Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read Nina George’s latest novel, the Little Village of Book Lovers. Nina George writes beautiful stories, this one may be her most beautiful yet. Possibly not for everyone; but those who appreciate magic, magical realism, the beauty of words, and the art of storytelling will find it hard to leave this lovely book.

Reminiscent of the writing of Alice Hoffman and Joanne Harris, this poetic little book is a treatise on love, death, literature and olive trees. It is more like poetry than prose, being about a little orphaned girl, Marie-Jeanne, who can see love as a golden glow on parts of people. And Love is actually the narrator of whatever this piece of writing is.

When Francis (how come not Francois?) decides to buy books and deliver them to small villages in the French countryside, he brings new life to many people. Each book mentioned by title has its own descriptive phrase.
Everyone from young children to old people learn about life from these books. And little Marie-Jeanne collects what has been left inside the books in a little box.

So here we are at a crossroads: Is this a novel? Not to my way of thinking. It is beautiful and thoughtful but is is slow going and requires an effort of will continue reading it. Perhaps I require a bit more storytelling, a bit more action, a bit less of airy-fairy characters. I waited to be gripped, but unfortunately never was.

Thank you to Net-Galley and Ballantine for an early copy of this book. I regret that I could not rate it higher.

had me with the title of Book Lovers. hooked and hooked some more. Loved all of this and couldn't put it down. I was like oh my. I need to know more. Read it.

I was really excited to get this book. However, it was too hard to connect with. Told from the perspective of Love, Fate, Death, etc. at the beginning, I thought I could get into it. It just didn’t happen. The setting was beautiful, however, I just did not connect to the words.

This was such a special little book, full of magical realism and deep thoughts about love, fate, and curiosity. The book is a short read at just around 200 pages, but it is definitely meant to be read slowly and savored while you think about how love touches each person in the world.

In the story, Love is the narrator, telling about how it touches all people but in different amounts. Love cannot show you the person to love, it can only pour a certain amount of itself in to each person and hope they find their match. One special little girl is able to see Love as a sparkle on each person-sometimes on their heart, sometimes their fingertips or their shoulder. At the same time the story is about a love for books and how books can expose you to so many thoughts, places, and people.

The book is extremely unique. I did struggle a bit to get into the story, as the narrative was just so utterly different from anything else I have read. I did enjoy the messages in the book regarding books and love, and there were many sentences I highlighted for the way they made me think or feel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am such a huge Nina George fan, I've loved every single one of her books and The Little Paris Bookshop is on my top 100 list of the last few years. This book has new magic all it's own and I was entranced. The idea of being able to see the marks love has left was inspired and George pulls it off with charms and sentiment and a sure hand. A wonderful addition to the Nina George shelf -- I can't wait to recommend it to everyone.

Another sweet easy read by Ms George. Again I loved the setting, the characters and the writing. The book was a great one sitting beach read.

What a wonderful, love story! The choice of making love itself as the narrator was interesting. I loved watching the characters grow throughout the story.

Nina George’s latest novel, the Little Village of Book Lovers, brings the reader into the book mentioned (and beloved) in the Little Paris Bookshop. To be honest, it has been years since I read Little Paris Bookshop, and I can’t remember much beyond the general premise and that I really enjoyed it. Even without remembering the backstory, I loved the Little Village of Book Lovers.

Most of the book is narrated by Love and follows the character Marie-Jeanne, who has the unusual ability to see Love’s touch on people. The writing is beautiful. The pages are meant to be savored and the story unfolds slowly, which may not be for everyone but worked well for me. Read with a cozy blanket on a rainy afternoon.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

What an incredible premise this story has. Unfortunately it fell flat. It was difficult for me to follow the action.

I struggled with this book. It starts out in a very odd fashion, and continued to be odd, with an olive tree doing part of the narration. Love was the main narrator. Several people's lives were explored and love was determined to be able to help them all find better lives and greater fulfillment. Marie-Jeanne became the avenue who was able to bring people together. She and her foster father started a mobile library which traveled to some very remote parts of Italy. The combination of Marie-Jeanne's extraordinary powers and the magic of books, the "alchemy of books," created many positive changes in people.

I never read Little Paris Bookshop, so I was going into this blind as a standalone. I recommend you read this outside with the sun on your face-weather allowing of course.
It would wander off and tell this story or that story, and I saw some readers were frustrated with that. And while there were a few times where the plot seemed to meander, this book isn’t supposed to be fast paced anyway. I liked it, I think because I expected it to be interconnected short stories, which is exactly what it was. If you’re looking for 1 PoV plot of a little girl who can see the bonds of love, you’re going to get 1 half of that expectation met. It truly is a collection of short stories.
Incorporating elements of humanity such as Love Death Logic as narrative characters was a risky move, but it worked for me!

