ARC REVIEW: The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris – by Daisy Wood

Title: The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris
Author: Daisy Wood
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
First published: October 27th 2022
Publisher: Avon
Finished reading: October 18th 2022
Pages: 400

“It’s important to remember the past, no matter how painful the process might be.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

WARNING: is that you, unpopular opinion review? I surely didn’t expect to see you again so soon!

It’s no secret that I have a weak spot for WWII fiction and I love stories with a bookish element, so I truly thought that I had hit the jackpot with The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris. I loved the idea of the bookshop and the Paris setting, and I fully expected to have a fantastic time reading this story. But alas! I guess it wasn’t ment to be after all… And I ended up struggling considerably with it instead. I guess it’s time for another unpopular opinion review!

I do have to say that I still love the premise of this story, or at least the historical timeline of it. I’m not sure how I missed that The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris was actually a dual timeline story, because it’s clearly in the blurb, but the fact is that I somehow did and it wasn’t the most pleasant of surprises. Dual timelines are a bit tricky for me, because I tend to much prefer one timeline over the other. This is exactly what happened to me here as well, and the present timeline basically ruined the whole story for me. I went in expecting a WWII fiction read with a bookish angle, and we did get some of that, but the present timeline is basically an extremely cringeworthy and cliche romance read and a total turn off for me.

Why did the present timeline bother me this much? Well, it’s not only that I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for the contemporary romance part, but it was also the content of this storyline itself. I’m sorry, but I didn’t sign up for a story about an extremely irritating woman whining about her husband being a cheat and a bastard, and then disrespecting the history and people of ‘her square’ just because she thinks its her destiny to reopen the bookshop. To make things worse, after she is being cheated on (something the story doesn’t let us forget), she actually oggles a man who she KNOWS has a girlfriend?!?! Double standards indeed. It’s safe to say that I STRONGLY disliked Juliette’s character, and she was one of the reasons I came close to DNFing this story.

There was also something about the historical timeline that didn’t work as well for me. I never fully warmed up to its characters, although I did love the bookish elements and the description of the bookshop itself. The storyline was a tad too bland for me and lacked that je ne sais quoi to help me stay invested in what happens… In the end the story somehow failed to move me, although I confess I started skimreading before reaching the halfway mark.

I know that I’m in the minority though, because most people do seem to enjoy their time with The Forgotten Bookshop In Paris. It might just be my fickle reading mood acting up again, but the fact is that this story and me REALLY didn’t get along. It’s a shame, because I usually love bookish WWII fiction!