I went into this book expecting to love it. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me. The beginning was really slow pacing wise, and the characters weren't very likeable. I like a slow burn romance, but this was almost too slow. I did enjoy all the bookish references though. I went into this thinking it was going to be more of a rom-com and I think that's part of the reason I didn't love it- my expectations didn't align with what the book ended up being.

I imagined the story of the book as how people use dating app but through the book. So, cute! Many bookish may dream of it.

I enjoyed the book so much! It isn't t really light & romance but deep enough. The book isn't only about two birds that meet again and fall in love but about lives they live and make them as they now. The kind of book that I like: something deep but not too serious but can help me contemplate about life.

How main characters use books as their communication media by writing on margins encourages me to annotate my books with our hesitation and more bravely. Writing on the book we read doesn't mean we torture the book but it can be an expression our reading experiences—how we think of the book or how we react to the book.

This book is so bookish. I hope many bookish will like it. Because I like it so much! 😍

2/5 stars

eARC provided by NetGalley

This books cover is very very misleading. I thought this was going to be a cute book with a lot of reference with in to other books. It was not cute or fun at all. It was a very sad book. Its main themes are grief and loss. The FMC was just someone I could not support or like. They are "enemies" to lovers i think is the vibe we were going for but it was not done well in my mind. She as a thirty year old woman still hated a person she had not seen in over 10 years for something that he did when he was a teenager. Something he tried to apologize for and she was so selfish that she only saw her issues. The MMC I just truly felt bad for and wanted him to be happy. His life was sad and I feel like he his personal and family stories were well done! But the fact that they both supposedly pined for each other for this whole time was not believe to me. The best friends Bonnie is also a big part of the story but was really only done well when from the MMC POV. As the FMC was hallucinating her and like would be like "she was like this" and "she was like that". While we got flash backs and actually saw real interactions with the MMC. All in all the story is well written and I liked the writing just not the story it was telling.

The marketing seems off for this book. It was a much sadder story than most romance novels. Erin was a self absorbed character & I didn't care for her. I thought the conversations through the margins was sweet & thoughtful. It was okay just not the romance I expected.

This sweet book has a fun, if common, romance premise: two people find love through exchanging notes left in books. Erin Connolly, the main character, is healing from a recent heartbreak when she starts exchanging notes with a mysterious stranger. As they share their thoughts and feelings, Erin and the stranger form a deep connection.. However, a shocking revelation throws a wrench into their blossoming romance .

This book is a heartwarming story about second chances and the power of love. If you enjoy romance novels with a touch of mystery, then "The Book Swap" might be a good pick for you.

I tried to love this book as it was book related. I enjoyed parts of it but on other I don't remember reading. I may try to read it again at a later date, maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace.

I am very conflicted in how I feel about this book, and I feel it’s because this book tried to be two different stories that did not mesh well.

It started off very rom-com like before it turned into
a moving book about grief, loss, and overcoming hard truths about yourself and your life perspectives.

The romance aspect lacked - I did not feel the connection between the characters, and I wonder if it was the clunkiness of how the book exchange chapters were written. We would get Erin’s perspective of reading James’s words, and then we would get a chapter of James writing his commentary that we just read - so it felt choppy. It didn’t flow well. And I did not feel the chemistry between the two of them through the book swap/annotations.

The author DID do a fantastic job with each individual character’s growth. I genuinely enjoyed their separate journeys on learning how to navigate their flaws and become better people to themselves, as well as their family and friends. In this aspect, it was beautiful and emotional.
I actually feel like the book swap aspect took away from the above.

At the end of the day, I did enjoy this book as it emotionally moved me.

Thank you for giving me a chance to read!

I really enjoyed this book overall. It had an interesting plot line that had a good mix of some very real, complicated, human issues and more light-hearted positive aspects. I loved seeing the author address themes like grief and mental health, and it definitely felt very real and raw.
I also really loved the supporting characters! Cassie, Joel, Georgia, and Jordan were all fantastic and really brought a lot to the book.
The beginning of the book was a little slow for me, but it was definitely building up to a great ending! If readers stick with it through the slower parts (or are just fans of a slower-burn romance), it is definitely worth it in the end.

I liked the depth of this story and the sweetness of the notes left for each character. I didn’t expect this to be as heavy as it was but I really enjoyed it.

Tessa Bickers delivers a heartfelt romance for book lovers in *The Book Swap*, a charming tale of second chances, self-discovery, and a passion for reading. The story centers around *Erin Connolly*, struggling to heal after a recent tragedy. Erin longs to start living again but doesn't know where to begin. One day, she accidentally donates her most treasured possession—a deeply annotated copy of *To Kill a Mockingbird*—to a community library. The book contains a memento that Erin can't bear to lose.

To her surprise, the book reappears in the same library a week later, but with fresh, thoughtful notes in the margins. Along with it is an invitation inside a copy of *Great Expectations*, initiating a pen-pal relationship through the pages of classic novels. Erin and her mysterious pen pal share personal thoughts, emotional vulnerabilities, and a growing connection through these annotated books.

