THE BOOK OF LOVE is a doorstopper, but I loved every second of it! This YA, scif-fi novel was super unique and had me turning the pages faster than any other book I've read in a while (plus can we talk about that gorgeous cover?!?).

The book of love is long and boring indeed. Sorry, I can never resist the low hanging fruit. In all honesty, I think the middle 50% was engaging - but it was hard to get into and the ending dragged for miles. I think the biggest issue is that the book lacks any real emotion or feeling - there’s not a lot of introspection and big emotional moments are brushed away quickly. The second biggest issue is Laura.

I tried a couple of times to get into this book, but I ended up needing to put it down and come back later. I did enjoy the writing but the story wasn't gripping me in the way I needed it to in that moment. I have loved many books I've soft dnf'd and then come back to later so I still have high hopes. I think it's just one of those books that I have to be in the right headspace for!

The Book of Love opens with three friends who have just found out they’re dead. They don’t have to stay dead though - if they complete three tasks they will be saved. Overall this book was a bit of a struggle for me. I’ve read many of Link’s short story collections, and I really like their unique ideas, storytelling, and writing style. The beautiful writing and unique premise were definitely here, but I found myself struggling to stay connected to the story. We get to know the main characters very well, but I found this to backfire a bit here as the plot progression is quite slow. While I was entertained, by the halfway point I kept struggling to pick this back up.

While this one didn’t work for me I will definitely continue to read Link’s work, whether they be more short stories or another novel. If you also struggled with this book, but liked the writing definitely check out the short story collections White Cat, Black Dog and Get in Trouble.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy.

Thank you to Random House Publishing for the gifted e-book.

I was initially eager to dive into it, but I found it challenging to immerse myself in the storyline. Despite attempting to read it on two separate occasions and even trying the audiobook, I still couldn't connect with the narrative.

The pacing of the story felt sluggish and prolonged. Although the writing was undeniably beautiful, the storytelling itself fell short. The multiple character points of view made the plot difficult to follow, and it often felt like I was revisiting information already covered in previous chapters.

While some readers may have awarded this book 4 or 5 stars, it appears that it did not align with my preferred genre.

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting when I read that Kelly Link’s first novel (after many stunningly good short story collections) would be called The Book of Love. I thought maybe a sharp, lovely, brief book about wild magic and love and life. While this is a sharp and lovely book about all those things, it’s also a terrifying contemplation on grief and loss and death and power.


You can read my full review in the March 2024 issue of The Brooklyn Rail.

A master of the short story format applies herself to the novel form with powerful effect. Link is such a great writer, I was excited to dive into what she could do with a lot more space.

Three teenagers reappear in their small town after being missing for a year. Not dead, but not living, they return to be tasked. Their music teacher tells them to perform magic and find him a gift. The town, now enchanted to think they went on vacation to Ireland and are not missing, is now at risk, as is the whole world if they succeed in their tasks.

Laura, Daniel, Mo, and Bowie must demonstrate their powers and find a key for the moon goddess. They must also revisit old wounds from before they went missing. Suzanne and Daniel broke up, as did the band. Can they complete their task and heal?

I hated this book. It's like a Booktok put into a blender: cliched situations, overly long character development, and an unoriginal plot with a silly ending.

Favorite Passages:

“…wasn’t money the thing that made you godlike? Money meant you had friends if you wanted them and plenty of peace if you didn’t. Money was religion. Money was magic. But that was only as long as there was no such thing as real magic. Unless you were Harry Potter and had both. Like, that dipshit should have gone around wearing a T-shirt that said you can never be too rich or too magical.”

“Goodbye, Thomas. You were too good to be true. Vincents were what you got in the real world. Real life was an all-you-can-eat buffet of Vincents. That was why his grandmother had stuck with novels when she gave up on men.”

“Ruth said, “Even if there were a lot of other things I wanted you to tell them and you remembered all of it correctly, it could still turn out something was the wrong thing for me to say. That’s the problem with being someone’s mother. You try to be helpful but it may turn out you were saying the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time, most of the time. I don’t want to make it harder. This is going to be so hard on them.”

“This goddess-gift I give you, your portion my portion. Your road my road. Oh, do not leave me. As a blade has two sides and a coin two faces, as a cup holds what is poured into it, so you and I will be in our service, our days unnumbered. As I become Life-in-Death upon this threshold, so I give you her gift, which is Life. Take it up.”

This book just wasn’t for me! But thank you for the opportunity. I just felt the book was too long & it didn’t hold my interest.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I have tried several times to read this one and I think my brain just doesn't comprehend this style of writing or story? I can objectively see that it's magical and well written but I just can't get into the story and found myself putting it down often. This is one I will recommend to a certain kind of reader looking for a more meta read.

THE BOOK OF LOVE completely obliterated me. I loved every cell of every character, and this is making it's way into my top 10 of the year for sure.

