If slow-burning plot, whimsical narration, meandering thoughts, lengthy time to get to know our characters - which include a waiting-for-the-right-time disaster lesbian, a horny gay, an even bigger disaster straight <s>couple</s> situationship, a sparking unicorn, a villainous moon and someone who likes the name Bowie the most - are something that call to you, this is your book. And you are going to love it. This is a quintessential winter book, if you enjoy seasonal reading.

Maybe this is not the best place to start with Link's work, as she shines in short form fiction. I nevertheless did so, based on solely enthusiastic love by two reviewer I trust, and I was charmed. Link's characters are so human, with complex feelings, which are sometimes contradictory, expressed with a wonderful prose that rather makes you feel things than see things (which, as one with aphantasia, I always appreciate). I found myself not wanting to rush through this book, as its excellence shines in the small details.

I hope the book finds its readers, I enjoyed it a lot, but I can definitely see it's not for everyone.

Kelly Link never fails to surprise and delight. Admittedly, the plot does meander, and I prefer her short stories, but this is still a wonderful read. The characters are raw, and Link's writing is wonderful as always. A magical novel

I found this one quite good, it was intriguing and the storyline unique to anything I’ve read before. The characters were well rounded and I thought it was a brilliant novel, one I’d usually not read but actually quite enjoyed it!

Three teens disappear for a year, find out they’re dead but get a chance to go back to earth. Whoever had them also altered their families memories so everyone thinks they just had a gap year. It’s a very experimental slow onion that keeps being peeled and as the reader we learn new things. The book has many narrators which is interesting but at times a little confusing.
Daniel has a lot of siblings and is a bit like a third parent for them.
Susannah had always caused a lot of trouble but is trying to be better behaved now she has a second change at life. Her sister Laura was always the good girl and can sense something weird has happened but doesn’t know what.
Susannah, Daniel and Laura used to have a band together called “My Two Hands Both Knowe You” (a play on their last names).
Mo, grandma wrote popular books but just passed.
Bowie is a creature also having a go at life but trying to figure out how to be human.
Bogomil is the bad dude although nobody understands how bad yet. They can shapeshift and take many forms, so the gang don’t always know when he is around.
I DNFed around a third. The book has beautiful moments and is very atmospheric but with an incredibly slow pacing and too many characters, it doesn’t seem worth it to finish.
I give 3 stars for what I have read up till now.

I really liked the concept of this - I think it’s an original take on a more general trope/genre, but I didn’t warm to all of the characters.

Unfortunately I cannot give feedback on this book as it disappeared from my shelf even though I had downloaded it and it had not reached the expiration date. A pity as I was looking forward to reading the book. Hopefully it is just a glitch and the book will reappear and I can read it. Am giving it the average rating on NetGalley so I don’t change the stats.

Although I loved the premise of this book (dead friends returned to life, upsetting the balance of the universe) I just couldn't get onboard with the writing style. I'm sure there will be plenty who really enjoy it, but for me it made the book difficult to follow and I couldn't get invested.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This was my first time reading Kelly Link, and it won't be my last. The Book of Love explores the story of four friends, whose lives irrecoverably changed one year ago, leaving only one friend alive. A deal with the devil returns the three lost friends - however they have caused massive changes to the balance of the universe - leading to incredible danger.
This was a truly enjoyable read, I would recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to read the book of love as I enjoy the preview, and have liked previous works by Kelly Link. The description was intriguing, and I like the authors who blurbed. However, this one was not it for me.

The book of love is a slow narrative, told through multiple characters, and I mean multiple. There are over 30 different perspectives. The prose is beautiful and the world building is magnificent. Unfortunately, I found the book to be overly long and a little boring. I struggled to become invested in the characters.

This book is not bad, I just don't think I am the target audience for this.

A well crafted tome which did not fail to deliver on suspense, mystery and indeed intrigue. only negative for me was the sheer number of characters which quite naturally had to be explored in detail. Having said that there were some real gems and personalities presented in the finest detail .We meet three friends Susannah, Daniel and Mo who suddenly find themselves in a school almost a year after disappearing from their home town. They are dead but have been given the unique opportunity to return to life, in exchange for taking part in a series of magical tasks. So the adventure begins as the trio meet the towns people and explore dreams, relationships, and painful heartbreak all assisted by the existential presence of the supernatural.
Link knows how to describe and bring to life a town of young people as they navigate their lives. Throughly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

3.5 stars
The Book of Love is such a unique read with captivating world-building and characters you quickly grow to love despite their flaws and decisions.

When I first started this book I wasn't sure how I felt about it, mostly I wondered whether I was just not understanding completely what was happening but I still found myself unable to put it down. I needed to know more and I needed to know what happened with these characters. While it started off a bit slow for me, I soon found myself so immersed and captivated by the world that Kelly Link created. When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it.

I like that we got multiple POVs in this book as it really helped me get to know these characters and their personalities. They each had their own flaws, thought processes, charms and quirks that just added to the enjoyment of the story. There were plenty of times this book tugged at my heartstrings and I honestly felt so bad for these characters and the situation most of them found themselves in.