This is by far one of the most unique novels I've ever read . . . and I absolutely loved it! I haven't read this author before, but I will be checking out her other books for sure. The story is narrated most beautifully by the archetype of Love and for me, that is what the whole fascinating book is about. There are also appearances from Fate, Death, and a very old Olive Tree, but the story is mainly about Marie-Jean who has an extraordinary gift of seeing peoples "light" and and how their lights match up with others' lights. Kudos to the author for creating this meaningful story that is brimming with its own particular light and wisdom!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a lovely story with similar charm to her previous novel, The Little Paris Bookshop. However, large info dumps and too many characters made this less lovable for me than the aforementioned novel. I loved the idea of this novel, but the writing didn’t stand up to the plot for me. It just felt like it was taking itself a little seriously at times.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Nina George’s previous book, but struggled with this one. It felt like lots of detail, parsed out in small chunks, causing it to move too slowly for me.

I rarely give 5 star reviews and this one deserved it all the way! I loved the beautiful descriptions the author consistently weaves throughout the novel. I was taken to every place mentioned, just enough detail to make me want to visit and wanting more. I felt telling the story from the perspective of love was incredibly powerful in getting through her message, which I took as you can’t really understand love, even love itself. That it’s best to give into it, not fight it, even if means sorrow comes later. I seriously want to travel to all of these places in the book and am inspired to do so. I look forward to reading other novels by this author. Thank you #NinaGeorge for your craft and sharing it with the rest of us. Thank you #NetGalley and #penguinrandomhouse for the advanced readers copy for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. My first time reading a Nina George book. I took another reviewer’s suggestion and read the author’s notes in the back of the book first since I had not yet read The Little Bookshop in Paris. I do think it’s beautifully written but maybe just not my type of book, I struggled to get into it at first and connect with the characters. Not all books are for all people and I think that was the case for me here. I would certainly recommend anyone giving it a try though.

Gorgeous. Ethereal magical realism, along the same lines as The Book Thief - except with more open arms.

The main character from the opening Iines is Love. Death and many other of Love's sisters make appearances throughout; but it is Love whose voice is the one we follow.

Marie-Jeanne is the novel's protagonist. A bit like a Disney princess, we see her fluttering through life. Her touches on her community are simply magic.
"Love is a house, Marie-Jeanne."

The author reminds us that "Everything is connected to everything," and the story flows much like a river flows to the sea.

Did I mention the olive tree is a character? Love remarks to the tree, "Books are the last alchemy of our age. They make anything possible. Anything."

And honestly, I couldn't explain this book any better than that.

Eleventy billion stars!!! Truth...I was 75% sure that I wasn't going to like this or make it to the end. After all, it's a book narrated by Love, Fate, Death and an Olive Tree (and others). I prefer my reading to be something I don't have to think about. I don't want to have to figure out symbolism, or examine my existentialism, or get in touch with my inner self. So why would I pick up a book I was almost certain I wouldn't care for? Well, occasionally I like to pretend I'm a much deeper and aware individual and this was my chance. I'd give it 25-30 pages and then I could roll my eyes and say "ahhhh, at least I tried". Well butter my butt and call me biscuit. From the first page, I was smitten. 25-30 pages in and my heart was smiling and my soul was sighing, and I knew I had found a treasure. I not only was going to finish a book narrated by Love, an Olive Tree et al, but I was moved beyond words. Dear Madame George, in the conclusion of your book you claim not to know much of anything about love, but we are going to have to just agree to disagree. Love is right here, in these pages. It is beautiful and ugly and simple and complicated, and I shall carry this book with me forever.

The Little Village of Book Lovers
by Nina George
Pub Date: July 25, 2023
Ballantine
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
In Nina George’s New York Times bestseller The Little Paris Bookshop, beloved literary apothecary Jean Perdu is inspired to create a floating bookstore after reading a seminal, pseudonymous novel about a young woman with a remarkable gift. The Little Village of Book Lovers is that novel.
I was highly anticipating this book after reading The Little Paris Bookshop. Because there were so many characters that Marie-Jeanne was playing matchmaker for I had a hard time getting attached to any of them. Unfortunately, I just don't think this was the book for me. Hopefully others will find it more pleasant.
3 stars