Thank you to Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a very cute story- alternating perspectives of a young man and woman that write notes to each other in the margins of books and swap them via a little free library type thing. It reminded me of the movie You've Got Mail and I found the characters endearing. It mentione some classics like To Kill A Mockingbird and makes you want to reread them ASAP. Overall I really enjoyed the story.

2/5 Stars
*ARC Review*

When I heard the premise for this book, I couldn't wait to get into it. A You've Got Mail style romance where the leads are exchanging books through a local library? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I found Book Swap to be quite lackluster and struggled to get into the book. There are some great elements, but as a whole, it wasn't really for me.

This book relies so much on the individual trauma of the lead characters, but I never felt like it connected them together. Also there is so much trauma on both sides, it got to be a bit too much for me. Erin is dealing with a recent loss while James is trying to help his mentally ill mother. I don't think these things were handled in an entirely appropriate way as they seemed to be plot tools to get the characters where they needed to be rather than addressing the reality of these difficult situations. It also really hindered my ability to enjoy the story as it was always buried in this cloud of sadness that never got addressed or lightened even as the book went on.

Part of the reason I think this happened was because the characters failed to ever connect in real life. They are leaving some bits of information in the margins of the books they share, but in person Erin despises James for betraying her in high school (even though these characters are now in their 30s). They hardly ever interact in person throughout the book, and when they do it's always confrontational. This meant there was barely any levity in the whole story, and by the end, I couldn't see why or how these two people would ever be together. That's a huge problem for me in a romance, which is too bad because I think the ideas in this book could be great if some things were adjusted.

I wish I liked this book more than I do, but it just didn't work for me. The relentless cycle of trauma and fighting between the main characters made it hard for me to root for them, even though I desperately wanted someone to be happy in this book. Maybe if someone is looking for a more serious and dower type romance, they will enjoy this story; that's just not what I'm looking for in my romance books.

I like the concept of this, but the execution just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t feel like the characters were well developed, and I just didn’t find myself caring about what was happening. I ended up DNFing this around the halfway point.

When I initially read the description of the book swap I thought I was getting a romcom between two book lovers and while this had a generous amount of references to classic literature, I can’t in good conscience say this is a romcom. There is romance but this is a journey of healing between two people who find peace in an unexpected way

If you prefer character-driven romances that focus much more on the people and less on the butterflies then this is the story for you, We follow erin and james who have both been dealt a heavy hand in life and find solace in communicating through the margins of literary classics from their small community library - learning to heal in the process.

The book swap is an ode to storytelling and the power of human connection and I will carry it with me for some time yet.

Tw: grief, loss of a loved one, bullying, terminal illnesses, mental health issues and more

This just wasn't what I was expecting from the synopsis. I went into it thinking this would be more of a light hearted rom com with almost a you've got mail style story. I gave it a solid try but I just struggled connecting with the story and characters.

I am giving this one a three as I feel this partly a me thing. I think this could appeal to certain reading groups that wants something with a little more depth than just a typical rom com. It just isn't what I wanted.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Despite the cover and any taglines you see, don’t be duped into believing this is a romance. While there is an underlying element of a misunderstanding that lead to a missed connection, this book is not a romance.

Erin is still lost after the loss of her best friend three years ago. Beneath that she’s reeling from both being betrayed by her mother and the boy she might have loved when she was a teen, more than a decade ago.

That boy? James.

And he’s lost as well. He has a good job he doesn’t like, holds a grudge against his brother who managed to escape a difficult household where their bipolar mother is often unmedicated, and can’t stop beating himself up over what happened with Erin.

Where Erin can’t forgive, can’t let go, can’t see anything except how everything affects her - and she is unlikable for the majority of the book as a self centered and childish woman in her late 20s, James blames himself for everyone else’s shortcomings.

The title comes from a charming conceit: Erin accidentally donates a prized annotated book to a local Little Free Library and James finds it. He annotates against the annotations, returning it and inviting her into another book, neither knowing with whom they are having the exchanges. Each finding missing parts of themselves in the notes.

I know many will love this book, and I can see why - it’s a book for book lovers, referencing so many greats - but it wasn’t for me.

The events that serve as catalyst are too far in the past, some so childish to have held on to, that I found Erin, in particular, vapid. Additionally, the bipolar mother should have been a trigger warning and was quite difficult for me, a child who grew up in that same situation.

Again, there will be an audience. It just wasn’t me.

Thanks to @netgalley and @harlequin, eARC in exchange for an honest review. This one comes out September 3, 2024.

