Set in the charming backdrop of Dubrovnik's Old Town, "The Dubrovnik Bookclub" is a heartwarming tale of friendship and discovery. Claire Thomson's arrival in Croatia leads her to an unexpected adventure as she joins a book club with her cousin Vedran, Luna, and Karmela. What begins as literary discussions soon turns into a captivating investigation, intertwining their lives in unforeseen ways.
Eva Glyn's storytelling shines in this poignant exploration of community, the power of books, and the bonds that unite us. "The Dubrovnik Bookclub" is a delightful reminder of the joy found in shared stories and the courage to embrace life's adventures. With its warmth and wisdom, Glyn's novel is sure to enchant readers seeking a captivating read.

I really really loved this book!

I have visited Croatia (both Dubrovnik and Cavtat) mentioned in the book and Eva did a wonderful job of setting the scene and culture, and describing just how beautiful Croatia is.

This book has such a wonderful mixture of diverse characters, all with their own struggles and interesting stories.

Eva's ability to show how books can transform people was a real highlight for me.

I just couldn't recommend this book enough & it is up there with one of my favourite reads this year.

Claire goes to stay with family in Dubrovnik and agrees to run a bookshop along with its book club. They take it in turns to choose a book to share. We're going to Dubrovnik in the autumn and I was keen to get a sense of the area. I loved this book and getting to know the characters and the quirky book group.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Told from four different points of view it could get a bit confusing to follow. Not a bad book but a bit complicated and slow moving.

Very cute book. A bit confusing on what is happening at first and the relevance of the events. At one point I was considering not finishing it but it turned out pretty good in the end. It was not what I was expecting. Adding a star for the ending.

I was on the blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources

http://ramblingmads.uk/2024/03/21/blog-tour-the-dubrovnik-book-club-eva-glyn/

A mystery drama set in the fascinating city of Dubrovnik, it's turbulent past still resonating with it's residents. I found the pace slow and meandering and could not engage with the characters. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

While this was an interesting mystery, I couldn't connect with the characters. No deep thinking involved on my part, the book just meandered along. I was provided with a complimentary digital ARC by NetGalley and the publisher. This review is my own.

In the book we follow the 4 character and their POV. They all have their own problems, and Eva did a great job describing all of them, without making it seem like those problems are impossible to have. What was also great that no problem was made unimportant. We all carry our baggage, and it is important to know that. I had to say that I connected the most with Luna and her struggles with coming out to her parents. It is sad to say that Croatia isn’t very open to LGBTQ+ community, but that will hopefully change in the future.

What really got me in the book was the friendship of all the different characters. They all were so different, but they all made an amazing group of friends. It is a kind of friendship that I long for, to have a group of people who support and love you without asking for anything in return. I have to say that those were the scenes that got me to tears for sure.

If you want to be taken away to beautiful Croatia and the beautiful town of Dubrovnik, learn about it’s history at least a bit, you should read this book. Especially with the spring coming up, this would be a perfect book to read while you are waiting for sunnier and warmer days. There are some deeper topics that this book touched on, but it makes this book more special.
“You have so much courage – can you be brave again?”

The Dubrovnik Book Club is a beautifully written book that follows the courageous stories of four strong individuals who are facing difficult and personnel challenges. Claire, who has just survived Long Covid, is struggling to get herself out of isolation. Crowds, coughing individuals, confined spaces, and public locations leave her with extreme anxiety. Claire moves to Dubrovnik in hopes of getting a semblance of her old life back. Claire's cousin Vedran went through an abusive relationship in which social media made him the villain, Now, he can't escape the dark stares and awful gossip whenever he steps outside. In Claire's attempts to venture out, she takes a job at a local bookshop where she meets Luna, a young woman who is struggling with the prejudices of her small island village. Finally, Karmela, an academic studying historic Croatian women, joins the bookshop's book club. Between the friendships she makes at the book club and her relationship with her neighbor, Karmela relearns to have relationships and makes peace with her past.

The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the stories are elegantly entwined. I loved all the main characters, as well as the side characters. The author describes the setting with beautiful detail. I honestly felt like I was wandering the small alleyways of the Balkans. Speaking of the Balkans, I craved all of the food that was described. I loved how the author incorporated the language, the food, and the culture throughout the entire book. I highly recommend The Dubrovnik Book Club. It's a fantastic piece of literature.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publsihi ghouse and the author for the opportunity to read a compiemtary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a lovely story in such a different location. I feel like I travelled with the characters to Croatia and I really need to have buy a dzezva and make proper coffee. yum. It was good read and I really wnjoyed the storyline and the characters.

I enjoyed travelling to a part of the world that I didn't know much about. The author's descriptions of Croatia was vivid enough for me to picture the city in my mind while reading. I loved the escapism of the novel. The characters were all loveable and you could find parts of yourself in each one. The story was really well written and I don't have any negatives to say about it at all.

This was my first read by this author, and I enjoyed it. It was ultimately an uplifting story about found family, friendship, and the courage it takes sometimes to keep just jeep going in difficult circumstances. I loved the setting, which the author does a fantastic job of conveying without ever making it a distraction. Not exactly a light read, but an emotional and enjoyable one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy. All views are entirely my own.