I honestly almost gave up on this book. I mean the beginning was tough for me and honestly because the book is so long, it was a struggle to pick up my kindle each night.. But I hate HATE to DNF books so I pushed on.

From what I have learned after reading about Kelly Link is that this is her first novel. I know before she has done a lot of short stories. This book was the Hold my Beer form of her short stories.

So, this book is not marked as Young Adult, but I feel like it should be. Most of the characters are teens (late teens 17-18 but still teens) and a lot of the plot is based around well, teen issues.

I happen to like YA, so that fact did not annoy me at all.

Its not that the book annoyed me. I feel like the book could have been 2/3 shorter and none of the story would have been lost. At some points I found myself thinking "OMG get to the point"

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book, BUT it is a long book and hard to get into at first.

I have *very* mixed thoughts. The underlying plot was so good. The idea was amazing. But the 30 characters it was focusing on? Too much.

I was surprised by how much I loved this book, particularly the first third and last third. The title and the premise drew me in and I had really high hopes. Then I let some early reviews hold me back from reading it in a timely fashion. I shouldn't have listened! Kelly Link's writing of the opening and setup of this unsettling novel was breathtaking and startling original. I kept having this worry, though, as I saw the daunting length of the novel - "How is she going to keep up this suspenseful pace for this long?" Alas, the middle dragged for me. It was so much spectacular setup and then...flat. I kept with it and was thrilled that it picked up again. By the end, I was sobbing. I do think this would have packed even more of a punch - and maybe reached more, less patient, readers - with an edit for length. The world-building was wonderful and such a unique and original way to approach such universal themes. It was darker than I imagined it would be, but in a good way. I really enjoyed this book and will read anything she writes in the future!

I freaking adore Kelly Link’s short stories, so her first debut novel was welcome news indeed! The Book of Love sounds right down my alley – it’s a fantastical story that throws together high schoolers, magical quests, friends, siblings, and lovers, music, life and death, love and sacrifice, good and evil, modern myths. It felt like the wonderfully weird book my nerdy high school self would have adored.

Author Alix Harrow wrote the best review I’ve come across: “is it """slow"""? sure. yeah. so is spring. so is a sunset. so is sex, if you're doing it right, and death, if you're lucky. some things are meant to be savored.”

I read all 640 pages of The Book of Love in two days, and maybe that was my problem? Maybe I read it too quickly and didn’t savor it enough? I loved what Kelly Link did with this book when I stepped up close, in specific scenes, interactions or quirky details. And I loved its deep imaginative weirdness. But taking a step back, the overall plot never gained any momentum for me. I think I might have enjoyed this better in short story form.

Nevertheless, I still consider myself a rabid Kelly Link fan and I can’t wait to see what she gets up to next! Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Book of Love was quite a journey following the aftermath of the deaths of three teenagers who are now mysteriously back and have magical powers. While it is a little on the longer side, the second half seems to make it worth it in the end. If you like paranormal books about teenagers and don't mind the slow goings of a longer, more drawn out story, this book might be for you. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a bit of a chore for the first few hundred pages, but overall, it’s fun, creative and a powerful testament to the power of all varieties of love. As low fantasy goes, this book is very unique. I’ve never read anything like it. It’s a solid mix of humor, darkness and powerful emotional sentiments, with a twist ending readers will have absolutely no way to predict. Overall, a fun read. It was well written, just not terribly entertaining.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley.

Here's the thing: Kelly Link is one of my favorite short story writers. I was never NOT going to love this novel. So let me just explain why it worked for me.

The Book of Love is a story about a group of teens who all live in a small town and are accidentally drawn into an alternate universe of their own making. They are given magical abilities, and must decide what to do with them, to potentially save themselves, their families, and their town from a goddess-like entity that wants to eat them all and their magic. They all make different choices, and the story shows us what that ends up meaning.

And that's also not what this book is about AT ALL. That's just the plot.

The reason this novel is called The Book of Love is because it's also a meditation on all of the different ways that humans love one another, and the emotional and life experiences that come out of it. Especially the messy or difficult kinds of love, like unrequited love; like queer love; like love of a sibling when you don't actually LIKE each other; like grief; like the love between friends that is really confusing for adolescents because you aren't sure if it is romantic or platonic or what, and why can't it be both? Or neither? Or something in between?

This novel was a slow read for me, not because it was linguistically dense (it has a quite accessibly elegant prose style), but because it was *emotionally* dense. I found myself needing to sit with what I learned about the characters, chapter after chapter, trying to make sense and empathize and understand.

This is a novel about how we love, and why we love, and what that means. And it's glorious because it shows the infinite varieties in the ways humans love, and the beauty and meaning that comes from experiencing that love.

Highly recommended.

Loved it. Cannot believe it's her first novel. Obviously, she's an expert in the form of the short story, but I didn't expect her to launch such a fantastic first novel, especially one this long