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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin
Ahoy there me mateys! Aye, me first read of the year is neither fantasy nor sci-fi. But on the plus side it is set in a bookstore. I have been meaning to read this for forever and then the audiobook I had been on a wait list for was automatically checked out to me. So here we are.
This ended up being a very uneven read for me with the balance being on the negative side. There were parts I loved and there were parts that I didn’t love at all. What I loved best about this book was the first third. A.J. Fikry is a grumpy bookseller on a small island who has very pointed views about how life should be lived and what books should be read. He is set in his ways. Ye are first introduced to him through a young woman, Amelia, who is promoting her publisher’s current catalog. He is not nice.
Fikry’s life is falling apart and he is on the verge of giving up when a toddler is left in his bookstore with a note. His life changes then and there. Watching Fikry’s life change for the better was refreshing. I adore his relationship with Maya and watching it grow. I also really loved Amelia and Lambaise. The book basically goes through Fikry’s entire life with the reader seeing the major highlights.
The parts I didn’t like had mostly to do with character and writing style. I absolutely didn’t like Ismay’s character or her entire subplot. I get that it was part of the whole twist at the end but it didn’t work for me. I wanted her to go away. As for writing style, it was obvious that the author has a love of literature and the book is sprinkled with nuggets of book fun. But there are sections of Fikry’s ranting that were snobbish and rude. Characters in the book even comment that Fikry makes them feel dumb. The author did metatextual things with the writing in this regard that I didn’t care for. And the ending. I didn’t like the entire end of Fikry’s life or what happens to the others once he is gone.
That said, I do understand why people love this one. I am glad they love this one. I just wish that it would have worked out better for me. No regrets about readin’ this but I won’t ever reread it.
Side note: It feels so very good to be caught up on reviews and be writing a post for one book at a time!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
This ended up being a very uneven read for me with the balance being on the negative side. There were parts I loved and there were parts that I didn’t love at all. What I loved best about this book was the first third. A.J. Fikry is a grumpy bookseller on a small island who has very pointed views about how life should be lived and what books should be read. He is set in his ways. Ye are first introduced to him through a young woman, Amelia, who is promoting her publisher’s current catalog. He is not nice.
Fikry’s life is falling apart and he is on the verge of giving up when a toddler is left in his bookstore with a note. His life changes then and there. Watching Fikry’s life change for the better was refreshing. I adore his relationship with Maya and watching it grow. I also really loved Amelia and Lambaise. The book basically goes through Fikry’s entire life with the reader seeing the major highlights.
The parts I didn’t like had mostly to do with character and writing style. I absolutely didn’t like Ismay’s character or her entire subplot. I get that it was part of the whole twist at the end but it didn’t work for me. I wanted her to go away. As for writing style, it was obvious that the author has a love of literature and the book is sprinkled with nuggets of book fun. But there are sections of Fikry’s ranting that were snobbish and rude. Characters in the book even comment that Fikry makes them feel dumb. The author did metatextual things with the writing in this regard that I didn’t care for. And the ending. I didn’t like the entire end of Fikry’s life or what happens to the others once he is gone.
That said, I do understand why people love this one. I am glad they love this one. I just wish that it would have worked out better for me. No regrets about readin’ this but I won’t ever reread it.
Side note: It feels so very good to be caught up on reviews and be writing a post for one book at a time!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/