Review: The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This follows Cassandra in the wake of finding out that her caretaker has passed and she has inherited the magical bookshop she grew up in.  They have been estranged for several years, as Cass had not been the best protégé.  She is a better thief than student, and she is also able to tap into magic in a way other booksellers cannot.  Several people are interested in taking over the bookshop, but Cassandra decides she is up for the task despite their lack of confidence and trust in her.  She keeps running into Lowell Sharpe, another bookseller who immediately dislikes Cassandra without knowing much about her.  They quickly realize that there is something going on with the bookshop and the book community in general and they have to work together if they are going to save the magic and the books they love so well.

The premise of this book was interested.  I liked the idea that the ink and books themselves possess magic and certain booksellers possess the ability to bring those stories to life.  I do wish the Lady Fate tale had been a bit more expanded, it felt a bit confusing especially when we get to the paradox books.  That part was a bit rushed and I felt like the magic could have been explained a bit better.  I also felt like I never really understood why Cassandra was expelled from the bookseller community, it was a bit glossed over, but everyone hated her for her terrible misdeed.  I also never really understood the secret society of the booksellers and what their end goal was.  I feel like there were too many disparate plot lines that while they eventually came together, I spent much of the book wondering what was going on.  Perhaps had I read the book in print I would have felt differently as I would have been able to flip back and reference parts of the story, which you can't really do with audio.

Overall the storyline was interesting and I was invested in what happened to the bookstore, Cassandra and Lowell, and the magic. 

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