The Bookshop Sisterhood follows four friends as they make plans to open a bookshop. I went into this book blind and enjoyed the general premise of this book. The story follows the lives of each of the friends. The story lines of the friends was filled with lots of drama, chaos, action, and cattiness. I wanted to love the book, but it didn’t quite work for me for the duration of the book. I wanted to feel the sisterhood but I think the train wreck of this group was hard to fall in love. Overall I’d say it was a 3 star experience. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Four best friends, the Sisterhood, dream of opening a bookshop. Toni, Leslie, Yasmeen, and Celeste have supported each other through life's highs, lows, and plenty of drama!

This book is a good choice if you enjoy stories about strong friendships—friends who support each other and aren't afraid to speak their minds, especially when tough decisions need to be made.

Overall, the book kept me entertained and was a fast-paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mira Paperback for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Bookshop Sisterhood follows four friends as they plan and open a bookshop that focuses on minority authors. The book follows each friend through the five months it took to open the shop. Along with the storyline of the shop, each friend goes through complete chaos in their personal and professional life. From medical issues to winning the lottery, each friend faces completely unbelievable circumstances. Although this book is action packed, it was extremely had to keep the characters straight. I will be interested to see what the author is able to publish next!

"The Bookshop Sisterhood" follows four women -- Celeste, Toni, Leslie, and Yasmeen -- through one of the most turbulent years of their lives. Marriage troubles, life-changing diagnoses, past choices coming back to bear, and on top of all that -- winning the lottery. When their lives seem to be crumbling at their feet, will friendship be enough to see them through?

I wanted to love this book, but it didn’t quite work for me. The concept of sisterhood didn’t feel right for this group of women, as they were more catty and toxic than supportive. I wasn’t seeking a flawless group of friends, but I expected them to at least seem like genuine friends, not frenemies. To be honest, I only managed to get through about a third of the book before deciding to stop. Although it had elements I usually enjoy, like bookstores, friendships, and found family, the stakes were so high that it felt unrealistic. This might appeal to readers who enjoy high drama and soap opera-like twists, but to me, it felt like an exaggerated gossip story that lost its believability.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA and NetGalley for providing an ARC.

I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t do it for me. I don’t think sisterhood was the right word for this group of women, because they were catty and toxic. I wasn’t looking for a perfect group of friends, but I expected them to feel like friends and not frenemies.

NOTE TO PUBLISHER: I made it through chapter 13. I felt that I got a good feel for the characters enough to provide a review for why the book wasn't working for me, but I do think there are readers who'll enjoy the book. I felt like there was a lot going on for each character & almost too much tension to keep up with. That is more a personal preference for me since I like drama to be a little lower stakes & more realistic.

REVIEW:
Four friends embark on an adventure that I'm sure a lot of us have dreamed of - opening a bookstore together. Each faces challenging twists-and-turns that threaten the opening of the shop. I really loved that the friends were also looking to fill their bookshop with books by authors of color.

To be very transparent, I only completed 1/3 of this book before I made the decision to DNF. There were a lot of elements that I typically like in a book (books about bookstores, friendship, found family, etc.) but the stakes were so extreme that it didn't feel realistic to me. This could be a great read for those who love high stakes & soapy drama. It almost read like a juicy gossip story that had been retold about 10 times & became more salacious in each iteration.

Is sisterhood the right word? lol lots of drama and toxicity. It was giving train wreck in a fun, hard to look away kind of way! A lot for me but I can see it being enjoyable for others. Well written though and I did like the story overall

˗ˏˋ꒰ 📚 ꒱ 2.5 stars (rounded down)

➳ i wanna start this off by saying thank you to netgalley and harlequin for this arc!!

