BOOK REVIEW: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

This is a book review for The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. I received the ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is June 23, 2015. 

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

This book started out wonderfully. I loved the concept of this book. The descriptions of the city of Paris and the countryside of France were stunning. Jean Perdu is able to look into a person's soul and prescribe the exact book they need. If they need to cry or need to laugh or need to move on after a divorce . . . whatever the need is, he has a book for it. The only problem is that he uses books as a way to hide from his own problems. Twenty one years before, he had loved a woman very deeply, only to be devastated when she left him. When she left, she left a letter but he never read it. Instead, he shoved it in a desk drawer and tried to forget about it. He spent twenty one years grieving for this woman and remaining alone and isolated. 

The first 25% of this book was beautiful. When Jean reads the letter, it is so tragic and sad. I won't give away any spoilers, but the reason why the woman left makes Jean feel incredible amounts of guilt, and shame. Then he decides to embark on a voyage to find his true love and other characters go with him on his journey. The middle part just starts dragging and it becomes very predictable. There is a bit of a twist at the end though. There is also a lot of intsta-love, but I think it can be forgiven since all the characters are French. The French are very romantic and passionate. 

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Borrow! There are great parts to this book and I love the setting of France. But the middle part just made my eyes glaze over.