ARC REVIEW

THE Book Swap
By Tessa Bickers

Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5 (2 out of 5)

Publishing date: 9/3/24

Maaaaaaaan.
I feel like I haven't been loving any of my arcs lately.  But like I always say...just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't LOVE it.

In this book, Erin and James are writing to each other, in the margins of books, they are passing back and forth through a local "my little library."  They are both having a hard time and going through IT.  Erin is grieving the loss of her best friend, and James has a mother with serious mental health issues. They don't know they are writing to each other, which is a good thing, because they have a shared past.... uh oh.

I honestly was looking forward to this one. It sounded like something I would love. But...I didn't 😢 It had a much more serious tone than I expected, which is FINE. But I just couldn't connect with the characters. And when I can't connect to the characters, I develop NO interested in the story.  Ugh. It didn't hold my attention, and I was bored. Dang it!

As always..thank you @netgalley and @graydonhousebooks for the early read opportunity! Always appreciative!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Slow Burn Romance, Women's Fiction
Spice Level: There's some references
Language: Lots of profanity
Representation: Some bisexual characters
Theme: Grieving, Bullying, Cancer survivor, Guilt

THE BOOK SWAP surprised me because I was expecting more of a light romance. It's fairly heavy as the main characters deal with grief. There are parts of this book that remind me of *MEET ME IN THE MARGINS* because of the two main characters writing to each other in the margins, not realizing they know each other in real life.

I always like books that reference classic books. If you're not familiar with the classics, some of those references might fall flat for you. But it's not a big enough part of the book to fret over.

If you're looking for a heavier, slow-burn romance that deals with grief and death and mourning, this is the book for you. I would classify it as women's fiction first and a romance second. It's a debut novel.

I’m flabbergasted that this is a debut novel. There was so much mixed into this novel that was easy to love while also having a very realistic set of characters with their own flaws and needs for growth. The main characters were dealing with regrets, family tension, grief, death, bullying, and all the while they were so relatable. The way the romance is spun throughout such heavy subjects was brilliant and engaging. I was also so impressed with the way the author expanded the timeline of the book (a year) without making it feel rushed or like we had gaps in the story. I highly recommend this one to anyone! Another huge perk is there was no parts to skip-just some kissing! Though the characters swear, it wasn’t excessive. PLEASE put this on your TBR, goodreads list, and watch for it to be released on September 3rd!

I had no idea that this book would be so in depth with feelings, love and forgiveness. I suspected it may be a rom-com, but it delivered so much deeper for me. Erin, Bonnie and James have an unbreakable bond in elementary school or at least they believe it's unbreakable. Until one day James does something that is unforgiveable in Erin's eyes. The story tells a tale of how home life can ruin a child's life as well as how something that a parent can say to a child can have long lasting effects in such a negative way.

This is a story of love, forgiveness and friendships that never fail.
Here's a little note to Tessa Bickers....I'm waiting for a sequel for James and Erin. ;-)
*Possible trigger warning of death from cancer.
Thank you to NetGalley, Tessa Bickers and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me this e version arc. This opinion is completely my own.

When I read the synopsis for The Book Swap, I knew I needed this book that's described as a love letter to books! Books about books are one of my favorite things to read, and Tessa Bickers did not disappoint with her debut book. I really hope this won't be the only book we get by this author.

Erin is still trying to process a certain tragedy in her life and decides to clean up and donate a collection of books to a free little library. What she doesn't realize is that she accidentally donated her annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, and when she goes back it's already gone. One day it does appear again, and the person who took it responded to her annotations. This is the start of a relationship between two strangers that communicate through classics. Erin and this mystery man start to develop a friendship and maybe a bit more and it makes both of them really think about their lives and what they really want.

I don't want to say too much about Erin's mystery man, but their shared history definitely makes this story even more interesting. I love how The Book Swap also deals with family, mental health, love, grief, figuring out what you want, and how to move on after certain things happen. I'll be honest, The Book Swap had me tearing up a few times, and Erin did annoy me at times, but I couldn't put this book down.

If you love books about books, family, grief, mental health, moving on, and forgiveness, I highly recommend The Book Swap. A lot of classics are referenced here, but even though I haven't read any of them, I don't feel like that changed my reading experience. It was still easy to follow!

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on September 14th!

I want to start by saying I LOVED the book swapping part of this story. I loved Erin and James learning about themselves and each other and being pen pals through book margins.

I wish there was even more of that throughout the book.