➳ this book wasn’t bad, but it was kinda meh. i had a few complaints, which ill go over later in the review! ☺️

✧˖*°࿐ plot

➳ when four book loving bestfriends, celeste, toni, yasmeen, and leslie decided to open a bookstore together, they had no idea of all the obstacles they’d face in the months before its opening. a lot, and i mean A LOT of drama ensues, including but not limited to (☝️🤓) a lottery winner, a divorce, and many secrets…

✧˖*°࿐ didn’t like

➳ these grown *bleeeeeeeeeep* adults could get so… dumb? childish? self sabotaging? cringy? downright disappointing? is there a word that combines all of these traits and multiplies them by ten? bc it’d be very useful right now.. 😒 aren’t adults supposed to be… idk… MATURE?

➳ to expand on one of my points in that rant above 😭, the four grown women fmcs acted so childlike at times it actually made me physically cringe. it happened so often that it actually made this book lose a whole star bc i cannot handle a cringy book or cringy characters 😣

➳ most of the book was the women coping with their ongoing drama, whether it was against each other, their s/o, or family, and i found a significantly large portion of it to be so frivolous and unnecessary. like the fmcs were overreacting 90% of the time, bringing the drama onto themselves.

✧˖*°࿐ characters (some spoilers (i have beef with all of them))

➳ yasmeen: i was super sympathetic to her at the beginning but how did she not recognize her own reckless spending and lifestyle choices?? im much younger than her and i was wary of it..

➳ leslie: ok so i think her drama was the most valid bc her child was in life or death type danger… but like with her father/family nooo. (major spoilers til next character) i felt so bad for her dad he did not deserve how she treated him after loving her for years. i get that she was upset about the betrayal of not being told, however i do not understand why it took her so long to realize that although he wasn’t her bio father, he loved her and treated her like he was, and that he was her father in any other sense of the word. he supported her and was her family, and a family doesn't need to be linked genetically, but by love and care. sorry for the rant 😭

➳ celeste: i was very supportive of her at the beginning with her trauma but as the book went on her refusal to go to therapy, if not for herself, for the sake of preserving her marriage, just bothered me. when she finally got down to it, it turned out to be an extremely easy (and obvious) solution.

➳ toni: i felt so bad for her but honestly she made her situation so much worse by keeping it to herself.. and her past too. sincerity is the way guys 😇

➳ basically to sum it up all these characters got on my NERVES.

✧˖*°࿐ final thoughts

➳ so i did have a lot of criticism for this book.. however i must admit it was kinda entertaining at times 😭. like i wasn’t thinking, “oh my gosh, this is so good i need to keep reading” rather “omg all these ppl’s lives are getting destroyed”. it was like watching a train wreck 🫣

➳ i am significantly younger than the main characters, so this may affect my perception of this book. if you enjoy drama and are in your 30s, this may be the book for you! i personally just didn’t really enjoy it.

I wanted to love this book. I REALLY wanted to love it. Black women, a bookstore, and bringing on the sisterhood to tackle the big challenges of life?

It has so many choice ingredients...but the bread didn't quite rise.

The characters felt two-dimensional and exaggerated, more like a telenovela than real life. The bookstore planning seemed wildly impractical all the way through. Indeed, the life events were improbably dramatic en masse (you're telling me these super opinionated and never-not-ready-to-fight-with-each-other women didn't say, "Girl, one therapist not working doesn't mean all therapists won't work—we're finding you a recommendation!). It was the difference between a telenovela and a rom-com. While some of the moments of sisterhood were beautifully done, overall, the book felt like an author with real talent needed another round of revisions/support from the editorial teams around her to help move it from caricatures to characters, and from plot points to storytelling.

Ms. Lindo-Rice, it's clear you've got the chops, talent, imagination, and passion to succeed. I look forward to continuing to read your work and will purchase this nonetheless, because again: Black women, a bookstore, and bringing on the sisterhood is a story I want to read and support.

I was not familiar with any of Michelle Lindo-Rice's previous works but the description of The Bookshop Sisterhood was one that I found intriguing. I worked for four years in a bookstore so I love anything related to bookstores.

Four best friends who decide to open a bookstore together. But before they can open the bookstore, each of the four friends has major life-changing events.

