This was so, so cute. It’s one of those books that you start reading and then just can’t put down because it’s adorable.

I loved the secondary love story in this, the platonic one with Bonnie. It really enriched the power of this story for me. Such a joyful read.

The Book Swap is a debut book by Tessa Bickers that I totally enjoyed! Erin meets her Mystery Man when she accidentally leaves her favorite annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird in a Little Free Library. The book ends up back in the LFL a week later with new notes in the margins. From there starts a swapping of classic literature between two lonely souls communicating between the pages of these books. This novel was totally enjoyable and deals with such issues as second chances, mental health, death of a friend, bullying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grayson House for the advanced digital copy of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Book Swap. It was a light, quick read with an enjoyable premise but in that I felt like it was rushed. This was a slow start for me and by the time I got into it, it didn’t feel like much had happened.

A very cute and sweet story! Takes you on an adventure!! Slow start though. Love the writing and imagination!

I didn’t get to finish this book, I got a new Amazon prime account and my kindle deleted everything associated with my previous account including all of my downloads and I only just figured out why it wasn’t appearing whenI tried re-sending to my kindle multiple times. Now I’ve finally found the source of my problem and changed/updated the kindle email and can now download books again. It really messed up my reviews for all of the books I’d requested over the past few months, I apologize. I liked what I was able to read so that’s what I’m rating.

This story had its moments, but the premise felt too thin to warrant an entire book. I liked the little free library aspect and the romance was sweet but I just didn't connect with this one.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑺𝒘𝒂𝒑 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 (𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝑻𝒐 𝑲𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑨 𝑴𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅) 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝—𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐓𝐁𝐑 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤). 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤—𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭!

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 𝐵𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓎𝒹𝑜𝓃 𝐻𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of The Book Swap. It was a light, quick read with an enjoyable premise, and I especially appreciated the focus on the featured books within the story. However, I ultimately rated it 3 stars, as the storyline sometimes felt more melancholic than expected, falling short of the romantic comedy vibe I was hoping for. Additionally, the character development for James and Erin was a bit slow, which made it harder for me to fully connect with them

Okay this book is actually SO. CUTE. Are you kidding me? While I don't really read "classics", I think it's super cute that the main characters kept this friendship going based on all these old books! (I have read TKAM though and think it's really cool that it's what brought them back together) I feel The Book Swap also does a good job of blending heavy topics with the more lighthearted things.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took a few chapters for me to get into this book, but then I ended up enjoying it.

I enjoyed the book and thought it was written well but I was kind of thinking it would be more of a rom-com type of situation. Some things were romantic but it was actually more about self growth, overcoming hardships, and grief. I would still recommend this to others because I think the growth of the characters can provide new perspectives.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
I wanted to absolutely love this book because the premise sounded so intriguing! But I felt like a bit of the plot fell flat. The entire book is the miscommunication trope, which i feel is very hard to get right. The character of James bothered me a bit. I also didn't like the constant references to "his bullies" back in high school because I felt that a weird thing to bring up frequently as a much out of a college grown man. Book is definitely well written, just not the way I enjoy to read books.

This was difficult to get into and enjoy. I was a third through the book before the plot moved along enough from me to actually care about any of the characters. I appreciated the idea of the plot, but the execution was lackluster. The characters were poorly developed and I had absolutely no sympathy for Erin. I thought her as selfish and close-minded and petty. Her obsession with Bonnie and the grudges she’s held on other people seemed unrealistic, unhealthy, and annoying. I didn’t care at all that she and James eventually reached a resolution. The only saving grace was the discussions of the books involved in the swap. I did really enjoy the thought process behind why each book was chosen.

Erin is still learning to live through the grief of losing her very best friend unexpectedly from cancer. When she accidentally donates her favorite book to the local community library, the last thing she expects is for it to turn up a week later with all of her annotations responded to and an invitation to read and annotate another classic book. This book swap launches a unique friendship between Erin and a mystery man, who she can’t help but start feeling something for this guy. Perhaps, he isn’t a mystery, after all.

This book was so cute and fun. I thought the idea of it was unique and romantic. It does tackle some very heavy topics including death, loss, grief and mental illness. Honestly, sometimes the seriousness of the individual character’s lives felt so disjointed from the romance story that it was hard to feel like it was all part of the same story. I also felt like the timeline at the end got way wonky. It felt like sometimes we were skipping hours, days and months and it didn’t always line up. I felt confused. My favorite character was Georgia, the sister and I would have loved to hear more from her, tbh.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Tessa Bickers and Graydon House for the ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions in my review are honest, voluntary and my own

This was super cute. I loved watching their relationship grow, and watching the characters grow themselves, while they shared novels that they loved with each other. I think at times I felt like Erin is holding on to her grudge a little too tightly after so many years, but by the end she was definitely redeemed a little bit. Definitely a cute read!

Something was missing for me. I don't know what it was but I wasn't invested in the story. I think I just didn't vibe with the main character and the timelines were a little hard to keep up with.
I can see how others would enjoy this book though.

Tessa Bickers’ The Book Swap is a poignant look at grief and the small acts of kindness that can change our perspectives. Through the stories and lessons found in classic literature, the main characters in The Book Swap help each other find themselves again as they each go through dark periods in their lives, all while remaining anonymous. Bickers writes a love story from the margins of exchanged books, but tells the stories of the characters’ individual journeys to growth and acceptance straight on the page. I loved that this wasn’t just a romance, but a tale of friendship and mourning and what it means to continue on even after unknowable tragedy. Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Emily Henry, and Kara Gnodde will love this debut novel from Tessa Bickers.

A sweet romance tucked into an emotional ride! Laughter and lots of tears are guaranteed! I do highly recommend that you have a new box of tissues handy as you'll need them as the characters work through their fears of abandonment, fear of not being good enough or having enough security and more while also trying to find a bath to love, happiness and comfort. Witty banter, fantastic characters. and a plot that will draw you and keep you entertained and engrossed for hours. This author wove an extremely compelling story that had me completely attached to her characters and an overwhelming need to find out what happened next. I will definitely be looking for more books from this author as the romance was great, but the story of each individual character was so incredibly compelling that I was invested in each one!

The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers wasn't quite what I expected—it’s not really a romance, but a story wrapped in themes of trauma, grief, and loss. While the book had strong emotional depth and was written well, it leaned into heavier, sadder topics rather than a heartwarming love story.

If you’re looking for a feel-good romance, this might not hit the spot. However, if you're into stories that explore the emotional weight of life's hardships, this could be for you! The cover and category are a little misleading, but it’s still a good read if you're ready for something reflective.

I like the idea of the book, but I wasn't too hooked on the story. I will recommend it because I believe everybody should have their own opinion, and I might even help someone find their new favorite book!