Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the free book.
This is a beautiful testament to how books can make such an impact on so many people going through so many different things. It will definitely be in my top books of the year. This book starts with a character that writes a book and then each chapter after is a different person who reads the book and you get to see the impact of this story. What an endearing way to show how literature is so impactful and necessary. I was swept up in each of these person's lives and I was excited to see how Theo would impact them all. I just love books that focus on the powers of reading and storytelling, and this was the perfect homage to that. I laughed, cried, and felt so deeply.
I HIGHLY recommend going the audiobook version if that's available to you because this is a full cast book and their narrations really bring each individual and their stories to life. I loved how it kept each person distinct and brought this story to life.

This is the poignant story of how a book can affect different people. The story of the author, Alice is told first, and it is absolutely heartwrenching. Alice writes a book, simply called Theo, based on her brother. She works hard to have it published, and her publishing journey is not an easy one. Following Alice's journey, the way that the book affects the lives of different readers is shown in several short stories that follow the main story of Alice. It is wonderfully woven together. It shows how the same book can affect different readers in surprisingly varied ways. This is beautiful, touching literary fiction.

I would recommend this book to everyone. It is a gem.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

My expectations of this book were completely surpassed and I was captivated by every word. I had expected a group of people being impacted differently by the same book, what I got was a beautifully entangled tale of stories that each expanded beyond their boundaries and then pulled themselves back together to create something that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Amazing read.

No Two Persons is a wonderfully special and unique book. I just loved how it felt like a short story collection held together by one book. I loved how all the different characters were so well developed and how the book that connects them changes them.

This reader loved this magical story and cant' help but think of it as an ode to the written word and to the novel. To me it is a beautiful tribute to the stories we tell.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc in exchange for this honest review.

“No two persons ever read the same book, or saw the same picture.” -The Writings of Madame Swetchine

The above quote was the inspiration for Erica Bauermeister’s book, No Two Persons. The sentiment behind the quote is quite profound. The beauty of literature is that while a book tells one story, it can be viewed in endless ways. After all, each reader’s outlook on the world is based upon their individual experiences with people, places, and things.

I had the pleasure of both reading and listening to this book. Usually, I would prefer one format over the other. However, just like no two people read the same book, the way a reader consumes a book, impacts how they view it.

I loved physically reading this book because it allowed me to see the words as I slipped into the worlds Bauermeister created. She is an articulate writer gifted with turning emotions into words on a page. As a result, there are tons of quotes that I had to stop and jot down. Reading allowed me to go at my own pace and ruminate on the things that stood out to me.

As much as I loved physically reading the book, I equally adored listening to it. They way the book is organized, each chapter is told by a new person whose life was impacted by the book. Thus, each chapter is narrated by a different voice actor. Hearing the distinctive differences in the way the narrators chose to read their parts impacted the way I viewed the characters and their stories. It was easily the best audiobook I have ever listened to.

I highly recommend picking a copy of the this book up in any and all formats. I loved my time with No Two Persons. I see this being a huge literary hit!

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written and executed set of stories connected to the power of reading and how books can mean different things to each of us. The stories all reference a book titled Theo, but revolve around the challenges each character overcomes or endures and their choices both positive and negative. It’s hard to describe but I looked forward to each new story and couldn’t stop reading. Loved it.

Absolutely LOVED this one! Book of the summer for sure. Highly recommend. Could see it being book club picks.

What a wonderful book about books and readers and stories. The title refers to the idea that no two persons ever read the same book because we all bring our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences to the pages. This book focuses on one novel that has a deep impact on several characters lives. It's a series of interconnected stories about this particular story. I especially love this line, “.. that was the beauty of books, wasn’t it? They took you places you didn’t know you needed to go.” Perfect for any book lover!

I love the premise of no two people reading the same book, we all interpret stories in our own way. I loved the concept and the writing of this book.

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister

Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective and presents new pathways forward for their lives.

Together, their stories reveal how books can affect us in the most beautiful and unexpected of ways—and how we are all more closely connected to one another than we might think.

Out on May 2.

