No Two Persons begins with an author names Alice and her journey towards writing a book. The 10 characters in this story become intertwined with each other, even though they never meet and each have their own story in the book. This is a clever, interesting concept that was completely different from anything Ive read before. Eventually the story becomes a defining moment in all of their lives and comes together beautifully. I think the audiobook of this book would be amazing, which each story read by a different actor. Loved this book.

This book is so powerful. I read this book rapidly and was so connected to these stores. This book captivated me in a ways that books rarely do.

4.5 stars. This wonderful book is possibly a novel, possibly short stories and possibly both together. There are nine characters who are impacted by a book, Theo. The stories overlap in small ways and you learn of the characters lives and inner concerns. The characters range from the writer, an editor, a diver, a widower, a unhoused student, a bookseller, and actor who is disfigured and becomes the audiobook reader of the book. Some read the entire book, one only reads the first line. The characters include the author who wrote Theo and the nine readers which touches them, angers them or it relates to a moment in time -- a father reminiscing about his wife and daughter, a person who coached the actor reading the audiobook. The title of the book refers to the idea that no two people read a story in the same way or have the same perspective. The author does a beautiful job of painting a picture of the characters' life in a moment in time and informing the reader of their inner life and thoughts. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy character driven books.

This was such a unique story. It's a book within a book - but it's not about that story necessarily, because you don't get to read that book. You are reading how that story has touched and changed the lives of each reader. From the first agent to take it seriously to the audiobook narrator, a new mother and many others at different stages in their lives. It's a beautiful story, reminding me about people connections and the beauty of just. . .living. There are quite a few perspectives and their stories move quick and seamlessly. I liked how each story stood on it's own but was even more wonderful when put with the others. I like how the story they are reading is slowly revealed to us even though we never get the chance to read it. Such a fascinating way to tell a story. I was hooked from the first page and loved how it all came together.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I absolutely adored this one!! I normally don't love short story type books, where the same characters aren't followed throughout. But these stories, loosely tied together by their connection to the same book is absolutely stunning. While I was more connected to some of the roles than others and wanted to hear more than we got, I loved how this book brought all of these people to the same conclusion for different reasons, and explained what reading the book meant to them. I really wish I could read the same book they did!! This is absolutely one I will be recommending my followers and friends pick up as it was such a poignant and touching story! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book started out very strong, and it was a serious contender for a 5-star rating. I love the book within a book trope, and the idea that we would see the impact of this particular book throughout different people's lives was an especially fascinating one. I think the execution was done well, but due to the nature of short stories and only being able to spend a limited amount of time with each character, there were a number of chapters where the protagonist was not particularly memorable, and the their connection to Theo was flimsy. For a book like this, the characters need to jump off the page, and not every one was able to do that.

I did love the recurrence of characters throughout the stories, and the author's decision to bring specific ones back at a later time. I also wanted to learn more about the plot of Theo to better understand the writer and the reason why this specific book was chosen.

No Two Persons is an amazing story about the power of books. In this novel we trace the impact one story can have on numerous people.
The story starts with the author Alice who has always known she would be a “magician”and create new worlds using words. At first Alice doubts her ability to write. She is consumed by heartbreak after the loss of the one person who believed in her gift and who loved her unconditionally. However it is because of this heartbreak that she manifests her novel Theo. Bauermeister writes of Alice’s inspiration in such a beautiful way it has become one of my favourite parts of the book.Theo eventually becomes published and then the rest of the book is filled with individual chapters that tell the stories of varied individuals and their spiritual encounter with Alice’s novel. Each character’s story shows us that one book can weave its magic in everyone whether it be a famous movie star, a homeless teenager, or a middle aged caretaker. The power of story knows no bounds. I was also so grateful that such a beautiful story possessed a satisfying conclusion.
I would definitely reccomend this book to my High School Students. It would also be suitable for critical analysis, and for studying symbol, theme, character, and style. A highly reccomended mentor text.

A gorgeous novel about a novel that touches so many lives. I thoroughly enjoyed the interconnected characters and format of No Two Persons. It is so impressive when a story can weave so many lives together without directly spelling everything out! I have read other wonderful books by Erica Bauermeister but this is my new favorite. Highly recommend it to readers who like short stories, connections through books, and art in many forms.
(While I found the book to be overall hopeful and touching, there are many deep feelings and a few tough situations that some readers may need to tread lightly with.)

