I really enjoyed the magical atmosphere the author embedded in the book. This book started out pretty slow but it started to get better halfway through. I didn't read the first book that this one is related to, but I didn't feel like I missed anything.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for the early release copy. The opinions above are my own.

I would love to live in The Little Village of Book Lovers. It sounded like such a charming place, brimming with big personalities, saturated in gorgeous landscapes, and containing a surprisingly robust literary scene. And Love, of course. Love is so wonderfully present in this little village. This is the kind of magical realism that I love, where the magical element is mostly emotional but definitely still magical. What an absolutely charming story.

Confession time: I thought this book sounded overly saccharine. While I love books about books, the description of this one sounded like it would pull a bait-and-switch on me. I’ve lost count of the number of books that present themselves as a love letter to books, only to drop the very element that attracted me in the first place as soon as the plot kicks in. I always feel cheated.

Thankfully, that’s not at all what happened in The Little Village of Book Lovers. The love and importance of books permeated this story all the way through. On top of that, it’s actually a book about a book within another book about books - The Little Paris Bookshop, which I’ve not yet read but cannot wait to remedy. There were so many wise and beautiful things said about books and stories within the pages of this one. I highlighted so much in my Kindle copy, and I had to immediately order a physical edition, so that I can repeat the process there. Here’s an example:
“Books turn people into time travelers, shape shifters, body switchers, mind readers, and immortals, and therefore books are the last great alchemy of our age.”

Beautiful, isn’t it? For some reason, this book doesn’t have the best of ratings. I’m not sure why, because I thought it was just lovely. Maybe bordering on saccharine, but I thought it toed that line well. The plot never dragged, even if it was light in places. However, those portions felt necessary to weaving the setting and the atmosphere tightly around the reader, and the atmosphere is what made the tale so magical. And then there are the characters.

As I stated above, these characters are brimming with personality. Marie-Jeanne, our main character, is pretty wonderful. She gets an interesting start in life, wrapping her fist around the finger of Love personified while still an infant. This surprising contact with Love shifts her entire life, letting her see Love’s mark on others, which no one but Love itself is supposed to be able to see. Marie-Jeanne is an orphan raised by a childless couple, Elsa and Frances. Elsa is terrified of love, and that fear has made her hard. Frances is balances that out with his softness. When he gets the idea to start a mobile library through their surrounding area, life throughout the village and beyond is never the same.

I loved Marie-Jeanne’s thirst for books, and her unique outlook on life. I loved the elaborate descriptions of the secondary characters, and how this mobile library impacted them. I loved seeing these people change and soften and grow over the course of the story. And I love that the story is narrated by Love, who is unable to look away from the little human that gripped Love in her fist.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is a story I can see myself returning again and again, whenever I need some comfort or to be reminded of the magic held within the covers of a book. And I can’t wait to read more of Nina George’s work. She has a beautiful way with words, and it’s obvious that she absolutely adore books. I feel like I found a kindred spirit.

The Little Village of Book Lovers is a book for book lovers. It is about a town that gets a book-delivering service and how it changes the characters' lives. The relationship between the daughter and father was adorable. Love becomes one of the narrators. The small-town life and the characters are charming. This was a great book to escape into.

I tried multiple time to understand this book but it just didn’t make any sense to me, the format, the narrators, the overall magical concept. It just wasn’t for me.

I was so excited to see a new book from Nina George. The Little Paris Bookshop is one of my all-time favorite books. Sadly, this novel did not have the same effect on me. I am not much for magical realism or fantasy, which is basically the whole premise of this book. I think it was a good idea in theory but maybe everyone doesn't need the back story, (or imaginary novel within the novel.) It was a miss for me.

I really enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop, so I was excited to read this one. It turns out that I couldn't remember the tie-in this book has to The Little Paris Bookshop until I got to the end of this one.

To me, The Little Village of Book Lovers felt like a fairy-tale mixed with Jane Austen's Emma. (I haven't actually read Emma, but I have watched some films based on Emma and know the general preface, so this observation could in fact be as stretch. ;) )

I wanted to love this one, but I really didn't get invested in the characters or the village. The story was fine, it just wasn't one that really spoke to me.

As an infant, Marie Jeanne meets Love and it changes her forever, she has the special gift of seeing Love's potential in those around her. As she gets older, she uses that gift to find love for people that she meets.

