The Book of Love

The blurb

Supernatural beings and chaos descend on the small seaside town of Lovesend, Massachusetts, in the wake of the unexpected return of three missing teenagers.

Laura, Daniel and Mo disappeared without trace a year ago. They have long been presumed dead. Which they were. But now they are not. And it is up to the resurrected teenagers to discover what happened to them.

Revived by Mr Anabin – the man they knew as their high school music teacher – they are offered a chance to return to the mortal realm. But first they must solve the mystery of their
death and learn to use the magic they now possess. And only two of them may stay.

What they do not realise is their return has upset a delicate balance that has held – just – for centuries.

The review

The Book of Love is not a romantasy. It’s much more than that. It’s about all types of love.

There is plenty about romance in it – yes – but if you are expecting beautiful people to be running around saving the world, having steamy love triangles and hot sex… then The Book of Love isn’t that book.

The Book of Love is set in present-day America. People look like regular people. There is sex – but impromptu trysts in a coffee shop toilet (awkwardly discovered by the coffee shop owner) is what you should expect.

Why am I saying that? I’m simply laying out expectations. I’ve read a few puzzled reviews – mostly because endorsements from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare are leading readers to believe this is another Cruel Prince or Mortal Instruments, when it really isn’t. All these books feature love and romance. All feature teenagers. And yet, tonally they are very different stories.

Btw – this isn’t a slight on either of those authors who are both excellent, simply a clarification of expectations.

So… if it is NOT like those romantasy novels, what is it like?

Well… it’s sort of like American Gods with a dash of Little Women, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, and Stranger Things (except with a 2020’s vibe rather than 1980’s.) It’s urban and magical and beautiful. Could I also say it reminds me in ways of Buffy? Yeah – I’d add that to the mix too.

I put a booker prize winner in the comparison mix because this book deserves that sort of comparison. The prose is magnificent. The characters are real. Very real. I feel like I know them, like I could have a conversation with them and guess what they’d say back.

It’s the book of the decade to be honest. Like in fifty years’ time when people want to understand what the 2020’s were like, they will read this. While some books try to hide their setting, The Book of Love revels in it. Almost any hot topic that you see discussed on twitter or on the news, you will see here, through the lens of teenage America.

So – what is the book about?

First the premise. 

Three teenagers die. Four are brought back to life. Not all of them can remain.

Who has brought them back to life and why?

This mystery is the key to the book – and is it captivating as the clues unfold and the story opens up.

I will go no further. This is a story that gets better and better with every chapter. It twists and turns. Always real and always beautiful. To give anything else away will only spoiler it for you.

Kelly Link is an accomplished writer. She’s won many awards for her short stories, but this is her first foray into novels. And what a novel it is. I do believe it will win awards next year such is the scope of the story and the storytelling itself.

Finally this is a book to savour and lose yourself in.

I mean that. It was a true adventure. Goodbye Laura, Mo, Susannah and Daniel. I will miss you.

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to know what I’m writing, reading and doing, please sign up to my monthly newsletter! This month I’m also doing a giveaway to my newsletter subscribers – the prize being a hardback copy of my latest novel, The Words of Kings and Prophets.