Let's Talk Books

First things first, thank you to NetGalley, Afterglow Books, and Katherine Garbera for a galley of The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love in return for an honest review!

I am a sucker for books about books, and emotionally intelligent romcoms, and this ticked every box! Sera and Wes were two of the most communicative, emotionally aware romantic leads I have ever had the pleasure to read. Their introspection became a little repetitive, as they both came to terms with, but then couldn’t push past, their issues. That being said, it was really refreshing to read them not only admit to themselves what was wrong, but communicate that so clearly with each other. For such a short book, it also felt like their relationship developed at a pretty sensible pace. I think in compact romcoms like this it can sometimes feel like the leads go from strangers to soulmates, Garbera gave herself the room to show genuine growth, and I think she did it so elegantly.

As well as the romance in this book there is a really strong found family element, I loved the vibe of the WiCKed Sisters, and their satellites (Merle especially.) You could really feel the warmth in every interaction between Sera, Poppy and Liberty. It was such an honest and yet deeply felt portrait of female friendship. I adored the way Garbera wrote them. I will absolutely be following this series, as it was going I was trying to guess at which sister might be next up. 

On top of everything else I loved watching Sera and Wes interact with books, I work in an archive, and so seeing them talk about and appreciate old tomes just really warmed my heart. It was such a core facet of their relationship, and of Sera’s relationship with Ford. I think it seeing them bond over something they both considered so important really helped to understand how their relationship could grow so quickly.

I have so many good things to say about this book, but I should say here I had a couple of small problems with it. In places the writing felt awkward, and some of the interactions just didn’t add up. Like, physically the way people were moving or sitting read awkwardly. But I think that’s a small things and it was easy to get over! 

All in all I think this was a solid read, and of the two Afterglow books I’ve read this month this was by far my favourite.