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Kristina

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The Echo of Old Books

by Barbara Davis (Goodreads Author)

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Reading for the 2nd time

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Kristina said: " Rating: 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

This was a frustrating and ultimately disappointing read. The premise had real promise: Ashlyn, the protagonist, can feel "echoes" of the emotional states of people who have written, owned, or read books. It's a fasc Rating: 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

This was a frustrating and ultimately disappointing read. The premise had real promise: Ashlyn, the protagonist, can feel "echoes" of the emotional states of people who have written, owned, or read books. It's a fascinating idea, but rather than being integral to the plot or character development, the echoes serve only as a device to draw Ashlyn's attention to two mysterious manuscripts that appear in her secondhand bookshop. Beyond that, this ability plays no meaningful role in the story.

The bulk of the novel centers around these two manuscripts: one written by H as an extended letter to a lost love, and the other a reply from that lover, Belle. This structure of telling a love story through dueling manuscripts, is an intriguing concept on paper, but in execution, it fell flat. Framing their relationship through Ashlyn's perspective creates a distance between the reader and the actual emotional core of the story. I found myself detached from Belle and H's romance, less invested than I should have been.

More troubling, though, is the credibility gap introduced by this format. The manuscripts contain implausibly detailed reconstructions of conversations and shared moments. This could be overlooked in the name of narrative license. But what's harder to forgive is that, despite being deeply emotional, accusatory, and self-justifying in tone, both Belle and H's manuscripts completely avoid directly addressing the pivotal event that tore them apart.

(view spoiler)

Ultimately, the dual-manuscript format seems to exist only to create a layer of literary cleverness that doesn’t serve the story well, but instead undermines what could have been a powerful story. A promising concept, but poorly executed. ...more "

Sep 22, 2025 12:12AM · see review