It was an ok fiction. But i felt it was too bleak. Yes i know it was a bleak era. But still there were No glimmer of hope in this book, Just my opinion though. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion in exchange for an honest opinion

I have to be honest, that I struggled somewhat with this one. The cover art is amazing. I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. 3 stars.

A big thank you to the author Mario Escobar, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This story had some interesting threads. It was about a librarian living in Saint Malo who's husband goes to fight for the French in WWII. She is left in Nazi-occupied Germany and proceeds to try to protect the library's priceless collections. I appreciated the fact that the book described how the people of France had to accept and endure the Nazi occupation. It also detailed the hardships of that and how things just kept getting worse and worse and worse. It detailed a little of resistance activities and attempts to help get people out of the occupied area. Altogether, though, it felt like it was not quite a cohesive story, but a conglomeration of snippets of stories. Overall, I was somewhat sypathetic to the heroine, but at times she was just mono-dimensional.

I love reading historical fiction books that focus on WWII. So I was looking forward to reading the latest book by Mario Escobar. However, I was disappointed as I traveled through the pages. The story was slow and I felt like I was trudging through. The characters did not appeal to me, so I did not feel connected to them. The story line was scattered and not well developed. I can appreciate the author’s research efforts and his desire to share the story that peaked his interest following a trip to Saint Malo.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Oh so good! I went through a faze of only reading books set during this time in history and this for exactly in and has to one of the favorites that I read.

This was alright and decent historical fiction but I loved The Paris Library, which felt fresh at the time bc I was not familiar with that story. Plot and pacing was fine and writing decent but I think I need a break from WWII books bc I'm not sure what hasn't been written about.

This is the fourth book written by Mario Escobar I have read and enjoyed. Writing in the historical fiction genre, he always draws me into the plight of the characters and I am truly moved by their experiences and bravery.

Set in the Brittany walled town of Saint-Malo during the earlier stages of World War 2, Jocelyn's story is told by way of her smuggled letters she writes to a French author, up until the Germans are ousted from France by the American invasion.  Jocelyn wrote these letters to tell her day to day life, thoughts, dreams and struggles. She never thought she would be famous or remembered for her bravery.  "I'm an ordinary person. I loved, I struggled, I searched for happiness...I gave myself to my books and my husband, I loved my friends, and I tried to preserve my city's memory..."

Jocelyn is the Librarian of Saint-Malo. Are losing her husand, due essentially to injuries sustained when he was called up to fight the Germans, Jocelyn has nothing but her love of books left. And she will fight for them...literally, physically. Nazis are ransacking occupied France's libraries, stealing the most precious irreplacable books and burning the rest. Ethnically cleansing the literature treasures of France.  

‘Books don’t have owners; they’re free agents we just happen to hold for a brief moment’.

I love this quote. A book can be hundreds of years old and could've passed through hundreds of hands. Jocelyns love for such books cost her everything. 

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson publishers and Mario Escobar for my copy of The Librarian for Saint-Malo.

The wartime experiences of Jocelyn Ferrec, a librarian in the city of Saint-Malo in France. Written as letters by Jocelyn to an author she likes, Marcel Zola. They don’t always read like letters so I found this aspect of the book distracting. In the authors note at the end of the book, it’s revealed that some of the characters are real, which added to the authenticity of the story. The experiences of people under occupation, resistance, collaboration etc was well explored.

Wow, this book was absolutely amazing.

This book was beautifully written and the plot was fascinating. I absolutely love historical fiction, but I wasn’t aware of the art/literature aspect of World War II until this novel. It magnifies the struggles that women went through during the war, as well as the strength they displayed.

Overall, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend it!

The Librarian of Saint. Malo was just an okay read for me. Probably not my favorite by Mario Escobar. I am going to give three and half stars.

Very well written and researched. I have been to St Malo and this book made the town a character which was the highlight in my review. I enjoyed this greatly!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
There was a time when I almost read nothing but WW2 historical fiction, and I think I overdid it a bit to be honest. I find that now that the story has to have something a little bit different to grab and hold my interest. And to my pleasure, I did find that in this book. I found the main story of our protagonist trying to protect her library and the books from the theft and destruction from the Nazis very engaging. As a complete book nerd that’s maybe not so surprising, but I was really rooting for that library.
There’s added elements of romance and loss and it does build up into quite an emotional read. I read this at the time of the evacuations from Afghanistan, so maybe I was particularly sensitive to the horrors and pain of war, but it did sadden me that unfortunately these things are not just a part of history, and are still present today.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a WW2 setting.