This story was mainly about dealing with trauma, being stuck in the past, and trying to find one’s purpose in life. The characters did seem very stuck in the past for what was supposed to 15 years later? The timeline in generally was a bit confusing, I was never entirely sure how much time was supposed to have passed. It always seemed like a couple of days but then there would be comments about how long it’s been since they seen someone, and I had no grip on time. At the end of the story you find out it’s been over a whole year, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The characters were pretty unlikeable, James was a sweety but even he wasn’t always a great friend, son, brother. Erin’s flaw that she learns about herself at the end is that she is selfish. A selfish main character is kinda hard to get behind especially when I cannot relate to why she is angry at everyone and cannot forgive or even hear out anything that has ever happened.

I did go into this thinking it would be much more rom-commy, but there were not a lot of those moments. And when they did come around they still fell flat. I didn’t really understand or believe the feelings Erin and James had for each other. They sort of had a crush on each other in high school but never did anything about it or told anyone and it doesn’t do much to hold the tether between them for their present day story. There is a lot of telling and not a lot of showing about their feelings toward each other (and their feelings toward Bonnie and why Bonnie was so great). I just didn’t believe there was such deep love or hatred between them.

On finding one’s purpose: I liked how both Erin and James were able to start figuring out their passion because of writing to each other as strangers. Once they started to figure it out in the real world I thought the messaging got a little messy. The story was encouraging quitting your job you don’t like because there’s no time to do things you don’t love and if you just work hard at the thing you do want to do then you will definitely make money and be successful! I agree with this to a certain extent but I found the stance a little odd. I don’t know, kinda of a side bar, but it felt like a weird message.

Overall I did enjoy reading this book, again, I loved the book swap parts, I really did. The concept really did it for me and I loved the first few exchanges between them when they are still strangers and finding themselves and finding each other. I would read future books this author writes.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 stars ✨

This is a true slow-burn, second-chance sort of romance with plenty of miscommunication. The author's writing style was wonderful and had me in tears practically the entire last third of the book. As much as this book is a romance, it is also a book about trauma and grief, a journey of healing and forgiveness.

My heart absolutely aches for the main male character, James. He goes through so much trauma and guilt throughout the story, and the fact that he still manages to pull it together in the end and realize his true purpose is astounding.

Now for Erin. I'm happy she finally found her purpose and is doing what it takes to reach her dreams, but she was not my favorite of the story. She is extremely selfish and resentful in the first 3/4 of the book and tries to make everyone's problems somehow all about her. The grudge, which is mildly understandable, she holds against James is honestly just childish considering she never asked why he did what he did. There is a scene at the hospital where James calls her out on her selfishness, and from that moment on, everything in me struggled to root for their happily ever after. I’m happy she has character growth at the end of the book; I just wish it wasn’t so far in the end as it is.
 
I definitely have mixed feelings about this book considering I went into it thinking it would be cute and lighthearted. Only for it to start off very slow in the beginning and, for me, didn't really pick up until we find out why Erin holds such a grudge against James and leans heavily on trauma and loss of a friend. I'm definitely open to reading future works by this author and can't wait to recommend this book to anyone who needs a good cry. 

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.

This was a sweet but predictable romance. The conceit of marginalia will appeal to any book lover and was the most romantic bit of the story. With elements of "You've Got Mail," it will appeal to a lot of rom com fans. Overall, i wanted the characters to be on page with each other a bit more, but I really did like them both and want them to have a happy ending.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Tessa Bickers for an ARC of The Book Swap! Part romance, part ghost story, part family drama, The Book Swap deals with the trauma of grief, loss and familial dysfunction in a way that heartbreaking and comforting at the same time. Erin and her mystery pen pal's relationship blossoms within their handwritten notes on the pages of classic novels, courtesy of Eileen's free little library. I really enjoyed seeing Erin's growth and journey to self-forgiveness throughout the book, as well as James' own personal journey towards acceptance.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

I do have a few critiques that I felt took me out of the story multiple times:

1) Erin's continued DEEP hatred of James. I understand her initial intense feelings, especially as a teenager, when you already feel like the world doesn't understand you and you'll never fit in. However, the fact that as an adult she still can't see the bigger picture is pretty revealing of who she is and her personal character as a whole. I'm glad that we saw her change eventually, but even that felt like a complete 180 in the moment.

2) James' undying devotion/love of Erin. Your first love is something that never really leaves you, this is true, but James and Erin were so young and never actually dated or had a relationship. It doesn't really make sense that he would be holding on to those feelings 15+ years later having experienced so much more of life. It would make significantly more sense if he said that he fell BACK in love with her via their exchanges in the books, but to say that he never fell out of love with her is just unrealistic.

