Feb 18

Feb 18 The Book of Love

About the book

Author: Kelly Link
Publisher: Random House

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

When I heard that speculative-short-story-GOAT Kelly Link had written a doorstopper of a debut novel, I was ALL IN. This won’t be for everyone, but this was extremely my thing.

What a beautiful story to get lost in. Life, death, music, love, sacrifice, friendship, siblinghood, grief; this one has it all. Also plenty of the uncanny. Also a villain who is the moon, but also death, kind of? I mean, what’s not to love. And yes, it’s about four teenagers, but they are so vivid and real, don’t let that deter you, even if you usually have trouble relating to teenage characters.

Some will say this was too long, but the length didn’t bother me at all. I loved all the time we spent getting to really know these characters and see each of their individual lives. As Alix Harrow said: “Is it ‘slow’? Sure. Yeah. So is spring. So is a sunset. So is sex, if you're doing it right, and death, if you're lucky. Some things are meant to be savored.” I couldn’t agree more.