Review: The Christmas Bookshop

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a Jenny Colgan novel and now that I’ve finished her latest, The Christmas Bookshop, I’m wondering why on earth I haven’t been reading each of her new books as they've released. I was entertained the entire time I was reading this one and absolutely adored the setting.

Here’s the book’s description:

When the department store she works in closes for good, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. She doesn’t want to move in with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered Edinburgh life.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want Carmen there either. Her sister has always been sarcastic and difficult. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs a retail assistant for his ailing bookshop, so welcoming Carmen might still have some benefits for everyone.
At Sofia’s behest, Carmen is thrown into the daily workings of old Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the streets of the old dark city. Can she use her design skills to revamp the store and bring it back to popularity in time to benefit from Christmas shopping traffic? Can she choose between bad boy literary rock star Blair and quiet Quaker student Oke? And will she heal the rift with the most important people of all: her family?

Right off the bat I was in absolute heaven with the setting of this book. Not only is it all about a bookshop (swoon) but it’s a bookshop in Scotland! Edinburgh, to be specific. I’ve always had a soft spot for Scotland but after being in Edinburgh for a week back in early March 2020 (yep, squeaked that trip in just in time), I was even more enthralled with the book’s location. I could picture so many of the streets and areas Colgan described and I loved it. Armchair travel has been a saviour over the last almost two years so it was particularly delightful to read a book set in the last place I travelled to.

And the bookshop! Mr. McCredie was the sweetest old man and it was such a delight to see him open up to Carmen and, well, to life. He and his bookshop really came alive with her help. And they, in turn, really helped Carmen. It was so fun to read as they added Christmas touch after Christmas touch to the store and kept themselves (and their customers) entertained with toy mice and trains. I didn’t just want to visit Scotland again. I wanted to find this exact bookshop (crazy twisty aisles and rooms and all) and spend all day there.

What stopped me from LOVING this book wasn’t anything super specific - just a sort of feeling I got (or didn’t get) when I was reading it. Sometimes I felt scenes were told out of order but not so much so that it seemed like it was an editing mistake in my advanced egalley. And I also just really didn’t like the Blair storyline and couldn’t quite understand how self-absorbed Carmen was at some points. Was all that a dealbreaker? Definitely not. It’s still worth a read.

The final thing I absolutely loved about this book was the focus on relationships between sisters. I liked that the story was both Carmen’s and Sofia’s (though Carmen is definitely the main focus) and the pair working out their relationship was just as important as Carmen’s love life. If not more so. I found myself giggling at some points when the sisters (as well as Sofia’s two girls) were interacting because Colgan completely nailed what it’s like between sisters. I’d love to have another book about the pair so I could visit with them some more.

The Christmas Bookshop was a delightful wintery read (you don’t have to read it at Christmas) that I really enjoyed. I’m going to make a point of reading more of Jenny Colgan’s backlist and will definitely be paying attention to when her next book comes out!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*