In a series of short stories that begins with Alice and the process of writing her haunting but beautiful book Theo after a tragic event in her personal life, we learn that the simple act of reading a book can take shape for people of all different backgrounds and timelines. The characters are from different walks of lives, occupations, timelines, and who don't know each other but still are intertwined through the reading of Alice's book. Each find their way to Theo at separate points in their lives, but the book itself becomes a distinct story and defining point to each of them.

I found this book to be beautiful. It was hard to put down. All the stories were created so fully, but left me wanting more. I loved how all of them had tie-ins to each other, and feel that the author could pick right back up on their stories at any given time and make a full length book off of the characters that she developed. I also felt like this book gave me insight into how writers might view creating their own books. I never considered how they might not want to release a book because it felt too personal to them; the story too true. Especially one such as Theo. It was important as well that each character touched on different parts of the book and it was interesting to see what they got out of it without, so to speak, spoiling the entire plot line of the fictional book. I felt it was imaginative, and special, and will be recommending this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers as well as the author for an advanced copy of this book. I highly recommend this story to fellow readers, and all opinions within this review are my own.

Books! I have always turned to them. They have gotten me through times of sorrow as well as times of happiness. They can be powerful. This story really elaborates on that idea. The idea that words and books are not only powerful to the reader, but to each reader, a book is unique. I may love something, while someone next to me may hate it. That's okay. We are all different, and so to each reader their own. So to speak.

I can say that in terms of this book, it was a good read and one I enjoyed. It was written well. Looking back after finishing it really has me thinking, so yes, I believe that's the sign of a good book.

I want to finish by thanking netgalley and the author for this review copy in return for an honest review. This story was greatly enjoyed.

I’ve been sitting on this book for entirely too long. It was an utter delight to see multiple points of view on the same book. As a book-lover, audiobook lover, mother, daughter…. it resonated with me on so many levels.

I wanted to read No Two Persons because it was a tale about books and how they impact our lives. As a reader, I live for such stories, but this book surpassed all my expectations.

I was fully engrossed from the very start and a huge fan of the structure. The story moved from person to person, and it almost seemed like it was based on Theo, the fictional book's main character's, years of existence. Beginning with the author and moving from reader to reader, it was wonderful to see their connection to this novel. I began to realize that Bauermeister also wrote connections between the readers, and I reveled in spotting how their lives were intertwined.

Theo's story was a way for the author to work through the grief of losing her bother. It was amazing to see the impact and the ways this story inspired others. We all view a piece of art through a personal lens. We bring different life experiences and ideologies, and these things affect the way we receive and interact with a story. I simply enjoyed this so much!

Overall, this was a beautiful story about the power of books.

I cannot believe that this was the first time I had read anything by Erica Bauermeister. I feel like I have been missing out and will seek to rectify that problem at the earliest possible time. There was something oh so beautiful in the telling of this book, this book about a book and the way that it meets the various readers of it where they are at. I have always been enchanted by the way that one book can affect so many different lives based on the surrounding circumstances in that life and this book was testament to that. Written beautifully about a truth that I firmly believe in. Just stunning.

💫 No Two Persons 💫
By Erica Bauermeister
Publisher: St Martins Press (May 2.2023)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

“She’d always prided herself on her ability to see things in people they might not see themselves, but now she was realizing that was still only her view, which was itself limited……. There are things you can’t see until you are ready to look”

Nine readers for one book and one book for nine readers.

Lara: relatable exhausted mother who feels like it’s a lie that you ‘can have it all’ until she reads a manuscript in the middle of the night while nursing that has her gripped with emotions. That one is the one she pulls out of the stack.

Rowan: movie star who gets a condition called vitiligo that threatens his social esteem and his idea of perfection in his career. At a low moment he reaches for audiobooks for an escape. It’s at this point that he realizes the direction his life can go that combines his love of acting and his comfort of reading. He just needed that one book…

Miranda: the mother-daughter relationship that helped them find connection by way of a novel.

Tyler: the swimmer who fought to break free of his own inner demons. Always pushing himself harder as both a form of discipline and euphoria until a stroke takes away all that confidence. The healing for him came in the form of a book.

Nola: a homeless teenager is able to fake her life story to the school she attends. Nights in a shed and scrapping together what food she can get. Until that book ‘Theo’ is assigned at school that has a character that becomes her lifeline. The book that sees her and makes he feels seen.

