Sarah Dove has more than just an average love of books. Books speak to her...literally. She first noticed her special ability when she was a young girl and a journal written by her ancestor told Sarah that she would one day save Dove Pond - their quaint and sleepy little town in North Carolina, yes named after the Dove family.
After the death of her sister, Grace Wheeler moves back to Dove Pond with her niece and foster mother - who has Alzheimer's - to give them a familiar setting as they get back on their feet after the tragedy.
As soon as Sarah sees Grace she knows Grace will play a pivotal role in revitalizing the near-to-failing Dove Pond she just doesn't know how, and the books aren't helping her out any either.
Grace doesn't want to set down roots in Dove Pond she only plans to be there for a year, but her new job as the city clerk pulls her deeper and deeper into town business and, with it, into more interactions with the colorful group of people that live in Dove Pond, but they just might get past her carefully built walls and make her see that there's enough room in her heart.
The Book Charmer had this wonderful ability to pull me into the story, fully engrossing me within its pages with the characters and the setting. I liked the feint in that you believe, going into the story, that it will be about the titular Book Charmer - Sarah - but once you are fully settled in, you realized that it revolves mostly around Grace's journey. From life as a foster child bouncing around from home to home with her sister, to being an adult now taking up the motherly role for her niece you see the challenges that are upon Grace and that her hesitations about getting attached to the town and the people are well-founded. She comes off a bit prickly for much of the book, but I really enjoyed the fact that no one in Dove Pond really let this stand as an excuse.
Almost complimentary to Grace's reticence is her neighbor Trav Parker. Trav and Grace are like mirror images of one another. Both have parental figures who suffer (or suffered) with Alzheimer's and both are closed off from letting people in. While Grace's reasoning is due to her childhood spent in foster homes, Trav is the PTSD he's still suffering from after returning from Afghanistan. I wanted a little more focus placed on Trav's journey because I think it's just as important as Grace's. I almost felt like it was too quick a turn from him just wanting to be left alone to forming an interest in Grace. I really enjoy the interactions between Trav and Sarah. I really liked seeing a male/female relationship that wasn't romantic and where the pair weren't related - even though their feelings for one another ran more toward the familial than romance.
Sarah Dove was a wonderful character. Her brightness and caring really shown through the story and jumped off the page. I loved the introduction of her ability and the idea that all her siblings - of which there are seven - seemingly have their own special talents. Her sister Ava - the only other Dove that we meet - seems to have an affinity with planting and growing and brewing teas. Just the idea that the Dove's talents are all open secrets within the town and people either believe or don't, but never really question it was endearing. But as I said above, Sarah was not the focus of this book. In that way I felt like there's still so much left to her story, added to that is an apparently complicated former relationship that is teased but never settled one way or another. As this is apparently the first book in a series, I'm hoping Sarah's character continues to grow around the other characters introduced here. I'd be happy if Sarah was the fixture around which the series is based and kind of ends up getting her story secondarily. Also, I really wish for more Dove sister appearances. I'd love to see all their special abilities front and center.
Overall, The Book Charmer really turned out to be a feel-good magical story. By the end, I really didn't want to leave Dove Pond and it's various citizens, but I look forward to the fact that there will be more stories in the series.
After the death of her sister, Grace Wheeler moves back to Dove Pond with her niece and foster mother - who has Alzheimer's - to give them a familiar setting as they get back on their feet after the tragedy.
As soon as Sarah sees Grace she knows Grace will play a pivotal role in revitalizing the near-to-failing Dove Pond she just doesn't know how, and the books aren't helping her out any either.
Grace doesn't want to set down roots in Dove Pond she only plans to be there for a year, but her new job as the city clerk pulls her deeper and deeper into town business and, with it, into more interactions with the colorful group of people that live in Dove Pond, but they just might get past her carefully built walls and make her see that there's enough room in her heart.
The Book Charmer had this wonderful ability to pull me into the story, fully engrossing me within its pages with the characters and the setting. I liked the feint in that you believe, going into the story, that it will be about the titular Book Charmer - Sarah - but once you are fully settled in, you realized that it revolves mostly around Grace's journey. From life as a foster child bouncing around from home to home with her sister, to being an adult now taking up the motherly role for her niece you see the challenges that are upon Grace and that her hesitations about getting attached to the town and the people are well-founded. She comes off a bit prickly for much of the book, but I really enjoyed the fact that no one in Dove Pond really let this stand as an excuse.
Almost complimentary to Grace's reticence is her neighbor Trav Parker. Trav and Grace are like mirror images of one another. Both have parental figures who suffer (or suffered) with Alzheimer's and both are closed off from letting people in. While Grace's reasoning is due to her childhood spent in foster homes, Trav is the PTSD he's still suffering from after returning from Afghanistan. I wanted a little more focus placed on Trav's journey because I think it's just as important as Grace's. I almost felt like it was too quick a turn from him just wanting to be left alone to forming an interest in Grace. I really enjoy the interactions between Trav and Sarah. I really liked seeing a male/female relationship that wasn't romantic and where the pair weren't related - even though their feelings for one another ran more toward the familial than romance.
Sarah Dove was a wonderful character. Her brightness and caring really shown through the story and jumped off the page. I loved the introduction of her ability and the idea that all her siblings - of which there are seven - seemingly have their own special talents. Her sister Ava - the only other Dove that we meet - seems to have an affinity with planting and growing and brewing teas. Just the idea that the Dove's talents are all open secrets within the town and people either believe or don't, but never really question it was endearing. But as I said above, Sarah was not the focus of this book. In that way I felt like there's still so much left to her story, added to that is an apparently complicated former relationship that is teased but never settled one way or another. As this is apparently the first book in a series, I'm hoping Sarah's character continues to grow around the other characters introduced here. I'd be happy if Sarah was the fixture around which the series is based and kind of ends up getting her story secondarily. Also, I really wish for more Dove sister appearances. I'd love to see all their special abilities front and center.
Overall, The Book Charmer really turned out to be a feel-good magical story. By the end, I really didn't want to leave Dove Pond and it's various citizens, but I look forward to the fact that there will be more stories in the series.