3) the miscommunication trope

3.5 stars

In The Book Swap, you find Erin, the FMC, struggling with the grief of losing her best friend, Bonnie, to cancer. There is also James, the MMC, working a job he hates, but it gives him and his family the financial support they need to care for his mother. After quitting her job, Erin decides to organize her life and accidentally donates her favorite annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird to the Little Free Library near her flat. James finds it and writes back in the margins. This relationship sparks something in each of them.

Things I liked:
- Swapping books and messages back and forth through the little free library was cute. Erin and James became mystery pen pals and could share some of their biggest secrets.
- The relationship helped each grow in a different way. Erin rediscovers her love of teaching and James starts writing again.
- The relationships with the side characters.
- James opening up with friends and family. His growth was great.

Things I didn’t like:
- The timeline jumped around a lot and could be a little confusing as the POVs changed.
- Erin seemed irrationally mad about everything. She listened to no one and never considered anything but her own experiences for 15 years. Her resolution at the end didn’t seem very realistic compared to her character through 95% of the story.
- The ending felt rushed but somehow like it should have happened sooner in the book.

I see why this book is being talked about so much. Makes me want to start a Little Free Library of my own.

I received this book from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Tessa Bickers is a debut author. I don't always take risks on debut authors. Over the years of reading time decreasing, I have started sticking to authors that I'm familiar with and know what to expect from them. Yet, every now and then a description will pull me in enough to entice me to branch out.

I love books that are dedicated to honoring other books and the love of reading. I've read a few books over the last few years that have shown off a love for reading and writing in such a way that I can't help but fall in love with them. I haven't read all the books that Erin and James swapped back and forth, But it wasn't necessary. After the first few, the books weren't even discussed in detail because that would have taken the plot away from Erin and James.

Erin is stuck in a job she hates. Her best friend died about 3 years ago from cancer. She's still struggling with her grief. As a matter of fact, she sees Bonnie and has conversations with her and everything. Erin is suffering from abandonment trauma. It goes back to her mom having an affair and leaving her family. Erin suffers a betrayal from one of her closest friends. And then Bonnie dies. So a lot of her conflict has to do with these issues. Her sister Georgia and new friend Cassie make a great support system for her when she can allow herself to let them.

James's father was a singer. His band was a one-hit wonder. That's not because they weren't talented but because his father fell in love with his mother and stepped away from that lifestyle. James's mother has bipolar disorder I guess. I don't remember it specifically saying her diagnosis, but she swung from healthy and "normal" to manic and obsessive. James blames himself for where his parents are. His mother once let it slip that she wasn't like this before he was born. James feels his dad deserves the opportunity to pursue his dreams but can't due to taking care of his mom.

This story was deep. It went much deeper than I expected. The characters were multifaceted and experiencing challenges on all sides. Their struggles felt realistic. They went back to past traumas, as well as affected their futures. Besides the love of books, reading, writing, and teaching, a major theme was following your dreams. Of course, it's wonderful to have a job that you love and find fulfillment in. Yet the boring, dirty, or just unromantic jobs also have to be done by someone, and sometimes dreams don't pay the bills. I will say that I loved James's dad's perspective on his life.

Favorite quotes:
-Sometimes redemption isn't just about saying sorry, it's about how you recover from the mistakes you make. Bettering yourself is the best kind of apology you can make.

-Books teach us, and I want to make sure I'm learning everything they're offering.

-"Don't waste your heart's calling on saying yes to something, just because you know you can do it. The straightforward route isn't always the best one."

-"At some point you're going to break the cycle. Respond in a new way. Today is that day."

-"Of course you were afraid," she says. "None of us know how to handle something we've never been through before. All we can do is learn from it. Use it to better ourselves."

I don't even feel I can properly discuss this book because it had so many pieces moving simultaneously. There weren't a lot of characters, but when you look at the issues each character was facing, the review starts to get quite lengthy. There was an LGBTQ couple, but I didn't feel like the author was trying to force an agenda on me as sometimes happens in these situations.

Before I can conclude this review, I have to mention that the romance is a long game. If you're expecting to read about a couple that has to overcome a little history but spends most of the book together, that is not the case. Wondering how things would work out between Erin and James kept me reading, but I am glad that most books I read don't follow this same pattern. Even still, I can't see it being done any other way between these two.

Overall, I was impressed with The Book Swap. It was better than I expected. The characters were multilayered and wonderful. A few plot twists even surprised me which I love. Tessa Bickers's appreciation for books is evident, and avid readers will relate to her love even if they haven't read the same books referenced in this story. The Book Swap gets 4 Stars. Have you read The Book Swap? What did you think? Let me know!

