Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Rating: ★★★★☆(4/5)

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Introduction:

I have read several of Emily Henry’s books this year. Most I have been happy with. Until I got to Happy Places in February. When I tell you, it put a bad taste in my mouth, it did. So I was a little leary of Book Lovers. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The characters are grumpy, sarcastic, and not your average book Boyfriend/ Girlfriend. It explores how unrelatable archetypes can be and how being yourself can make you enough for the right person.

Quick Facts

• Release: May 2022 Read: April 2025
• Reading Time: 5-6 hours
• Pages: 416
• Format Recommendation: I read this through Libby on my Kindle. If this had been multiple perspectives I would have loved an audio book but with it just being one POV it worked just fine as an ebook.
• Perfect for: People wanting a quick beach read. This is also great for lovers of tropes and archetypes and those who like them being discussed in books.
• Genre and Writing Style: Romance, it is a very meta feeling book. Henry presents a style where what people love about book characters are being discussed but then being directly applied to the characters.
• Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️
• Trigger Level:💀

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Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

From Good Reads:

• Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
• Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
• If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

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What Worked for Me:

Nora and Charlie: They are two people who live and breathe books but don’t see themselves relating to the heroes and heroines. They are these tough shell characters who are known for being hard to crack and grumpy. With each other it’s refreshing to see them bloom. They open up and realize that just because they aren’t the ideal book BF/GF doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with them.

The Hallmark Moments: This book reads like a Hallmark movie. Boy and girl leave the big city for the rural small town that is somehow run down and quirky at the same time. While poking fun at the moments, the characters are still living them and I think it’s adorable.

Charlie being Neurospicy coded: He loves to learn about special topics and found it hard to learn as a kid unless he was interested in it. Once he found an interest he went all in on it. My husband and I are diagnosed with ADHD but both have tendencies that show we might be a little more spicy than that on the spectrum. Seeing a character like Charlie be coded with a little nero spiciness but it not being his main character trait was appreciated.

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What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

Libby and Nora’s relationship: They are sisters who had to grow up in very different ways. One was older and parentified at a young age while the other gets infantilized because her sister is trying to shield her from the struggles she faced as the oldest. The relationship with their mother and even memories they share have very different lenses. This one isn’t a criticism as much as a trigger for me. My twin and I were treated very differently by our parents. I was the reliable one who they counted on to take care of our sick mother while my twin enjoyed her rebellious teen years. Getting treated like you’re an adult when you’re not is hard and this book brought back some tough emotions for me.

Nora getting the Nadine treatment: Nora is a literary agent who is treated honestly like crap by those around her because she doesn’t act as much like a “typical woman.” She’s career driven, not prone to tears, and hides her emotions. Her clients and even her sister act like there is something wrong with her labeling her a shark. Dusty writes a character named Nadine around the woman she perceives Nora to be and it’s full of assumptions. Just because Nora isn’t an open book with her emotions, doesn’t mean she is the villain.

The Ending: We got a Hallmark ending. After exploring why endings like that are overplayed, we still got one. Not that I hate Hallmark endings but I felt like Henry could have explored other options. Nora and Charlie’s lives weren’t working in

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Final Thoughts:

I was happy to read this one. I had read Happy Places in February and wasn’t a fan. This is the Emily Henry I love. It is a quick read that flies by. The characters are likeable and relatable for me. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a Hallmark read.

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📚 Study Guide

• Discussion Questions: (From the back of the ebook)
  1. Nora sees herself almost as the villainess in someone else’s love story. Who are some of your favorite villainesses—whom you either outright love or love to hate?
  2. Nora reads the last page of a book first. Libby likes to go in knowing as little as possible. How do you prefer to read?
  3. What was the book that made you fall in love with reading?
  4. Would you rather spend a month in Sunshine Falls or Nora’s New York Life? Why?
  5. Have you ever felt like different places brought out different parts of you?
  6. As Libby and Nora grow, they have to accept that life is carrying them in different directions. Have you ever been through something like that with a friend or family member?
  7. Nora and Libby grew up together, and yet they experienced their childhoods very differently. Why do you think that is? Have you ever had this happen with a family member or friend?
  8. Charlie initially set out to write and wound up editing. Nora wanted to edit and became an agent instead. Have you ever pursued something that led you in a different direction?
  9. As children, Nora and Libby would change the endings of stories if they didn’t like them. If you could change the ending of one book, what would it be and how would you change it?
  10. All of Nora’s exes have ended up with partners who were seemingly totally different than them. Nora and Charlie, however, are peas in a pod. Do your favorite fictional couples tend to fall in one category or the other? Do you feel the same about real-life relationships?
  11. One of Nora’s biggest struggles is finding the balance of how much to comprise in her life for those she loves. What role do you think compromise plays in love? What, to you, is uncompromisable?
  12. What is your idea of a Happy Ending?