This was such a wonderful and interesting book. It’s a novel and also short stories. It’s how 9 different people are impacted by one book. It was so great to dive into each character, see what is going on in their lives, and we how they’re impacted by this book. I really enjoyed this one.

This one is interesting. I love the overall premise of how a single book effects so many different people in different places in their life and in different ways. It explores how a book touches people's lives for years to come. But I also expected all the different people to at some point cross paths, and they don't all do so. In a lot of ways it felt like one of those cameo movies with 20 big name actors that all have little roles with small stories just to get so many names and faces on the ad cover. Like Valentine's Day with Ashton Kutcher and a million others! But those movies typically bomb. I think it worked better as this story simply because it all surrounded a single book. But at the same time, it felt a lot like little short stories, developing a bunch of little characters very quickly (but with shocking depth so kudos to the author on that point) without a complete picture of what happens to them.
Again though, what it mostly showed was the author's ability to dive in to a character so quickly and get a reader invested in them within a very short timeframe. Brilliant in that way.
As a writer and as a reader, I related to so many of the characters, but none so much as the author at the beginning. Wow. That was so well done.
What I wanted most thought was to read Theo, the book all this hubbub is about! That had me intrigued more than anything!

What is going on between the covers

No Two Persons is a captivating and heartfelt exploration of books’ impact on readers’ lives. It relies heavily on the power of a story trope and explores it uniquely. The beautifully woven narratives show how one book affects nine readers, each connecting differently to the story. It’s more than how readers connect to a story through their experiences. It’s also about how authors pour their hearts into their characters and stories. Aspiring writer Alice is at the story’s heart, after experiencing a devastating event, she pours her heart into her book. Her book finds its way to diverse readers, including a homeless teenager, an ambitious free diver, an enraged artist, a bookseller, and a grieving widower.

My Two Cents

Lately, I have read a few books with the trope “the power of a story,” it seems to be a book trend, and I am a sucker for that theme. I read very few books where the characters don’t teach me something, or I see something different than I did before reading it. I loved how No Two Persons explores that while using an interesting and unique structure as we see how readers engage with stories and their impact on different readers. I loved how Alice’s story opened the characters’ minds, and they discovered new perspectives and paths forward.

“When Nola was young her mother used to tell her that books were like a giant neighborhood where every family is different, and every door was open. You can just go on in. Try on a new life. See how it fits.”

I loved the way the stories celebrates the power of literature through the distinct characters, each with their own hopes, struggles, and desires and I enjoyed the way I connected with the relatable and compelling character in some way and like Nora I find books to answer questions and tell the truths that people can’t or won’t say.

I mostly listened to the audiobook and loved the cast of narrators. I loved that a different narrator tells each chapter with a character connecting to Theo. I enjoyed listening to the different voices of each character, and it was easy to engage with the characters while enhancing their connection to Theo. I highly recommend listening to the story.

As a reader, I love books that explore the power of books. This delivered BIG TIME. I loved these interconnected stories - especially since it incorporated everything from the author to the literary agent to the reader. I think my favorite perspective was from the actor turned audiobook narrator - but all of the stories were wonderful.

4.5 stars
I thought this was going to be an obvious book telling me what I already know - that people are impacted differently by the books they read. However, I found this to be more . It’s about not just the impact of fictional stories, but about the inspiration for writing them, about how who we are as readers and how our life experiences influence how we feel about a novel.

Erica Bauermeister takes us into the lives of nine characters and it’s their life experiences that are front and center - emotional and heartbreaking in most of the cases. The common thread is the novel “Theo “ as it comes into their hands in various ways. Sometimes they connect with the novel because they can totally empathize and connect with Theo knowing his pain as their own , as does “The Diver”. Sometimes it’s the astute understanding that life’s “complicated” by a homeless young girl in “The Teenager”. These were my favorites along with “The Caretaker” about a grieving widower, who doesn’t read fiction, but is given the gift of seeing the book through his wife’s eyes.

The writer of the book within this book touched me with her inspiration, the love she had for her brother, the heartbreaking sadness of her dysfunctional family. I love knowing the author’s inspiration for a story. It makes it in many ways more meaningful to me. So of course, I was hoping to learn Bayermeister’s inspiration for this book. I was pleased that she reveals some of that in the Acknowledgments.

