The Bookbinder's Daughter- Book Review

The Bookbinder's Daughter by Jessica Thorne

Publication Date: 20th Sep 2021

Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, Magic Realism, Romance

3.7 Stars 

Sophie gets a job offer to work at the Ayredale Library as a bookbinder. Her uncle, Edward, holds a prominent position at the library. Her mother has last disappeared from the same place fifteen years ago. Her father, too, used to work there until the incident made him break his ties with the Library and everyone associated with it. Sophie has little memory of the past but wants to find the truth. 

Getting away from a manipulative ex, Sophie finally begins to feel at home in the strange Library. With Will, her childhood friend and first love, being the guardian, Sophie starts to reestablish herself and dig through her memories to fill the gaps. The Library and the antique books have always called to her. In fact, they sing to her, luring her into a place of no return. 

However, the ancient power demands sacrifice and control. As Sophie’s memory returns in bits and others fill in the blanks, can she give what it takes to be the Binder of the Library? 

The premise and the cover were enticing, and I couldn’t resist requesting the book. The story starts with Sophie in London, living with her ex and working as a binder at another prestigious library, albeit a non-magical one. 

After much hesitation and a reality check, Sophie accepts the offer to work at the Ayredale Library. She realizes that she can remember much more than she imagined, and Will occupies a good portion of them. 

The writing is engaging. I wasn’t sure of the insta love between Sophie and Will, but it worked decently well in the overall plotline. Will’s character sure helped to see their love track in a positive light. The imagery is vivid and easy to imagine. 

The pacing went a bit up and down; sometimes slow, sometimes too fast. A couple of other characters were interesting enough but could have had more depth. They don’t ‘come to life’ in the book. The same goes for Sophie, in a way. Somehow, it feels odd that she would choose to live with someone like her caricature-bad ex, even when none liked him. Only Will seemed to be ‘real’. 

Of course, my favorite character is Tia. I could visualize her and Sophie’s mom, Elizabeth, with ease. Sophie paled in comparison, and even during the climax, her presence didn’t really elevate the scene. She just didn’t seem strong enough despite the scene being written for her to prove her worth. That diminished the impact a little, but Tia's presence made up for it. 

To sum up, The Book Binder’s Daughter has a lovely premise and beautiful world-building. The premise demands nothing less than the best, and the story needed better execution. It’s good but doesn’t make me go wow. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

#NetGalley #TheBookBindersDaughter