The premise of this is so fun. Marginalia as a meet cute? Sign me up! For me, the harder part was watching these two young people work out their history, their grief and trauma over losing a friendship and then a friend. Because of course the two people writing to each other in a book knew each other in high school.

I also have very little patience for books for adults that feature teens or any teen related stuff (preferring straight YA) so it might just me that preference that turned me off somewhat.

I dnf’ed at 11%, went on a walk and opened the book again because I could not not read it. The cause of my dnf was the opening of the book was a bit chaotic and difficult to understand. The company she works at is called Traitor and I understood it as the company was a Traitor for doing something to her. The book needs a warning before reading, it deals with grieving, death, bipolar disorder, manic episodes, there’s more I can’t remember. There was also the FMC who was really mean to the MMC, reasons are revealed later to make sense. The FMCs sister had the top half of her dress around her waist for some reason, for comedic relief?
When the actual book swapping begins around 20% is when I was into the story. Both MCs were going through hard times emotionally and passing notes through the book margins helped them get out of there funk. I enjoyed reading this part.

Wow. I absolutely devoured this book. It destroyed me and put me back together so many times.

This is a beautiful story about loss and grief and healing. It’s also full of joy and books.

I loved how everything was connected and portrayed. I felt so many things and I am so happy to have spent time in this world with these characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. I really loved it.

The book swap follows Erin's life as she struggles with the reality of her aging parents. The story overall is a great one but the flow is off and makes it a hard book to get in to.

Definitely not the romcom I was expecting.

The pace of the book was way to slow to keep my focus and I struggled getting through the book. And the change of POV and time frame also made the book hard to understand.

Erin was a very hard character to connect to, and her growth was very superficial.

James was a decent MMC but not one that I would consistently tell others about.

I don’t think this was a bad book it was just all over the place.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tessa Bickers and Harlequin Trading Publishing for the eARC.

This book. All the feels. This did not feel like a debut novel. I love that the story involves notes left in books in a little library. It made me want to read the books mentioned again.

The story of the FMC losing her best friend and the aftermath of that had me crying so hard I had to stop reading.

The main plot of the book was a perfect blend of friends to lovers and enemies to lovers. I loved the growth of both the MCs and the exploration of following your dreams.

Looking forward to reading more from Tessa Bickers.

5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of this book.

i just thought this was so cutesy and girly. i gave it 3.5 stars because i think its like the perfect summer read. easy to follow and the characters are relatively likeable. plus the whole writing in a book plot line to each other ?? my favorite. will definitely be reading more of hers in the future.

Erin is at a crossroads in her life. The only thing keeping her head up is the mystery man she swaps annotated books with.

Gah!! This book had me in a chokehold. It is a classic British romance with so much angst that I found myself tearing up. Here's what I loved:

The books--As a book lover, I enjoyed all of the book references and insights. Hearing some of the annotations they had for the classics was great. You can tell Erin and James (and Bickers) are true book lovers!

The push and pull--This reads like a classic British romance movie. You don't get a whole lot of page time with the two together, but that made the pay off of the end so much sweeter.

The big sad--Yes, this book is sad but it's also an exploration of living the life you want to have. Both Erin and James have a lot going on in their lives. A lot of the book is them finding out who they want to be and how they can come to terms with what has happened to them and their loved ones.

Overall, this was a really good and emotional romance.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

This was rather a depressing read. Both main characters seem to have very directionless lives with lots of personal trauma they have to work through. Erin can’t get over the death of her best friend three years ago. She doesn’t forgive her mother for some unnamed action that we don’t find out about until halfway through the book. James gave up his passion for writing to take a job in corporate training that he doesn’t really enjoy, but he’s good at it and is earning money. His mother suffers from severe manic depression and he feels the need to drop everything and travel back home to help his father take care of her when she has one of her depressive episodes. He feels sorry for his father who gave up what could have been a pop singing career in order to take care of his wife.

So there is a lot to be depressed about in their lives and in the book. The only bright spot is when they swap books at the little street book exchange. They write notes in the margins to each other, but they don’t know who the other one is. But it turns out that they knew each other in high school until some terrible event that broke them up.

You have to read a lot into the book to find out what all these secrets are. It’s all pretty terrible what James suffered as a kid as other students bullied him out of pure cruelty.

I kept reading so I could find out these secrets, but I can’t say that I liked Erin all that much. She droops around her apartment after quitting her job without a backup plan. She has sex with her useless roommate. She’s mean to her mother. And it takes her a long time to do anything to change her life. I rather lost patience with her. I had more sympathy for James. He’s in a really tough position and it’s not quite clear why he feels so strongly about Erin. We’re never shown why she’s with it.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.