Although the premise sounded cozy and entertaining, I found this book poorly written to the point of painful. The voice of the protagonist was irritating, and none of the characters had the chance to be developed (which I will not blame on the epistolary style, because other books have achieved fully rounded-out characters in that style). I cannot recommend this book.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I didn't click with the main character at all and just couldn't get past that to enjoy the story.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Really enjoyed this book, liked the storyline, liked the characters, basically liked everything. Worth a read.

Here's what I think Elizabeth Green was shooting for: A cranky, quirky protagonist who you end up falling in love with, such as "Eleanor Olyphant Is Completely Fine" or "A Man Called Ove." The problem is I never got there with the bookseller. She is total denial about the reality of her situation: Her Philadelphia outlet is going under. To make matters worse, a new bookstore opens nearby and sinks her. The whole book is essentially angry letters, snarky emails and flat-out lies to her family about how things are going. I felt myself rooting against her -- or rooting for her to be put out of business, so I could be put out of my misery.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

This book was hard-going, but I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. Fortunately, with the epistolary format, it was a pretty quick read because the protagonist, Fawn Birchill, is not someone I’d want to spend a lot of time with.

Fawn is a mid-fifties-aged woman who owns and runs a used book store in Philadelphia. It’s in a rundown old Victorian home and she lives above the store. The building is on its last legs and she doesn’t have the resources to maintain it. Her ongoing struggles with the building mirror her struggles with her falling-apart life.

Fawn had a difficult childhood. Her father was also in retail, running an unsuccessful general store, using his two daughters as his workforce. Fawn’s resentment of her “lost childhood” fuels a lot of her dissatisfaction with life. She refuses to visit her dying father, and avoids her mother and sister. Instead, she makes a family of her three salesclerks (or tries to) and spends time with the lonely, elderly woman who rents an apartment in her home. (The attention she gives to this woman is her most redemptive characteristic, even if she does rob her to pay the bills.) She also lavishes attention on cats.

So far, so good. But Fawn is a terrible businesswoman and her store is just eking by. When a new bookstore opens two blocks away, a modern store with coffee, book signings, and events, Fawn is unable to compete. Or, maybe it isn’t the competition. Fawn’s store was likely to fail all on its own.

The story is told through Fawn’s email correspondence with her staff, her family, and an old friend/penpal that she has never met in person. Through these epistles, we are introduced to a petty, self-aggrandizing, lonely, and essentially pathetic woman who lies, makes pitiful attempts at manipulating others, and whines. Her attempts to extort help from other local businesses are truly cringe-worthy. Her attempts at snark come across as desperate rather than funny. Just based on these bits of public persona, she is horribly unlikeable.

Fortunately, interspersed with these emails, there are journal entries that show a different side to Fawn. She is unhappy, drinks too much, and shows just enough insight and self-reflection to salvage the character.

There is a character arc with some growth. It takes the death of her father for her to realize how similar she has been to him and how much of her life she has spent trying to spite him with her own success– success that eludes her. Redemption comes late in the book but patience is rewarded. As Fawn rides off into the sunset, I do hope she’s destined for something better.

The cover makes the book seem a lot more interesting than it actually is, overall, an okay read, one for when on holiday e.g. on the beach or around the pool, not one that I would discuss in length with other people.

I received an E-Arc via NetGalley. I selected this book to read from NetGalley. It has two things I love a quirky main character and it's set in a book store. The premise sounded a bit like The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. Two movies I happen to adore!

I got 25% in and couldn't take it any more. The main character wasn't quirky she was an insufferable snob and the constant email thing got old very quickly! I get that cats and bookstores are a thing but as someone who's incredibly allergic to them the thought of them being all over the shop was really unappealing.

