ARC Review: The Bookseller

NOTE: Guys, I read a book for adults dammit, I'm growing up.

So today, I am reviewing the book The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson, that comes out in March. It's about this woman Kitty, a single bookseller in 1962 Denver (REPRESENT) who starts having these vivid dreams that she's Katharyn, a married mother of three. As Katharyn's life becomes more real, she must decide which one is the real world and which one is imagined.

*NO SPOILERS AHEAD, OTHER THAN WHAT'S ON THE SUMMARY ON GOODREADS*

First off, this premise is without a doubt one of the coolest I've seen. Plus, it's a bookstore! Look at the name of this blog. Swanson did a great job crafting the story and drawing parallels between the two universes. I personally loved this part a lot because it was fun seeing the similarities and differences between the lives of Kitty and Katharyn.

(get it? because they didn't have gifs back in the 60s)

I also loved the almost/kinda two points of view. While Kitty and Katharyn are technically the same person, their lives are vastly different. It became very interesting to see how Kitty became Katharyn and Katharyn became Kitty. Confused?

Plus, the twist at the end. God, when I read it, I had to set the book down for a second (which was very hard because I refused to set this book down) and just pause because wow. Swanson did a great job writing this story because it makes so much sense in hindsight but when I read it, I was very much shocked.

I rate this book 134 bookstores out of 134 because this debut is just THAT good.

Sincerely,

Owyn the Intern