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

This book's blurb hooked me--magic, mysterious death and resurrection, mediocre band teacher?! Sign me up! While the overall premise of this book was interesting and at times engaging, I found myself bored through a lot of this. My main issue with this book was my lack of interest or empathy of the three main characters. Mo was my favorite and was the most easily likable. Daniel felt a bit too whiny. And Laura I just flat out detested. Reading her thoughts about her sister and her life felt awful, and maybe that's because Link has captured that grating teen energy so well, but for a book of this size, spending that much time with her was a total downer. Others have noticed their disinterest stemming from the multiple points of view, which range from the three main characters to every minor character possible. I found them easy enough to follow since mostly these chapters provided a different perspective to something that happened in the chapter immediately prior and following, giving more context or depth to it. I found some of the minor character chapters to be among my favorite. But overall, it was just a little too lengthy with too slow of a start. Once I got about 70% through, it was a quick and engaging read, but it took a long time to get there. I'd be interested in reading more of Link's work as I do believe there is some great creative work going on here, but hopefully just in slightly smaller doses.

Magical feel, enjoyed the feel dive into the characters, but it did feel too long at times. Would only recommend to readers who enjoy reading about the day to day parts of life.

This is a fantasy story about a group of teenage coming back from the dead and then trying to stay alive, but also figuring out how they died in the first place. It is an interesting combo American Gods and the 1986 film Labyrinth - and not just because there is a character named Bowie. It is weird and it is lyrical. If you like these things then The Book of Love may be for you.

The issue is that it is way too long for what the story needs and therefore it gets incredibly boring at points.

Overall this was not for me.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I'm sorry to say I did not finish this book. I don't enjoy DNFing ARCs and I try to select books I believe I will give a glowing review. I made it through to 16%, but it wasn't compelling enough for me to want to go on. I will not be sharing a review, as I do not wish to review something I have not read in full.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been an admirer of Kelly Link’s short fiction for a long time, so I was eager to read her new novel, The Book of Love. This book follows three teenagers who’ve recently come back from the dead. They have a chance to stay in the living world…but not all of them. Who stays and who goes will be determined by their performance in a series of challenges. But there’s more to this game than meets the eye, and the stakes may be even higher than the kids understand.

As one might expect from the title, love is a central theme of this book. I really appreciated that romantic love isn’t the only variety of that emotion featured. The love between (grand)parents and (grand)children, the often complicated love between siblings, and the love shared by platonic friends, all get their time in the spotlight.

I did feel like the pace of the book was a bit slow. Kelly Link is a master of atmosphere, and her shorter works, like “The Specialist’s Hat” and “Two Houses” are full of an eeriness that makes me think about them even years after I first read them. It’s hard to maintain that kind of dreamlike atmosphere over a length of 600 pages. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what Link does next.

OKAY WHOA. So this book is 9398457 pages long. And did I mind that? At first, yes.

First off, I don't think reading long books on a Kindle is for me. I like to see the progress I've made, what I have left. And the tiny percentage of completion in the bottom left-hand corner did NOT cut it.

That being said, let's get to the book itself. Laura, Mo, and Daniel are dead. Like, dead dead. We begin our story in what seems to be an in-between realm, with their music teacher Mr. Anabin as their only guide. Meanwhile, Laura's sister Savannah (in all her lead singer, rock star glory) is flipping out on in their little town of Lovesend, Massachusetts. Her sister, boyfriend, and pal have vanished without a trace.

The trio can get back to their lives--- if they accept a bargain from their music teacher. But this bargain comes with a HUGE ask. And so the magical journey begins.

Y'all. The STORYTELLING. The WORLD BUILDING. The DIALOGUE. Just phenomenal. It takes a bit to get rolling, but I upon finishing it, I think it's needed. We needed alllll the context, all the easter eggs, the detail.

I would go back to this world in a second. Kelly, bring us back there! Bring us back!

4.5 stars!

This was our March pick for my book club The Inky Phoenix, and Kelly Link is a true sorceress. This books might be the most bizarre and beautiful book I've ever read and our discussion with the club was luscious. I truly hope Kelly continues to write in this longer format. Genius.

This book turned out to be a lot more than I was expecting from the title "book of love." It ended up being a lot more cosmic and large scale. I found that it did drag some in the middle of it's 600 page span. Overall though, lovely, interesting and human characters with an epic tale.

The premise of "The Book of Love" is intriguing—three friends find themselves in a waiting room before death, and to escape their fate, they must complete three trials.

However, the story is bogged down by an excessive number of characters, each with their own backstory, which detracts from the central plot.