Kit: A book store seller who knows that the novel Theo is well loved by readers but not one he expected to love. The character that stayed with him but also made him realize the path he was on was the wrong one for him.

William: a widow with an adult daughter who places a book into his car as he heads onto a new journey with grief overwhelming him. It’s the book that tells him that he’ll find his way through.. the light that needs.

Juliet: An Intimacy coordinator for movies aka the sex choreographer whose job is to make people look better until her own love story finds herself heading in a new direction as a mother and a teacher of the arts. Years pass her by until she starts to listen to an audiobook that had been on her TBR for a long time. It’s the book that felt like a conversation that lets her dig deep into her marriage.

Madeline: A woman who is struggling with aging in her world of book publishing. She made herself important amongst authors and selling them to readers. But now she’s faced with a health battle that may rip her life apart and a book that connects her to another: Nola

This book was unique and special. Unlike anything else I’ve read. I let felt like a love letter to all those authors who felt the characters alive inside of them but also to those readers who always knew they were meant to write 💞

Fun fact, I was teased and called “flipper” as a kid because of my last name.

This book is so different, and I enjoyed every minute. One book, nine readers and many lives changed...this was an easy read, and I could not put it down. An emotional story that is composed of short stories that all intertwine one book and how that book effected its readers. This would be a great novel for any book-lover and should sure get you out of a reading slump. 4.5 stars
Thank you St, Martin Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange of my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this story about a young debut novelist who writes a book out of the depth of her pain but then struggles to write anything again.

Told with a full cast of narrators, this was great on audio and perfect for fans of books about books and the power that reading can have when the right books find us at the right time.

Written like a series of interconnected short stories, we get to know nine different characters (plus the author Alice) as they each encounter her book and find it changing their lives in different ways.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital and audio copies of this book in exchange for my honest review! It's definitely going to be a favorite of mine for the year!!

This book takes the idea that "no two people read the same book" to a new level. The entire theme of the novel is this idea that "no book is for everyone" or that you must be in a certain mind set for a certain book. I agree with this sentiment fully, as a popular book that everyone raves about may fall flat for me.
This book is the story of Alice, who writes the book "Theo" along with 9 specific people who read her book and the effect it has on each of them. It's a series of short stories all revolving around the novel, and the stories of the readers as they each take something different from the book depending on the life experiences they are in at the time of reading.
It's a cute, fun read to see the power of written word and how it means a lot to the people who read it. I can completely relate to feeling a strong connection to the words of an author, both as a reader and an English teacher. I would recommend this novel and enjoyed it. 3.5 stars

This book is really interesting because it’s a novel, but also a series of short stories where sometimes the characters from one story interact with people from another story. Their common thread is a book written by a young woman from a dysfunctional family who doesn’t have anything but her gift of writing. She writes a book about a boy named Theo, and the book is rejected many times until her college professor gives her the name of one last publisher. And that’s all it took. The book gets published and is a big hit.

With that one story, Theo, the story pivots to nine different people who become exposed to the book. I can’t say read the book because a few of the people didn’t even read it. They are the ASSISTANT, the ACTOR, the ARTIST, the DIVER, the TEENAGER, the BOOKSELLER, the CARETAKER, the COORDINATOR, and the AGENT. Each chapter is a short story of the person and their interaction with the book, and what the book meant to them. This book is a love story to writers and the book lovers who embrace the books that are written.

I do have to say that while this book celebrates books, many of the stories told are sad. Some of the people are wholly unlikeable, some do pretty stupid things. But that’s the beauty of Erica Bauermeister’s work: it evokes strong emotions, much like the book at the center of the novel. Some of the stories end abruptly, so the reader has to use their imagination to figure out the conclusions to the stories.

I recommend this book, but prepare to have something frothy and fun to read to follow this book because it’s heavy on emotions.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Erica Bauermeister is an instant-buy for me. I fell head over-heels in love with “The School of Essential Ingredients,” and have devoured everything she’s written since. This book was just lovely, and I adore how the author gave us snapshots into the lives of the people who were all affected by the same story. It was such a wonderful premise for a story, and I couldn’t wait to see how it unfolded. Highly recommend this book, and it would make a wonderful choice for a book club!