⭐
High school students Laura, Daniel, and Mo have died. They don’t remember how and they certainly don’t know what they are now doing standing in their music teacher Mr. Anabin’s classroom, with a fourth young man they don’t recognize, who doesn’t even seem to know who he is. Upon detecting their presence, Anabin verifies that they have each indeed perished and have spent a year trapped in the realm of Bogomil from which people typically don’t return. Bogomil himself appears and the pair agree to let the quartet return to their normal lives as if nothing had ever happened, under the condition that while there they must complete a series of tasks, including discovering what caused their deaths, and at the end of the assignment, only two of the four will be allowed to remain alive.
Laura finds herself back at home with her single mother and sister Susannah, with whom she shares a sort of love/hate relationship. Daniel returns to his large family just across the street from Laura, and his on-again/off-again relationship with Susannah. Mo finds himself back at the home of his grandmother, a successful romance novelist who basically raised him, only to discover that while the trio were missing she had passed away, leaving him in the care of her long-time assistant. Everyone believes that the group had simply been studying abroad for the past year and each finds that they have memories of doing so despite it not being true, and so they attempt to assimilate back into their previous existences while trying to solve the mystery of their demise and learning to use the magic that allowed them to return.
As you would expect from the title this book really is about love in all its many forms, and the ways it shapes and guides us through our lives. Family, friends, and lovers all come into play, as does learning to love and accept oneself, and Link’s often gorgeous prose brings the many intertwined relationships to life. She has a talent for developing people that feel real, imbuing even minor characters with enough personality to make it hurt a little when they suffer. There are moments that feel slightly hokey every now and then, but they are easy enough to look past.
Link mostly handles the plot of her sprawling, supernatural, small-town saga well, making it easy enough to keep track of everyone and everything, though some events can occasionally feel repetitive. Rather than use chapter numbers the breaks are delineated with headings reading “The Book of Daniel”, “The Book of Laura”, and so forth, highlighting some of the religious subtext scattered throughout. Despite the fantastical events that surround the story, a lot of the little moments the characters experience feel eminently relatable, and there are several moments that pack an emotional punch, though none of them are allowed to really live long enough to settle in. I really enjoyed The Book of Love and would happily spend time with these characters again, but I was left with the weird feeling that I should have felt something more than I did. ★★★★
Related Recs
Okayy. First post, first book review, and first book I finished this year (I’m very slow).
Found myself hooked by the shifting perspectives between the two main characters, Sadie and Sam, who are soul bonded for better or for worse - two characters that are deeply intertwined in each other’s lives.
The plot reminds me a lot of When Harry Met Sally in the way that it spans decades and we as readers get glimpses during the pivotal moments of Sadie and Sam’s relationship.
The book touches on platonic love and how it sometimes can be greater than romance. There is also a strong emphasis on work and passion for a craft. In this case the craft was developing video games, which was probably what made this such an easy, digestible read for a nerd like me.
I’m giving this an 8.7/10.
May 28, 2025
📚
A very popular book, but if you havent read it yet... I recommend it.
Devoured it in a few hours first time I read it. The way the characters view relationships is very in line with my own. To the point where since reading it I have a relationship with a similar dynamic since (don't know if I recommend that). The point of the book, to me, has always been to showcase the difference forms love can take on, even when the feelings are unchanging.
Other than that Sally Rooney is just a really good writer, is tapped into interesting discourses which she weaves into her stories, and she knows how to make a character problematic in ways that feel relatable and honest instead of foreign or scary. + i just really like stories about 20-something-year-olds being themselves, figuring shit out without much plot holding it together.
My best friend gave it a 1/5 stars on Goodreads bc she thought everyone was boring and whiny sooo like.. it's not for everyone maybe.
May 18, 2025
in honor of St. Patrick’s day, i just finished this book about unrequited love, love at the wrong time, love again at the right time, requited friendship that ebbs and flows, etc., set in Ireland in the early aughts. and i am weeping! it’s very funny and heartwarming and precise, definitely one of the better contemporary lit books i’ve read in the past year
of course, read if u like Sally Rooney…
Mar 17, 2024
Top Recs from @seanf
When Terry Hayes’ debut novel I Am Pilgrim burst onto the scene a decade ago, it seemed to announce the arrival of a major new talent in the thriller scene. I absolutely loved the book and was very excited to see what he would come up with when his next title, The Year of the Locust, was announced for release in 2016. Unfortunately, the year came and went without the book, as did several more, making it seem as if it might never be published. Lo and behold, 8 years later, it’s finally here, and as it turns out it was worth the wait.
The book is written from the perspective of Kane, a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA. His job is to get into the places that Americans aren’t supposed to go and get back out again without being caught, and he is one of the best in the business. When we meet him, he is being sent to the borderlands of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran to try to gather information about an increasingly powerful terrorist group known as the Army of the Pure. Intel has suggested that they are planning a major attack that will endanger countless people around the world and so it is imperative that he can learn more about the organization so they can be stopped before it is too late. Of course, with these kinds of missions there is a lot that can go wrong, and Kane finds himself in some very bad scenarios, with only his wits and training to help him survive.
