Member Reviews
ARC provided by NetGalley, opinions are my own.
Trigger warnings this book should come with: stalking, PTSD, depression
"Nevermore Bookstore" earned a big no thank you from me.
The writing ranges from "fine" to "okay" to "she actually wrote that down, an editor read it, and it got published- wow."
The plot loses its thread about three chapters in. Is it a romance? A mystery? A cautionary tale? Yes? Maybe? Classifying this book requires more energy than I'm willing to give it.
Main characters Cady and Fox made it hard to root for either of them, much less a relationship. Cady is alarmingly clueless. Fox is a straight up stalker. For a hot second he had serious Edward ("Twilight") vibes (to be clear- that's not a good thing) but then he watched her undress and got his jollies which moved him very firmly into the Obsessive Deviant camps.
The book repeatedly touches on Cady's weight/body (curvy, I believe, is used repeatedly). The woman on the cover of this book does not fit that description and that irks me to no end. Falling outside the 0-2 range does not make one overweight.
Highlights:
Ethan- I've read a lot of reviews saying Cady should've ended up with him. Y'all. That man deserves better.
Book Club- ornery older women- what's not to like?
Regretfully, I couldn't finish this. I like Kerrigan's other works so I was excited to pick this up, but I just couldn't connect with the MMC. He had a lot of trauma he seemed to be kind-of working through, kind-of avoiding and then all of a sudden, he was in love with the FMC. I think it was too insta-lovey without the background context of all the conversations they had been having over the phone to get to the part where it was believable with their feelings for each other.
This Rom-Com isn’t as cozy as the cover suggests…so let’s get that out of the way.
This book kept me interested to where the story was going but I ended up scratching my head more than once. The writing is mostly decent (until the spicy scenes) and although the plot is thin, I didn’t really mind it. I did like the small mystery surrounding Cady’s bookstore, that was a fun little treat to the story. I wasn’t thrilled with the MMC being 12 years older than Cady and she’s barely drinking age. I did like the twist of him having PTSD and her having an autoimmune disease, that was the most authentic feeling thing of this whole story. This story did make me chuckle a few times too, but it was sparse.
If you like just reading about the day to day with not a lot of conflict, plus you like spice that has age disparity and course descriptors, you might like this. I was NOT prepared for the spicy talk-that made me ick a little to be honest. I thought maaaaybe I would read some romantic scenes and wasn’t sure how that would go since this is my first Rom-Com…I was absolutely not prepared for the very NOT romantic descriptions. Overall, this book was just ok for me.
The twists, the turns! This book was great, it had me thinking I knew what was going to happening just to flip the script and have me enraptured with the plot—needing to find out what was going on. The confusion was the best, the dual POV adding to the “what is going on here?” mystery was done so well. Highly recommend.
Arc received from netgalley! Dnf’ed at 37%. Story is very unrealistic and somewhat problematic at times. Good pacing but not believable. Good representation of chronic illness but story was too much about the main characters flaws
Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin should hire a new editor. Immediately.
Nevermore Bookstore has a lot of things going for it: fun and charming leads, a cute and hilarious romance, and an atmospheric setting. However, it also has a lot of really odd and bizarre word choices and euphemisms that belong to the era of Tumblr and Wattpad fanfiction. A decent editor would have been able to catch these odd choices in diction because it makes what would have been a solid 4.5-star read almost painful.
Typically for books like this, I can finish within two days. This one took three weeks.
I really enjoyed this book. I liked Cady a lot and Fox was a great fit for her. I loved their banter and the back and forth with book quotes. I loved the fleshing out of the town and can't wait to continue this series when future books come out.
There were some cheesy lines and comments throughout the book but that seems more realistic than a lot of other romance books do.
Within the first chapter of this book, I was laughing and enjoying myself. I had high expectations from there on out. However, the further I got into the book, the more I started realizing that it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. It started with the acronym talk-- which I just didn't expect from a well-read bookstore owner. Then the MMC got creepy super fast, which wasn't exactly expected so props for that plot twist (even though it was already solved for the reader very early on). I'm not necessarily against modern time and modern references in books so I don't have much of an opinion there, but for anyone reading this, know that it does take place post-pandemic and it is mentioned, as well as Tiktok and various other modern day things. Another thing I noticed as I read more was that this man went from super educated, smart, and sexy to talking like a 16 year old boy who thinks he's tough. So much cussing. It was very cringy.
But I enjoy the inclusion of a (assuming) mid-size woman with a disability, as well as talk of mental illnesses such as PTSD. I think it was handled pretty well, not offensive or overtly incorrect. I did still giggle at times and it was an easy read so it gets 3 stars.
