and pro union messaging of this book. I loved the aspects of community building, collective efforts, and preserving the truth of history no matter how gruesome. I loved Maggie and Malcolm as well and their slow moving romance built on humour and understanding. Incredible.

3.5 stars

This was fun, entertaining, light-hearted, and I overall had such a good time. Was there anything that was new and revolutionary? No. But was it a good way to spend a couple days. A couple stars off because the ending was a little too neat but overall I liked Maggie, I liked her bookshop, and I liked the small town she lived in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this! I love a small town setting and a bookstore makes it even better! I enjoyed this book! The characters were relatable. The book put me in a good mood! I like the little splash of romance! It's a very cute and quirky book! I highly recommend it!

Maggie is a really likable character and I want to live in the town that she has helped shape by the end of the book. There are plenty of predictable, warm moments and just enough tension to keep the read interesting until we reach the anticipated happily ever after. A lovely, comforting read for book lovers , food lovers, friends, and romantics at heart.

Maggie is unsure what to do with her life, so when her best friend, Rochelle, asks Maggie to help in her Bell River Cobblestone Books store. When Maggie arrives, she is stunned by the town's cult-like atmosphere around Edward Bell, an author famous for his novel "The First Dollar". She finds the bookstore is limited to books published before Edward Bell's time. As Maggie realizes, the bookstore can't survive this way. So, Maggie attempts to inject some fun and life into the bookstore and the other town businesses held by the Bell Society, but all must be done in secret.
What follows is Maggie uncovering town secrets and finding herself in the process.
Cute story.

Who doesn’t love a book about books? Love the premise of challenging the know-it-all world of readers and book people. Any insider view to an independent bookstore is welcome and this book does just that.

This was such a fun read! I don't purchase adult for the library but I will be recommending this to them!

This book was an absolute joy to read. This is a book for the book lover! All books lovers, from classic reader to romance readers, and everything in between. This book has romance, small town pride (no matter how misguided,) and of course all the bookish fun you could want in one book. This is a book that I know I will read over and over again and will wish that I could read all over again for the first time.

I loved every character, all of them. If you love books, you will love this one. Found family, sweet romance and books, books and more books, what more could you want? Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Top marks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did this both as book and audionbook - I like the set up and the cast of characters, always love a bookstore novel

I absolutely loved the concept of this book, but I could not get into it. I tried three or four times but kept stumbling through chapters. I love the concert and concept, and by the look of reviews, I’m definitely in the minority! Thanks for the chance to read!

Shauna Robinson is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. This is the second book of hers that I've read, and she's definitely on my To-Read list from now on.

In this story of self-discovery and life changes, Maggie moves to a small town in Maryland to help her best friend Rochelle manage the local bookstore while Rochelle is on maternity leave. Maggie is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and this seems to be the perfect opportunity for her to do it. Unfortunately, Bell River is a cool tourist area that seems to be stuck in the past. The great-grandchild of the famous memorialized author and town hero Edward Bell insists on keeping the town and the bookstore stuck in 1935, so any other book published after that year is banned. While Maggie is not the biggest reader, she knows that the struggling bookstore will not make it unless the town people and tourists visiting the place have more book options. So after making friends with some of the quirky locals, Maggie ends up setting up a clandestine book club that hosts unique events and sells a wider selection of book genres that her customers enjoy. Sales are picking up, Maggie is enjoying books for the first time ever, and she even meets someone who makes her consider a relationship. But things go wrong when her boss finds out what she's been doing behind his back.

I truly adored this book and loved everything about it. I'm a big fan of books with literary themes, and this one was great in every single way. Maggie is a great character because while she is only in her thirties, she is also trying to find herself at an age when her friends are having babies and even her parents are pushing her to do more with her life. She is not flawless, and I actually enjoyed seeing how many mistakes she makes along the way, such as hiding the changes she's making in the bookstore from Rochelle, whose whole livelihood depends on the success of the store. I felt that showing this side of her makes the ending more satisfying.

The story is a fast read with a great pace. I truly enjoyed the plot and found the secondary characters truly charming. I think that the choice of making Maggie's love story a secondary plot worked perfectly with the flow, as a relationship wasn't her priority when she arrived in the town, so it developed in a more organic way. I truly enjoyed this cozy story and found it engaging from beginning to end.

The Banned.Bookshop of Maggie.Banks has a little bit of something for everyone: a strong independent Black woman as the lead character, a secret romance between two people who could easily jeopardize each other’s livelihoods, literary references, mystery / scandal and more. I enjoyed the book and the character development. The two love interests (Maggie and Malcom) realize that there’s a lot they can learn from each other. They learn the importance of knowing their strengths and having the confidence to create a life based on what THEY want - not what others or society tells them they should want.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC of this title. I enjoyed reading this title. Would recommend for my library.

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks has a fun premise of a woman discovering herself and helping a small town to flourish out from under a weirdly oppressive rule (almost like the reading version of Footloose.) However it falls apart for me because Maggie is so unlikeable. I get that she doesnt like to read but she bashed books left and right without even trying them, including any classic book and anything that the love interest likes. Their story seemed more like a convenience as potentially the only two single people around instead of true interest and growth. The writing was fine and the story was well paced, I just didnt love the character.

Unfortunately, after multiple attempts to read this, I have concluded that this is not the book for me. Which is unfortunate, because I absolutely love the cover!