I love this book so much!! It is so well-written. I have so many lines from the books highlighted for quotes. This book is easily a 5/5 read for me perfect for the autumnal vibe.

What a creative concept for a book. It was refreshing to read about father-daughter relationships, as it's not often a genre I get to read. The story is crafted well, and it's interesting. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to say I was a bit skeptical when I learned what this book was about. But oh, ye of little faith, Flávia, you should have trusted the process.

We have a dual point of view here that takes us very much inside both characters: Kathryn, a self-help book author who just craves approval and love in very obvious ways sometimes; and Paul, a recently freed convict who is working in a lovely bookshop owned by one of the best souls the world has ever seen. And then we are taken on a story that has ALL. THE. FEELINGS.

I hated and despised Kathryn in the same measure that I understood her. I hated and despised Paul in the same measure that I understood him. It was insane and concerning to be inside the mind of an insecure not-so-young woman who lives in a fantasy world and is such a big victim of both her circumstances and herself, and then watch her grow (and grow a spine). It was also insane and even more concerning to be inside the mind of a man who killed someone, not just someone, but his wife, the love of his life, the mother of his daughter, and then to see all the work he has been through, leaving his addiction and just... living. It was a crazy ride that the author took us on with such mastery! I ended up not only sympathizing with characters that I have very little patience with, to say the least, but also learning so much, engaging so much, crying so much. I got Kathryn, I got Paul, I got even Jori.

In the end, the only one I truly hate is Louis.

PS: Would have loved to have seen what happened to Kathryn's career in more detail/with more finality. But loved the "open" ending to Kathryn and Paul's relationship.

This book was beautifully written and I couldn't put it down. The difficult question of how do you forgive someone who has done the worst thing imaginable but has also changed was difficult for me throughout the book. I often struggle with forgiveness and this book really resonated with me. I absolutely loved this book and if you are a fan of emotional, compelling stories I highly recommend Five Mornings at the Bookshop!

This book starts off with a bang as readers learn that Paul, the main character, has just been released from prison after serving a 25 year sentence for killing his girlfriend. As he tries to piece his life back together working in a local bookshop, he’s stunned to ring up a book for a customer that his grown daughter wrote…the daughter he left behind all those years ago. From there, we get a front row seat to both Paul and Kathryn’s inner emotional world as they reunite as part of a documentary for Kathryn’s publisher and agree to also spend five mornings at the bookshop together. It’s emotional, tender, redemptive and pierces your heart.

This was an emotional one. A man gets out after 25 years, finds out his daughter is an author and has been telling everyone that he's dead! The family drama and redemption side was sooo good.

Five Mornings at the Bookshop had me crying, and I’m going to be thinking about this one for a while. I started it last night and finished it today. It’s a quick read, but it’s super impactful.

After twenty-five years in prison for killing his wife during a drug-induced psychosis, Paul finds a fresh start working at a bookshop. Then he discovers that his estranged daughter has written a self-help book. She’s built a career around their family’s tragedy, but in her version, he’s dead.

He wants a chance to know her. But how do you find your way back to your daughter when you’re the reason she grew up without her mother? And for her, how do you even begin to let that person back into your life? They strike a deal that includes spending five mornings together at the bookshop, and there is so much for them to confront.

Can someone become more than the worst thing they’ve done? And even if they have changed, could you forgive them?

In real life, I don’t know how I’d feel about any of this. But that’s what I love about reading. Words take us to places in our minds that we would hopefully never have to go in our own lives. Sometimes that’s fun and romantic or includes magic. Other times, it means sitting with very real situations and questioning your own reactions and what you would do.

There were so many things about this book that had me doing exactly that. The flawed people, the found community, and the possibility of finding your way back to someone you love gave me so much to think about. I finished the book, but I’m still sitting with those questions.

I’ve also since learned that this is Shea Ashdown’s debut novel. How exciting! I’m looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the early copy through NetGalley.