Confessions of a Curious Bookseller was such a fun read! The main character Fawn was both witty and bold and unapologetic when it comes to how she runs her beloved bookstore. Her passion for books and financial means to stay a float is tested when a new bookstore opens up down the street from her store. The new owner and her quickly go toe to toe in an advertising battle to gain more customers and increase sales. Fawn is struggling to make ends meet and has a hard time balancing her personal life with her work. The drive she has for success is undoubtedly questioned by her family and causes tension between the people in her life. Fawn experiences loss and heartache as well as emotional clarity that leads her to one of the most difficult decisions in her life. I really enjoyed reading this book, the story was very unique and both shocked me and had me laughing at the same time. The writing style of this book was interesting, as the story was told in dialogue between emails from Fawn and the other characters in the book and journal entries of her life and daily thoughts. This added to the content of the book, highlighting the title "Confessions of a Curious Bookseller" and I think it tied in the whole book. I loved it!

I was looking forward to a fun, light-hearted read and since the title and concept of this book intrigued me, I dove into the rivalry between two bookshops.

Unfortunately, the main character, Fawn Birdill, is so unpleasant and mean spirited that I found it difficult to find anything redeeming in her whatsoever. The book seemed full of half-formed characters that contribute nothing to the plot. The email/text format annoyed me so much that I almost did not finish.

I could not wait for this to end. I cannot recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately this missed the mark for me. It fell flat, the main character was not like able and felt that it was also poorly written over all.

I wanted to likecthis book so badly. The premise sounded fun and Ioved the different format.

However, I despised Fawn. She was an awful main character who, in my eyes, had absolutely no saving traits. She was moody vindictive and down right awful to everyone she came in contact with. Not to mention she lied so many times I lost count.

I'm happy the book ended with her losing her shop. She treated all of her employees horribly and she had awful business sense.

This really wasn't a book for me, unfortunately!

This book was not for me. I did not enjoy the writing, and I found the story to be poorly pieced together. The main character is a rude and unlikeable woman. This was not worth the read for me.

Fawn Birchill is a used bookstore owner in West Philly dealing with the recent arrival of a flashy bookstore up the street. She has been an established business owner for years, but lacks quite a bit regarding social skills and comes across as out of touch with reality. The book is comprised entirely of emails, blog posts, customer reviews, and social media posts. This style of writing makes for a quick read that is both manageable and fast-paced. However, there were several times where new ideas would enter into the plot via a short email exchange and then would be left unresolved as Fawn was distracted by another issue. I would have given this story a higher rating if the plot had been a bit more developed and if the main character had more redeeming qualities. I read this book in its entirety because the structure made it easy to just keep reading a bit more despite Fawn complaining and finding fault with something on every page.

This book is set apart from others by the way it is told entirely in a non-traditional way. People should read this book if they are looking to experience a different type of story-telling but should be aware that it is not an uplifting read and there are not many positive moments in this story.

I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded cute, and I’ve enjoyed other books that are told through different communications... emails, letters, journal entries, tweets, etc.

I think my biggest issue was Fawn was so unlikeable. Maybe if I was actually rooting for her, I may have liked more. But she was selfish, a liar, stubborn, full of herself and more. She treats her family poorly, blames her dying father for her unhappiness instead of taking any responsibility for her actions, and starts issues with everyone she interacts with from her employees to the new business down the street.

The ending seemed rushed. Her ‘ephinany’ seemed forced and not natural to the character. Maybe if Fawn engaged in any self-reflection earlier, it would be easier to accept but it didn’t seem true to who she is.

DNF. I really wanted to like this book but I just didn’t enjoy it. The concept of diary entries sounded fun and worked, but the protagonist is such a unlikeable character. They overshadow the whole story so much that you don’t want to finish it.

"I let myself wonder how things would be different, if they would be different, and most importantly, if they should be different. Maybe it isn't for me to decide what should have been. The world simply is, and we must do our best to make the most out of it."