Kelly Link's writing is so descriptive and at times intense that I found myself easily hooked on this story despite my rocky start with it. It concluded nicely and it answered any questions I found myself asking throughout. It also mentioned one of my favourite bands so that made me enjoy it more. I recommend sticking with this one if you give it a try! 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book seemed so interesting but I couldn't get into it. I forced myself to read atleast 100 pages, I didn't open it for 3 days and now I've decided to DNF it because I don't want to pick it up again. I just wasn't thinking about it, I wasn't missing it.

3 days and I’m only at 20%
I’ve had to give up for the sake of my sanity, reading is my escape from reality and this just wasn’t taking me anywhere I wanted to go.
Overly descriptive, which is a shame as the descriptions were gorgeous, they just obfuscated what was already slow motion plot development.
Too many characters, too much extraneous detail and not for me. However if you enjoy slow moving, beautifully rendered and bafflingly complicated then this is the book for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, you guys did a great job as I was looking forward to reading this.

I just don´t know what to say, I like it but at the same I didn´t. I think it´s a very weird book.
The story was ok, maybe the issue was in the prose.
Anyways, you should try this out.

I really enjoyed how the supernatural felt natural? in this, loved the beautiful prose and well fleshed out cast

Kelly Link’s short stories are superb. At 640 pages, The Book of Love is NOT a short story. I was drawn in by the fantasy and fairy tale vibes, the relationships between Susannah, Laura, Daniel and Mo, and the mystery of what would happen to the three who had returned (from the dead?). Unfortunately, the story was unfolding too slowly for me and I DNF’d this one at 45%.

Clocking in at an impressive 640 pages, The Book of Love marks the debut novel from Kelly Link. The narrative unfolds in the quiet town of Lovesend, New England, where four teenagers find themselves entangled in a metaphysical drama. Three of them experience mysterious deaths, followed by enigmatic resurrections, accompanied by a peculiar being unknown to them in their previous lives. Compelled to re-enter a world magically convinced they were merely studying abroad in Ireland, the quartet faces an unsettling ultimatum. Out of the four newly resurrected souls, only two will be granted the continuation of their existence, while the other two are destined to confront the haunting unknown.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

To be honest, I found this a little tricky to stick with. I'm not great with many shifting POVs, which we have here. It meant that at times I really felt I had lost the thread of it. On top of that, it was easily 200 pages longer than it needed to be. I get that the author was really trying to give context to these chararcters but entire chapters felt unnecessary to me. Some people seem to have loved it - might be a case of right book, wrong person.

The Book of Love is not a romantasy. It’s much more than that. It’s about all types of love.

There is plenty about romance in it – yes – but if you are expecting beautiful people to be running around saving the world, having steamy love triangles and hot sex… then The Book of Love isn’t that book.

The Book of Love is set in present-day America. People look like regular people. There is sex – but impromptu trysts in a coffee shop toilet (awkwardly discovered by the coffee shop owner) is what you should expect.

Why am I saying that? I’m simply laying out expectations. I’ve read a few puzzled reviews – mostly because endorsements from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare are leading readers to believe this is another Cruel Prince or Mortal Instruments, when it really isn’t. All these books feature love and romance. All feature teenagers. And yet, tonally they are very different stories.

Btw – this isn’t a slight on either of those authors who are both excellent, simply a clarification of expectations.

So… if it is NOT like those romantasy novels, what is it like?

Well… it’s sort of like American Gods with a dash of Little Women, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, and Stranger Things (except with a 2020’s vibe rather than 1980’s.) It’s urban and magical and beautiful. Could I also say it reminds me in ways of Buffy? Yeah – I’d add that to the mix too.

I put a booker prize winner in the comparison mix because this book deserves that sort of comparison. The prose is magnificent. The characters are real. Very real. I feel like I know them, like I could have a conversation with them and guess what they’d say back.

It’s the book of the decade to be honest. Like in fifty years’ time when people want to understand what the 2020’s were like, they will read this. While some books try to hide their setting, The Book of Love revels in it. Almost any hot topic that you see discussed on twitter or on the news, you will see here, through the lens of teenage America.

So – what is the book about?

First the premise.

Three teenagers die. Four are brought back to life. Not all of them can remain.

Who has brought them back to life and why?

This mystery is the key to the book – and is it captivating as the clues unfold and the story opens up.

I will go no further. This is a story that gets better and better with every chapter. It twists and turns. Always real and always beautiful. To give anything else away will only spoiler it for you.

Kelly Link is an accomplished writer. She’s won many awards for her short stories, but this is her first foray into novels. And what a novel it is. I do believe it will win awards next year such is the scope of the story and the storytelling itself.

Finally this is a book to savour and lose yourself in.

I mean that. It was a true adventure. Goodbye Laura, Mo, Susannah and Daniel. I will miss you.

I really wanted to like this book as I have enjoyed Kelly Links books in the past. Unfortunately, I didn't find it interesting or engaging enough. I did finish the book but although parts of it were enjoyable on the whole it dragged and was hard work. Maybe just not for me