Looking For a Good Book

Bookshops can be magical. Any dedicated reader knows this. But the Midnight Bookshop is truly MAGIC-al. The shop is found only at midnight in strange locations and by invitation.  Enter and feel free to browse, but the visitor doesn’t choose a book – the book chooses the reader.

Three people, strangers to each other, Jo, Adelaide, and Kye, arrive at the Midnight Bookshop one night, each intrigued by flyers inviting them to the shop. The shopkeeper, Fay, is a charming, friendly woman who guides the three young people through the way in which this shop works, helping them understand that the books that have chosen them may have done so for a reason.

Though the books don’t necessarily appeal to each of them, on the surface, they find that as they read them (books which are familiar to most readers of this book), the book speaks to them. Something in the story touches a nerve to what they might be experiencing at home.

The three strangers begin to form a bond – a friendship stronger than just three people who have a common interest in books. They support one another in their everyday lives and even a romance will develop.

Of course a book about books and bookshops will appeal to most readers, and author Amanda James takes this built-in audience and takes them on a sweet, personal, fantasy journey.

The concept is based on the idea that many young readers (not necessarily high schoolers, but also not necessarily post-uni adults) use books to escape troubles in their lives. These three, Jo, Adelaide, and Kye, are brought to the shop because of troubles they have. It’s not just the books that help them, but the empathy and friendship of each other that they need.

This is definitely more about people and relationships than it is about books or even the fantasy element of a shop that transcends time and place – this is merely a device to get to the story about these three people.

The language is soft and poetic – sometimes a little too much so. There were moments, especially around the male protagonist, Kye, that I would have liked something a little more substantial, but overall I quite enjoyed the book and the path it took. I was definitely expecting more of a fantasy about the shop, but this was better than what I was expecting.

I’d highly recommend this to eager YA readers.

Looking for a good book? The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James is a sweet YA novel of three people who find each other through the magic of a special bookshop.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Midnight Bookshop

author: Amanda James

publisher: One More Chapter

ISBN: 9780008757625

paperback, 384 pages