Christmassy Review :: The Christmas Bookshop :: Jenny Colgan

The Christmas Bookshop synopsis

Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.

When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh – a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house – Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.

What Sofia didn’t say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can’t help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all…

My review of The Christmas Bookshop

I have read several of Jenny Colgan’s books and am generally a fan of her style and writing. The Christmas Bookshop was, for the most part, a sweet and fun read. It was cosy and Christmassy, and little bit silly – in a good way – obviously a bookshop is the best setting for a blossoming Christmas romance.
I have to say though that there was something that held me back from completely loving this, which was a couple of instances of fat-shaming, where characters talk about being called fat as the absolute worse thing that could happen to them. One of these is kind of passing moment, and another causes like a major outrage from one of the characters.

To be honest, I’m not sure whether this is something that would have bothered me a few years ago, but I’m just kind of growing tired of coming up against this so often. So, I don’t think this is necessarily going to be a deal breaker for everyone, or even something that a lot of people will notice, but I do think I’m going to start calling out this sort of fat-phobic/body shaming language when I’m reviewing.

I guess that makes my review sound a bit flat, but really if it wasn’t for those bits bugging me, i really would have enjoyed this a lot more. The characters were fun, there were some who bordered a little on caricature but I like that in a fun book that I’m reading for escapism. As with other books I’ve read by Jenny Colgan, I feel like this would adapt well to a cheesy Christmas movie (which you know are my favourite!)

As always, I’d love to hear in the comments I’ve you’ve read this one or plan to pick it up!

xo Bron
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The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Out now from Hachette.
Source: Free copy kindly provided by Hachette (thank you!). All views are my own
Format: paperback
Content warning: fat-phobia

The Christmas Bookshop on Goodreads.
If you’re interested in Christmas romance you can check out more reviews here.