This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

This was my first book from Nina George and overall I did enjoy this book! I felt that the story fell a little flat at times, which made it difficult to connect to the characters. However, I loved that the book was written in different POVs including love, death, and the olive tree.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC!

Interesting read. It’s a more heavy book, difficult to get through at times. It does paint a beautiful picture of the time and area. It also paints a nice picture about Love. Many people will enjoy this book.

An absolute gem. I was touched by this book in an unexpectedly beautiful manner. With love, an olive tree, fate, and various other narrators I didn’t know what to expect. I will say the quirky characters and narrators collectively made this book sublime. The writing is lush and you breathe in the descriptions. I was reminded of how alluring love is and best enjoyed by accepting and/or giving without fear or guarantees, merely enjoying love if only for a moment or infinitely.

“Everyone knows me, but none can see me. I’m that thing you call love.”

A perfect read for today's questionable times. It certainly filled my heart in many ways. Magical realism ideally demonstrated.

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George was different than anything I've ever read. It was a little bit of Markus Zuzak in its voice mixed with Alice Hoffman's magical realism.
It's mostly told from the POV of Love, but also from others, like Fear and an Olive Tree. This book touched me in its quiet and its almost poetic way of telling a story. There were many quotable lines.

Links and formal review to come.

I can see why there are a number of mixed reviews on this title.
I thought that the title started off very strong. It had so many beautiful passages about literature. The connection of literature to life. It being a textbook to life, etc. The writing was beautifully done, the character development was exceptional, I was interested in the slow moving plot, just enjoying the lovely word usage as I read on.
However, something happened a little over halfway through the book. The writing became less lovely, the plot seemed to be going nowhere fast. And the original vision of the book became muddied and it was fast becoming a confusing, immature writing needing to be finished.
I was disappointed with the ending, disappointed with the fact that such beautiful writing all of a sudden crashed and never recovered.
Started out strong to the small audience that would appreciate this title with its slow moving plot and magical realism. Ended with a thud.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the chance to read this title ahead of its publication date.

I really wanted to love this book and there are times when I was reading it that I really did, and then I would have to slog through at other times. The premise, an orphan in a French village who can see love and whose father runs a book bus business seemed so charming, I could hardly wait to start it.

It's like those movies where you go to see them and then realize that the best parts were in the trailer. The rest was very confusing and wordy. The book bus doesn't even become a thing until about 45% of the way in to the book and even then it is not really central to the story and in no way connected to Marie-Jeanne and her ability to see love.

There is a very large cast of human characters, many of whom narrate parts of the book along with love, fate, and an olive tree. This makes the book seem even more disjointed and fractured.

While it was a quick read and a charming story, it could have been so much more if it didn't try to have the gimmick of the narrators.

I love Nina George, so really wanted to love this story. However, it was really. hard to follow at times. So many characters and so much dialogue that kept me confused most of the book. I think with some edits and tweaks, this story could be amazing!

Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Marie-Jeanne is an infant orphan who is taken in by Francis and Elsa. Francis is good natured and kindly, Elsa...is not. As Marie-Jeanne grows up she starts to see a "glow" on people, on first on her best friend Loulou's older sisters, then on Elsa, and then when Loulou and Luca interact with each other. She becomes more and more curious to know what this glow means and documents when she sees it, on who, and so forth to understand the pattern.

When Francis starts a mobile library, Marie-Jeanne helps him with deliveries and in the process tries to learn more about the glow wherever she notices it. She eventually comes to the understanding the when people have been touched by love, they glow. She uses this information to bring the lovers together, attempting to match make.

I enjoyed this novel. The pacing was good to me, though it did pick up more when mobile library story line started. The writing flow was good, and the characters had depth and showed growth as the story progressed. I enjoyed reading how Francis worked hard to convince locals of the need for a mobile library. It was very fitting how receptive women were to this idea while men were resistant.

I'd like to Netgalley and Ballantine for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded fascinating and I know the author is very well known for doing an amazing job. However, I couldn't get into this story. There was way too much conversations to the side by Love and Fate. It interrupted the flow of the story for me and once the story got rolling it improved but it just didn't live up to the description for me. I did appreciate the author's lyrical style and the carefully selected words at the beginning to paint a picture in your mind. Unfortunately after that it just lost it for me.

This was a great read! The plot was well-paced and captivating. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I was very hopeful for this book when I read the description. However, I could just not get into it. The point of view and the sideline narratives were distracting to me and made it hard for me to connect with the characters. I’m sure many will love this book because of the author, but unfortunately I did not.

I’m appreciative of the opportunity to review this book, but unfortunately I could not get into it. I thought it would be great by the description, but there were too many names, too many voices and conversations between life and death, and not enough story to keep my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book. I loved "The Little Paris Bookshop" and looked forward to reading this. I enjoy it when there are connections among multiple works by an author. This book had a slow start, but it was more enjoyable once the mobile library began traveling throughout the countryside and the literary references started to emerge.

A story about a girl who can see love and a bookabus that brings books to people who need them. Theoretically, these are things I'd normally find interesting. But somehow I couldn't get into this story. I don't know if it was occasional narrators like Love or Fate (among others).

Unfortunately I had a very hard time getting into this book -- it felt like the author was really enjoying writing it but it didn't transport this reader into anything near the advertised description.

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this book and I did not connect. As difficult it is for me to admit, I did not finish the story, something I very rarely do.

Thank you for choosing me to be a recipient of this ARC. I thought I would love this book about relationships, love, family, and longing but it dragged on. To confuse the matter it was told in numerous voices. Sorry, but I can't recommend this book.

After reading the description, I was really excited to start this book and see where the story was going to lead me. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into it. I was hoping that if I got past the beginning it would be one of those books that grabbed my attention & I couldn’t put down but such was not the case. I’m more than willing to give the author another try but this one just didn’t do it for me.

I have a love hate relationship with this book at this point. While the story is "nice," the book itself is scattered and disjointed - especially the beginning! I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the end of the book after after the rough start, but I'm glad I did. The book itself is worth a read, even with its issues.

The concepts and ideas of the book were incredible, but the book, let itself down.