The Book of Love by Kelly Link
The Book of Love
by Kelly Link
Magical Realism | Fantasy | Mystery
628 Pages
Released February 2024
Rating: ★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I’ve never read a Kelly Link book before and I found the cover and premise so fascinating that I picked it up right away. Alas, the cover is just about the only thing I ended up liking about this book.
This story follows multiple perspectives. A year after the day they died, three teens suddenly return to their former lives - unaware of how they had died to begin with, or how they escaped. All the while, their mysterious music teacher guides them on three magic tasks to uncover what happened. Some will stay, and some will be sent back to where they escaped from.
I wanted to love this. I really, really wanted to love this but this book was so. dang. long (and unfortunately not in a good way). In the beginning I felt really invested. The characters all felt unique and intriguing (especially Susannah) and the plot was initially quite refreshing too. But then this book goes on. and on. and on. and it just started dragging in a way where it felt like a slog to get through. I got to the point where I dreaded picking up my kindle because it felt like no matter how much I read the story wasn’t progressing. After a while, the only character I ended up caring about was Susanah (most of the others became quickly irritating, her sister, Laura, especially). At about the 50% mark I found myself still half-heartedly invested but also ready for it just to be over already so I ended up skim reading the last 50% and I am glad I did because it didn’t seem to get better and I felt dissatisfied with the ending. Overall, I just found most of the characters to be unlikeable and since this is more of a character-driven book, that quickly became a problem.
If you’re a fan of super slow plots, multi-perspective unique characters, LGBTQ+ representation and a touch of magical realism, you may want to look this one up. Myself, however? I’m not sure if I’ll pick up another Kelly Link book after this one. At the very least I’m going to need several months of palate cleansing before I’m ready to try again.