Reader's Review: Confessions of a Curious Bookseller by Elizabeth Green

While scrolling through NetGalley, I chose this book on cover alone. I received my free copy in exchange for an honest review.  

When I chose the book, I figured it would be about a crazy cat lady.  Picture an older, grouchy American version of Bridget Jones (of Bridget Jones' Diary), who goes on drunken email tirades, crossed with You've Got Mail.  

The protagonist is Fawn, a spinster bookstore owner with a drinking habit who alienates herself from others (there is a long backstory and I don't want to give too many details). Just know the book chronicles the ins and outs of her daily life and her strained relationships with many people (family members, employees, fellow businessowners, etc.) Her character comes off as a real curmudgeon. There are several supporting characters in the book. The author did do a good job with character development.  All of the supporting characters tie back to Fawn. 

There are many different forms of writing in the book; anytime Fawn wrote or received correspondence, it was made available for the reader.  This wasn't just in the form of diary entries, but also emails, notes to tenants & employees, blog posts, etc.  

Personally, I didn't like the flow of this novel, but it was still readable. If grouchy characters with one-sided stories don't bother you, you'd probably rate it higher. I rated it 1 star.  Mainly because it took a couple times of me putting the book down and walking away from it completely in order to finish.  I considered adding it to my (very short) DNF list; however, as it is an epistolary novel, I was happy to satisfy one of my book challenge prompts.  

Spoiler alert: THE saving grace is in the last few pages of the read when Fawn softens, and the reader gets a glimpse into what hopefully is a better future outlook.