Although it wasn't my favorite read of all time, I definitely did enjoy this book. It was a quick and easy sort of read. And being from Pennsylvania myself, I appreciated that the setting was in Philadelphia. I could picture the area that it was located in and that definitely drew me into the story. I wish that Fawn had more character development throughout the book instead of just at the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

Fawn, the protagonist is quite a similar character to Eleanor Oliphant, however the story is very different. Written in several different mediums including email, reviews and letters, it’s quite a tricky read. I also found it quite hard to warm to any of the characters in the book if I’m being honest.

I am sorry to say that I could not finish this book. As others have said, the protagonist was very hard to warm up to, with her lies and living in a fantasy of her own success. I am disappointed as the blurb was much more positive. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

It is so difficult to pull off a five-star epistolary novel; while Confessions of a Curious Bookseller is a good read, I can't give it five stars.

The story is told through letters, posts, and emails between the protagonist and the various people in her life: her mother, sister, business competitor, a pen pal, to name a few. Fawn Birchill owns a used book store in an old Victorian but her business is compromised when a new, shiny big bookstore opens up down the street from her (shades of "You've Got Mail."). Fawn's store has water pipe issues, plumbing issues, it apparently smells bad, the books have mold, and the basement floods. It's no wonder that customers prefer the new store which offers coffee, craft beer, and author readings.

There's a reason Fawn hangs on to her business and why she struggles so hard to make it work, but for me, that came just too late in the story and was anticlimactic. I found myself frustrated with her rather than sympathetic.

Negativity aside, I did enjoy the book but I just didn't love it. I feel like it might have been better had it been structured differently.

I'm thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was not a novel for me. It was written as a epistolary and it didn't work at all. It was a bit confusing and not quirky or funny at all. I DNF:ed early on.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for this DARC in exchange for my honest review. I've seen many low ratings on this book, and I'm not sure why. I loved the unique style, set in a series of emails, newspaper ads, web site reviews, etc. Yes, it's unique and different, but I loved it. The bookseller clearly had a history of a childhood she felt was neglectful. She makes up a life, and pretends to be what she isn't because she doesn't seem to feel like she is truly worthy. She comes across as quirky, old fashioned and very opinionated, but I feel like there were reasons she felt that way. The author did an admirable job with this very unique narrative, and I loved it.

Going in I was really excited to see where the book was going to go but was ultimately let down. The format of the book is done through a series of emails, reviews, social media posts, blogs, and/or journal entries, which started off as an interesting choice but quickly became monotonous. I thought the lead character Fawn Birchill, a struggling bookstore owner, went past the point of eccentric to over the top and unlikeable. I continued with the book, hoping for some redemption at the end, but ultimately was left unsatisfied. I think the book had potential, but it definitely missed the mark.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

I enjoyed the way this book was presented as letters and emails, rather than a narrative, and I did like the story. I'm looking forward to more books by Elizabeth Green.

An epistolary novel about the story of a woman who manages her bookshop, her love life and her family.. The Blurb and story and narrative(and i specially love epistolary novels) made me really like this book.. But the protagonist seems even more rude as the pages progress and to keep going just to find some redeemable (a tiny vestige) quality seemed futile after 30%
All I am going to say is.. The writing was great, some satiric One liners made me snort out loud, but it was just not worth it to keep searching for some reason behind why the protagonist was sooo very rude.. I hope it gets better, but i dont have high hopes..

I love stories about quirky characters and those stories tend to be my very favorites. But Confessions of a Curious Bookseller fell short. It didn't even get close to the target of quirky. Green wrote her main character, Fawn, in to an obnoxious self-centered woman who was plain rude. I kept reading thinking that Fawn would evolve in to a likable character but it never happened.

It takes a lot for me to give such low reviews but this book just rambled on and on with no characters that I could root for and instead I just wanted the book to be over.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All thoughts & opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley for providing to me a free digital edition of this book in return for an honest review.
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A heartening and uproariously funny novel of high hopes, bad choices, book love, and one woman’s best—and worst—intentions.

Without question, Fawn Birchill knows that her used bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia, a cornerstone of culture for a community that, for the past twenty years, has found the quirkiness absolutely charming. When an amicable young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced that his cushy couches, impressive selection, coffee bar, and knowledgeable staff are a neighborhood blight. Misguided yet blindly resilient, Fawn readies for battle.

But as she wages her war, Fawn is forced to reflect on a few unavoidable truths: the tribulations of online dating, a strained relationship with her family, and a devoted if not always law-abiding intern—not to mention what to do about a pen pal with whom she hasn’t been entirely honest and the litany of repairs her aging store requires.

Through emails, journal entries, combative online reviews, texts, and tweets, Fawn plans her next move. Now it’s time for her to dig deep and use every trick at her disposal if she’s to reclaim her beloved business—and her life.
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This is a hard one for me to review. First of all, I want to address the cover and the title, neither of which fit the book. The title suggests a light, easy read, which this is not, and the cover suggests a younger main character, while she is described as being in her fifties with grey or white hair (I can't recall which). This doesn't detract from the book, but it does mean that you can't judge this book by its cover.