A more focused narrative on one or two main characters would have been more effective.The repetition within the narrative, where revelations are reiterated to newly introduced characters, further hinders the flow.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Three friends are in awaiting room waiting for death… The idea of this book was really intriguing to me. But the reality of this book was way more than I was ready for. There were so many characters and very little backstory. It was confusing and the writing style was so dream like an unreal it made it difficult for me to follow. it was also extremely repetitious with characters repeating other characters in different words. All in all this just wasn’t my cup of tea. Thank you, NetGalley for the digital copy.

3.5 This is a book I’m really torn on, because I found the premise and characters to be really interesting but was SO ready for the book to be over a few hundred pages before the end.

Some things I enjoyed:

🩷 The premise was very unique, and trying to figure out what was going on and how the characters died and came back was fascinating.

💜 Each character had a very different voice, and the author did a really nice job of differentiating them. We had many different perspectives and I imagine writing so many different PoV’s has got to be a challenge! I was never confused about whose perspective I was reading.

💚 The characters were not always likable, and they felt realistic in all of their many flaws and in the relationships they had with each other. Some of the side characters were utterly delightful!

💙 I think some complex ideas like grief, expectation, and complex family dynamics were handled well.

🧡 The story, for the most part, felt pretty immersive. It was also wonderfully weird!


What I didn’t love:

💛 The book was over 600 pages and I feel like it should have been closer to 350-400. There was a lot of repetition, sections with way too much exposition or inner dialogue, and many inconsequential scenes were rehashed from multiple perspectives. This made it drag for me, and I got to the point where I just wanted the book to be over.


Overall I did care enough about the plot to finish the book, but it did feel like a slog at several parts. I liked it and am not sorry I read it, but it isn’t one I’d choose to read again.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House for the advanced copy!

Kelly Link’s publications previous to this have all been short story collections, so it was intriguing to see her work extended to a novel-length. Link is a master of surrealist fiction in which bizarre and dream-like elements feel as natural a part of the world’s texture as anything else, and lend a depth of meaning to the narrative that rewards rereading. There are many scenes throughout the book that shine individually with the darkly weird and magical moments Link specializes in in her shorter fiction. True to form, The Book of Love begins with four characters emerging from an involuntary voyage through an impossible-to-describe nether-realm straight into a high school music teacher’s classroom. The story follows them as they attempt to gain answers about what happened to them and why, how it connects to an ancient and arcane struggle they’ve unwillingly been embroiled in, and in what form their lives (and that of the seaside New England town they live in) might continue after such an altering event.

Link juggles multiple (5+) point of view characters without losing the narrative thread. It helps that all their stories are closely intertwined, so one chapter will illuminate what was happening across town from the events of the previous, and their personalities are strongly realized and distinct. The web of relationships between these characters, their friends and relations, and their supernatural interlocutors is beautifully realized and pulls the narrative in unexpected directions.

Some people have complained about the length and pacing, and while I did find myself occasionally feeling the pacing stretch a little more slowly than I’d like, it wasn’t a big problem for me and I liked the way the plot was not rushed and each character’s experiences and thoughts were given room to breathe.

I’m still pondering the title, as “The Book of Love” at first seems unspecific and potentially misleading, genre-wise. Each chapter is titled “The Book of [character name]” to indicate the point of view character, which could have somewhat biblical implications à la “The Book of Job” etc. (in some ways, the supernatural struggle they are involved in does have implications over life, death, and the souls of people far and wide, so perhaps it’s not inappropriate to frame their experience as this kind of religious account, though it’s much more true-to-life than mythological). It can also be related to the theme of romance genre writing that comes up throughout the books: one of the characters’ grandmothers is a famous romance writer, Maryann Gorch (pen name Caitlynn Hightower), which incidentally leads to many delightful asides about romance book tropes, but also a constant interrogation of real vs. idealized love, and their many forms. “She said romantic love, the kind she wrote about, was just one room and there were lots of others,” one character remembers about the author. I’m sure there are other aspects to the title that I haven’t thought of yet, but I do still suspect the book might have been better served on the marketing side of things by an alternative.

On the whole, I really liked The Book of Love, though I didn’t feel it packed the same concentrated punch as Link’s short fiction—which is perhaps because she was trying to do something entirely different here. I think I’d still recommend her short fiction as the best starting point to get into her work. Her story “Skinder’s Veil” (most recently published in her newest collection, White Cat, Black Dog) is one of my favorite short stories from recent years, and I also liked her earlier collection Magic for Beginners. That’s all I’ve read of her so far, so I’m very excited to have more Kelly Link to read! I will certainly be reading her next novel if she decides to publish more.