A very quirky but enjoyable book.

Three strangers - Jo, Adelaide and Kye - are drawn to the bookshop and its enigmatic owner, Fay.

Each is struggling with their situation and each has a book chosen for them which gives them insight and direction. Each has to understand where their lives started to go wrong and use the book as an opportunity to reset and move forward. Each is helped by the others and nudged forward by Fay and the magic of the bookshop.

A delightful tale of the power of books to change lives, magical thinking and friendship.

One I will be recommending.

In a nutshell, three characters brought together by fate and bookstore owner who gives them life advice and creative writing assignments 🙂

We meet three main characters, or four if you count the owner of the bookshop, Fay. Adelaide (Lade, Addy), Joanna (Jo) and Kye. Everyone was miserable in their own way. Adelaide married to a wrong guy and lives a quiet life until one day she comes across a leaflet saying “The Midnight Bookshop, all welcome” which reminded of her love of reading. Jo is what it seems to have a perfect family. They might have all that they need financially, but are they really there for their daughter. A classic case of a child with an emotionally immature mother and an emotionally unavailable/absent father. An 18-year-old, Kye, is doing his very best to keep their family together and attends to their sick mother, which is not an easy task with an older brother who’s throwing gas on fire.

The multiple POVs are very hard to carry out. While the writer is the same, they have to be two or in this case three different people, they think differently, and they obviously have a different manner of speech. While Kye had a few words and phrases only he was using, when it came to the ladies - the way they talk (especially when we’re not in Jo’s head/POV) - it’s almost as if Adelaide is taking to herself. I liked when Jo was in her own world, interacting with her parents. I believe that’s where the writer’s skills shined the most, when the main characters were not interacting with each other.

Another dilemma and common mistake with the POVs is repetition. Something happens while the three of them were apart, and then the friends meet to debrief. Basically, we’re put in a position of hearing the same information over and over again.

While I appreciate the pop culture references and allusions. I think the writers have to be careful not to rely on them too much. If it’s not done right - it distracts the readers from the main plot and characters, making them think about a work of someone else’s imagination.

This novel is about three strangers, three musketeers, as one called them, who found each other in the right moment and right time. I relate to Kye, Jo and Addy on different levels. Perhaps that’s why I was looking forward to seeing them resolve their issues and wished to know how they are going to do that. Even so, I can’t say my curiosity was satisfied, this and other questions were unanswered. When Kye asked Fay how exactly the bookstore worked, she said they “didn’t need to know that”. Well, I as reader, do in fact wish and need to know. And before that, Fay simply said, “you’re meant to go to this store”. And how, exactly, <spoilers>Mark left? He just disappeared into a thin air. As Jo said, “he just upped and went”.</spoilers>

To sum this up, I feel very torn. When rereading a book, you’re not the same person you were when you first read it. This and similar thoughts really spoke to me. The lines about family, books and friendship, life goals and were beautiful. But regardless of how certain ideas appealed to me, I couldn’t quite get the tone and the pacing of this book. As if the book itself couldn’t decide to be lighthearted or dark and tragic. For all know, it is possible it was intended, maybe it’s supposed to feel this way. Anywho, like Fay has said that people will have different experiences reading the same book. I loved the general idea, but I can’t say my experience was entirely positive. But again, this was mine, I’d love to hear about yours.

P.S. I think we can agree that some people do need a push to make a first move and confess their feelings, but it has to be a gentle push (I’m talking about you, Addy).

I loved this book told through three perspectives. Three very troubled people find solutions for their life problems by visiting a magical library and make life long friendships. This book had me rooting for all three of them and didn't disappoint.

Wow what a book! I absolutely loved reading The Midnight Bookshop, the vibes of this novel made me think of Evie Woods, both authors have created magical and beautifully written novels.
The Midnight Bookshop hooked me as soon as I started reading, the concept of a magical bookshop that helps our characters was fascinating for me and I loved seeing how it played out.
The characters were all created with lovely qualities, each one (with the exception of Mark) was a delight to journey with. Addy.. what a beautiful soul she was and it was so saddening to see her behaviour treated like that by Mark. I loved how she needed Jo and Kye as much as they needed her. The likeliness of their friendship was outweighed by their bond over the bookshop. Each character had a different background and struggles of their own but together they fit and it was lovely reading especially with the mysterious Fay and the Bookshop.
Amanda James has created a magical world that takes books and swept us all away with the magic of it all. Her writing so beautifully captured all the emotions throughout the novel. As a reader I felt immersed into the novel like the characters became my friends too.
A beautifully written story and one that I think everyone will love.

Those who enjoy stories imbibed with magic realism are going to love the fairytale aspects of this charming, well-written book with its uplifting message and sweet romance.

I particularly liked the premise of the story: a bookshop that heals through books that mirror the turmoil in the character’s own lives. The linking of well-known and well-chosen books to the three disparate main characters was skilfully and tenderly executed and brought perfect resolution.

I also loved the premise of getting lost in a book: to inhabit the world created by the author so completely that your own life gets suspended while you take on that character’s struggle. By immersing yourself so deeply, by seeing them through their jeopardy and any injustice they face, their perils become your perils and their world, your world, so that when you finish the book your own demons seem surmountable and a way forward seems clearer. This was very skilfully executed.

I think it’s important to add that in the description on the back cover there is no mention that the genre is magical realism which requires the reader to suspend belief. I believe this should be made clearer.

My thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a strange novel! Three people each tell their own troubled stories in the magical world of the Midnight Bookshop. It is so far removed from reality, there is nothing tangible to cling onto. Each find their lives can improve through a close bond forged from their escapades to the bookshop. A book for dreamers, but not one for me - but other readers may enjoy it.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this ARC.

I will admit I stopped reading this during chapter three because I was bored. The story didn’t hook me in like I hoped it would.

A lovely story told from three perspectives. These three are brought together by all responding to a flyer for The Midnight Library. The seek it out and in doing so become a tight group and begin to find a way to happiness in their unique situations through the magic of the bookshop and Faye, it's keeper. Really lovely.

This book started for me as just another easy fluffy read to devour whilst on a sunbed with a cocktail in hand. However it soon became much much more.

To appreciate the book fully you have to leave any preconceived ideas at the first page and open up you mind to a magical world.

Jo, Adelaine and Kye are all struggling for one reason or another in their fairly mundane lives without being able to see a future. From a brief meeting at a food bank and a mysterious leaflet about the Midnight Bookshop, little do they know that their lives are about to change.

There is much talk in the book about escaping into a book and becoming part of it. As a deaf person I have said for years that I am no deaf when I read as I become the narrator or a character or just intrinsically woven into the story.

The magical part of this book does require you to suspend belief for a while but I suggest you do to have the full experience of a fabulous story!

I will be recommending this to my Bookclub

A magical bookshop that inspires people. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a book helped you change your life? This is what happens to three unhappy people who discover the Midnight Bookshop, run by the enigmatic Fay, where the books seem to choose their readers, rather than the other way round. Jo escapes into The Great Gatsby, Kye to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Adelaide to Oliver Twist. Each person learns from their special book how to solve a problem and improve their life. There’s romance in the air for some of them too. A book I was sorry to finish.