The Book of Love

A Novel

Hardcover, 640 pages

English language

Published Feb. 13, 2024 by Random House.

ISBN:
9780812996586

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3 stars (1 review)

The Book of Love showcases Kelly Link at the height of her powers, channeling potent magic and attuned to all varieties of love—from friendship to romance to abiding family ties—with her trademark compassion, wit, and literary derring-do. Readers will find joy (and a little terror) and an affirmation that love goes on, even when we cannot.

Late one night, Laura, Daniel, and Mo find themselves beneath the fluorescent lights of a high school classroom, almost a year after disappearing from their hometown, the small seaside community of Lovesend, Massachusetts, having long been presumed dead. Which, in fact, they are.

With them in the room is their previously unremarkable high school music teacher, who seems to know something about their disappearance—and what has brought them back again. Desperate to reclaim their lives, the three agree to the terms of the bargain their music teacher proposes. They will be given a series …

1 edition

A long, but eventually interesting story about magic and relationships.

3 stars

A long novel length story from a writer known for writing fascinating, occasionally surreal short fiction, this one involves a group of people suddenly trust back into the world with magic and now have to live with the consequences, some of which are revealed as world changing near the end. This book is not for everyone, as it takes it time with the characters' interactions and situations. But probably a rewarding experience for those who are patient with the author's pacing and revelations.

At the start, three dead teenagers, presumed missing, suddenly reappear in the world and are given form by their music teacher, who turns out to have magic. They are then given the task of finding out how they died, and to eventually learn to control magic, which comes with their reappearance. Things get complicated when another 'spirit' joins them in reappearing in the world, and may have …

Subjects

  • American literature