In Kelly Link's debut novel set in very contemporary times, four college-aged kids linked by music come back from a kind of limbo as part of a strategic game played by supernatural entities, including gatekeepers on either side of a door to Death, and the world-creating goddess who rules them. They are tasked with learning how to wield magic given to them, and then additional tasks, with the endgame that 2 will replace the immortal gatekeepers and 2 will get to return to the living world. While they fight with one another, and try to understand how they all died a year ago, where they've been since, and how they got back, they uncover magical secrets and powers and start to unravel the role another central figure close to them all has unwittingly played in the whole scheme. Dazzling, immersive writing kept me absorbed throughout the formidable 628 pages. I wasn't even ready for it to end when it did.

Kelly Link is as fine a novelist as she is at short form. The Book of Love puts her on equal footing with Neil Gaiman in terms of humor and worldbuilding. I fell in love with the young adult protagonists, all of them, and I loved how they discovered magic and how their feelings about it evolved and reflected their personas. I don't know how Link is so in tune with that age group! I completely bought all the characters, and appreciated their sensibilities and the authenticity of their emotional and sexual experiences. I was only a little bit confused, re: technicalities of the magical door(s), but, much like a Link character, I will shrug, accept that, and move on.

This will make an amazing miniseries one day, I expect. So grateful to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this ARC by one of my favorite authors. Only downside is that, though I have it as an ebook, I loved it so much, I'm going to have to go buy the hardback when it is released to stores this week. But Link deserves every penny, and more.

The Book of Love by Kelly Link comes out tomorrow and I can’t wait for the world to experience it. Three friends mysteriously disappear, then one year later find themselves having to navigate a set of trials to remain in the world while grappling with how life has moved on, their changing and complex relationships, and what caused them to disappear in the first place. This book is a true ensemble cast, with tons of POV switches that bring the emotions of it all to life. Link includes all of my favorite ingredients: coming-of-age, a strong sense of place, precocious and brave young adults, a bit of magic, and gorgeous prose. It is long and it is slow (but only because I was savoring it) and it is strange and it is maybe not for everyone, but to me, it is worth it and will stick with me for a long time. Out tomorrow, 2/13, and pairs perfectly with a winter storm and a cup of tea.

Thanks @netgalley and @randomhouse for the chance to read it early so I can tell everyone I know that they need to pick this up immediately.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an eARC of this lovely book. I’m sad that I’ve finished it. Recommended for fans of Link’s short stories (naturally) and Neil Gaiman.

I should like this. I really should because it has all the components that make me want to finish a book in one sitting. Unfortunately, I could not get through it. I thought the characters were bland, the plot was meandering, and the writing was just too "flowery" for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

There's always a weird sense of hype/worry when an author primarily known for short fiction finally gives you a novel. They're so good at small - what happens when they go big?

I've been a fan of Kelly Link's work for years, and it's delightful how much The Book of Love smashes it out of the park. It's long - possibly slightly too long - but it has a dreamlike languor that makes you feel like the prose is keeping you pleasantly on the edge of a dream. There's a care to its pace, and as the book teaches you what it's going to do. I can see a case for a slightly tighter edit, but there's so much to love here it's hard to tell at first glance what needs a trim. I devoured the bulk of this on a long plane ride.

There's some chapters here outside the scope of the main quartet of characters that feel like entirely composed short stories that could stand on their own, but are stronger for inclusion in this overarching narrative. There's perhaps one too many plates spinning, which makes things tricky as the book tries to wrap all of those relationships up as the book nears its end, but aren't the best dreams the ones that have a little too much going on for you to catch all at once?

Full disclosure: I did not finish this book. I could not. It was such a tedious affair and I could not keep myself glued to its web of torment any longer.

I’d read such high praise for Kelly Link’s work. As someone who greatly appreciates meaningful stories shown through a speculative lens, I was hopeful that I’d find great things within this novel. I’ll grant that it was full of beautiful lines, but it was, otherwise, sloppy and boring. I did not feel it was worth the time I invested, and I was sure it was not worth wasting more time on. Perhaps with fewer characters, as there were far too many branches, and significantly fewer pages, this could have been something great.

here’s the thing with this book: i like it as a concept. the plot and magic system are weird and therefore interesting in that way, the narration has a quirky style to it that manages to not be annoying (which i feel like can happen easily with that style) and works well with the intentional weirdness of the book, and the characters are good. my biggest gripe is that this book had absolutely no business being as long as it was. the same effect could’ve been accomplished with half as many pages - trying to get through this felt like a slog at times even as i was invested in the plot and in knowing what would happen at the end.

