Lyrical and tedious - that is how I would describe this book. It is written in the most beautiful way about a truly unique concept. But half the time I found myself thinking “please get to the point” or “what are we really saying here”. Parts of it were enjoyable: the setting of rural France and the passion for books. But the characters were too numerous with little personality for me to easily distinguish between them.

This is a book that is a lovely representation of how books change lives. I enjoyed reading this heartwarming story of one woman who travels throughout a small area of villages to loan books to change people';'s lives. You will find many French referances here and French names throughout. It is a sweet story of the love of books and the importance one sensitive person places on finding love. A interesting read. I enjoyed the quotes and referances to books throughout. I ended this book with a TBR list that are all new to me. Well done to the author.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

I was super excited to read this as the descriptions notes “A young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love in this tender, lyrical standalone novel inspired by the “bona fide international hit” (The New York Times Book Review) The Little Paris Bookshop”

I found this book extremely adorable, yet also very heavy. It was hard to get into and felt like I had to really get into the characters in order to appreciate them. I loved how Nina George created Love as an invisible “person” who helped the characters along their journey (as well as Reason, Fate and Logic), but I also wished I had known this is heavy with Magical Realism because some of the plot points confused me for a bit before I was able to organize everything in my head. That being said, it is a very cute and uplifting book, especially good for anyone looking to read about the mysteries of Love.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Nina George, and Random House for the ARC!

The Little VIllage of Book Lovers is a charming and original story of a young girl who can bring soulmates together but is unable to find it herself. Although I was very excited by the plot and eager to read it, I was never able to get into the story and could not finish it at this time. If you are a reader you know sometimes you pick up a book later that you couldn't finish the first time and it blows you away, I think this will be that book for me. It is beautifully written and very detailed (what I did read), I still recommend reading this book and I will try again later.

This was an odd read for me. While I was reading I enjoyed the fluid writing and mystical prose and the delightful idea behind emotions being creatures that touched humans to dictate their lives. Yet, once I put it down to get on with the tedious thing called work, I found I had little desire to pick it up to start again.
It is beautifully written and such an original idea that is tied up in the most basic of storylines - finding love. It just didn’t grip me enough to pull me back in with the eagerness I usually have for books. Thankfully this was a Netgalley ARC so I finished it and while I read I felt the gentle nature of the tale, the lull and slow pace of the hillside villages. It felt nice.

This was one of the most beautiful pieces of literary fiction that I have ever read. At its most basic, The Little Village of Book Lovers is a story how books bring people together, particularly lovers. What makes this novel especially unique is how it’s told from mainly from the perspective of Love, with musings from Logic, Fate, an olive tree, Death, and others.

I don’t think I’ve ever annotated a book as much as I did this one. There are an incredible amount of quotable thoughts and reflections.

Occasionally, this read is a bit hard to follow with the “village” of characters and its beautiful, poetic writing — but it’s all worth it for the 5-star read.

“Love is. We agree on that, right? It is. Like the sea, like the sun, like the mountains. That tells us nothing about … how long it will last. Or what color it is. Or what form it will take. Like the sea, the sun, and the mountains, it is always different.“

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC!

This book is so hard to describe. It was both exquisitely written, while ago hard to read.

I found it hard to follow who all the characters were and the breaks in the story were jarring.

But some of the descriptions were so beautiful and the creativity in the story was amazing.

This was a slow read for me so I could get through it.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
Before starting this review, I went back and read my review for The Little Paris Bookshop. Years later, the bookstore that I mentioned in that review is gone. In some ways, it feels as if America is further away from books than before – not only with the various book bans that have been going on but with the independent bookstores that have been closing. At one point I lived within a twenty minute walk or a ten minute trolley ride from four independent bookstores. Now, it is more like forty minutes to an hour, and I didn’t move.
And yes, I know Booktok and Instagram, still exist. And we have Goodreads. There’s Librarything. But in some of those cases, book love feels more performative or even judgmental. Graphic novels don’t count as books to some people, audio books aren’t reading say others. There are people who gush about how much they love books as they stand before book cases where the books are spine turned in or color coded. And you can tell, just tell by listening, that they haven’t read the book they are gushing about. But it doesn’t matter because now multiple people are saying you can’t say anything bad about a book because of an author’s feelings over their book baby or something.
Sigh. And yes, I realize I was being judgmental in the above paragraph.
Yet, in some ways that’s way we need books like this.
Or maybe we should all move to France – the land of wine, cheese, and books.
This book isn’t so much a sequel to the Bookshop novel, but more of an addendum as it is the novel that inspires the characters in that novel. This book is about Love and Marie-Jeanne. Marie-Jeanne is orphaned though she has two devoted if a bit strange adopted parents. Despite the deaths of her parents, her life is, thankfully, free of trauma. Because of her relationship to love, she can see soulmates. This perhaps makes the love story part of the book a bit too simplistic and predictable, but that really isn’t the point.
Like it’s forerunner, this book is a lover letter reading. The books mentioned including the Claudine books but also the great works of literature. What is more importantly, people’s relationship to books and literary play a central role. Francois, Marie-Jeanne’s father, starts a mobile library because of his relationship and view on books. Part of this books best sequences are his attempts to get people to read. And that’s where the other part of love comes in – not only love of literature and the feel of a physical book in your hand but also the love of discussing literature with those around you.
Marie-Jeanne comes into her own and discovers she who is by reading. This use of discovery is actually quite lovely and illustrates the power of books to help us understand ourselves. In many ways, that is the point of this short novel. While told largely via the viewpoint of Love, the book isn’t so much about the romantic love that fills much of its pages – but about the love of the written word in all its forms as well as love for those around us.

