Over the past several years, Kelly Link has slowly (and maybe not so slowly) become one of the best short story writers alive. For the record, I didn’t say best fantasy/new weird/horror/slipstream/impossible-to-categorize (the sandbox Link plays in) writers alive. She’s one of the best, period. Her collections—Get In Trouble, Magic for Beginners, Stranger Things Happen, White Cat, Black Dog—are downright magical and hard to describe, and believe me, I’ve tried, because I tend to babble on to anyone who will listen about books I love. It’s a little bit like if Ellison, Lafferty, Borges, Barker, and the Brothers Grimm spent a drunken night together and through some infernal alchemy created Link, but that barely scratches the surface. She’s utterly original.

So, when I heard that Link had written her first novel, I was excited, but also a little worried. Not every brilliant short story writer is equally brilliant as a novelist.

I shouldn’t have worried.

If I tell you that The Book of Love concerns a group of young adults whose lives get turned upside down by two powerful magicians and an actual goddess, what do you picture? Castles, dark forests, dualing wizards in long cloaks? This is not that kind of book.

The Book of Love is set in the present, in Lovesend, a small New England town. At the beginning of the novel, three of the four main characters find themselves once again alive, after having been dead for nearly a year. Except, their families don’t seem to remember them being dead, and they have only dim memories of what happened themselves.

What follows is a novel drenched in magic, filled with wonders, written in a kinetic, high-flying style that had me smiling as I read, even rereading paragraphs for the pure enjoyment. At the end of the first chapter (and each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, alternating the MCs with others) I found myself wondering if Link could possibly keep it up for an entire novel. My friends, she so does, through all 640 pages.

All of Link’s trademarks—beautifully realized characters, laugh-out-loud humor, mysteries piled on mysteries, breathtaking moments of magic realism, and scenes of indescribable wonder that Link somehow manages to describe—are well-represented here. The plot is a thing of beauty, meandering, not afraid to pause and reflect, yet always moving with assurance toward the perfect conclusion.

The Book of Love is aptly named, as Link is concerned with love in all its many permutations, from romantic to familial to friendship, and she nails every aspect. Another thing. The young adult characters here—gay, straight, bi—often do what young adults do. This is a joyfully, playfully, and sometimes cathartically horny book.

Special shoutout to one of my favorite characters in the novel, a young girl named Carousel. You’re my hero.

The Book of Love will be released on February 13, 2024, and is available for pre-sale now. Don’t miss this one. In a year filled with great books, this just might be my favorite.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the chance to read The Book of Love as an ARC! I went into The Book of Love completely blind, and was so incredibly (and pleasantly!) surprised with the outcome. This book was so whimsical, character driven, interesting, and strange- which is a combination that I feel is not often done well. This, however, was executed perfectly. It took me a little bit to get used to the writing style/prose and to understand what was going on, but I ADORE books that confuse me a little bit, and by the 30% mark, I was completely invested. This is the kind of book that I found myself thinking about when I wasn't reading it. Every time I set it down, I was thinking about what might happen next, or how it would all play out. That, to me, is a strong indication of a 5 star book.

I think that this book will fit niche audiences, but I will say that it made me feel similarly to how I felt when I read The Night Circus. This is the kind of book that I can easily obsess over, but can also see how some people may not enjoy the writing style/concept. That being said, I fully intend to pick up a physical copy of this as soon as I possibly can, as well as reading absolutely everything Kelly Link has written. The Book of Love will release on February 13th, 2024, and I hope you love it as much as I did!

This was a long and plodding book that was honestly hard to follow. I could not keep track of the various people and I did not enjoy it.

Kelly Links writing never fails to intrigue me.This was a book with so many levels so unique from mystery to magic Torrance.So much to think about so much to unwind.#netgalley #randomhouse.

I jumped at the thought of a full-length novel from Kelly Link. Her short fiction is brilliant– unusual, weird, but also deeply grounded so it feels real. The stories each throw the reader into a strange new world that operates with a twisted sort of logic, internally consistent but dreamlike, sometimes undefinably alien. However, unlike some writers who wallow in a sort of phantasmagorical haze where the reader has limited hope of deciphering what has happened, Link’s work is profoundly readable.

So it’s not unexpected than that The Book of Love is unusual, weird, deeply grounded, absolutely alien, and so on. This is a Weird Book and I expect that a lot of people will be turned off by it in myriad ways, in part because it moves slowly, it’s quite long, and, despite that title, has very little romance in it. Yes, Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black have both blurbed this book, but their works are VERY different.

But it is marvelous. I have never read a book like this before. The characters are unique and flawed. The setup is unusual, and the mythology is bizarre. While the characters often make baffling choices in an alien world, the problems they wrestle with– family, sisterhood, jealously, love, death, and so on– are deeply human.

