After it popping up quite a lot and being rather intrigued, I decided to buy The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry. Being around ninety pages, it’s an incredibly quick read, and I managed to zoom through it one morning.
The Library of Unrequited Love tells the story of a French librarian who opens her section of the library one morning to find someone who has been locked in overnight. Written in second person perspective to this person, the narrator discusses her love of books, her problems with the library system, and shares her attraction to one library visitor in particular.
The Library of Unrequited Love is, of course, a book that will be loved by book lovers. There are many passages throughout the book I wanted to highlight and scribble over but it would probably pain me to do so because I hate to treat books in such a way. Even though the narrator isn’t in her dream section of the library, her passion for books really shines through. It’s one of the things I loved most about the book, and really stood out.
Something striking about our narrator is her bitterness. It was nice to read about a character who had such strong opinions about things as this really helped connect reader and narrator. This connection was very important, as there are a few gaps in the reader’s knowledge of our narrator, her name being one of those things. I think this worked in the books favour though, so it’s not a bad thing. It’s what makes the book so unique.
I’m not sure why I only rated the book three stars. The rating is not a true reflection of my feelings towards the books, because I could have given it five stars. There was just something stopping me from giving it five, or even four, stars. Rating does not equal enjoyment, though, so please remember this.
For such a short book, there was so much emotion and feeling packed in. It’s not a book I’m going to forget in a hurry. The length of the book was something I particularly liked. It wouldn’t be the same if it were drawn out for hundreds of pages.
And, another thing I liked reading about, was the French culture. As the book has been translated from French to English, I think the culture was shown more than if it had been written in English and not been translated. In the past, I haven’t enjoyed books that have been translated so I was pleased to see how well this was translated.
I really think you should all read The Library of Unrequited Love. It won’t take you long and is a lovely book to curl up with on long, winter nights.
6 Comments
Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain
3 February, 2014 at 1:49 pmAww this book definitely sounds fit for a book nerd. The narrator’s passion for books is always fun because it immediately connects you to what they’re thinking. Also, I know what you mean by the three star rating. Sometimes I rate a book four stars because I really enjoyed reading it, but from a technical standpoint was really a three-star read. Fantastic review though, Lucy! Glad you enjoyed this one 🙂
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Lauren @ Lauren Reads YA
3 February, 2014 at 1:58 pmOkay, this is officially on my to-buy list. It sounds really interesting! Might read it in the next Bout of Books read-a-thon, with it being so short and stuff. 🙂
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Maya
3 February, 2014 at 5:50 pmSounds good – I’ll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the review, Lucy!
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Ruby
4 February, 2014 at 9:12 pmI’m SO glad you enjoyed this one Lucy, it’s been of my wish list for what seems like forever. 🙂 It definitely looks quirky and the whole concept sounds great. I’m usually weary of buying rather short books so I’m SO glad you said:
“For such a short book, there was so much emotion and feeling packed in.”
Few, what a relief! I’ll definitely be looking out for this one. By the way, I totally know what you mean about ratings – sometimes I give books a 3 and I have no clue why really.
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Caitlin
4 February, 2014 at 11:10 pmThis sounds really interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book told in second person before! Great review Lucy, I know what you mean about really enjoying a book but only being able to give it 3*
Cait
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13 June, 2014 at 6:03 am[…] a rhetorical question. I’ve read a few books in the past year or two about book lovers (I really enjoyed The Library of Unrequited Love) and I can’t wait to read […]