This was an incredibly symbolic exploration of love, where it comes from and what it does. Someone has described this book as being about "a young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love". This is a gross under-representation of this book and the overwhelming depths hiding within.
While reading this book, I felt as though I wasn't giving it the emotional and mental capacity that it deserved. I'll blame it on my brain's trouble to comprehend French names which really stifled my enjoyment of the book.
The premise of a group of people traveling through the countryside loaning out books is such a special and lovely one. I absolutely adored the main three characters of Marie-Jeanne, Elsa, and Francis, but I loved the thoughtfulness and hidden vulnerabilities that each character showed throughout the story.
The Little Village of Book Lovers is an astounding, breathtaking, and beautiful book.

The story begins narrated by Love and continues with doses of other ethereal characters like Death and olive trees. Telling the story from the perspective of Love was really interesting to me, and the book was poetically written. The book’s pacing is pretty low key, but thoughtful and has an interesting mix of magical realism at the heart of the book. The story ends in a delightful note, and I think the underlying arc is that you can’t really understand love, even love itself.

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for my honest opinion.

I found this to be a lyrically and extremely beautifully written book. However it starts at a slow pace but stick with it, trust me, because it is well worth the read, how could it not be? It is about love.

This book was hard to follow for me. The random cut ins with love and the olive tree had me totally confused on the story. The story seemed to drag in most places. I think just the format of the book did not work for me. The basic storyline (without all the extra stuff) was interesting but only 2/5 stars interesting.

4/5 stars

I really struggled to get into this book, while it’s unorthodox format and clunk start almost had me walking I’m glad I persevered as it turned into a poetic story of how a choice can shape a community and change one’s life. If you’re a sucker for magical realism, found community, and lyrical writing keep going in this book, it gets better I promise.

Every new book holds the excitement of possibilities; the opportunity to evoke emotion or to open our eyes and hearts to new ideas and learning, as well as take us on an adventure. This is how I feel when I start each new book. As a lover of books, I was sure that a book with the words Book Lovers in the title would definitely be the right book for me. However, it ended up being a DNF @ 50%, which is extremely rare for me.

The narrative is very poetic in its delivery and almost lyrical at times in its description. I persisted until halfway through, but the story dragged somewhat and did not contain enough to draw me further in or hold my interest.
Many other readers may love this book. Unfortunately, it did not strike a chord with me.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Beautifully written and reads like a series of quotable phrases. It’s a bit slow paced but well worth the journey for it’s all about love.

I adore the writings of Nina George. Her prose is simply beautiful, and The Little Village of Book Lovers is no exception. It is a lovely book that is a joy to read. It is full of interesting characters and sprinkled with life lessons, as are the rest of her books. George also does such a terrific job of making the setting a character. She makes the reader want to visit every small town and city her characters do.
Unlike her previous works, The Little Village of Book Lovers is a little more cerebral. The narrator is Love, and an olive tree is a main character. The story walks the line of fantasy. It is a story about finding love and the powers that bring us together. In the end, it is also a love letter to books and the power they have in our lives. How books can influence our thoughts, show us that we are not alone and even physically bring us together.
If you are looking for a sweet, lyrical novel without anything controversial or uncomfortable, The Little Village of Book Lovers is for you.

Marie Jeanne’s father wants to start a book bus and travel through the mountains in Southern France to share his love of books. Marie-Jeanne has a way of connecting two people who are in love and is looking for her own love. The story is told in chapters, each one narrated by a new person, Fate, Love, etc. With so many characters I found it difficult to follow. The book started out strong and was so lovely to read, but then it all just sort of fell apart. Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for my copy of The Little Village of Book Lovers.

This was an okay book. I liked the idea, but the book just sort of dragged on for me. The writing is fine, but I just couldn't quite get into it. Maybe I'll give it another chance down the road to see if I can warm up to it more.

An amazing story! All book lovers with a penchant for historical fiction and a touch of magic will adore this book.

Such a wonderful story told by the feeling of Love as a person. From the beginning of the story Marie-Jeanne can detect where love touches each person, but she has to figure out how to get those same people connected to those who will be a good match. She tries to just introduce them but it doesn't work well, so she thinks of a way to bring them together with one of my favorite things to do, read books and she gets her kind adoptive father to help her and it works, but you'll have to read the book to find out how.
I love that there is no malice or meanness in this story and all of the characters are just finding joy where they are until love appears. I just love it. If you love "The Little Paris Bookstore," you will love the whimsical feeling you get from this book, an in a way, this story is an offspring of "The Little Paris Bookstore." Truly a feel good story.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this wonderful story. Love is really something.