After having read over half, I could not finish. Most of it just went right over my head and I could not connect with the characters or the story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I personally found this a bit hard to get into because of the slow start, I don’t think it’s a bad read, definitely not; it’d just be better for someone who enjoys a slower and more sophisticated style of writing.

I would like to first thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I greatly appreciate it!

When I first began reading “The Little Paris Bookshop”, I fell so unexpectedly in love with the characters and themes. I had stumbled upon the book by accident, so I was glad to have read it. Which is why, upon learning about “The Little Village of Book Lovers”, I was seriously excited.

In some ways the story delighted me, and in other ways, it disappointed me. It still possessed the strong themes of literature and passion as its predecessor, but in my opinion, the plot lacked that sense of personal adventure and character growth.

“The Little Village of Book Lovers” is more of a mild and cozy story, intended to be read and pondered, rather than read for mere entertainment. Although it did not meet my high expectations, I still recommend it for its powerful portrayal of books and their magic in our lives.

I am so incredibly happy that I received an arc of this book. I adored The Little Paris Bookshop and have a copy of it in my personal library. After reading this book, I will be adding it to my library, as well.

Nina George truly knows how to write about books and how they affect us all. I highlighted so many parts of the book because the words were so powerful. For those of us who truly love to read, it felt like Nina George looked into our hearts and wrote our feelings down. I cannot express to you how close I came to tears because what she wrote moved me so.

As for the story itself, I loved it, plain and simple. I can't wait to purchase a copy of the final version so I can read it again (and again). I HIGHLY recommend this book to my readers.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is an extraordinary story. It's the first book I've ever started rereading immediately, and I haven't reread that many books overall because it feels like there are too many books out there waiting to be read. What I love most about this book is the unique perspective of Love. The entire book is Love telling the story, with some points-of-view of an ancient olive tree; both of which Marie-Jeanne has a special connection with. This is a book about love but it isn't a romantic book. Between my first and second reads I had to say goodbye to my beloved cat and many phrases hit me differently. I found myself highlighting passages that I didn't connect with the first time around that deeply moved me after a new life experience. I imagine this would be a perfect book to reread throughout one's life.

The Little Village of Book Lovers will be released on July 25, 2023. A friendly reminder to order from your local indie bookstore! If you don't have one, let me know and I can share one that ships for free.

I was given a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, though I have already preordered my own copy.

First of all, you need to know that this book is basically narrated by “love”. Love explains what and who and how it is, right in the beginning. But you have to keep that in mind, let you forget who the “I” in this gentle novel is. It is love.

This novel is so lyrically beautiful that it’s a joy to read. But don’t look for an action-packed, heart pounding plot line. This book is narrated by love, and is about love. Don’t look either for a bodice-ripping romance. It’s just very hard to put a label on George’s unique novel. I confess I have not read her previous novels, and I suspect I shall go back and do so.

The format of this book is rather unusual. The story is told with numerous interruptions, asides and back histories, always set off with their own little title within a chapter. I wasn’t sure I would like that at first, but then I began to look forward to them.

Nina George is a very wise woman, I think. Her insights resonated within me. The story charmed me, but I can’t help thinking it taught me something too.

In the Postface, George says “I promised my readers….a book about the various kinds of love, told as if it were written for a single human being.” I am that person. But so are you.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy of this book.

Have never read anything by Nina George, but the title and synopsis drew me in, so I requested.

Was happy I did. The book was a really good read. The story flew seamlessly. I loved the details. I really felt like a knew the characters and could picture myself in their world.

Nina George is on my go to list.

Recommend.

A woman with the uncanny ability to see who belongs together is then searching for her own true love. It was fantasy mixed with reality. An interesting read.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I struggled to click with it at first. I had several false starts. I found that to be the case with The Little Paris Bookshop, as well. In that case, I didn't continue. This one I felt obligated to complete, as I was reading an advanced copy through NetGalley. I'm glad I did persevere, as it was worth it. I enjoy stories that have a light mystical thread to them that make you pause to consider the possibility of that idea being realistic. What a lovely gift the main character, Marie-Jeanne had, albeit weighty and disheartening for her own story.

I usually love to read books about books or have some magical realism throughout, but this book was really hard for me to get into. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to this book. Thanks to the author, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Love narrates this charming companion book to The Little Paris Bookshop. Marie-Jeanne can see a glowing on people where they are the most touched by love. Growing up with her foster parents in a small French village, she also comes to understand the power of books as does her foster father who starts a business of renting books in rural areas. Fairy tale like, the book slowly moves through Marie-Jeanne’s life. Excellent book group title.

I was a bit confused by this book by Nina George. I had a hard time getting into it and it was not my favorite. I look forward to her next read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Nina George, within The Little Village of Book Loves, provides a tale of love and hope in a way that is sorely wanted in our world today. A simplistic look at a complicated emotion as love follows a little girl who sees love differently all because of a death and fate's addition to love. It's a tale of how we learn to speak our truth through love and release some fears and a tale of how to love without speaking aloud.

In some ways, not reading the previous books by Nina George allowed me to enjoy this book without having a notion that it plays such a role in another one of her books. I had no preconceived ideas other than the story in place and this story needed none to make it a remarkable and touching read.

However, this is not a book that has a fast pace, nor is it meant to be consumed quickly. Each chapter has a loving point, but in some it is hidden and requires its own time. Normally, for fiction books of this length, I can read and be done within several hours. This books seems to follow the advice in the first chapter, "read 3 pages a day in the morning" so the message can be tasted much like the way you savor wine or chocolate in tiny amounts. It is a slower rhythm than many fictional reads that have today's flow and reminds me of the books from the mid-1900s where the texture of the writing was meant to enhance the flavor of the story as much as the words did.

