Like a number of other reviewers, I feel like this was a completely different book than the cover and blurb indicated it would be... I was expecting something lighter - dark comedy sure, with harsh edges, but not this constant recitation of horrible treatment at the hands of her husband and his family paired with weird daydreams and a bizarre obsession with a man she sees once. The "lost in a book" element was completely overshadowed here by everything else, and that is one of the things I was most looking forward to. Instead I found myself reading a bizarre and monotonous tale that didn't resonate with me at all. This one wasn't for me...

I simply fell in love with the story and the main character. It’s a story about life direction and second chances..

Victoria, our main character, is a Walter Mitty-eque daydreamer and bookworm who loves the grotesque work of Ottessa Moshfegh. Almost all of her daydreams are unpleasant. I think we're supposed to find her unlikeable, an anti-hero of sorts. But mostly, I just found her boring and shallow. I don't understand her motivations. There's no character development. There's a bit of fantasy that felt outside the world of the book and unnecessary. The plot is predictable.

And maybe I wouldn't have minded all of that had the marketing -- cover, title, blurb -- led me to expect a funny book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I was excited to read this ARC because of the title and cover. I thought it would be a light hearted book about a girl that loves books, but that wasn’t quite the case. Bookworm follows the main character through her bad marriage and questionable friendship. One day she sees a man at the coffee shop and creates a fantasy of them being together. I was interested in this storyline, but some of it felt disjointed and rushed. Also, parts of the book were pretty dark which threw me off. Overall, the book was okay but I didn’t connect with any of the characters.

Considering the title of this book, I had higher expectations for it and I have to admit, it kinda let me down. It was still good though, and I’ll still 100% recommend it!

Dark, witty, humorous and engrossing!
This is a must read for all bookworms. I couldn’t put this down once I started. I think we all have a little Victoria in us.

Reviewed for NetGalley;

Unfortunately, I did not care for this one. I could relate to Victoria’s love of reading, but nothing beyond that.

She feels connected to a random guy from a coffee shop after seeing him reading the same book. The catch is, she’s married to an incredibly boring husband.

I wish I could have sympathized with Victoria or wanted to root for her, but it all just fell flat.

(4.5 stars) I am always grateful for the Goodreads community, but never more so than when I have trouble putting into words my feelings about a book I’ve read. I can count on my GR friends to explain exactly why a book is good (or bad) and to do so very eloquently. Bookworm is one of those books that put me at a loss for words. I’d love to say, just go and read so-and-so’s review, and leave it at that.

But I’ll give it a try (though really do read so-and-so’s review). First of all, I have to address that cover…don’t think going into this that it’s a cute, romcom. It’s a quick read, but entirely too dark for a romcom. I almost skipped the book entirely when I saw the cover and read the first few pages. They were very romcom-ish. But I’m glad I stuck with it. I now count Bookworm as among my favorite books of the year.

Victoria and Eric are a happily married couple on the outside. On the inside, Victoria has begun to find certain things about her husband to be cringe-worthy – his nipples, his proclivity for sappy movies, his insistence for sex every Saturday night… Worst of all, though, Eric puts Victoria down for her “addiction” to books. He even makes a bet with her that she won’t miss reading if she watches a movie a night with him for two weeks.

When Victoria sees an attractive guy in her coffee café, and he’s reading the same book as she is, she falls hard. As she orchestrates a meeting between her and her new love, Victoria imagines the many ways that she can “get rid of” her husband. These daydreams are often gruesome and lead to some funny situations, like when Victoria buys antifreeze for a possible death cocktail for Eric, but then leaves it out in full view on the counter. It’s funny to watch Victoria describe her new-found interest in cars.

Any more and I’ll be giving away what makes the book so fun. Let’s just say that it’s a black comedy with heart. The heart of a book reader, that is. The author sprinkles in the titles and descriptions of several books that Victoria reads or thinks about, and I had a lot of fun comparing my opinion to hers. For everyone who thinks a dark romcom sounds fun, this book comes highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is such an interesting story and not at all what I expected at the end. The end took my head right off. I don't quite know how to describe this story except that there are many themes at work here: controlling (abusive) partners, a sense of being trapped even while apparently having it all, and a deep psychological illness. I am sure many reviewers will complain about the main character's inability to DO something about her situation and instead leaning towards violence as the answer, but I think there was such a subtle current of mental illness here that it was hard to see. Until the end.

Bookworm is an interesting examination of what it is to be trapped. I won't say much more to avoid spoilers, but this is not a romcom or a cheerful, happy story about a reader. This is so much darker, and by the end, incredibly, enjoyably so.

Honestly, I think I'm in the minority here but I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought by the title and description it would be my kind of read, but turned into something completely unexpected, which isn't always bad, but I didn't like the execution of this. The characters were all pretty unlikeable and the ghostly part at night where she floats away every night to wherever was just not needed and didn't provide anything extra to this, in my opinion. I have always been the type to get lost in my thoughts and dreams and this book does that, but more in a disturbing way than one to make her life better. All in all, I give it a 1.5 star for me, but take that with a grain of salt because it seems many others really enjoyed this!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and author for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun treat!! Living for that end.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing an arc in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are
My own.

Thank you so much Harper Perrenial and NetGalley!

Victoria is unhappily married, hates her in laws, and works a boring job. While reading in a cafe, she spots the man of her dreams and lets her mind wander of how she can make a fantasy real life.

Okay, this was quite the read. I am not sure how I feel about Victoria as a character, but I certainly laughed at the pettiness she imagined. I wasn't sure if I was rooting for her or not, but I enjoyed her imagination. Her friend and in laws were terrible people. Her husband was also terrible. I did feel bad for her for feeling so stuck in her life. I liked this book overall!