I initially found this book very funny. The first 20% or so (I read it digitally) had me laughing out loud in several places. It was written as a series of emails between the main character and several others, as well as some entries from her journal, and I enjoy books of that format. However, as I traveled further into her story, I found it to be less funny and more sad in an, "I really feel sorry for this person," kind of way. We see her go through some rather ludicrous situations, pushing the boundaries of even my "It's fiction; accept it," state of mind, and then the book comes to a bit of an abrupt end with a convenient solution that I can say I didn't see coming. I did find it to be an enjoyable read, but it didn't capture me in a way that made me itch to get back to it anytime I had a moment free. That said, I am glad that I read it and would certainly check out other work from this author.

The format of this book made it difficult to engage with any of the characters. I found Fawn to be a quite unlikable and more than a bit OTT. For this reason, I can't rate this book as highly as I'd hoped to be able to.

DNF at 15%. Fawn is harsh and pompous. A bookstore opens near Fawn's store - though she is presenting an unconcerned front.
The narrative told by email exchanges, reivews written by customers and Fawn elaborating as needed.
I just couldn't get past Fawn and her unlikable character to care about the story.

I struggled with this book, despite the main premise.

Fawn was just not a likeable character and while, at times, that works well for a storyline, it did nothing here.

The writing was okay, but the characters tanked it.

Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to recieve a free copy of this book. To be honest, it was quite boring. I was hoping the story would pick up but it didn't really go anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it for my library.

2.5 STARS

I wanted to to enjoy this book - and in a way I did - but it was SO ANNOYING at times. At times I laughed a lot, and I do really enjoy the emails as a form of narrative storytelling style, but the protagonist, Fawn, is (purposefully) an awful person and it took more than half of the book to get used to her narrative voice.

If Fawn had been just 10% easier to like I think this book would have been more enjoyable. As it stands, the book was quite funny but unfortunately when it came to the less whimsical plot aspects about Fawn's relationship with her family I struggled to sympathise with her because she is - to be entirely blunt about it - just a massive Karen.

What a gem of a book !! Feeling a little down and struggling to get into books I came across this read and couldn’t put it down ... I loved the main character Fawn and the way the book was written as emails/blog entries. Fawn runs a run down charming bookshop in her own eccentric way new bookshop on the block run by Mark opens and the story unfolds. We learn a lot about Fawn her childhood, relationship with her father and the ‘fake’ world she presents but beneath this you also learn the harsh reality of why she acts as she does. I didn’t want this book to end and we could surely see the further adventures of Fawn I feel in a sequel

Read this book in one sitting, and though the format it was written was mostly through email, posts, etc, I was not bothered by it. The author was able to carry on the story smoothly and without confusing the reader. At times the main character Fawn was a bit annoying or I just felt like I wasn’t really getting to know her, just her annoying habits and her overall sometimes mean demeanor. I enjoyed the book and always enjoy books that pertain to bookstores, librarians or book sellers.

I thought this would be right up my street as I love stories revolved around bookshops! Whilst some parts were entertaining/ funny, I found Fawn really unlikeable and just not a nice character. Books can be good if there is an unlikeable character but this just wasn't one of those. I found the way it was written through emails and journals made it more difficult to read as well. I thought it was going to be a light-hearted read and unfortunately just didn't feel that way to me.

3 ‘confused but curious’ stars

The Confessions of the Curious Bookseller tells the story of Fawn, the owner of a struggling bookshop and her cringe-worthy attempts of trying to compete with the owner of a new rival book store. This book felt long. Like. Really long. And unnecessarily so at times.

The story was told entirely through a series of emails, journal entries, notes, texts and ads. But despite this the author truly managed to do a great job of bringing Fawn to life.

If Bridget Jones ever decided to quit her job and turned to owning a bookshop, I imagine it would go very much like this. I don’t think Fawn was curious, I think she was more of a confusing catastrophe. But still, I couldn’t look away.

I expected a light hearted, ‘You’ve Got Mail’ romcom type read, but that is most definitely not what I got. In fact, romance doesn’t really exist in this book at all.

While I found the main character to be irritating, she was also rather complex, and because of this felt very human, which I appreciated. I think I stayed invested as I wanted to see if the author managed to redeem the character, or at the very least make her more endearing.

There is also lack of descriptions of many characters, which I acknowledge is a matter of personal preference, but I did not enjoy this aspect of the book. Towards the end of the book I realised I did not know what Fawn looked like, nor many of the secondary characters.

This book was very much all about the main character, though she was so annoying this made it challenging to persevere all the way through. If I had a penny for every time I rolled my eyes, shook my head or sighed at Fawn’s actions… well, I’d have a lot of pennies.

However, I’m glad I did persevere. The ending made me smile, and I even felt like I could sort of relate to the main character. I found the book to be well written - the content was amusing and moving at time, though occasionally the story seemed to drag. I would be interested in reading future works from this author as the writing style made for an easy read.

If you’re looking for an odd read, can tolerate an unusual main character that might grate on you, like reading about some awkward/funny situations and enjoy a few unexpected turns, then this may be a read you enjoy.