I also enjoyed the non-Americanizing of the story, for the pace also felt very much like the 1960s time frame when things were slower and maybe had not shifted fully out of the agricultural rhythm into the fast paced industrial rhythm that we live in today. Having read other non-American authors, this book falls into a different style of telling than what Americans tend to read normally..

The style of writing isn't going to be for everyone. The way the story is told is also not going to be for everyone because of the shifting from a first person to a third person tale and even the asides that occurred in the book broke the story into nibbles instead of an entire meal

Overall, I enjoyed this read, especially as it was different from what I normally have read over the past several years.

Thank you to Nina George, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC to read and enjoy.

United States Publication: July 25, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

In a small town in France, a young girl is growing up having been touched by Love. She's able to see Love on (literally on their physical bodies) others and help bring them together. Her foster father, an entrepreneur at heart, finally lands on the most successful idea he's ever had - a mobile library and Marie-Jeanne (the young lady) helps him introduce the wonders of reading to their small community. As she grows older, she combines the wonders of reading with the wonder of Love she can see on others.

I'm going to attempt to be diplomatic. What was this book? It felt very disjointed as if George had two ideas and attempted to combine them. Where was her editor? How did this book reach publication as is? It was, well, awful. And I'm so dismayed to say that. The personification of Love was painful to read, truly painful. I found myself grimacing a lot during the parts that Love was speaking. The gift of seeing Love on people and a mobile library becoming a main attraction in a rural area are not two ideas that came together well, in my opinion. George attempted to weave them together but the result was frustrating for this reader. I am still, days after finishing it, frustrated by the whole book. I probably should have abandoned it, and had it not been an ARC, I most likely would have but I was giving it a chance all the way to the very last word. And I kind of regret that I did.

It took me awhile to realize Love narrates this story. I loved how the book mobile connected and lit up everyone in the village.

I picked this book up because I enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. Although I didn't like this quite as much, it was still a good story and is somewhat of a sequel or at least had a tie-in to The Little Paris Bookshop.

Description:

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

In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of infant orphan Marie-Jeanne forever.

As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes that she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her—tiny glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker, bringing true loves together in her village.

As she grows up, Marie-Jeanne helps her foster father, Francis, begin a mobile library that travels throughout the many small mountain towns in the region of Nyons. She finds herself bringing soulmates together every place they go—and there are always books that play a pivotal role in that quest. However, the only person that Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find a soulmate for is herself. She has no glow of her own, though she waits and waits for it to appear. Everyone must have a soulmate, surely—but will Marie-Jeanne be able to recognize hers when Love finally comes her way?

My Thoughts:

This was atmospheric and I think was reaching for magical in the writing. It was narrated by Love, and had characters like Death, Logic, Chance, Fate, Wonder and Time. It also had a very old olive true dispensing wisdom. I found the first half of the book rather slow and it didn't really get my interest until halfway through. I enjoyed the story of Marie-Jeanne and how she tried to help others find love through delivering books. Also, I enjoyed how reading books changed the community. The concept of the "bookabus" was fun.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy. this book will be published on July 25, 2023.

Love is the theme, and the character. This was a beautiful book to examine words and the concept of love...but a slow and disjointed read for plot.
Thank you to the author ,the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Book review at 3 1/2 stars, but rounded down to 3.
This book was definitely interesting! I loved how “Love” narrated most of the story - I thought it was very different to what I expected going in. The premise was interesting and the characters were quirky. I liked seeing how they all interacted and felt like it was a genuine family.

The writing itself was beautiful and very poetic - which as a book about book lovers, you would almost expect.

However, It felt very slow and I had to put it down and come back multiple times. It also threw me off when jumping between the narrators and the pacing just made it hard to keep reading it through.

I think this is something I could try coming back to later and loving, but at least while I’ve been trying to read it in the last couple of months, it just didn’t hold my interest.

Sweet read but took a while to get there, and lacked a bit of heft.

The telling of this tale comes from the perspective of Love, which took quite some time to set up before any weight of storyline came in. Getting invested in the story and characters was slow going initially because of this.

This centers around Marie-Jeanne, a young girl in France taken in by foster parents (Francis and Elsa). When Francis decides to create a mobile book lending business, smart-as-a-whip Marie-Jeanne tags along, giving her the opportunity to meet and observe a number of new people, and ask lots of questions. Over time, we learn Marie-Jeanne sees love differently than most people, which fascinates and frustrates her.

Many of the characters were very charming — certainly enough to spin this out into a series of books, if George desired - and diving into their lives added some great color to the story. Matchmaking (in books, and then in love) was an overriding theme and I enjoyed the suggestions that were given to various villagers throughout. It boggles my mind that many of these people wouldn’t have heard of even the most popular of books/authors, but I chalked that up to these being a very remote area. One takeaway for me was that I quite obviously should be reading Simone Weil…

Ultimately, a lovely read if you enjoy a bit of whimsy and have patience wading through the beginning.

Thank you to Net Galley and Ballantine/Random House Publishing for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed here are my own.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is such a unique and poetic book. Filled with symbolism and love, this story can be a difficult read for many. Though I appreciated much of the lyrical writing, I did not connect as well to story as I had hoped to do. I do believe this is written and would be loved by a very specific type of reader who would put this on their all-time favorites list in a hurry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.