This was a cute bookish retelling of Romeo and Juliet , but like most retellings, it was fairly predictable. The author is also extremely descriptive and uses tons of metaphors. This usually doesn't bother me but it felt like the book could have been half as long if not for the wordiness.

El estilo de escritura es demasiado juvenil, los protagonistas carecen de carisma y el romance se sintió forzado.



No tengo idea de dónde surgió el romance. Cuando Jules era adolescente, tenía un flechazo por Roman, pero él era popular y ella no, él tenía dinero y ella no, por lo que sus círculos sociales eran completamente diferentes. No había forma de que pudieran ser amigos. Un día, en una fiesta, se le quedó atascado un trozo de papel higiénico en el zapato y se sintió avergonzada. Por alguna extraña razón, le echó la culpa a él y nunca más se volvieron a ver hasta años después. Esta parte no tiene sentido, pero bueno. Esta escena del papel fue el catalizador para que ella lo odira por años.

Pasó el tiempo y ambos regresaron a su ciudad natal al mismo tiempo. Jules lo hizo para ayudar a su tía con su librería y Roman, para prepararse para convertirse en el cabeza de su familia. Para demostrar sus habilidades, decidió abrir una librería justo enfrente de la de Jules. Honestamente, en esta parte no sucede mucho. De hecho, en la mayoría del libro no se describe con detalle lo que ocurre, sino que se menciona de manera superficial, como: 'Durante las siguientes semanas busqué estrategias de marketing, Charlie hizo esto y aquello, vi que Roman implementó esto...' o 'Nos veíamos por las tardes para comer y nos la pasábamos bien.' Pasan cosas, pero parecen que para el lector deben quedarse en secreto. Por eso fue imposible creer que se enamoraran. Apenas tuvieron unas tres interacciones y, de repente, ya están saliendo. Nuevamente, hay tres interacciones más como pareja y de inmediato se dicen que se aman. Al final, uno como lector se queda con la mitad de la historia, mientras que el resto parece estar solo en la mente de la autora.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a "do not finish" for me. I felt like the characters were predictable and the storyline was dragging. I gave it to 37% and wanted to love it.

A modernized Romeo and Juliet forbidden love story. It was cute, but also a bit predictable. I enjoy the authors previous books I’ve read, so overall I enjoyed the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon (Harper Voyager US) for gifting me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Battle of the Bookshops is the first Poppy Alexander book that I have had the opportunity to read. The Romeo and Juliet inspired story has promise, but often feels out of balance with the other elements of the story.

Roman and Jules come from families that have been fueding for centuries, for unknown reasons. When Roman opens a new bookshop directly across the street from Jules’ established family bookshop, a battle of wills ensues.

I enjoyed the premise of the story, and the side characters that support the plot throughout. However, I do feel that the pacing and wordiness detracted from my overall engagement with the story. The romance seemed to be more of a subplot, and the pace of their relationship felt nonexistent at the beginning and rushed towards the end. Overall, I did like the story and appreciated the peek that we are shown of UK small towns and their bookstores.

Definitely a woman's fiction moreso than a romance, which kicked me in the butt without realizing it. Also holds some Romeo and Juliet-esque feelings (you know, they can't get together because their families are haters), which isn't one of my favorite microtropes in a book. I also felt like the characters' behaviors were ridiculously difficult to connect to or understand for that matter. This major turn off made me like the storyline less because I just didn't care to read about Jules or Roman. Meh. Thanks for the opportunity to read.

Oh my gosh this book was so cute! I love reading books about bookshops and/or book clubs so it was right down my alley. This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed her writing. For a fun read, I definitely recommend this book!

A quick cozy read. I would have enjoyed a bit more development from the romance, but overall cute story.

A powerful, well-researched story that draws you in from the start. A compelling and rewarding read from cover to cover

This is a very English book and I hope the depiction of a small town that can support 2 bookstores is accurate. As a retired librarian and independent bookstore owner, I loved all the book references.
Julia Caplethorne returns home from London when Aunt Flo, the women who raised her is hurt in a fall and needs help with her bookshop.
Roman Montbleu, her high school crush and son of her enemy, has returned from the New York publishing world, opens a high end book shop across the street.
Unbeknownst to Julia, he also had a crush on her.
The families have been enemies for over 100 years. Sound familiar?
Meanwhile many characters from her previous books appear.
The story was quite delightful, especially when Charlie shows up and volunteers to help them sort the old books in the shop and finds a very old Grimoire.
What kept me reading fast was, when would Roman tell Jules, as she is called, what his father has planned. Also, will the Grimoire sell for a lot of money and save the store.
The background story of the Grimoire was the story of witches in Essex, very fascinating.
The ending was a little rushed and I hope there will be another story coming.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the EARC. I now intend to read the books between The Little library and this book which are the stories of several of the characters.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the Romeo and Juliet references. It was a quick read. Slow at times but enjoyable.
This is enemies to lovers involving rival bookstores. Loved the interactions between all the characters.
Aunt Flo was def my fave!