It’s easy to know and say that books affect people in different ways. But the reviews we write and the ratings we give don’t always reveal that person’s deep connection as is reflected in these individual stories. This novel will make me wonder when I read a review what there might have been in someone’s life that made them love a story or not love a story or what about me that makes me love a story or not. I can’t quite give it 5 stars as with many collections, not every story is equal in impact. I did appreciate that it’s the novel that is the thread that connects these characters, but also enjoyed the crossover of characters in a few of them, including the author of “Theo.”

I saw myself in these quotes and wanted to share them because I’m guessing many readers will see themselves as well:

“She had to know what happened. She had to know that the boy on the page, a young man now would be okay,”

“Something was coming. Nola could feel it. She wanted to stop reading, but she couldn’t, because she could tell that this was the moment that would rip the boy’s life into before and after….And Nola couldn’t stop reading because she couldn’t leave him there alone.”

“His life had no particular parallels to Theo’s; there was no someone else sees what I’ve been through moment and yet he couldn’t stop reading. He cared about this boy. He wanted him to get free.”

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through
Edelweiss and NetGalley.

If you love books, you'll love this book. "No two persons ever read the same book" is put into practice here as we follow the author, the agent, the bookseller, the audiobook narrator and so many more characters that are all connected by one novel.
I absolutely loved deep diving (IYKYK) into the different characters and seeing how one novel can effect so many lives. It's beautiful and poetically written as Bauermeister is so clever at. The depth of each character is a gift and it's truly a love letter to readers.

This felt like an ode to books and book lovers showering the reader with the power of a book. This was more like a compilation of short stories of people who read this particular book at different times in their lives and showed how it lifted them up and affected them at the time they read it. As the reader we were given a window of time in each of these characters lives.

This book felt peaceful and loving amongst struggles and turmoil that the characters faced. A book that was creative and different that kept me glued to the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-copy of this book.

No two persons read the same book. What you consider as life changing or best book you ever read could be total DNF for someone else. Or what you couldn't get into and put away to read later could be everything we ever needed to hear second time around. What you get or don't get out of books depends on where you are at that point.

Book within this book is one of those. It hit everyone at different times and gave them some level of comfort with its existence. I thought after first chapter it would be a story of a struggling author, but no we crossed that bridge immediately and we jump into lives of all other people orbiting around this book.

It was short, sweet, and to the point book. I genuinely did not expect to be taken away this much. It made me happy. It made me hopeful. It made me feel all the feelings. It will have a special place in my heart.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister.

Alice is a young writer full of promise, but hesitant to release her work, despite urgings of her professor. But when she finally has the right, yet tragic inspiration, she is finally ready to let the world read what's in her heart. Through her work we read about multiple people who come in contact with her book at the exact time that they needed to, and how deeply they are impacted by it.

Books like this are just magic, and speak so deeply to lovers of the written word. I felt all of these short stories in my soul. If you need a warm hug when your heart is feeling cold, I highly recommend this one.

Guilt is easier to drown in than any ocean”

“You see this girl? Abigail had said to him the day Clara was born. This is the best conversation we’ll ever have.”

This was my favorite book of May and I am sure this will make my top ten for the year!
I loved how the format of this book was so different from most books. I think it helped going in blind because I was drawn in by the first chapter’s character and then the next chapter I figured was just the next character being introduced. What actually binds all the chapters together is how the book is in each person’s life. It starts with the author Alice, moves to the person who discovered the books amongs the slush pile at the publisher’s office to the actor who records the audiobook. Each chapter is like a short story of that person’s life. My favorite was the author Alices, the teenager, the bookseller and the caretaker. They are all very excellent but those just really stood out to me! The last chapter brings the books full circle.

This was an amazing literary fiction that I could not put down! A definite must read, each character’s story will draw you in more than the last.

Thank you to @St. Marin’s Press for my digital and physical copy. I also listened to some of it with a code provided @Bryantparks that she was able to share with me for

Absolutely lovely - a book for book lovers, these sweet interweaving stories explore how impactful books can be on individual lives. Loved it!

Alice writes a novel that affects 9 different people- a homeless teen, an older actor that decides to change his career, and a free diver. No Two Persons shows the power of the written word and how it can change us in unexpected ways.

My wheelhouse is anything to do with books- writing, book stores, etc. However, I couldn't really delve deep into this book because it switched characters so much. I understand that Bauermeister was trying to show how books can influence different types of people, but I wanted more. I did enjoy finding out how each character was connected.