The Words Between Us

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The Words Between Us
Erin Bartels
Revell

A reclusive bookstore owner hoped she'd permanently buried her family's sensational past with a new name. But when the novels she once shared with an old crush begin appearing in the mail, it's clear her true identity is about to be revealed, threatening the new life she has painstakingly built.

     This might be the most melancholy book I've read this year.

     "Melancholy" as a descriptor isn't a bad or a good thing; more a matter of taste. The writing in this novel is lovely, and it's easy to get caught up in Robin's life in the novel's dual timeline plot. Literature, and people's perceptions and reactions to it, also play a large part in the story; Erin Bartels reads a bit like Katherine Reay's more wistful cousin.

     For me, personally, I've never liked stories about couples (even teenage sweethearts) who only reunite after years of separation due to misunderstanding. I think readers just have certain quirks or tropes we just don't click with, and that one has always been unbearably depressing for me, as is any plot dealing with time lost in relationships of all kinds. And, well...that's what a lot of The Words Between Us is About. It's no doubt a good book, just maybe not a good one for me.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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