Notes:
- I love the dedication
- How tall is this man??? His hands??? Is he a giant??
- Sex scene quote: "she clung like a barnacle"
- Sex scene moment: he pets her pubes. For fun.
I was so excited & happy when I received this arc. At first I thought it was a paranormal romance, maybe the vibes & understanding of the first couple of chapters made me feel that way. By chapter 10 I was lost & unmotivated to finish the book. I believe it was the characters I just felt like the male main character was flat. While I do love the rep for PSTD. I did not find a lot of the jokes funny I just thought it was weird. I did push through and finish the book & I love cady & Gemma. The book had a lot of potential , just not for me.
I DNF'd this because I knew immediately that the writing just wasn't good enough for me to keep reading past the first few chapters. Bad jokes, rough pacing, too many characters with very little personality. There are better books in this genre out there.
I DNF’ed this book at around 25% because I couldn’t get over the way the characters spoke or some extremely questionable admittances from the mmc in the first few chapters. The dialogue felt like a caricature of how millennials speak and I unfortunately couldn’t get past it. Not to mention I immediately disliked the mmc and therefore felt no inclination to root for him or his story, in fact I kinda wanted the fmc to take out a restraining order against him!
NEVERMORE BOOKSTORE—What can I say about this book…
I was super excited to receive this arc. I love reading romance and the main setting being a bookstore that the main character runs was a huge plus for me. I love anything taking place in a bookstore or a library. Unfortunately, I was lost quickly with the voyeurism that was highly prevalent throughout the book, particularly one scene that was just too much for me personally. This might be great for someone else but it’s not my thing.
This book is written by two authors: Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin. There are times when you can really tell because the tone switches are a little too different for the same character. There’s no way I can know for sure that’s the reason why, but I will say that some character’s voices seemed to change drastically from chapter to chapter. Mainly our male MC.
There is some good in this book that I really liked. Chronic Illness representation, and a lot of cool female characters that I adored. I think this is supposed to be the start of a companion series and I really believe the series could get better as it goes for sure, but this book was not for me. Thanks to Net Galley for the arc!
This was definitely a grower for me, and I can see this story dividing opinion but I really enjoyed this very quirky and charming romcom with a generous helping of steam.
Cadence is a curvy girl, with a health condition that makes life challenging and at times can be debilitating. She runs the Nevermore Bookstore which I imagined to be gothic, and certainly unique. Uncertain of the legality of her ownership and sure that someone is out to sabotage her, she has a fabulous support network around her, and I particularly loved Myrtle. But she finds herself increasingly focused on the mysterious customer who calls her every Thursday. She knows him as Fox.
As the community pulls together to ensure Cady is safe and has help, she comes to rely on Bob, her gentle giant. She even finds herself confiding in Bob about her feelings for Fox.
As this is dual pov we get an insight into Fox, and the demons he is battling and why he believes him and Cady can never meet.
Funny, inclusive without being preachy, smutty and sexy - Nevermore has me hooked for the next book now.
I was very excited about this book, solely based on the fact that it is set in a bookstore. I had to stop reading very early on, unfortunately. I found some terms and phrases that rubbed me the wrong way, one being "wiener roast", which made me physically cringe. Some phrases and stylistic choices were off-putting for me, so I probably won't finish this book.
⊰ 2 stars
First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I was so excited to read this book given the setting in a bookstore. I was thinking this would be major grump/sunshine in a small cozy town vibes. It had some cozy scenes, but there was a lot to unpack in this book which made it very difficult to enjoy the story building (the little that actually happened).
Let me start of with the writing style. It is VERY obvious that there multiple writers in this book and I don’t mean that in a positive way. I felt like the writers took turns writing chapters on their own, instead of writing them together. The first chapter is 18 pages long and there is so much happening in that first chapter that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. This book is almost 400 pages long, but that isn’t because of good story building. The writers try to put too much description into every sentence, touching subjects only to never come back to them. At a certain point, I was so done with the descriptive writing style that I literally skimmed over paragraphs that didn’t contain dialogue between characters, simply because I was over it.
The actual plot of the story, besides the “steamy” romance, comes way too late. If you are looking for a book that has an actually decent plot besides the romance, this isn’t it. I would’ve given this book 1 star, but the plot twist at the ending was quite enjoyable and made me continue reading instead of DNF-ing the book.
I like how Cady is very well written with the representation of her chronic pain/disease. Besides that, there’s not a lot to love about Cady. Other than our shared love for books, I’d argue that we have nothing in common. Cady being so okay with Fox and his lies and actions was super weird for me. Okay, this random guy has been stalking me, watching me through binoculars in my bedroom without my knowledge, but it is all for the sake of protecting me because… we have never met? Honestly, I had a hard time liking the romance because there literally seems to be none. Fox is in love with Cady because of apparently her curves/soft body. I hate how that is apparently a trope in books, the whole “oversized but worth it” thing. Just because someone is oversized, doesn’t make them less or different from others.