This could be the case of not all books are for all readers. I just found that each of the four main characters all had such major issues in their lives and it was a downer. I found it hard to relate to any of the characters and finally cut my losses by waving the white flag. Their lack of business planning in opening the bookstore was one thing I could not get past.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is one of those books that reminds me of why I like to watch reality tv. I was LIVING for the drama and the gossip between this group of friends. There so many levels of their friendship and it's relevant in how this story reads. I enjoyed the writing that Michelle shared in The Bookshop Sisterhood, too.

There were things about this book that I liked and some things I didn't. When it started I liked the fact that these ladies had formed a friendship that lasted quite some years and were able to bond over books and other things and it also seemed that because of this bond they were there for each other in times of need. I also liked that when they bickered they were able to make up quickly, for the most part, like sisters would. I enjoyed the references to other books/authors throughout the book since they were opening a bookstore after all which made it a little relatable and realistic.

The drama that came up in their lives I felt at times was unnecessary because with the exception of Leslie, the other three basically brought the drama upon themselves. Also, Yasmeen was way too naive and gullible for me and I felt Toni's situation was drawn out more than it needed to be. Overall I did enjoy the book and how it came together but I felt the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked to see some more expansion into the closure of the ladies' drama and to see what happened once the Bookstore was finally owned by the 4 of them especially since the rest of the book had been very detailed.

The entanglement into the web of drama is unreal and so gravitating.
You know you are always told not to gossip but I appreciate the good drama in this book. Now please don't bring it into my real life. lol
I was expecting a comfy found family novel and I was thrown into the lake without a paddle but I made it ashore and the swim was so fun!

If you are looking for a fun read full of d-r-a-m-a please pick this book up and give it a chance! Didn't disappoint at all.

This was my first Michelle Lindo-Rice novel and it won't be my last!
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy of Michelle Lindo-Rice's novel.

There were things about this book that I liked and some things I didn't. When it started I liked the fact that these ladies had formed a friendship that lasted quite some years and were able to bond over books and other things and it also seemed that because of this bond they were there for each other in times of need. I also liked that when they bickered they were able to make up quickly, for the most part, like sisters would. I enjoyed the references to other books/authors throughout the book since they were opening a bookstore after all which made it a little relatable and realistic.

The drama that came up in their lives I felt at times was unnecessary because with the exception of Leslie, the other three basically brought the drama upon themselves. Also, Yasmeen was way too naive and gullible for me and I felt Toni's situation was drawn out more than it needed to be. Overall I did enjoy the book and how it came together but I felt the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked to see some more expansion into the closure of the ladies' drama and to see what happened once the Bookstore was finally owned by the 4 of them especially since the rest of the book had been very detailed.

Thank you to the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more! I loved the book description and the premise (women owned bookstore) but unfortunately it didn't deliver in the way I hoped and it was almost a DNF for me. I thought in parts it was trying too hard to bring too much complexity into what could simple have been a story of enduring friendship. I also had hoped that the actual bookshop would have been a larger character! There were some inaccuracies that needed cleaning up ie) the colonoscopy - not that was that major but kind of changed how I felt about reading the book - almost like I couldn't really trust and delve deeply into the story. Thank for the opportunity to review this book.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Books About Books, African American Fiction
Spice Level: References to sex and some sex on page
Language: I don't remember any swearing

*THE BOOKSHOP SISTERHOOD* explores friendship.

There are four main female characters—the white woman is described as having a blonde bob and we know through inference the other three women are black. I loved how these four have been such good friends for about two decades.

Problems are heaped upon these friends: marital strife, partners not stepping up, illness, financial woes, getting lied to, and more. Sometimes the women do not handle the stress well and lash out at each other. Some of the things said are rough. I would have a hard time forgiving my friends if they ragged on me like this.

I also like the thread of the dream of owning a bookshop together that weaves through the story. There are also elements of faith and forgiveness that took some turns I didn't expect. I liked how the women expressed their faith because it was authentic and subtle.

If you want to read about a group ride and die friends, this is the perfect book for you!

