A story about a girl who can see love and a bookabus that brings books to people who need them. Theoretically, these are things I'd normally find interesting. But somehow I couldn't get into this story. I don't know if it was occasional narrators like Love or Fate (among others).

Unfortunately I had a very hard time getting into this book -- it felt like the author was really enjoying writing it but it didn't transport this reader into anything near the advertised description.

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this book and I did not connect. As difficult it is for me to admit, I did not finish the story, something I very rarely do.

Thank you for choosing me to be a recipient of this ARC. I thought I would love this book about relationships, love, family, and longing but it dragged on. To confuse the matter it was told in numerous voices. Sorry, but I can't recommend this book.

After reading the description, I was really excited to start this book and see where the story was going to lead me. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into it. I was hoping that if I got past the beginning it would be one of those books that grabbed my attention & I couldn’t put down but such was not the case. I’m more than willing to give the author another try but this one just didn’t do it for me.

I have a love hate relationship with this book at this point. While the story is "nice," the book itself is scattered and disjointed - especially the beginning! I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the end of the book after after the rough start, but I'm glad I did. The book itself is worth a read, even with its issues.

The concepts and ideas of the book were incredible, but the book, let itself down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read Nina George’s latest novel, the Little Village of Book Lovers. Nina George writes beautiful stories, this one may be her most beautiful yet. Possibly not for everyone; but those who appreciate magic, magical realism, the beauty of words, and the art of storytelling will find it hard to leave this lovely book.

Reminiscent of the writing of Alice Hoffman and Joanne Harris, this poetic little book is a treatise on love, death, literature and olive trees. It is more like poetry than prose, being about a little orphaned girl, Marie-Jeanne, who can see love as a golden glow on parts of people. And Love is actually the narrator of whatever this piece of writing is.

When Francis (how come not Francois?) decides to buy books and deliver them to small villages in the French countryside, he brings new life to many people. Each book mentioned by title has its own descriptive phrase.
Everyone from young children to old people learn about life from these books. And little Marie-Jeanne collects what has been left inside the books in a little box.

So here we are at a crossroads: Is this a novel? Not to my way of thinking. It is beautiful and thoughtful but is is slow going and requires an effort of will continue reading it. Perhaps I require a bit more storytelling, a bit more action, a bit less of airy-fairy characters. I waited to be gripped, but unfortunately never was.

Thank you to Net-Galley and Ballantine for an early copy of this book. I regret that I could not rate it higher.

had me with the title of Book Lovers. hooked and hooked some more. Loved all of this and couldn't put it down. I was like oh my. I need to know more. Read it.

I was really excited to get this book. However, it was too hard to connect with. Told from the perspective of Love, Fate, Death, etc. at the beginning, I thought I could get into it. It just didn’t happen. The setting was beautiful, however, I just did not connect to the words.

This was such a special little book, full of magical realism and deep thoughts about love, fate, and curiosity. The book is a short read at just around 200 pages, but it is definitely meant to be read slowly and savored while you think about how love touches each person in the world.

In the story, Love is the narrator, telling about how it touches all people but in different amounts. Love cannot show you the person to love, it can only pour a certain amount of itself in to each person and hope they find their match. One special little girl is able to see Love as a sparkle on each person-sometimes on their heart, sometimes their fingertips or their shoulder. At the same time the story is about a love for books and how books can expose you to so many thoughts, places, and people.

The book is extremely unique. I did struggle a bit to get into the story, as the narrative was just so utterly different from anything else I have read. I did enjoy the messages in the book regarding books and love, and there were many sentences I highlighted for the way they made me think or feel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am such a huge Nina George fan, I've loved every single one of her books and The Little Paris Bookshop is on my top 100 list of the last few years. This book has new magic all it's own and I was entranced. The idea of being able to see the marks love has left was inspired and George pulls it off with charms and sentiment and a sure hand. A wonderful addition to the Nina George shelf -- I can't wait to recommend it to everyone.

Another sweet easy read by Ms George. Again I loved the setting, the characters and the writing. The book was a great one sitting beach read.

What a wonderful, love story! The choice of making love itself as the narrator was interesting. I loved watching the characters grow throughout the story.

Nina George’s latest novel, the Little Village of Book Lovers, brings the reader into the book mentioned (and beloved) in the Little Paris Bookshop. To be honest, it has been years since I read Little Paris Bookshop, and I can’t remember much beyond the general premise and that I really enjoyed it. Even without remembering the backstory, I loved the Little Village of Book Lovers.

Most of the book is narrated by Love and follows the character Marie-Jeanne, who has the unusual ability to see Love’s touch on people. The writing is beautiful. The pages are meant to be savored and the story unfolds slowly, which may not be for everyone but worked well for me. Read with a cozy blanket on a rainy afternoon.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

What an incredible premise this story has. Unfortunately it fell flat. It was difficult for me to follow the action.

I struggled with this book. It starts out in a very odd fashion, and continued to be odd, with an olive tree doing part of the narration. Love was the main narrator. Several people's lives were explored and love was determined to be able to help them all find better lives and greater fulfillment. Marie-Jeanne became the avenue who was able to bring people together. She and her foster father started a mobile library which traveled to some very remote parts of Italy. The combination of Marie-Jeanne's extraordinary powers and the magic of books, the "alchemy of books," created many positive changes in people.

I never read Little Paris Bookshop, so I was going into this blind as a standalone. I recommend you read this outside with the sun on your face-weather allowing of course.
It would wander off and tell this story or that story, and I saw some readers were frustrated with that. And while there were a few times where the plot seemed to meander, this book isn’t supposed to be fast paced anyway. I liked it, I think because I expected it to be interconnected short stories, which is exactly what it was. If you’re looking for 1 PoV plot of a little girl who can see the bonds of love, you’re going to get 1 half of that expectation met. It truly is a collection of short stories.
Incorporating elements of humanity such as Love Death Logic as narrative characters was a risky move, but it worked for me!

This is by far one of the most unique novels I've ever read . . . and I absolutely loved it! I haven't read this author before, but I will be checking out her other books for sure. The story is narrated most beautifully by the archetype of Love and for me, that is what the whole fascinating book is about. There are also appearances from Fate, Death, and a very old Olive Tree, but the story is mainly about Marie-Jean who has an extraordinary gift of seeing peoples "light" and and how their lights match up with others' lights. Kudos to the author for creating this meaningful story that is brimming with its own particular light and wisdom!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a lovely story with similar charm to her previous novel, The Little Paris Bookshop. However, large info dumps and too many characters made this less lovable for me than the aforementioned novel. I loved the idea of this novel, but the writing didn’t stand up to the plot for me. It just felt like it was taking itself a little seriously at times.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.