Tears, empathy , redemption are some of the emotions I felt reading Five Mornings at the Bookshop. Paul murders his young wife and is sent to prison leaving his young daughter in foster care. Trying to be. Better to be a better person after leaving prison he finds a job in a familiar bookshop. There he sees a. book written by his daughter who writes about life and her past.. Paul, his daughter Kathryn, Ruth , the owner of the bookshop, and Margot , another lost soul all enter-twine in the novel. Thanks to the uthor, shea Ashdown, the publisher MJ Johnstone of Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for this magnificent book of struggles of life through so many awful circumstances . It leaves a profound impression on one’s soul📚🌟

Big thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the DRC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a WONDERFUL read! I picked this up from the title and a quick skim of the blurb, expecting a soft, wholesome and chill book to read in between the heavier fantasy I was reading at the time, but was pleasantly surprised at how this story grabbed me by the shoulders and yelled "BECOME THE GOOD YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD!" and left me sobbing by the end of it.

We follow Paul, a father just released from a 25-year long prison sentence after murdering his wife, and Kathryn, the daughter who has made herself a successful self-help author after recounting her traumatic childhood on her blog and helping people find closure and a way forward from their own demons. Their paths cross when Paul finds one of Kathryn's books in the bookshop he starts working at in an attempt to start his life anew, and realizes that Kathryn has twisted the past for her readers in more ways than one. The two reconnect, and the two of them have to walk the line between reality and fiction while trying to make up their minds about what they value the most.

This book is beautifully written, and feels very much like a hug. The domestic little tasks Paul takes on (like fixing the handrail to the basement stairs or thrifting for curtains for the bookshop) warmed my heart with how determined and laser-focused he was about them, and the ways he was so dead-set on becoming a better person and father for Kathryn - while still respecting her choices and privacy - was endearing. He owns up to his mistakes and doesn't ever try to brush them off or distance himself from them, and I think that his was of handling his past was brilliantly showcased in his interactions with Margot. It really highlighted how mistakes can be made, and you can take accountability for them without making it everything that you are. Instead, you can learn from them and decide to do what you can to right your wrongs.

The parallels between Paul and Kathryn were fascinating throughout the story. Paul having murdered Kathryn's mother, and Kathryn essentially "murdering" Paul, even though it was entirely fictional. Her anger and grief and desperation to separate herself from the trauma she lived through is relatable and understandable, and seeing her slowly understand that Paul of all people just wants the best for her, even to his own detriment, was heartwarming. Seeing her coming to terms with the fact that she doesn't need to make up a new persona to be accepted, but that she instead can be accepted and loved and listened to by just being the real her, was lovely.

'Five Mornings at the Bookshop' is, at its core, a story about growing from your mistakes, and finding real connection and love within a community of people who respect you for who you are now, not what you have done in the past. It is also a story about grief and how it can be detrimental to let that grief and anger consume you, instead of talking to a trusted loved one and working through it. The last part of this book has a really bittersweet moment that really highlights how letting go of the past is necessary to move forward, like letting go of an anchor to let yourself sail onward, and it's beautifully framed.

This book will stay with me for a long time, and hope I will be reminded of it every time I walk past the curtains-section of my local thrift store. <3

I really enjoyed getting to know Paul Burns and going on this journey with him, it makes you care about the characters and the story being told. It was a fantastic concept and worked well in telling the story that it needed to and I could see each point of view. I enjoyed going on this journey and thought Shea Ashdown wrote this in a way that worked. I enjoyed getting to read this a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy. I really loved this emotional read. Paul is a newly released ex-con who served 25 years for murder while under the influence of meth. You wouldn't imagine him as a sympathetic character but as you witness his transformation, and have an inside view to his emotional reactions, you grow to care for him and root for him. His estranged daughter, Kathryn, has built a career on lies, and her growth and change is also skillfully described. The bookstore owner who employs Paul is a wonderful character and the story gains more depth with another character who committed an accidential murder who cannot forgive herself. All in all, a rich reading experience.

What a fantastic read! It was a quick read but a good read for sure! I’ can’t love it enough truly! 5 stars