My Five Word TL:DR Review: Creative, Thoughtful and Beautifully Written

The Bookshop Book is the latest book penned by Mark Lawrence and set in the same world as his much esteemed Library Trilogy. That being said, you do not have to have read the Library Trilogy to enjoy this book as it reads as a self contained standalone – with obvious little treats for those that have read the trilogy.

This is a story of Rose and Red. Both very much immersed in the world of books – but definitely from different POVs.

This certainly is a love letter to literature lovers with the inclusion of various classics not to mention the settings sometimes taking us to the dusty tightly stacked shelves of a second hand book shop or the colossal scope of the Library itself. Yes, it definitely made me want to go wandering round the stacks. I cannot imagine a book lover not being entranced with the settings and exploration of literature. Not to mention the thought provoking ideas contained within.

Literally, I shall not be discussing the plot at all. Pick this up and let it unfold for yourselves. This is a relatively short story with just over 200 pages so I don’t want to spoil the fun.

What I really liked about The Bookshop Book. First and foremost, the writing. This wasn’t a surprise for me, it’s not my first ML book and his writing is always a joy to read. He, without fail, manages to create fantastic places, memorable plots and a level of clever twists and turns that make every word both meaningful and delicious to devour.

I love the imagination and thought provoking elements, firstly the inclusion of the books, within the book and how they play into things, and then the twist on the character Rose. It has this whole feel of everyone is the MC of their own tale. I like that idea, the idea of the library and even, strangely enough, the bookworm chasing Rose and Red. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m no hero, I don’t want it chasing me around, but it was pretty nasty as baddies go.

The only slight bug bear I had with this was I didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I wanted – but I think that’s inevitable in some ways given the length and frankly the amount of story that is contained in The Bookshop Book.

Overall, a beautifully told story with fantastic settings and lots of lovely books feeding into the plot.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars