The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins (Review by Caitlin Winkler)

The town of Dove Pond is a magical town, specifically, whenever there are seven Dove daughters in a generation, something special tends to happen. Enter Sarah Dove, youngest of seven sisters and possessing the most incredible gift of having books speak to her, which alone made me interested in reading this book! Despite the magic, the town is in need of a savior and the newest resident, Grace, may be just the person; but how? This was a lovely novel that I think would be perfect for those who need a break from the numerous thrillers out there for summer reading and want to dive into a small town story with just a little hint of magic. Told in alternating perspectives from Sarah, Grace, and Travis “Trav”, I felt myself being drawn into the story, which is always a mark of a captivating work of fiction in my opinion. I will say my one con to this novel was that I felt that several plots, including that of our main protagonist Sarah, didn’t get as much detail and development as others. Without getting into too much detail, and running the story for you, there were some introductions of history for certain characters that were never resolved, which frustrated me a bit as the reader. However, I realized after finishing this novel that it is the first in a series, although I am not sure how many the series will include, so I am hopeful that those details I was longing for will be expanded upon in future books.