What an enjoyable story about women from different backgrounds and life coming together in a difficult time of history. The story is told from each character's POV as they navigate life in Maine during WWII. The author took care to weave in the setting and history. I enjoyed seeing the characters grow together in friendship and grow as individuals. Each character had to overcome their own shortcomings, prejudices, and struggles.
I really liked Martina and was so proud of her by the end of the story.
If you love books, you'll enjoy the aspects of the book club. The author subtle weaving of the books they read into the story helped us get to know each character better.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the audiobook to review. The narration was done very well.

Avis is head librarian in her small town in Maine. She has just learned her private library is about to close because the owner is wanting to turn it into a child care center. So, Avis decides to form a book club to keep up moral and to help keep her library doors open. This book club turns into the saving grace for many of the townspeople.

This is a sweet but intense read. There are quite a few characters but the author did a great job keeping them distinctive. They each have characteristics which make them unique and just plain special.

The setting of Maine during WWII is amazing! I loved learning about all the issues this state faced. I knew about the siting of the U-boats but I did not know about the people they recruited to keep and eye out for Germans.

Then there is the book club. I love, love, love all the book references and the closet with romance novels hidden from everyone. I swear, I found myself grinning and laughing at some of the antics from these characters! Such a cute and captivating read!

Need a book about strong friendships and coming together to help everyone…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green sucked me in right away. This story is set in a small town in Maine during WWII. Each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view. Each woman brings something special to the Book Club and we see how their friendship grows. Avis starts a Book Club as a way to save the library from being torn down, but it turns out to save the women and the town. Grumpy spinster Louise was my favorite character.
I listened to the audio book. Overall, I thought the narrator did a good job. I thought her Italian accent as Martina was a little off, but it did not detract from the enjoyment of the story. I look forward to reading more books by this author. I received a complimentary copy of the book from RB Media and through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Thank you for the opportunity to review an audio version of this book. I love historical fiction and books about books. The Blackout Book Club is a truly heartwarming story. I enjoyed hearing about the relationships that were created as a part of belonging to a book club. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the narrator did a very good job of bringing the characters to life.

Books have the power to bring people together and to change lives for the better. This book is a great example of this. In this book you meet four women from different walks of life and all grow into better people. The book was cute and the audio was good but for some reason I did not fall in love with the characters. I think maybe they were missing something in their backstory to draw us in more. I will say this was a good read just not something I will be picking up again.

A woman who doesn't like to read books has to put up with becoming head librarian. And ends up starting a book club, to boot! Then the woman who owns the library is ready to sell the building and be done with it. So it's all a bit unlikely how this new book club is formed, during wartime no less -- and yet it may just be the glue that holds the town together.

A good historical read. I learned a lot about blackouts during World War II, the protocols, etc. Some interesting bits in there. My favorite element was probably the book club meetings, hearing from each character's perspective what they thought about a certain book (some of which I had read myself before). I really got to know the characters this way.

An enjoyable read!

I enjoyed this book, WWII set the mood but what kept me around was the feel-good nature of many different women (of very different backgrounds) finding themselves amongst each other.

‘Books make fine friends, but fellow readers even better.’
The perfect quote to start off this post, in a place where it couldn’t be more true.
I was sucked into this story from minute one of the audiobook. Avis, taking over care of the library for her brother. Ginny, being forced to leave her home because of the government. Martina, having to uproot her children to protect them from her husband. And Louise, keeping her distance from everyone because she can’t let go of the past. I felt like I was a part of their book club. Watching the group grow and change, and how their friendships did also. It was a fantastically written story.
Once I got used to all the different voices and figured out which character was which, I loved the narration.

This novel is set in a small town in Maine during World War 2.

It is told from the point of view of four different women. The women were Ginny, Martina, Louise, and Avis and they all came with different perspectives and were at different stages of their lives.

I really enjoyed the way their friendships grew through the book club interaction. One of my favorite parts is the ongoing Notes of the Bookclub meetings that were at the end of many sections.

I listened to the audio of the book and found it to be very well narrated.
This book is a cozy story and a great winter read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy.

This was an enjoyable book. I liked most of the different stories. The narrator did a good job. It was just missing something. There was a few times that I wasn't paying attention to the story where it drawled out

Maine 1942

The power of books and community shines in The Blackout Book Club. Tensions are high on the home front as brothers, sons and husbands ship off to serve their country. The women, children and men deemed not suitable to serve are left behind scrambling to help the war effort and carry on.

An unlikely cast of characters are brought together through a book club that meets in a private library set to close. Loved seeing the friendships and love for books that blossomed in the pages.

The narrator of the audiobook version did a great job. She brought out the unique voice for each of the main characters. A favorite quote (paraphrased) "Books make fine friends, but readers are even better".

I generally treat audiobooks the way people treat non-true-crime podcasts or the radio--they're nice to listen to in the car but generally pretty forgettable. But the Blackout Bookclub? Not so much. I've been listening the Green's novel the past few weeks and, in that time, have found myself sitting in my driveway waiting for a chapter to finish on more than one occasion.