I thought this book would be right up my alley as the synopsis stated " A romance novel about book lovers and for book lovers - uplifting, moving, and full of love".
I am sorry to say that I just couldn't get into this story and stopped reading at 50%. I was expecting a lighthearted rom-com, and that is not what I was reading. I constantly had to back up and reread passages, as the story jumped narrators, and I the main characters just annoyed me.

Thank you Netgalley and Graydon House for the chance to read The book swap for a honest review.

DNF - Could not get into it, The concept it something I've seen a lot and so everything felt just regurgitated TikTok trends.

I enjoyed this book overall, however I do think the synopsis doesn’t properly tell the audience what to expect with this book. It does touch on heavy topics, so going into this book I had originally thought that it would be more of a fun, fluffy read… that was not it at all.

If the synopsis reflected the topics in this book a little better - I think that would all around improve the experience for readers.

I did enjoy the characters and story like overall, and the authors writing style! I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by this author in the future.

While The Book Swap has a whisper of romance, it mostly delves into trauma. It addresses issues such as bullying, family conflicts, terminal illness, death, and even toxic work environments. It tries to show personal growth

Although I wanted to love this book, I found it challenging to fully connect with the characters. Both main characters seemed trapped in their pasts, and I truly just did not like the FMC. Neither main character seemed to have any personal growth or chemistry until abruptly in the last chapter(s), which was jarring.

Despite this, I believe the author is talented, and I will definitely give their work another try. This particular book just wasn’t my favorite, but I’m sure others will enjoy it!

I thought this was a unique book and really enjoyed it! It had an interesting story and really made you like the characters.

I thought the Book Swap was overall a good book. I do like that it was dual pov to better understand what happened in the past between them. Both characters have gone through so much. The book gives glimpses to their journey with grief and mental health.
The book was a bit slow in the beginning for me and it took me a bit to get into. I did not feel like there was chemistry between the characters. It was cute how they were writing back and forth in books and asking each other questions, but I felt like there was something missing to feel that they had chemistry.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for the Arc!

I really enjoyed this one!! The cover is a little misleading as it screams romance and while there is romance involved- it was definitely more about grief, trauma and growth. The journeys of the main characters kept me interested, It was easy to follow, had likable characters and I flew through it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for a copy of this book!

I enjoyed this book. It was super quick- I read it in less than a day- and it was fun. The characters were simple, easy to follow and easy to love. The plot was solid and engaging but not fraught with holes or so difficult to understand it is exhausting. The tropes present in the book are thoughtfully and artfully used and, overall, it’s a good book. I struggled a bit with some of the characters in the beginning and found them to be a little too “woe-is-me” for my tastes but that balanced out later on. The characters are very dramatic, living behind their own little veils and believing their problems are always the worst and their view is always correct but it feels human, and natural, rather than forced and artificial. I did love that the characters were flawed. The premise is fun and really cute- I loved how the characters had their own language when speaking through the books. It had me rooting for them early on and smiling at their cuter moments. The ending happened a bit too quickly, I wanted to see the change happen more slowly rather than in an instant. I would recommend this book as it is fun, easy, and quick and perfect for coming out of a slump or filling a gap between mind-numbing series!

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while and I found myself skimming through most of the book! I felt like the characters fell flat for me and Erin wasn’t relatable. I was expecting a lighthearted romance but there was a lot of grief and it lacked something for me. There is definitely an audience for this book just wasn’t for me!

The cover got me on this one, but what looked like it would be a cute romance was more of a story about trauma. It made it hard for me to then connect with the story, because I wish I knew more about that going in.

My expectations of this book may have just been off! I was expecting this more as a romance, since that is what has been marketed to me so far but unfortunately didn't feel that was the leading theme. This was still solid and I did enjoy it!

I have started this book three times now, and struggle to stay engaged.
I felt like the characters were difficult to connect with.
I finally have decided to DNF, which made me sad because I was really excited about the concept.

I was disappointed in this one.
The premise sounded really interesting, and the cover was beautifully done. What with the very frequent f-bombs and steamy sex scenes, the actual book was very hard for me to push through and finish, but I did because it was an accepted request from Netgalley

The premise of this book seemed really cute but I got about 15% of the way through it before I decided to DNF it. I thought the writing was not great, but I was willing to push past that for a light-hearted bookish romance. Unfortunately, I think I was more put off by the characters and the way their life is presented. It all felt very two-dimensional, or lacked maturity? Ultimately just not for me.