Happy reading!

"The Bookshop Sisterhood" by Michelle Lindo-Rice is a heartwarming and deeply moving novel that celebrates the power of friendship and resilience. This beautifully crafted story follows four best friends—Celeste, Yasmeen, Toni, and Leslie—as they stand on the brink of realizing their dream of opening a bookstore. Their vision is to create a haven for their community, a place where readers can find solace in an intriguing book, enjoy a comforting beverage, and connect with fellow book lovers.

Just as the excitement of their grand opening builds, their lives are thrown into disarray. Toni faces devastating news just months before her wedding, Celeste grapples with a marriage on the verge of collapse, Leslie uncovers a shocking family secret, and Yasmeen's life takes an unexpected turn after winning the lottery—but not in the way she hoped.

As the grand opening of the bookstore looms, the four women must rely on each other more than ever to navigate their personal crises. Through their grief and uncertainty, they discover the strength of their sisterhood and learn that even the most unexpected plot twists in life can lead to beautiful new beginnings.

Lindo-Rice's "The Bookshop Sisterhood" is a testament to the enduring bonds of friendship and the transformative power of community, making it a must-read for anyone who loves stories of hope, love, and resilience.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review for my honest opinion.

I love books set in bookstores and libraries, and I love to read women's fiction in the summer. So I thought Michelle Lindo-Rice's new book The Bookshop Sisterhood would be the perfect read. But I was so wrong. I almost could not finish this book.

First off, we are barely introduced to the characters when we are dropped into their soap opera-worthy drama with men. Since I didn't get to know the characters there was no connection with them and therefore I had little care for their problems. And then, how they handled their problems made me dislike all the main characters. They were constantly sniffling or being nasty to each other only to turn right around and pledge that they were there for each other. These women would not have been my friends in real life. They felt false and un-genuine in their claims of friendship.

Don't even get me started on their lack of proper grammar when speaking. Using "ain't" is a pet peeve of mine so that grated on my nerves but what really got under my skin was the lack of the verb "are" in their dialogue.

Then there were the inaccuracies that could have been cleared up with a simple Google search. I like for my realistic fiction to be based on reality and not just how the author thinks the real world works. For example, Yasmeen is taking her father to his colonoscopy appointment. Ironically, when I read this scene it was the morning of my own colonoscopy. Yasmeen makes a comment to her father about needing to be empty because her mother had made him an egg sandwich. However, the night before she stopped and got fast food for her parents and later ordered a pizza. I know for a fact that the day before a colonoscopy you are on a clear liquid diet.

Another example... when Toni is at the gynecologist's office she is taken from the waiting room by a Physician Assistant (PA) to see a doctor. I see a PA and she never gets me from the waiting room - a nurse does. And I only see the PA, not the MD in the office. I don't think the author (or the editors) understands what a PA is.

In a lot of ways it reminded me of the fanfiction stories I read 20 years ago where writers often got the real-world workings wrong because they weren't taking the time to do even basic research (which we overlooked, or left comments about, as these were considered first draft stories).

While I love women's fiction, I don't care for romance novels. And with all the talk of sex and texting nude pictures so too much like a raunchy romance novel for me.

I was also disappointed with the lack of talk about the bookstore. I felt deceived as there was actually very little time spent discussing the bookstore and even their book club meetings barely discussed books. I mean they mention playing games but we don't see that. Instead, they once again discuss men.

As you can see I was very disappointed with this book. I read it in big chunks just to get through it and tried not to roll my eyes too much at the ridiculousness of it all. However, I know that everyone has different reading tastes so if you enjoy romance novels then this will probably be a more enjoyable read for you.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/07/the-bookshop-sisterhood-by-michelle.html

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. This book is about 4 friends from different walks of life who decide to open a bookshop together due to their shared love of reading and their sister like bond. From the moment they decide to go into business together, their lives begin to unravel and challenge their friendships in ways they did not think possible. The bond and humor amongst these women is inspiring and I enjoyed the book immensely.