The Bookbinder's Daughter: An absolutely gripping page-turner filled with magic and family secrets

Loved this story about books and libraries and creativity. Well told story about a young woman who works as a bookbinder and her family history. It checks all of the boxes: mystery, romance, fantasy, coming into one’s own, and magic. Well written and enjoyable read.

I couldn't put this book down, just wanted it to keep going. The story is a little too complex for its length and could be better developed if this book was 100 pages longer but I'm an unrepentant brick reader, so take my feedback with that in mind.Spoilers below:Tia as a character needed so much more development. She could have been so interesting instead of just a drunk repressed victim of unrequited love. What is her function as archivist? What deeper symbolism could be found there?Same with Will. And the Professor, and Edward, and actually everyone except Victor and Sophie's father. Also the magic and the history of the grimoire and the keepers' books... There just could have been as lot more depth. Everything was sort of glanced off, we were only scratching the surface of a rich tradition and history. If the entire world would truly devolve into chaos without the Axis Mundi, why weren't the legacies' parents a little more serious about teaching them that?I'm still giving this book 4 stars because I ate it up, but I was wishing it was a little more developed.

I couldn’t put it down. Absolutely loved the characters and the range of emotion the story evoked. I have definitely become a Jessica Thorne fan.

I purchased this book because of the ‘bookbinder” in the title. I did enjoy the beautiful restoration descriptions in the story. I liked the development of Sophie and Will’s love story. However, the greatest part of the story was so fantastical, it was beyond me. I’ve occasionally read fantasy, but I simply couldn’t make heads or tails out of this particular plot. The Tree??? This is certainly not to say that someone else won’t understand and love this story.

Loved this book from beginning to end. Had me intrigued and eager to read, I w a s entranced by the magical mystery of the library and wish I could go visit there. Definitely recommend this book.

Interesting book and a good story. I thought the drawing out of all the secrets went on too long. I would have preferred that to happen much quicker and more time spent on the philosophical aspects of creativity.

Loved every page of this book. Twists and turns, a strong heroine with a bit of magic mixed in. Couldn't put it down!

The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a mystery. Sophia’s mother disappeared when she was a teenager. What happened to her? Why won’t her father talk about her, or about their life when she was alive. Sophia has a few partial memories of her mother, and a necklace her mother gave her; but nothing more. Her mother’s disappearance and her own confusion about it led to what was diagnosed as a mental breakdown and her current situation. She is an extreme introvert who has willingly let her life be controlled by Victor for several years. Sophia is a talented bookbinder who loves creating them for their beauty. Victor loves to exploit them for the wealth they can yield. BUT WAIT…The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a fantasy, a tale about a remote place where there is a magical library. A place where the books talk or sing to Sophia as well as some other residents. A library that has some legacy employees whose families have been part of the library for generations. Sophia learns she is a legacy, but she doesn’t yet know how that will change her life. BUT WAIT…The Bookbinder’s Daughter is an adventure story. All her adult life, Sophia has dreamt of a beautiful tree whose leaves are of gold. In her dreams the leaves fall from the tree and scatter around her; but when Sophia tries to pick them up they turn to ashes in her hands. As Sophia encounters a tree that reminds her of the dream tree, she begins to explore more closely and eventually finds the actual tree that has spawned her dreams. The necklace she wears grows warm when she approaches it, and she feels the tree calling to her. BUT WAIT…The Bookbinder’s Daughter is a romance. Sophia encounters Will, a young man with whom she fell in love in her early days when she lived with her mother and father at the library. As their relationship is slowly rekindled, Sophia ultimately must decide who she can trust. Is Will nothing more than a young man who works as the guardian of the library, or is there more to him. Occasionally Sophia senses something different inside Will. What is it and can it be trusted...BUT WAITThe Bookbinder’s Daughter is also a literary work celebrating libraries, books, knowledge, and new ideas. Readers may find it calling them as they consider the possibilities of living in an elegant building filled with beautiful books, a place that hums with knowledge. The library in this book is all that, and more.Readers will be captivated by the imagery of the tree, that isn’t an aspen, but has golden leaves. They will be fascinated by the thought of the building which houses the most significant books from around the world. Scholars come from everywhere to do research at this library. They will want to know more about the Keeper of the Library, a seemingly ancient woman with incredible calm who becomes Sophia's boss when she is given a job at the library.In addition to the characters names above, there is Edward, Sophia’s uncle. He’s a suave, sophisticated man who is involved in acquisitions to the library. He also delivers a job offer to Sophia that brings her back to the library. There is Arthur, Will’s half brother. Arthur is a few years older than Sophia and Will and when they were children he was the one they would follow around. The three were frequent companions, but why does Sophia have memories about the three of them being in the center of things when the library is almost destroyed and what are his goals now as an adult? Finally there is Tia, a woman of indeterminate age and unparalleled beauty. She defies definition of any sort, even the most mundane such as how old she might be. The only concrete thing Sophia learns is that Tia is in love with Edward; but that relationship is as complex as the rest of the things Sophia encounters at the library.The book begins in the mundane world of a very timid Sophia who is controlled by a manipulative Victor. It moves quickly from there and begins to unfold in a world that not only embraces Sophia but has been waiting for her to return to it for years. The new world is a beautiful combination of knowledge, history, and future, waiting to reveal Sophia’s rightful place in it. To say more might spoil the reader’s journey as the story unfolds before them. I would like to thank Bookouture for an advance copy for this review. The opinions here are entirely my own.