A book about books and in such a cinematic location - what’s not to love. This is similar to other books where a book club forms comprising an unrelated and eclectic group of people. They share not only book titles but also each other’s lives etc etc. So what sets this particular book club apart from other similar reads? Location, history and culture.

Dubrovnik Croatia, especially the old part of town, is the location that makes this book worth the trip. From its fractured rich history, to the architecture, to the history and its people - even the food and language - all combine to make this a rich cultural read. A multilayered story told from the varying perspectives of the book club members in an iconic location that will have you googling to heighten the experience.

I really enjoyed this book, it is all about the trials and tribulations of 4 people living in Dubrovnik who are members of a book club, The Dubrovnik Book Club which is started by Claire who has escaped England and moved in with her Grandmother and now lives in Dubrovnik. Claire is extremely nervous of people having had a bad experience with Covid and then Long Covid afterwards. Claire's life is about to change when she starts a new job at a local bookshop, she meets Luna here and they quickly become good friends.

With her cousin Vedran, who is suffering from the disappearance of his fiance, employee Luna who is trying to come to terms with her lifestyle and Karmela, a professor, studying history, they form an unlikely book club. Beautifully written and thoroughly recommended.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I found it a refreshing read after my previous reading of a psychological thriller. I enjoyed all the characters of the book club and their individual hidden problems. The links to recent events in Croatia's history and Covid were well incorporated without being to heavy. I had read the previous book, The Collaborator's Daughter, but had forgotten that the main characters were the same. I only realised when reading the authors notes. So definitely not necessary to read that book first.
I highly recommend this book and author. .

Where to start with this fabulous book? It has so much going on within the pages that it is going to be hard to talk about in a simple review. That being said, it has one simple theme running through it that binds all of the others together, and it is probably my favourite theme to explore through literature – friendship.

Claire has travelled to Croatia to try and put her life together after a bout of Long Covid which has made her terrified of getting out in society and living her life. Her grandmother has found her a job in a tiny bookshop in Dubrovnik where she can ease herself back into the world gently, but Claire is still daunted by the task. She finds herself working with the effervescent Luna, who has moved to Dubrovnik from a small island to explore life in a big city where she hopes she can stop hiding a secret she is carrying around. Claire’s cousin, Vedran has problems that also have him hiding away from other people and it is only through the shop’s book club that they start to open up to the possibilities the world offers.

This book explores so many important issues that people face in the modern world. Long covid, narrow mindedness, dementia, domestic abuse, the long time trauma of modern warfare are all explored as issues in the novel, always sensitively and with due attention to the reality of these matters with fascinating links back to book club picks that relate to the characters. It is very cleverly but naturally plotted so the reader is drawn into the story and going through addressing these things with the characters.

The book takes all around the city of Dubrovnik, exploring the modern day reality as well as its history, and it will make you want to visit as soon as you can if you’ve never been before. I love reading about places from the viewpoint of people who are actually living there rather than just visiting as a tourist and it’s very clear that this is a place the author loves and has taken care to research carefully in order to portray it accurately and I loved the smattering of Croatian scattered through the book.

As I said, the main theme of the book is friendship and this is what ties it all together. It is through friendship that the characters find the strength, acceptance and support to confront their problems and work through them to get to a point where they can embrace life to the fullest. Friendship makes us feel less alone in times of trouble and gives us confidence that we are good enough as we are, despite what the rest of the world may think. Even though the book deals with some difficult subjects, it is a book that leaves the reader with hope, and that is something we all need a bit more of in the current world. A great read.

When I read the description of the book, it seemed I would be reading a cozy mystery adventure but this book delivered more of a contemporary fiction vibe. As a fan of books centered around book clubs, I was excited to dive in, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives and at times, it felt almost too overwhelming with how much each of the characters were battling internally. Despite this, the backdrop of Dubrovnik's beauty, albeit overshadowed by the pandemic, added a captivating layer to the story.

I appreciated the diverse backgrounds of the characters, with particular attention given to the journey of an LGBTQIA+ character embracing their true self. The novel also tackled important themes, but again, almost too many that it felt clunky.

In the end, while I appreciated the depth and complexity of "Dubrovnik Book Club," it didn't quite capture my heart as I had hoped.

The book was set in the beautiful country of Croatia and the author painted a lovely picture of Dubrovnik and the historic architecture.

I loved getting to know all the characters and all their individual stories. Then they all come together at the bookshop’s book club forming unlikely friendships through their love of books.

The author touched upon a fair few important topics in the book including, homophobia and coming out, health anxiety and covid, the effects of war and the negative effects of social media.

I was not too sure about this book at first, though I liked the setting in Dubrovnik, the language was a bit stilted and the plot felt a bit contrived. However as it went on, I came to enjoy the book more. Yes, some of the problems are resolved (may be too) easily, but it is entertaining and although some serious issues are discussed, like war in the Balkans, attitudes to homosexuality and abuse in relationships, it is an entertaining read. Covid also rears it's head here, probabily a reflection on the time in which the book was written. This is likely to get old within a few years as the lockdown becomes a distant memory. It is written from different viewpoints and each of the main group has their own secret.
I have read others by this author, most of which I have enjoyed, some of the others are also set in Croatia and as this one describe the countryside/places well.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review