by Bella Osborne
Publication Date September 2, 2021
Published by Aria & Aries
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Genres: Contemporary, Family & Relationships, Fiction, Fiction / General, Fiction / Women, Great Britain, Small Town & Rural, Women
Pages: 271
Format: ARC
An unlikely friendship forms between a sixteen-year-old boy and a seventy-two-year-old woman as they rally the community to save their local library.
Tom is invisible. He happily blends into the background of life. But Farah Shah changes everything. Farah makes Tom want to stand up and be seen – at least by her. So Tom quickly decides the best way to learn about women is to delve into romance novels, and he finds himself at the village library where he befriends 72-year-old Maggie.
Maggie has been happily alone for ten years, at least this is what she tells herself. When Tom comes to her rescue after a library meeting, never did she imagine a friendship that could change her life. As Maggie helps Tom navigate the best way to ask out Farrah, Tom helps Maggie realize the mistakes of her past won't define her future.
But when the library comes under threat of closure, it's up to Tom and Maggie to rally the community and save the library!
Will these two unlikely friends be able to bring everyone together and save their library?
My Review:
The Library by Bella Osborne is a sweet book about an unlikely pair who meet at the Library and work together to save it. I really enjoyed this book, and loved the characters and were rooting for them, and the Library during the entire book.
Tom is the son of an alcoholic father, and whose mother passed away when he was younger. Tom and his father co-exist in a grubby home where they live without any of the luxuries of life. Tom feels invisible to his father and classmates, until he sees Farah, a beautiful classmate who’s way out of his league, and is currently involved with one of his bullying classmates.
Tom goes to the local library to find romance novels so he can better understand his crush and find a way to get to know her better. While at the library, he catches the eye of Maggie, a 72-year-old recluse, who only leaves her home once a week to go to the book club at the library. Tom and Maggie form an unlikely friendship and when the library is threatened with closure, they work together to try and save the village library.
The characters of Tom and Maggie are very well developed and I found myself rooting for both of them during the entire book. I liked that Maggie knew how to get through to Tom and help him when his father couldn’t. Her farm, on the outskirts of the village is delightful, with sheep, lambs, and an ornery ram. I found I enjoyed this book much more than I expected, and I really liked the way Tom and Maggie’s relationship developed. The author made me care about these characters and the banter between Maggie and Tom was excellent, especially after they grew to care about each other.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story about a lovely relationship. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I love the intergenerational friendships, in stories and in real life!
Your review definitely gives the sense that this book delivers on the feels. Sounds like such a lovely story – perfect for when you need to remind yourself that there is good in the world 🤗 Wonderful review!
Exactly Tessa! It just makes you feel good about humanity. Thanks.
[…] in These Hills. by Joanne Bischof.Thursday: Book Review: The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara. Friday: Book Review: The Library by Bella OsborneSaturday: Stacking the ShelvesSunday: The Sunday […]
Hi Wendy! This sounds like a lovely story indeed! Anything with a library is always worth the read in my opinion.
Thank you Mareli! It’s always fun to read a book about a library
Fabulous review Wendy! Sounds really good!🤩📚💜
Thank you Kaceey!
This sounds like an interesting book.
Thank you Pam, It was!
This sounds like a very sweet story. I like that these characters are well developed and likeable. I will have to give this a read. Thank you for sharing your review!
Thank you so much! It is a very sweet story.
I love books with unlikely friendships! Can’t wait to read this one. 🙂
Thank you Lark. It was super cute.
Tom sounds like a sweetie, trying to save a library, befriending a 72-year old. I’d be rooting for him and Farah. Plus, cute farm animals! Sounds like a winner for sure!
Thank you Rachel. It was such a sweet story.
It sounds like a great story. Thanks for your thoughts.
Thank you Debbie, The Library is a bit different but very satisfying.