This book was a sweeping historical WWII fiction and sprinkled with love, books, and so much more. Librarian Jocelyn marries a police sergeant Antoine Ferrec and the novel starts off seemingly calm... but quickly WWII takes over and Jocelyn's life is altered forever. Antoine is sent to the front, Jocelyn is weakened by an illness, and she quickly realizes as the Germans invade, she needs to protect the rare books, and library itself, as the war wages on. Throw in the fact that a high ranking (and unpleasant) Nazi solider is billeted in her apartment, Jocelyn tries to just do what she can to survive.

I loved that this book unfolded with Jocelyn writing letters to the famed writer Marcel Zola. It was a unique twist on just telling the story. I also enjoyed the aspect of romantic love in this book... both from Jocelyn's marriage and also a forbidden one that forms slowly over the time of the war.... the ending was perfect and I was greatly reminded of some other great historical fiction novels: All the Light We cannot See, the Book Thief.

When it comes to historical fiction, those taking place during or around the time of WWII tend to be among my favorites. Likewise, as a book nerd I also tend to love characters who are librarians or are otherwise book nerds themselves. As such, I had rather high expectations for this book. Perhaps it was because of those higher expectations that I found myself a bit let down by this one. Try as I might, I found this to be a bit slow moving, and just really struggled to connect with the characters and the story as I would have liked. It seemed well researched which I so appreciate with this type of story and was well-written, I just wish that I would have connected better with the characters. If you enjoy WWII fiction, this is a unique story and still one worth checking out and judging for yourself nonetheless. Perhaps if my own expectations hadn't have been so high, I'd have enjoyed it a bit more myself!

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this book.. It presents a little-known side of WWII that I found fascinating. Highly recommended.

This book was so incredibly intriguing! Jocelyn is such a strong and amazing person. I thoroughly enjoyed being in Saint-Malo, the library. This author really brought this account during WW2 to life! Definitely a recommendation from me for historical fiction readers!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar is a novel about WWII and the toll that it took on not only people, but the culture of so many. Jocelyn and Antoine are a young married couple with their entire lives before them. Antoine works for the police department and Jocelyn is a librarian. They read together and love each other and hope for their future. Then Jocelyn contracts tuberculosis and Antoine has to go to war. Their good friend Demis is a Jew and he is taken prisoner. It seems the whole world is falling apart. Jocelyn recovers enough to go to work, where she meets a German soldier who’s job is to remove the forbidden books. As she struggles to save the books and resist in any way possible, she is lonely and confused. As the war drags on, she must fight the only way she can: with words. She writes letters to an author in Paris, who she hopes will tell her story one day. This is her story. I enjoyed the book, although I wasn’t happy with the ending. I won’t spoil it for anyone though! Thanks to #NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book. #all_the_pages

I really enjoyed this book!
WWII … a library … POW … all the right stuff for me. LOL
I couldn’t stop reading it!
I was transported to France and holding my breath until the end.
I want more by this author!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

despair as many other World War 2 books but it didn't feel like I was getting that from the book itself, more so from my prior knowledge. I felt as though the character development was a bit rushed in the beginning so I didn't feel very passionate about Jocelyn and Antoine, nor did I really get Jocelyn's willingness to risk her life for her library.
I did find Jocelyn's resolve to be inspiring, and I felt drawn in to her story. The beginning of the book is more fast-paced and I kept wanted to read more to find out what happens next!

This gorgeous cover, the book description and the time period drew me in to reading this book. Sadly, it just did not live up to my hopes and expectations. The books and their significance just seemed so secondary. There were plot points that were just too unbelievable to accept.

One of my greatest reading pet peeves is when an author chooses to include personal letters as part of the format of their book and insists on constantly repeating "...and this is why I am writing you this letter...". Please stop! Show me, don't tell me.

I also cannot forgive a plot line that includes a woman's love affair/woman falling in love with a NAZI officer. It is so completely unnecessary and offensive to those of us with families who were murdered by those monsters. They are the enemy. They are not sympathetic. They should not be humanized simply for the sake of creating a romantic plotline.

I appreciate the opportunity from Netgalley and the publisher to read and review an advance copy of "The Librarian of Saint-Malo" before its publication.