When she begins a mobile library, she can take that gift with her but is unable to find that gift for herself. She can pair a chef with a woman who wrote out his menu and a hotel guest with an owner and yet, love illudes her. Nina George has the power to take Love and books and combine them into a powerful and poetic book. I wish I could read this book in the untranslated version.

Nina George is one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to new translations of her books as she beautifully weaves magical realism into each one.

The Little Village of Book Lovers follows Marie-Jeanne as she discovers and comes to understand her ability to see love and bring soulmates together. The story is narrated by Love with assists from Logic, Fate, and a wise olive tree. I found the first half rather slow but overall, it was an enjoyable read and a lovely companion to George’s The Little Paris Bookshop.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a digital ARC.

I struggled with the POV of this book. It took me a while to read it as I could not get into the story. I had to pick it up and set it down several times. There are many cool quotes that I wrote as a I read it.

Clever book,
“Everything is connected, says Love.
I know, says Death
That’s terribly illogical, says Logic
The olive tree has its own thoughts on the matter.”

Nina George has written this book from the perspective of Love, as a thought, as a character, with a speaking and thinking part. Love tells us about Reason and Logic and Curiosity and Desire and Pleasure and Lust and how and why they play their parts in a person’s life. But, “the important thing to remember is that whichever … is the first to leave their mark most influences an infant’s character. They set the tone and lay the foundations.”

But it is Death that visits and sets the path that Marie-Jeanne will travel, how she will interpret her observations of Love as she returns to share her thoughts with the olive tree. Slightly obscure but beautifully written with tenderness, insight and humor. The description of Fate and Fate’s everyday activities was a work of art, likewise Skepticism, Fear, Pragmatism and Whimsy. A bit long but well done with Ms. George’s interpretation and various voices adding depth and understanding.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a copy.

"The Little Village of Book Lovers" is another delightful magic-real tale from Nina George. Her imagination touches the pages with serendipity and in this case, love, quite literally. Love is the behind the scene narrator and finds a partner in little Marie-Jeanne who is gifted with the ability to see the love light in others, but not herself. Add in books and many quaint and interesting characters and you have a sweet and modern fairy tale.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Sadly I cannot recommend this book. It was slow moving and confusing to understand quite often. I was not expecting this having read other books by the author.
The story is told by "LOVE". Marie-Jeanne has a unique ability to see Love in other people. She uses this when she tries to match books to the person. There are other virtues (that appear capitalized like characters) that show up. There is a talking Olive Tree.

I wanted to enjoy this one a bit more than I did since I really enjoyed Nina George’s book The Little Paris Bookshop. But this one just took me so long to get into (the first half of the book seemed so long). I really enjoyed the narrators of this book and the fact that books and reading brought the community together was pure gold.

It's taken me a long time to read this book, the beginning was confusing and hard to get into. This wasn't my normal type of book but I took a chance on it.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although this one started strong, I struggled to finish it. I won't be reviewing this on Goodreads or on Amazon as I fear I won't have enough to say.

This was strange. I liked the ode to books angle, but the narration was all over the place. It was hard to stay connected to the story; who was the narrator?

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I hate when I let months go by after finishing a book before I get around to writing the review. Especially when it’s a book I loved. I find myself reading other reviews to remind myself why and what I loved about the book.

Such is the case with The Little Village of Book Lovers - I rated it 5 stars, but didn’t take any notes! But after reading a few reviews it all came back to me.

This is such a sweet and charming book. The kind you want to read slowly (I remember taking my time to soak it all in.)

The main character is Marie-Jeanne. We learn her story through the narrator, Love. Yes, love is a character in the story and the main narrator. And, she should be because she has given Marie-Jeanne a special gift. Marie-Jeanne can see a glow on people when they are near their true love.

Give me a book about books, with some magic thrown in, and then add a helping of sweetness and charm and I am all in.

Loved this!

Whimsical, beautiful! Love as a character.......a young girl that can see the glow of love on others. This was a journey into the mind of true love. What does it all mean? Can you really love without being vulnerable? loved this sweet tale. 4.5 stars!

I just could not get into this book. I did not like have Love, Fate, etc as anthropomorphic characters and I was just never looking forward to reading this book. I could probably force myself to finish it, but I just don't want to.

This cover is great. And I love a book about a library bringing a community together. Thank you so much!