Fox gave me major red flags, as in please take out a restraining order against him instead of fucking him. He literally stalks Cady, watches her in her own home without her knowledge. Fox infiltrating her life for the sake of “protecting” her under a different name, not telling her who he is? Just no. At one point, Cady and Fox have phone sex and Fox watches her through his binoculars. BUT CADY DOESN’T KNOW HE’S WATCHING. And then it turns into this thing they dirty talk over? Like “oh did you watch me come, how did it make you feel”. This is giving the worst kind of stalker vibes and it being written off as okay because he is protective over her was not something I’m into.
I didn’t enjoy this book, I thought about DNF-ing this book more than once and it was all because of Fox. If you are into overprotective alpha male bordering stalker/creep, this is the book for you. I know some people are into it, but this took it too far in my opinion.
Let me start by saying, if you don’t have a sense of humor this isn’t for you. 🤣😘 I still love ya though. 🤍
Now that’s out of way…
This book is fun, and sometimes funny, with a dash of jealous possessiveness going on, and I enjoyed it.
Cady’s working in a bookstore and the highlight for her is Thursday Night phone calls with a mysterious caller name Fox. This one has a little bit of suspense that sets off the catalyst for Cady & Fox to meet in person and for some steamy times to ensue. If you want to know more… you’ll have to read the book… 😘
Overall it was recommended to me by a friend and I enjoyed it.🙃
Melli’s Book Breakdown
🤍Ex Military Hero
🤍Grumpy/Sunshine
🤍Recluse Hero
🤍Steamy
No Just No. . I cannot finish reading this book.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion
Nevermore Bookstore was such a fun read! There was so much going on but in a very good way! A quick way to get me to like a book is to have fun and unexpected literary references, like poorly taxidermied ravens with paperclip monocles mixed with swoon-worthy quotes from Poe and Shakespeare. If all of that wasn't enough, the mystery subplot (who is trying to hurt Cady?!) and Cady's race against the clock to save her home were the icing on the cake.
I also liked that Cady was a full-figured FMC who wasn't 100% self-love all the time but was super candid about her struggles with her body's appearance and her chronic illness. Additionally, Fox's journey from struggling so hard with CPTSD that he couldn't even go indoors to maybe thinking that if he could overcome his struggles for anyone, it would be Cady.
Thank you to Kerrigan Byrne, Cynthia St. Aubin, Olivia Herber Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of Nevermore Bookstore! This is the first book I've read by either co-author and I thought it was a cute, small-town love story!
Both of our leads, Cady and Fox, suffer from some sort of debilitating condition, although Cady's is physical (ankylosing spondylitis) and Fox's is mental (complex-PTSD due to his time in the army). They start out with a very unique relationship: Fox calls Nevermore Bookstore every Thursday night at 8pm, but they've never met, and Fox doesn't really plan on ever meeting Cady. After a burglary attempt gone wrong at the bookstore, Fox is beside himself with worry, leaves his hermit like cave in the mountains near Townsend Harbor, and adopts a different name in order to keep a closer eye on Cady.
Although a lot of the story takes place in the bookstore and the building it is located in, not a lot of it is about the bookstore. It is the original way that Cady and Fox "meet" and get to know each other, but that's about it. The plot involves Cady learning more about Fox in a roundabout way, her struggle with keeping the building after having to prove her ownership after her aunt dies, a spicy phone call scene that involves a little bit of voyeurism, and both Fox and Cady coming to terms with how a relationship would actually look like considering both of their conditions.
For the most part I really enjoyed this book! I thought that the supporting characters were a lot of fun (Vee, Mrytle and Gemma are a hoot), the spicy scenes contained a good amount of spice, and the ending was sweet. There were times that the plot was a little bit confusing, as in why did Fox think he had a mission to keep Cady safe? How did Fox actually live in the woods for three years? How did Cady manage to go up three flights of stairs daily with chronic pain? And missing some points that would have been nice, like maybe Fox going to therapy? IDK just my opinions! I thought the book was cute, the banter sometimes cringy/cheesy but also fun, and would recommend it to anyone to read!
*3.5 stars rounded to 4
#Netgalleyarc Not a book I’d buy for my HS library and an okay read overall. A classic romance story with a little bit of humor and fighting over the heroine. Not amazing but not horrible. I liked the bookstore setting but the book left me wanting more.