This is a difficult one to review. It was compelling and incredibly well-written, but it was overall far too long. A good 100 pages could have been trimmed off easily; a good editor could have brought this down to a reasonable length. The characters were all interesting and dynamic, but they had better be with the amount of description ascribed to them.

A weird, fantastical mystery, starting out with small questions and small stakes but growing epic in a way that sneaks up on you as more is revealed. Really beautifully written, with charming, funny characters who don't seem to fit at all with what is occurring around them—and that disjointed union is very striking. This will not be for everyone. But the contrast between the spoken dialogue of really normal, modern, irreverent, notably horny teens, in a lyrical, beautiful, timeless fantasy, really worked for me. I love a dichotomy!

i had to DNF this 😭 i REALLY wanted to love this. the writing style is very unique, but pretty off-putting. it was difficult understanding what was going on, as much as I tried to. this'll appeal to a lot of other readers though!!!!

To be quite honest I truly tried to get into this book but it was just too all over the place to comprehend. There were moments of clarity in Daniel’s book or even Laura’s but not enough overall to grasp what was going on. Maybe this book was abstract and I wasn’t the target audience?
I greatly appreciated this ARC but it just wasn’t for me…
This book will be published Feb 20th by Random House Publishing Group - thank you again for this copy of The Book of Love by Kelly Link

DNF around 30% - I love fantasy & I love literary fiction. This gave the illusion of mixing the two. Yet it just didn’t work for me. I love a slow burn as long as I feel entertained along the way… at the point I quit I didn’t quite understand why the point was and after reading other reviews I see that I was not alone in that.

Every time I put this down I picked it up again because I wanted to what would happen to the four teens at the center of this overly long fantasy novel. Laura, Daniel, Mo, and Susannah are at the heart of this tale of teens who come back from the dead (sort of). I was confused in spots as to what was happening and in others I was, honestly, overwhelmed by detail. I understand why this is a love or it hate it pick but I fall in the middle. It was intriguing enough to keep me turning the pages (albeit it skimming them in spots). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It might be the perfect novel for a long plane flight.

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

This isn’t your standard fantasy. It’s more like if someone wrote fantasy in the style of literary fiction, which is something I normally eat up with a spoon and ask for second helpings of. It just didn’t happen with The Book of Love, though.

The Book of Love is lovingly crafted and intricately woven. The story is compelling enough to start and engaging enough to keep reading until somewhere in the third act where I found myself losing steam. I finished the book and I liked it but I can’t say it’s something I’d read again.

Kelly Link is a brilliant writer, but this book should’ve been shorter. I fell in love with the story, the characters, the world building, and the dialogue, but nothing can save a book from a plodding pace.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Coming of Age/Fantasy/Occult Fiction/Supernatural Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

The Book of Love by Kelly Link was a unique and utterly fascinating debut novel.
A stellar novel that blends myths, supernatural, and magic.
It was amazing, vivid, joyful, fast-paced and perfectly described! I didn’t want this fantastic journey to end. The storytelling is superb and the protagonist was finely drawn. Effortlessly diverse, beautifully written, whimsical, and always engaging.
A story of love, death, friendship and magic.

Thank You NetGalley and Random House for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Great concept. The book is on the longer side. A bit mystical with some violence and mystery.
Definitely a combination to make you think.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

This book truly took me on a journey and I think I ended up really loving it. The premise is endearing (teens come back from the dead and have a series of trials) and there are a lot of wonderfully lovable characters. I almost put this book down several times but, kind of like the characters in the book, felt tied to the story in a deeper way and never stopped working myself toward the ending. I’m so glad I kept going and I really loved the sweetness of the ending. Thanks for the chance to give it an early read. Ultimately this book was memorable (similarities to Lincoln in the Bardo? The Magicians?) and I look forward to seeing the discussion once more people have read it.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Love is about a group of friends navigating their return from the dead as they try to remember how they died and how they can keep on living.

This was a quirky and unusual read. I was excited when I first began reading it and was really interested to see where it would go. Despite generally liking the novel, I felt that it was far too long and should have been at most half the length that it was.

The Book of Love was beautifully written and fun to experience. That being said…it was loooooonnnngggggg. At times I just looked to see how much was left because it was suddenlt just dragging. I’ve read the author before and I was prepared for the style of writing. There were just so many times that I forced myself through a chapter hoping we could get back on track. It was a good book that was beuatifully overwritten.

What a beautiful world Link has created in this story. A whimsical world for an epic adventure. While I did enjoy the writing style of this book, it was a bit of a slower read. While the world for this story was beautifully created, I would have liked to see the author focus more on the character building and momentum. I think it’s a fantastic story, but suffered from excess space exposition and exploration.