Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

When I first became aware of Book Lovers, I was dying to read it. A rivals-to-lovers plot where the main character is the stony, cold, big city ice queen that always gets dumped for a sweet and simple small town girl? The two leads are both bookish, and even work in publishing? And on top of that it has a small town setting? Basically meant for me!

There was a lot to really love about the book. The setup was executed with perfection. Nora is not the typical romance lead and I loved that deviation. She is hardworking and ambitious, and I particularly liked that she wasn’t interested in having children of her own. It was refreshing, especially in romance where the main characters so often just want to have tons of children at the end. But people are different! Nora is different!

There is also some really cute banter that happens between her and Charlie–the editor that she has a…what’s the opposite of a meet-cute? Let’s call it a meet-snark–with about two years before the main story starts. I also really liked that family was central to the plot, as it is Nora’s sister, Libby, who drags her out to a rural Southern town that Charlie just happens to be from. The family conflict was also interesting to me because Nora and Libby grew up poor, and it was interesting to see how that and their relationship with their mother was seen through the lenses of their two very different personalities.

The other parts that I loved the most were that Nora and Charlie, though supposedly rivals, are actually pretty down to Earth. I really don’t like it when authors using this dynamic make the characters too mean to each other. However, I will say that the book was maybe slightly mismarketed. They don’t really have that many negative interactions. In fact, they barely know one another and it is more their tough reputations in the industry that set up that they are rivals. None of their interactions were especially charged with that rivals-to-lovers energy. In fact, I don’t think they have been competing with each other at all? But still, I am a softie, so I would rather see tamer versions of this trope, anyways.

Probably my favorite part of the plot was that the conflict keeping Charlie and Nora apart at the end was so practical and grounded. She loves the city–he is expected to stay in his small town to help his family. It was really, truly refreshing to see a reason that was so relatable and realistic. Unlike the silly misunderstandings that can plague the last third of some romances, I couldn’t easily see a solution for them finding their happy ending. But of course, Emily Henry delivered and all was well!

My few complaints are minor. I actually thought that Nora could have been meaner and colder, like the shark she was compared to. Maybe this is because we can see inside her head so we know that she is pretty soft under there, but for someone who has a reputation for being heartless, she actually was nice in basically every scene! She is even nice to her awful author, Dusty, a character I simply…couldn’t stand. Otherwise, I’d note that the book felt a little long–some of Nora’s musings on her family got a little repetitive and info-dumpy. And also, as someone who has spent extensive time in rural Southern towns…Not enough was mentioned about how absolutely unbearable walking around in the summer would be. It’s a minor critique. I can accept that Nora accidentally vacations in her rival’s hometown, even unknowingly booking a house owned by his family, but walking around in the summer? In the South? That one broke my suspension of disbelief. 😂

Overall it was a light and fluffy read that I enjoyed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5