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I identified a lot with the main character in this book. It was an entertaining book with lots of imagery and imagination so I found it quite fun. A fun romp through the dark side.

This was kind of a strange book. Not quite a thriller, but definitely not a light, happy bookish story I was expecting by the cover. Victoria is trapped in an unhappy marriage and fantasizes about ways she might kill her husband.

She also fantasizes about the man she thinks is her soul mate after seeing him once at a café. If she's not reading a book, she's living in a fantasy world where her wildest dreams can come true. This was like at the beginning and the phrase "Drank him up greedily" is something that I can not stand! but that's a me thing, not a book thing. It's an interesting take on being satisfied with your life, accepting where you are rather than looking for where the grass is greener. I found Victoria a little hard to like, she is so judgmental and unhappy all the time. Actually, all the characters in the book were unlikable. The author splayed open their ugliest characteristics for the reader to see, and it's not a pretty sight. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. The premise was quite interesting (and quite dark) but all of the characters were dislikable. Good writing but a slightly crazy plot.

I requested to read “Bookworm” as I was hooked by the premise of a woman who escapes by reading.

I admit I expected a light-hearted tale but instead, found a delightfully darker story, though much more thought-provoking. Victoria has done everything she was supposed to—including marrying the man her parents chose for her. Yet, she wants more to her life than propping up her husband and secretly fantasizes about killing him. Hence, when she spots a man reading the same book she is, she dreams about not just him, but her life changing because of him . (To say any more would be to ruin the rest of the story)

This book is a tribute to readers, and the stories we read, which can serve as pathways to escape the pain of real life. You won’t necessarily like the characters—even Victoria had her moments—but you will appreciate the author’s twisted yet humorous view on what lies beneath the surface.

Three and a half stars

My thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for this intriguing book.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. The premise was quite interesting (and quite dark) but all of the characters were quite dislikable. Good writing but a slightly crazy plot.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61150786

I am torn on this book. On one hand, I liked that it was unconventional and as a fellow bookworm, somewhat relatable in how lots of us use books to escape. This book tries to be both a romcom and a thriller, but somehow manages to be neither?

This book cannot be a romcom, she literally falls for him INSTANTLY because he was reading the same book as her. Victoria is absolutely a sociopath, almost to the levels of Joe in You and that part of her would be SO COOL if it was explored. Instead, the chapters are filled with incessant fantasies how she wishes her husband would randomly drop dead. That, comboed with the random "I'm going to create an ENTIRE life story for every random person I see on the street" had me skipping entire chapters.

There is one chapter where she has a "Gone Girl" moment, but it fell really flat for me. The husbands affair with the best friend felt really artificial and almost used as an excuse of why she killed him and/or to clear her conscience. Nah, girl she wanted to kill her husband way before that, so IMO the affair was unneeded and Victoria the sociopath was down that road anyway. I would have had more respect for her if she admitted to who she was instead of acting like she was completely innocent/unknowing.

I loved the premise of the book, and I was excited to read an advance copy of this debut novel thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. Unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed in it because I couldn't relate at all to the main character, Victoria, and I didn't like any of the others. I couldn't understand why Victoria let herself be stuck in a terrible marriage when there was nothing to prevent her from leaving. I enjoyed some of the humor in the book, and I was curious to see how the book ended, but it wasn't enough to overcome my issues with it.

Refreshing and fun read! Great character description. You could picture them in your head as you read. All the characters seem good and bad at varying points in the book. Didn’t love the magical realism element, which was part of the reason I only gave it 3 stars. Mixed feelings about the ending. Might make for a good book club discussion or else it just felt a bit incomplete.

Wow! This book gives you best taste of the darkest humor! I advise you to add this mind bending, extremely entertaining and extra smart book to your reading list!
Beware of bookworm Victoria! She has bulky kind of extra vivid imagination that helps her write stories about the random strangers she notices at her favorite cafe and also assists her to imagine at least fifty different ways of killing her own grumpy- hygiene obsessed- addicted binge watcher husband the dearest!

Poor Victoria just wants to be left alone so she can devour more books she can get her hands into in exchange of living a miserable, daily planned life with his career oriented, condescending husband Eric and cooking him chicken for dinner, obeying her pre arranged Saturday hanky panky time with him!

But when she finds her soul mate at first sight: a charismatic man who appears at the same cafe she hangs out and reads the exact same book she reads, she decides to take the matters into her hands. She cannot let this man run away from her! He might be solution to all of her problems!

She decides to take a break from her husband but their families, who arranged their marriage when Victoria failed her parental expectations and Eric divorced from his cheater first wife, have no intention to let Victoria get out of their sight. She’s trapped in her unhappy marriage and she has nobody understands her predicament. Even her best friend Holly thinks Eric is the best. She takes his side, showing a little more interest to spend time with him. What a thoughtful girl she is!

Victoria’s vivid imagination helps her astral travel in the night to lurk around the mysterious soul mate’s bedroom ( later she finds out his name is Luke and he is a talented carpenter. Well, who can resist the charm of muscular gorgeous man who knows how to use his hands properly?) , escaping from her miserable life and the bed she shares with her husband. But what if her night escapes turn into something real? What if she has a chance to live her HEA with his soulmate. What if she finds a way to get rid of her marriage and her irritating husband!

Overall: smart ending, extremely sarcastic tone of storytelling made me enjoy this reading experience so much ! I guffawed loudly during my reading just like Victoria did each time she found more creative way to get rid of her husband! Definitely A MUST READ I highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for sharing this AMAZING digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.