A meh retelling of Romeo and Juliet at best.

Retellings are a challenge. The characters and plot lines are familiar. Twists are already known. They require an up-ing of the author’s game. This was unfortunately a forgettable attempt.

Jules/Julia was our Juliet while Roman stood in for Romeo. Both characters never seemed to be fully fleshed out but Jules was also generally unlikeable. It was almost as if she was stuck at the age of the toilet paper incident. She made herself small, was anxious and doubted herself in almost all situations, and was honestly a bit rude, especially in the first half of the book. There was also an inordinate amount of writing describing her watching various men’s mouths. Roman faired better in like-ability but, again, never seemed a fully developed character.

Aunt Flo was a shining light among a vapid cast. I would read a book about her in a second. She had heart. She had quirks, She made me want a big bowl of gooey macaroni and cheese. Wanting to make sure her story ended well is probably what kept me from shelving this as a DNF.

As for the story, it could not seem to find a pace and settle in. There were segments that droned on with scenes which were unneeded and empty. Even the build up to the auction seemed to sputter as it was continually interrupted by other random incidents. And the ending was abrupt to say the least. Somehow it all go tied up with a nice bow in the last 5-10 pages. Literary whiplash.

All things considered, Aunt Flo saves it from being a one star rating. I’ll likely have forgotten this book by next week.

Full of generational family feuds to rival Romeo and Juliet. Cute story about coming home and realizing that is where you want to stay. Rival bookstores compete in a game that was never fair.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc! This book was so heartwarming! So many lovable characters and a sweet romance that made my heart so full. We follow poppy and Roman whose families have this decades long rivalry. One day Roman decides to open a bookshop right across from poppy's Aunt Flo's bookstore that has been in a decline ever since her Aunt Flo has continued to get older and it got harder and harder for her to keep up running the store. The competition between the two of them becomes hard when they start to catch feelings for each other in the midst of trying outdo the others bookstore. The story becomes so heartwarming and emotional when things become deeper between the two and what's at stake for them to be together. I found this story to be so sweet and have such beautiful life lessons. Definitely looking forward to anything else this author writes.

This is a fun nod to Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail. Anyone who enjoys the enemies-to-lovers trope will find this fun and light read enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for an advanced reader copy of The Battle of the Bookshops in exchange for an honest review. I really love the premise of an enemies to lovers trope, however I found myself struggling to get into this book by Poppy Alexander. I’ve loved her other books so I was verify intrigued in trying this one. While the underlying story and the flow of the book was decent, the characters didn’t seem to have much depth and I found myself wishing for more back story between the FMC and MMC.

Unfortunately this read wasn’t a hit. It was a bit all over the place and felt that the beginning dragged on longer than expected. The ending was definitely abrupt. Maybe that’s why I kept on putting the book down and it took me longer to finish. For the first time I didn’t connect or like either MC 😭 Not the ARC that I wanted to end the year with but it is what it is. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC. This was a sweet story. I liked the parallels between Romeo and Juliet to Roman and Jules. I also enjoyed that it centered around books, and the story of Bridget Capelthorne’s grimoire added intrigue. I have not read any of Poppy Alexander’s books before, but I am planning to read The Littlest Library next!

I was provided an early release in NetGalley for my honest review of Battle of the Bookshops.

I wanted less bookshop drama, more couple drama.

The interactions between the couple were pretty bland, I didn’t feel that she had grown to actually like Roman and he didn’t really do anything outstanding to warrant the first “I want to kiss you”. Suddenly he was in love with her and she wanted to date but I didn’t get how quickly she could get over the business side of things and want to be out in the open about their relationship. I just wanted a bit more drama and intensity in their interactions.

The rest of the storyline was interesting, if not a little too detailed and choppy. Then it just sort of ended and I didn’t get the sense that it was truly buttoned up.

Not my favorite story and it had potential, I just wasn’t as into it as I would have liked. I really enjoyed The Littlest Library by Poppy so I will give her another chance in the future!

Hands down the banter was my favorite part! I couldn’t stop reading once I started. It was so easy to fall in love with these characters.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.