Book: The Lost for Words Bookshop OR Lost for Words
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 5/5 Stars
I picked this book up as part of our September book club and instantly fell in love with it. You know that feeling of curling up with a warm blanket on a cool, rainy day? That’s what this book is! It’s a warm blanket. The story is consuming and real and so incredibly beautifully written!
Before I get into it any further, here is the Goodreads summary:
Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look closely, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are things she’ll never show you.
Fifteen years ago Loveday lost all she knew and loved in one unspeakable night. Now, she finds refuge in the unique little York bookshop where she works.
Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past. Someone is trying to send her a message. And she can’t hide any longer.
Lost for Words is a compelling, irresistible and heart-rending novel, with the emotional intensity of The Shock of the Fall and all the charm of The Little Paris Bookshop and 84 Charing Cross Road.
So, I was able to listen to the audiobook via my library and I instantly fell in love with it and went out to grab the physical copy of the book. The story is full of so many wonderful things so I just want to touch on a few that make it a perfect book! I will precede my review with a trigger warning, there is physical abuse mentioned and carried out in this book.
First off, Loveday herself. She is strong and independent and has to overcome so much in her life! Stephanie writes such a real and believable character that you can’t help but fall in love with her. If you listen to the audiobook, the voice actor and the accent really help to put the reader into Loveday’s shoes, but honestly she is written in such a vivid way it would be hard not to!
I also adored the way this story was broken up. You see the history of Loveday through her past and present and this is done in such a fantastic way. Through the history you see the past of who she was before the “incident”, who she was after and who she grew into. It’s a beautiful story, not necessarily “coming of age” but in a way it is.
Finally, I loved how Stephanie wrote love and more specifically relationships. Not just romantic relationships, but friendships as well! She goes into painstaking details about what real love is both in a romantic relationship and a friendship and if you are not crying by the last page because of this I you are heartless. This book is full of relationships even though Loveday seems completely introverted.
If you are looking for a feel good and real book this fall, pick this one up, you won’t regret it!
Joyfully Jacquie 