There are some curious dead-ends (why does Mr. Anabin request birthday presents? Why is one character seemingly named after a German database about international degrees and another is named after a 10th century neo-Gnostic priest? Why don’t we get more satisfying details about the odder characters in the book?) that made me hope for a little more editing, but honestly I enjoyed it.

What an odd, weird book. I liked it! So strange though, and I was a bit disappointed in the ending.
The mystery of what happened to three of the characters kept me reading, but I found the cause it to be a bit of a letdown. However, everything leading up to it was fascinating and kept me engaged!

I tried really hard to like this one, but I didn’t enjoy this one much at all. The book was overly long and plodding, with repetitive prose that meandered nowhere. I really wanted to love this book based on the description, but I can easily and honestly say this is one of my most disappointing reads of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy of "The Book of Love" in exchange for my honest review. This book is one of the strangest, thought-provoking, magical books I have ever read. I honestly wasn't sure when I started it if I would finish it because of how much information was being thrown at me, but I am so glad I did. One of my favorite things about this book was the amount of Queer and POC representation the author included. I was super surprised when I looked at her author bio and saw that she is white, only because of how much POC rep was included and how well done it was as well. I think every single character in this book was well-developed, interesting, and compelling. When the book ended, it felt like I was leaving old friends to their new adventures. Some of the twists I saw coming, and some took me by complete surprise. I love it when authors can do that, especially in such weird and cool ways as the author was able to do in this book. When it is available for physical purchase, I will most certainly be buying it as well as recommending it to friends and family. I'm not familiar with Kelly Link's other works, but reading them is certainly on my list now! This book is genuinely one of my favorites for 2023, bravo to the author on making her debut full length novel so wonderful!

I really wanted to like this book as I like Kelly Link's short stories. Instead I found the pace plodding. The book was too long for the plot. While the individual characters were interesting,.that alone couldn't carry the book.

I appreciate the opportunity to read ARC. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers. My opinions are my own.

*sad trombone*

MAN, I really wanted this to be an epic, all in book of the year. Alas.....it was a DUD. Just page after page of words and words and nothing after nothing.

Sometimes, less is 100% more. 640 pages is too much. I love you, Kelly Link, but this isn't it.

Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

The Book of Love has a literary vibe, the plot is twisted and complex (and a bit purposefully confusing), there is love and loss, plot twists, magic, and a bit slow paced! This has vibes similar to The Night Circus, to me!
The plot of this book was SO interesting and I liked the jumping between the large cast of characters! There was a lot of diversity among the characters, where they were in life, what kind of magic they had (if they even had magic), and more! I really loved the plot and the concept but kind of struggled with the slow pace BUT I was also so curious about how the book would solve the problems and let me just say that I definitely did not see the end coming!
I would probably say this was a 3.5/5 ⭐️ read for me because I struggle with slower paced books but if you do not mind slower paced books (or listen to them as audiobooks 👀) and enjoy books like The Night Circus, then I recommend The Book of Love to you! Thank you so much to Random House for a free early copy!💖
I will post this review to @mandj_bookalicious on Instagram on or around the pub date!

I will not be reviewing this book, as I will not finish reading it. I love Kelly Link, especially for her weird stories and perspective in general. Her style adds to the fun. But the writing in The Book of Love is such that I don't want to bother. The book likely is not different from the usual, but it makes me tired. I do, as always, appreciate NetGalley making this book available. The above is my opinion alone.

I was really curious about this author given how popular her short stories seem to be but her full novel just did not grab me. I had a really hard time getting thru the book and found the authors style to be wordy and repetitive. While the plot had some good basis to it I personally did not find it to live up to the potential it had. The quest the four characters were going on seemed vague to me at best and the characters just did not grab my interest.

Amazingly enough, this book, which started out with a particularly visceral chapter by a grieving character, for the most part almost felt like a story with low stakes - which it’s not. There are characters’ lives - and second lives - at stake, supernatural entities and inexplicable magic, so by all means this should be a heady and exciting brew, but, but.

The first thing that raised my eyebrows was the multiple POVs. I don’t generally mind, but in this case POVs range from the main characters’ (recurring) to barely-part-of-the-plot townsfolk’s (one per person), and while I don’t have trouble keeping all of that straight in my head, I can’t help but wonder why I should. In the end, I don’t think I find this decision to be justified. I mostly liked how these chapters were written, but in the grand scheme of things they felt like not particularly necessary digressions to me - only notable as character studies maybe.