As the book swap deepens into a friendship, Erin slowly opens her heart to the possibility of more. However, she has no idea that her anonymous pen pal has a significant connection to her past—one tied to the pain she’s tried to leave behind. Now, faced with painful memories and an unexpected reunion, Erin must decide whether to embrace the future or remain stuck in the past.

Tropes
- Love of Books
- Second Chances
- Pen-Pal Romance
- Hidden Connections

If you enjoy books that celebrate literature and include romantic correspondence, like *The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society* by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, or *84, Charing Cross Road* by Helene Hanff, *The Book Swap* will capture your heart. It’s perfect for fans of uplifting, feel-good stories with plenty of warmth and emotional depth.

The Book Swap is a moving love story that celebrates the magic of books, personal growth, and the power of connection. This novel is an uplifting, tender tribute to the importance of second chances and the unexpected ways love can find us, even in the most ordinary of places—like the margins of a book.

I got this book as an ARC and really enjoyed it. I'll go into the pros first: I thought the premise of the book was great; it's something I could see happening with two people if not in real life then definitely in a really great romcom. I thought the book selections were great (though who hasn't heard of Beloved? That was a bit far fetched for me).

I appreciated the conceit of having Bonnie be a present character even though she had passed away. That caught me off guard at first in the beginning, but once I understood what was happening I was very on board. It makes sense to me that a young woman who lost her best friend would see her still. I also appreciated the backstory between the two MCs, and their strained relationships with their families. I was rooting for both MCs to succeed both in their own lives and in a relationship with each other.

The few things that were less great: it may because I was reading an ARC, but the book was hard to follow at points. The author could have used a line to delineate when they were moving through time within the same character's chapter. I was constantly recalibrating after reading a next paragraph that had nothing to do with what I'd just been reading. It also rubbed me really the wrong way that Erin held a grudge against her mom for so long and that she never even thought James might have done what he did for a reason rather than just to throw her under the bus. WTF?

Similarly, I didn't really understand James's dynamic with his parents and why his dad wouldn't get his mother into treatment when she clearly needed more help than either he or James were able to give. Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed the book and think it was a great debut. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Booklovers and second chances are my favorite plots.
The story is unique. Both heroes go through their personal drama.
It's not the lightest reading but I still enjoyed it.

This book wasn’t bad, however I didn’t find myself enjoying it at all until the end. I think the cover and description of this book make it seem like something it definitely is not. When I went into it I was expecting a cute romcom, and that is not what I got. If I had gone into it knowing what to expect, with the level of grief and parental neglect for a lack of a better word, I would have enjoyed it more.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute palette-cleanser type of book. Overall it is a solid romance, and I greatly enjoyed the idea of communicating through notes in the margins of classic books left in a little library for each other. The characters (main and side) are well-developed with flaws and strengths. The writing is fine - nothing overly well crafted but clearly this has been edited. I did find myself thinking Erin and James were a bit self-absorbed and tedious at times, but overall I enjoyed this and would recommend it if you are in a reading slump and need something to pull you out, or if you have been reading a lot of heavy literary fiction and need something light and airy.

I think the concept of this book was really cute but it fell short for me. The two main characters were not very likable and I couldn’t connect with them. The fmc’s attitude was very annoying and draining. She was constantly playing the victim in every situation and acting like she couldn’t do any wrong. She was very self-centered and selfish and it made me so angry at parts.

I really wanted to like this book but it was just sooo boring. It took me forever to finish it and I felt like the author was trying too hard but everything just landed flat.

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

This was a cute quirky read. The premise is one that I have read before recently with communicating within the pages of books and leaving them behind for the other to read and respond. So, not a new idea.
I liked the story, I was invested and overall I enjoyed it!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As so many other reviewers have mentioned, I went into this thinking it had the same vibes as "You've Got Mail" which is one of my favourite movies, and was a little surprised at how heavy a lot of the themes were: death, grief, trauma, bullying, mental illness, toxic workplaces. It also, however, dealt a lot with growth and introspection (ironically mostly by the secondary characters), which I appreciated.

I found Erin to be less likeable than James - judgmental and waaaay too willing to hold on to a grudge much longer than she reasonably should. It would perhaps make more sense to me if she was presented as younger, but I found her behaviour eye-rolling and immature. I liked James better, as I felt he had a better handle on his emotions and a better understanding of the reasons why he acted (and continued to act) the way he did (but, really, James - I think you could do better than Erin).

I enjoyed the references to the various books although, truth be told, I should have realized I might have more issues with this book than expected with the numerous references to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is a book I didn't enjoy.

I thought this was a solid turn out for a debut author; it just wasn't quite what I was expecting (which is perhaps more of a marketing fail than anything else).

This was a very nice book. I enjoyed a lot the back and fourth between the characters with the book. It was a very nice plot and set up. Definitely a nice book for booklovers

I always love a book about books which usually contains book loving characters. And this one checked all the boxes!

An adorable story about characters who leave notes in library books slowly sharing more and more about themselves. Once the characters agree to meet, it doesn’t quite go as planned.

This was a very enjoyable and charming read that was easily four stars. I would highly recommend this for fellow readers who enjoy books about books; who love romcoms; and for fans of Melissa Ferguson’s Meet Me in the Margins. This is available now so I recommend checking it out immediately!