Book Review: The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by the author, publisher, or other related entity.


Synopsis:

Breakdown Review:

The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins is an adult fiction read in the magical realism subgenre and I adored it. Seriously...I am SUCH a sucker for magical realism. I love living vicariously through books, I tell you.

It's a cute story with a few quirky characters. It's one of those that fits perfectly into the trope of small town Southern magical realism and it's a book that provides all the feels in a wonderfully fantastic way. Within just a few pages, I was sucked right into the comfort, the coziness of Hawkins's setting and the writing reminded me of a Sarah Addison Allen novel (which is what I seem to use as my magical realism benchmark). I was quite blatantly hooked early on.

The title of the book is apt, but still feels a little misleading given the actual plot of the book. Sarah Dove--the actual book charmer--does function prominently in the development of the narrative, but I felt that Grace's story was more of the focus. Because of this, the plot was a little different than I expected, with less focus on Sarah that I really wanted based on the title, but it worked all the same. The narrative was interesting and the characters were fun and real. I very much liked the character of Travis Parker as well as Sarah herself. I had less enjoyment with the character of Grace, but this was easily explained by the fact that she is not meant to be a likable character for a good portion of the book. Hawkins clearly did well in writing her since I didn't take a shine to her for quite a while. There was a balance of emotion within the writing and not everything was generated with a shiny exterior. I appreciated that and felt that Hawkins left quite a bit in her development of the characters and the town that I wanted to continue to explore.

Overall, The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins was a very charming, cozy, and cute read. I loved the characters and...noting that there are some unfinished stories and that the author does have a prequel of sorts for this book already...I will be hoping for a sequel. I am longing for more!