Enjoyed reading this book, quite easy to read and enjoyed the storyline

Vorab: Rezensionen sind immer eine ganz persönliche Meinung! Ich höre viele Hörbücher, davon sicher 75% in Englisch. Das Hörbuch wurde mir kostenlos von Bookouture Audio zur Verfügung gestellt, was meine Meinung aber in keiner Weise beeinflusst.Das Cover von ‘The Bookbinder’s Daughter’ hat mich direkt angesprochen. Ich finde es sehr schön gestaltet, und es passt auch von den verwendeten Elementen und der Farbgestaltung sehr gut zum Buch.Sophie, welche in London lebt, als Buchbinderin arbeitet und kürzlich ihren Vater verloren hat, steht vor den Trümmern ihres Lebens, als sie auch noch ihren Partner beim Fremdgehen erwischt. Da kommt das Jobangebot ihres Onkels, in der renommierten Ayredale Bibliothek, genau richtig; der Bibliothek, der Ihr Vater den Rücken kehrte, nachdem ihre Mutter dort verschwand als Sophie gerade 15 war. Sophie hat, obwohl sie dort ihre komplette Kindheit verbracht hat, wenig Erinnerungen an Ayredale, will aber die Wahrheit um das Verschwinden ihrer Mutter herausfinden.Sophie findet in der seltsamen Bibliothek, auf der Flucht vor ihrem manipulativen Ex, nach Anlaufschwierigkeiten, und mit Hilfe ihres Jugendfreundes Will, ein zu Hause. Ihre Erinnerungen kehren langsam zurück und sie füllt, vor allem auch mit Hilfe der anderen Menschen in Ayredale, nach und nach die großen Lücken. Zudem locken die antiken Bücher sie mit einem magischen Gesang an einen geheimnisvollen Ort, einen Ort ohne Wiederkehr. Wird sie stark genug sein?Mir hat die Geschichte von Anfang an gefallen, ich war direkt gefesselt, konnte mich ohne Probleme in die Protagonistin, und auch in die anderen Charaktere, hineinversetzen. Für mich hätte die Romanze deutlich mehr ausgeschmückt werden können, ebenso fehlt es bei der ‘Magie‘ an Hintergrundinformationen.Das Buch ist als Romantik Fantasy klassifiziert, aus meiner Sicht könnte die magische Komponente aber noch deutlich mehr ausgebaut werden.Dies sind für mich aber nur kleine Kritikpunkte, denn alles in allem hat mir das Buch wirklich sehr gut gefallen, ich konnte gar nicht aufhören es zu hören, wollte unbedingt wissen, wie es weitergeht.Charlie Norfolk macht als Sprecherin einen wundervollen Job. Da die Geschichte in England spielt, hat mir besonders gut gefallen, dass eine Sprecherin mit britischem Akzent gewählt wurde, und dass die Sprecherin auch für mich als Nichtmuttersprachler gut zu verstehen ist. Ich kann dieses Buch absolut empfehlen, und werde sicher noch mehr von Jessica Thorne lesen!

I think you have to believe in magic for the duration of this book…it’s fun and I did look up the world libraries mentioned…which are stunning

The storyline is spooky, but there is an undercurrant that makes the possibility of a tree growing inside an ancient library a distinct possibilitySophie the main character of this novel is very believeable when one is going through the horror of grief, yet her deep love for Will manifests itself halfway through and the rest you will have to suss out for yourself.A surprising ending is amazing, But true.

The details about the stages of repairing and conserving books were interesting. The central themes of the power of words and of the importance of books and of libraries were well developed. However there were too many characters, each with their own backstory, and none of them were fully fleshed out so it was very difficult to care about their fates. This is a quick, undemanding read. Perhaps suitable for a preteen...