The overabundance of POVs was one of the things that affected the pacing: it picked up closer to the end (which was both satisfying and kind of ironic, come to think of it), but overall the book actually started to feel long even before I hit the 50% mark, and that’s not a great sign. The main plot line was like a buoy in a storm - sort of visible and there but submerged for prolonged periods of time in favor of philosophizing, sorting out the characters’ personal issues and/or realizations.

The best part about this book for me was the often complicated character dynamics, especially between siblings and within families, and the prose, which was gentle and enticing and heart-wrenching in all the right places. I’d say it could be a good book to check out for those who enjoy atmospheric stories focused on characters and their personal journeys.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of the Book of Love.

I really enjoy Kelly Link's short stories, and I confess that the blurbs by Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo sold me.

But this book was a struggle. I don't like to DNF, and I kept thinking "maybe a few more pages and I'll get drawn in" - but I never did.

I'll say it. I was bored, and when I say this was a struggle, I was more than two weeks to get through it (and that was in Covid isolation, so I literally had nothing to do.) The prose WAS lovely - but there was way too much internal thoughts, not enough clarity in the plot. All the internal thoughts did nothing to help move the plot, which felt meandering and vague.

(I'm still not sure I know what was going on.)

I wish there was more backstory to Bogamil and the other characters and just less Susannah because, again, I'm still not sure how she really helped the plot.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I should have DNFd it halfway through.

I won't post a review to Goodreads, though, because this book might be perfect for someone else, and I don't like to dissuade people from a book that might be awesome for them.

Laura, Daniel and Mo disappeared for a year before they return to a classroom in a school where their teacher, who maybe more than he seems is “waiting” for them. In this authors capable hands the supernatural seems natural and the bonds between these characters seem unbreakable. The descriptive nature of the book won’t be for everyone, but the prose is so beautiful it is hard to turn away. As difficult choices have to be made and lies have to be told the questions becomes who will stay qnd who will go?

I had never read anything by Kelly Link before but heard wonderful things about her short stories, so I was looking forward to this novel.

I don't even know where to begin. Her writing style probably does work well for short stories that last a few chapters. For a novel, especially one as long as this one, it does not.

The characters were one dimensional and boring. The constant droning on and on of every thought in their head, very little dialogue or action, brought me to a mind-numbing standstill. I pushed to a quarter way in and finally couldn't take it anymore. Nonsensical musings, ramblings about subjects that had nothing to do with the storyline. I think. It was difficult to figure out what the storyline exactly was. Love story? Young adult romance? Thriller? Mysteries of the occult? I cannot tell you as I still have no clue.

I hate not finishing a book. So, I jumped to the halfway point to see if it picked up at all. It did not. More of the same, with a few more characters added in. Still couldn't get a clear picture of what the author was trying to accomplish. Just more non-cohesive thinking/remembering about things that had no apparent rhyme or reason. Jumped to the end to see if that would pique my interest enough to go back and struggle through, but sadly, it did not. Same characters still mulling over things that may or may not happen, sooner or later.

I admit I DNF this novel. If you can, you are a braver soul than me.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Kelly Link. White Cat, Black Dog, was easily one of my top three books of this year, and I an avid collector of her short stories.. However, I am forced to reluctantly admit that her exceptional skill as a short story author does not translate to novel form. Core to her style is a sense of absurdist whimsy that infuses her short stories with charm and magic; in novel form, this translates to something more repetitive and frustrating. Quirky details become long anecdotes become discursive journeys into the perspective of characters I lack interest in, drawing focus away from the central plot which is already murky at best. There is a vague quest, there are four teenagers with messy relationships, there are looming and mysterious forces of good and evil. However, even halfway through the story this promise fails to coalesce into anything propulsive. The story is, if anything, more of a character study of the four main protagonists and the seaside New England town they live in. It is easy to lose track of the fantastical elements in the mundane ups and downs of their lives. I would have enjoyed this aspect a lot more if I found the cast likable: the only protagonist I was consistently rooting for was Mo. Daniel and Laura were surprisingly bland, and I was endlessly fed-up with Susannah, becoming quickly turned-off by her growing role in the story. I was significantly more interested in the arcane pasts of Mr. Anabin, Bogomil, Thomas, and Malo Mogge, and wish their characters and histories were more defined.

Overall, a somewhat disappointing novel debut from one of my favorite authors. I liked best the heavy influence of mythology and folklore that is key to any Link story: there are echoes of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Tam Lin, and plenty of other lesser-known but well-loved folktales that are likely influenced by her most recent story collection, itself a series of retellings.

I don't have a lot to say about this because I can't quite figure out what didn't work for me-- all the elements of this arguably were built for me but there was a lack of cohesiveness that made the story not quite work

This was a very challenging book to get through and I ended up not finishing it. I could not get into the story no matter how much I wanted to and I found the writing style to be challenging. I appreciated the concept and potential story but this one was not for me.