I listened to the audio version of this book and really enjoyed the narration. The storyline itself was different and entertaining. I felt like it dragged in some places but all in all it was a pretty good book.

Sophia is thrilled to have a job at Ayredale Library. It’s an amazing place filled with gorgeous antique books, and it’s also the last place her mother, also a bookbinder, was ever seen. Sophie enjoys her work at the library even if the Keeper of the Library refuses to discuss her mother and she’s stymied at her ability to read and understand the arcane language in the spell books that no one else understands. When Sophie finds a door with the same carvings that are on the pendant her mother left behind, she enters the room to find a place so magical, so unexpected, that when she hears an oddly familiar voice, she’s not surprised. A lovely book about the real magic that books create for all of us. Norfolk is a marvelous narrator, expressive and emotive

Hands down, the best thing about this book was the setting and the atmosphere: the mysterious, lightly magical vibe was so beautifully created, and the library felt like a real place that I could totally imagine myself in! I've also always been fascinated by the practice of bookbinding/restoration, so I found those details a lot of fun!

I'm always here for childhood friends to lovers too, so I loved Sophie and Will's relationship! I'm glad we got Will's POV too, which I hadn't been expecting: I connected emotionally with him in a way I didn't quite with Sophie, and I thought it was also an effective way to convey a bit more information about the library, compared with Sophie's absolute cluelessness.

Unfortunately, this book plays into one of my least favourite plot tropes: the 'this entire conflict could have been avoided if a piece of essential information had just been communicated to the main character!!' The reason for the secrets of the library being kept from Sophie were never explained in a way that felt satisfactory to me, which just made the entire plot a frustration, particularly as Sophie then kept blaming herself for everything that had gone wrong in the past twenty years, none of which was remotely her fault! Similarly, I think some of the reveals came a little too late, so that quite a lot of the worldbuilding and relationship moments ended up a little rushed as they had to be crammed into the end.

But even though it wasn't craft-wise the best-constructed book I've ever read, I did really enjoy it, and I am keen to read more of Jessica Thorne's writing now!

CW: emotional abuse/toxic relationship; cheating; past parent death, grief and trauma; brief instance of gun violence

I enjoyed this books. It kept me intrigued. When I first started listening it made me thing about The Personal Librarian. But the magic part of the story was fun to get lost into.

Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to listen.

Sophie grew up in the Ayredale Library, until her mother disappeared, and she and her dad moved away. After her dad's death, Sophie receives a job offer from her uncle to come work at the Ayredale Library. Sophie accepts, hoping she can use this as a chance to find out what happened to her mother. She had lost large parts of her memory after leaving Ayredale Library, but upon her return, it starts to come back in bits and pieces. The mysteries of the library keep building up, though. Why are their books in an ancient language only she can read, and what are the voices she keeps hearing?

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The blurb sounded so interesting, and the author's writing was beautiful. However, the story just didn't hold up to its potential. The characters were not very fleshed out, especially the villains, and I just didn't feel invested in any of them. The pacing of the story was too slow in some areas and too fast in others. It wasn't a bad book; it just didn't live up to expectations. Charlie Norfolk did a nice job with the narration.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

The Book binders's daughter
By Jessica Thorne
As I first listened to this book, I felt like I was reading an adult version of the magic tree house books. The characters morphed and grew to these characters. At the end of the book I found that it's wonderfully unique story with characters brought so easily to the tale as if they grew into their roles. It is a beautiful picture of magic, Mythology , and legend creating a whole new world. It's interesting how inspiration connects the stories, one giving on to the next. If you are a lover of story this book will transport you, Give you the eyes of a child raised and grown and returning to the magic. Great book for young adults as well.

CW: Emotional abuse, cheating.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual star rating: 3.5. I’m conflicted in writing this review because I feel this book has so much potential, but ultimately left me feeling a little underwhelmed. The premise of a magical library was enough of a draw card to have me requesting and the library itself was beautifully written, with the philosophy behind it being really interesting. For me, the setting and ambience was the strongest part. I crave to see Ayredale. The magic was drawing on common knowledge but expanded on in a way that was unique and fresh to read but didn’t have rules or structure so for people that need a structured and well explained magic system this might not work for you but I enjoyed going along for the ride.

In terms of characters, Sophie has been in an emotionally abusive relationship (whilst not labelled on page, the characteristics of the relationship described gives me confidence in using it rather than just emotional manipulation - which was also present). I’m gonna give her slack, she made some choices, but I can understand her motivations behind them. The constant references to her memory loss were a little too on the nose for my liking as it was mentioned at least twice a chapter and yes, essential to the plot, but we could have minimised the amount it was mentioned.

Victor was an absolute twat. Will was your typical book-boyfriend with hair that was “overdue for a cut”... Tia was bloody fantastic and I love her. Uncle Edward was your doting, slightly misguided, mostly well-meaning fool but overall, I liked him by the end. Aside from Tia I felt the characters were very 2D but not “bad”, the potential for fuller characters is definitely there, especially seeing what Jessica is capable of with Tia.

In terms of pacing and plot there was a lot to be desired. I want emotions when reading and nothing shocked me or made me feel anything other than “this is enjoyable”. The big bad is obviously the big bad and personally, the mystery isn’t really that mysterious. The plot felt very Young Adult with New Adult aged characters. Personally I think the characters and villains could have been further developed with length. This is only a 248 page standalone so there is definitely room to expand to help support the plot and pacing.

I also received an advanced listeners copy and I cannot fault the audiobook narration. I started listening around 10 chapters in and it helped to further captivate my attention. I feel the issues I had with the characters and their descriptions were less noticeable once I started listening, rather than reading.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable read and I recommend people checking it out for something with a hint of whimsicalness, wanting to get lost in the pages of a book.

Thank you once again to NetGalley and the publishers.

Many thanks to Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for providing me the audiobook version of The Bookbinder's Daughter in exchange for an honest review.

First things first, this book is incredibly atmospheric. The author knows too well how to hook her readers right from the very start. The setting is enchanting and cozy. You immediately want to know about the characters, about the magic...
But as the story progressed, I stopped caring about the characters all together.
It was more romance than fantasy, but the characters involved in the failed love triangle didn't have chemistry at all.

An amazing thing about this book is that it has a grounded magic system. The world building is not all over the place and clunky. Everything is well thought of.

The writing style is beautiful, but it's such a shame the story nor the characters didn't stick with me.

The narrator of the audiobook is excellent!

Story rating: 3/5 ⭐
Narrator rating: 5/5 ⭐

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a magical story that tells the story of Sophie, a bookbinder who is struggling with grief after her father dies. She is involved in an unhealthy relationship with the manipulative Victor, and and has limited memories of her mother who went missing when Sophie was a teenager.
When her uncle offers her a job restoring books at the renowned Ayredale Library her life takes a dramatic turn. I found the magical element of the book refreshingly original, but the pace of the book was too slow in parts. I also struggled to relate to many of the characters but enjoyed the development of the relationships between them. The narrator was excellent and added another level of drama to the storyline.

Great story line but the audio quality is poor. There’s a sharp, harsh noise in the narrators voice that should have been tuned out but for some reason wasn’t. It distracts from the story. I’m hoping this is fixed because the story itself is very good!