Book Lovers

Emily Henry

3.5 stars

Format: Audiobook

Book Lovers is a love story for, wait for it, book lovers. A literary agent falls in love with a book editor? Yes, please.

Nora Stephens is a Manhattan literary agent with impeccable taste, impractical shoes, and an intensive nighttime skincare routine. She’s confident and good at her job. Nora is a shark, and likes it. But when her younger (and pregnant) sister, Libby, begs for a month-long getaway, Nora obliges. She’d do anything for Libby, and always does, for better or worse. So they leave the bustle of New York City for Sunshine Falls, North Carolina.

Shortly after arrival, Nora runs into Charlie, fellow New Yorker, book editor, and her nemesis, for whom she harbors resentment after a mutually fraught lunch meeting two years prior. Charlie is gorgeous (naturally), well dressed (of course), and is staying indefinitely in Sunshine Falls (what!?). This meet-cute sets the stage for an enemies to lovers story, but in this case, the enemies part is little more than some sharp comebacks.

Book Lovers has a lot going on and the multiple subplots dilute the impact of the story. What’s most important? Is it the trauma Nora has from her mother’s death? The small-town checklist Libby demands that Nora complete? Is it Nora and Charlie’s relationship? Or maybe the most important thing is repairing Libby and Nora’s sisterly bond? There are some big reveals that don’t quite hit their mark as well as underdeveloped characters. The competing storylines disconnect the reader from the main plot. 

Also, Libby is unconvincing. She is a married woman with two children and pregnant with her third, and yet she herself acts childish for most of the book. But the part that stuck with me is that Libby left her children and husband for three weeks without looking back. Not once did Libby mention missing her daughters. I found this unrealistic.

These critiques aside, Book Lovers is charming. Henry flips the script on common tropes, where the big city gal gets left for the small-town (insert cutesy profession here). In Book Lovers, the city person remains a city person, remains true to herself, and finds passion on her own terms. Charlie and Nora’s tete-a-tetes are a highlight.

Lastly, I rate Julia Whelan five out of five stars for narration. Her infantilized Libby voice is spot on. Her brooding Charlie is incredible. Her strong yet vulnerable Nora is unmatched. Whelan provides each character a voice and makes the audiobook quite enjoyable. I’ve been writing and reading this review in her voice this whole time. I hope you do, too.