The Blackout Book Club follows a motley crew of WWII-era readers in a small Maine town, all with their own struggles and secrets. Avis, who only ever reads magazines, becomes Head Librarian at the town's association library after her brother, the former Head Librarian, enlists. Jenny, a Long Islander forced from home by way of eminent domain and a new Navy installation, struggles to save up enough to buy back the family's land and restart their lobstering operation after the war. Martina moves from Boston with her children to escape a troubled family situation and take a munitions factory job, always concerned over an increasingly xenophobic public. Louise, a wealthy spinstress, to use a term of the time, must decide whether to maintain a library her late father held dear or transform it into a nursery school for local factory workers' children. Then, beyond our four beloved narrators, we also have Freddie, an air force vet discharged when he lost his eye, Delphi, Louise's fiery, old, French cook, Rosa and Joe, Martina's fiesty, sweet, and complexly written children, and so many more.

This novel will make you laugh and weep with its characters and keep you on tenterhooks as you wait for secrets to be revealed and see if your guesses were correct (I guessed one correctly and was more proud than I am with most murder mysteries). I know this is a long, rambled review written at my desk the afternoon I finished listening to The Blackout Book Club, but I hope you take that only to mean I was too excited to post a review to leave it polished. Do yourself a favor and buy this book immediately! And if you need something to get you back into reading, this might be just the thing. And my wouldn't our blackout bookclub themselves be proud to hear that.

Very sweet, cute mostly happy story during WWII. An enjoyable listen. May not have been fast-paced enough for reading but good for listening. An easy story to get into.

Any book that is about a book club will always appeal to me, which is why I was interested in this. I listened to the audio instead of reading it, so it took me a while to finish it, but it was definitely worth it and I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters, and the ways they developed and connectedness with each other throughout the story. I couldn't really choose a favourite character because all of the main characters had qualities that I appreciated.

The story made several references to well-known works of literature, which I appreciated, and I also loved values that were portrayed. It was about a love of books, and how that love can bring others together. It was about a book club, but at the same time, it was about much more than that. I was emotional by the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Enjoyed this book, good story line. Liked the female friendships. Felt that it had too many perspectives for an audio book though. I kept getting lost. I think I would have preferred this in a book format over the audio. Still very thankful for the opportunity to read this book. Also the ending! ❤️

This was a fun read. Set in WW2 and is the story of 4 women in Maine who start a book club. I enjoyed the flow of this story and how everything tied together in the end. I loved reading their discussions on books and now I have a few I want to go read. I listened to the audio book and it was rather easy to follow for me even though it went from the 4 women.

I loved it! Author Amy cleverly wove stories of hardship, friendship, and humor! I laughed, cried, bit my nails, and cheered these ladies striving to survive. She painted each character wonderfully. I felt I knew them and I didn't want to say goodbye! I love all the literature and the fun debates the book club had. The struggles these ladies faced to stay afloat, the desire to be useful during wartime, and the fear of losing a loved was captured well. I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it to historical and women fiction lovers. I received the audiobook through Netgalley, but I was not required to give a positive review. These thoughts reflect my own opinion. The narrator was outstanding!!

At first glance (or listen), the Blackout Book Club appears to be a story about how people occupy themselves during wartime. It answered the question of how people would respond when they're not able to follow their usual routines. It also shows us that in a challenging situation, people sometimes respond in unexpected ways.

But as you dig deeper, you'll see a commentary on how community is formed when people are forced to innovate. That at the core of us, we all make mistakes and have a choice how we will respond to those mistakes. Will we dig deep within ourselves and come out stronger? Or will we wobble under the weight of change and disintegrate?

Readers will be reminded that we are the result of our choices. If we continue to make poor choices, we'll eventually reap the fruit of what we sow. On the other hand, if we learn from our mistakes, we'll come out stringer on the other side.

I listened to The Blackout Book Club as an audiobook and enjoyed it very much.  The narrator, Leah Horowitz, gave each woman a distinct voice which made them come alive as I listened.

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher through NetGalley and RB Media; a positive review was not required.

I tried to get into this one but I just couldn’t get halfway through because I got bored.

I will try reading the book at some point in the future instead of listening to audiobook .

Absolutely loved The Blackout Book Club! This is my first book by Amy Lynn Green and I’m excited to read more books by her. This book had so many things book lovers will enjoy. There was romance, mystery, delightful engaging characters, intrigue, and so many wonderful references to classic books by authors like Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, and Edgar Allan Poe. I also loved the unique small town set in Maine during WWII.

There are quite a number of characters in this story and at first they’re a lot to keep track of, but once I got several chapters in, the story was easy to follow. There’s a young wife who doesn’t like to read whose brother is going away to war and asks her to take his place at the library. An Italian mother and her two children whose husband is fighting in the war. She leaves her home in Boston so he won’t find them when he returns. The older, somewhat aloof single woman who owns the library, but resents it and harbors a deep secret. There’s the plucky young woman whose home has been confiscated by the government for war purposes who’s trying to save money to buy it back and attends the Book Club for the food. A handsome ex-pilot who lost an eye during the war who’s now the gardener for the wealthy woman and has secrets of his own.

All of these characters come together for a book club at the library. As they discuss classic works, they form a strong bond and learn to rely on each other. It’s a character driven story that builds as each layer and secret is revealed. The lessons they learn from each other and the books enhances the story even more. Some books become beloved favorites while others like The Tell Tale Heart aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and may hit a little too close to home.

I love the relationships that grew and the slow reveal of each person’s story. The audiobook version was especially good. I enjoyed the way the narrator brought the story to life and distinguished each of the characters. I also liked the bit of mystery and inspirational messages expertly woven into the story. This is one of those stories to be savored and enjoyed slowly. I received an advanced complimentary audiobook copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review.