Written in a conversational tone and short, punchy chapters (some barely a page long), the novel’s roughly 800 pages fly by. Kane is an easy character to like, and the book can sometimes feel like he’s a friend telling you a story. That story happens to be relentlessly suspenseful though, filled with some of the tensest moments of any book I’ve read in years. I would frequently find myself feeling a palpable sense of relief at the conclusion of a mission, having been every bit as invested in its outcome as the characters involved. Speaking of which, while Kane is the star, the other characters are equally enjoyable to spend time with and help to further draw in the reader.
Hayes has clearly done his homework when it comes to spycraft, providing fascinating insights into that world throughout. Everything is so convincing that it can be hard to tell what’s in actual use or the author’s invention, and while it is all thoroughly explained it never gets boring.
The finale takes the story into some truly surprising territory that readers will never see coming and which raises the stakes to truly astronomical levels. Parts of it require some suspension of disbelief, but Hayes pulls off the shift so well that most readers won’t have any problem going along for the ride. 10 years between books is a long time to wait, but when the result is this thrilling, inventive, and even surprisingly emotional it seems like it paid off. Though, it’s still very early into the year, I’d be surprised if I read a more entertaining book than this one in 2024. ★★★★★
Feb 5, 2024
Tried and true formulas work for a reason, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with hewing to them as long as the result is still good, but it’s always exciting for me to watch a movie and feel like I’m seeing something genuinely new and different. Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster) has so far proven very adept at achieving that, even when building stories around pre-existing works, as he does here. Working off a script by Tony McNamara (The Great, The Favourite as well) based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel which was itself heavily inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Lanthimos has crafted an epic tale of a woman discovering who she is when freed from the restrictive, largely male-imposed norms of the society around her.
Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is effectively the creation of Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe), a disfigured but respected surgeon in a strange, steampunk-inspired version of old London, whose house is filled with various creatures he’s spliced together. When he discovers the body of a recently deceased woman in the river, he inserts the brain of her unborn child into her head and so brings both back to life. Bella’s brain is not ready to inhabit an adult’s body however, and so she has difficulty walking let alone communicating. For some reason though, the procedure causes her brain to begin developing at a highly increased rate, and she starts picking up language and other more complicated concepts very quickly.
Godwin is impressed by this result and enlists one of his students, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to monitor her and note her progress. Over time, Bella begins to chafe against the strict boundaries placed upon her by her “father” Godwin, demanding to be allowed out into the world, while also beginning to form a deep bond with the sweetly sympathetic (but still meekly complicit) Max. When she encounters the rakish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) she is instantly taken by his promise of escape, but not fully understanding the concept of a secret, she blurts out her plans to Godwin. Surprisingly, he realizes that her need to see more of the world is not unreasonable and so he reluctantly assents to let her go. Thus begins Bella’s odyssey around the Mediterranean, in which she experiences much of the good and the bad in the world while learning to take control of her womanhood.
Stone is magnificent as Bella, completely inhabiting each phase of her growth; from the temper tantrums of a child, to the passions of a young woman discovering her body, to the cool, calm demeanor of an intelligent lady who knows exactly what she wants in life. Ruffalo’s strange, unplaceable accent from All the Light We Cannot See seems to have returned here, though it works far better with the overall unusual tone, and he nails the petulant befuddlement of a man realizing that he can’t handle himself when a woman treats him the same way he has long treated women. Dafoe is excellent as always and Youssef charms in his role, though this is truly Stone’s movie through and through.
The world that Lanthimos has dreamt up for our characters to inhabit is striking and captured beautifully by cinematographer Robbie Ryan (C’mon C’mon, The Favourite again). Likewise, the off kilter yet beautiful score by Jerskin Fendrix is a perfect complement to the story. McNamara’s script has stripped the original book to its most essential pieces and is rife with raunchy, absurdist humor, but it’s the film’s deeper themes that make it truly special.
Bella’s life is initially completely controlled by the men around her. Even if they are sometimes well-meaning in their intentions, they are still forcing their ideas of who she should be allowed to become upon her. It is only when she is granted her freedom that she is able to grow into her true self and begin to thrive. She learns several of her own lessons along the way, with the movie even going so far as to spell out one of its main points for her and us, when brothel-owner Swiney tells Bella, “We must experience everything. Not just the good, but degradation, horror, sadness. This makes us whole Bella, makes us people of substance. Not flighty, untouched children. Then we can know the world. And when we know the world, the world is ours.” Imaginative, funny, charming, filthy, wise, engaging, weird, and wonderful, Poor Things is Lanthimos’ best work yet, and a modern adult fairy tale worth treasuring. ★★★★★
RATED R FOR STRONG AND PERVASIVE SEXUAL CONTENT, GRAPHIC NUDITY, DISTURBING MATERIAL, GORE, AND LANGUAGE.
Feb 29, 2024
Mar 2, 2024