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. While my Bookstagram and Goodreads may suggest I love many, many books, that's not the truth. I like many, many books. I love very few. Very, very few. In forty years of reading thousands of books, love is something I reserve for Anne of Green Gables, As I Lay Dying, and an old, tattered copy of Girl by Blake Nelson. That's not an exhaustive list, but I think we understand each other better now when I tell you I loved this book.

Written as an epistolary, this book takes you into the life of Fawn Birchill, a 50-something bookstore owner living in Philadelphia. Her used bookstore is quickly going downhill, as is her social life and bank account. When newcomer Mark opens up a trendy, cozy bookstore in her neighborhood, one that sells coffee and hosts hip events, Fawn's fear of losing her business leads her down a path that has the reader laughing out loud, gasping in incredulousness and, at times, even wiping a tear or two away.

Is Fawn the most likable character? No. She's frustrating and pitiful for much of the book. I found myself shaking my head at her antics more than once. But Green - a remarkably good writer for having only one novel under their belt - seemed to sense where the line was between "I really hope this character gets it together" and "Forget it, she's a lost cause." They also showed great balance between "I can't believe she did that!" vs "Okay, there's no way she did that."

As Fawn struggles to understand her present, heal from her past, and embark on her future, I was impressed with the way Green managed to tackle heavy emotional themes (e.g. family, death, loneliness, failure, envy) without sacrificing the lightheartedness of the novel. While I would have liked some of the supporting characters to be a little more developed or to even play a little bit larger parts in the plot (I really liked Angela the bookstore employee), the lack of other key characters serves to reinforce the loneliness that envelopes Fawn more and more as the novel continues.

Overall, I found this book to be quite enjoyable. I have seen so many requests for a light-hearted, fun recommendation in the midst of all we've endured in the last year and I have now found my go-to recommendation. I loved this book and am looking forward to reading and reviewing many more Elizabeth Green novels in the future. The talent is definitely there - can't wait to see what they do with it.

This was so boring it was borderline unreadable. There is no saving grace here. There is no plot. Ok, I can live with that. As long as we have fascinating characters? Nope, not that either. Okay. Is it funny? No. Does it make you feel anything? Only irritation.

The story of the Conversations of a curious bookseller is told in a series of emails, letters, and journal entries where you will get to know about the characters where you will know about the bookseller Fawn who makes a living through a bookshop in Pennsylvania suburb.

The protagonist is quite unlikeable who lies often and is not flexible where she is stucked to her past instead of moving on.

I am someone who loves to read different writing style when the narration is in the form of letters and emails as it keeps you moving to know more about the plot, but this story lags the strong background of narrating it. The introduction of characters felt quite jumpy and flat. The title totally misleads the reader as it’s not the reflection of what it says but it’s quite opposite.

I would have enjoyed the story if it was cheerful and fast paced. I felt it’s not quite a read for me.

The book is an epistolary novel and the title, really really made me want to read this. The entire book is written in form of letter. We all know, we love books that are related to bibliophile or Bookstores and we are all in.

Our main protagonist is Fawn Birchill, who is the owner of the a local bookstore. She is struggling to keep her father's legacy of this bookstore running smoothly.

Enters a new bookstore in the neighborhood block. So she is kind of stretched and pissed about the same thing. The new owner of the new shop sends her a very nice email and gesture to have coffee with her.

She refuses that with a very huge email bolstering about herself and her store. I mean I just want to tell her one thing, "girl, who will never succeed by demeaning others." I just hated to read this in the book.

Next comes her dynamic with Richard, a fellow librarian and her ex boyfriend. She has been very mean to her and has been practically tagging him along with a lie about his father's death.

Fawn is definitely not a great role model and if I have booksellers like her, then I am sorry I would choose not to visit a bookstore in future. However, the writing style is great. But the main character is who I have a major problem with in this book.

The premise and style of the book was very promising, but the story just fell a little flat for me. I ended up feeling bad for many of the characters because they had to deal with Fawn. I felt that Fawn was way over the top and very rude.