Book Review: Bookworm by Robin Yeatman

My Rating: 3.5 ⭐

A young woman sits at a table in her favorite café with her nose in a book ( unfortunately, she isn’t quite enjoying the book) while also observing the people around her. She spots an attractive man sitting at another table reading the same book and decides she has found her soul mate! But there’s a catch! Victoria, our bookworm is married, albeit unhappily, to Eric, an affluent and successful lawyer who is on the verge of being promoted to Partner. Victoria works as a masseuse and spends most of her free time reading, which isn’t something her controlling husband ( who would rather spend his evenings watching television ) is too happy about. Everything about Victoria’s life revolves around Eric’s preferences - from her reading eBooks as opposed to physical books, grocery lists and dinner menus to their sex life. Her parents, her mother in particular and her best friend Holly never fail to remind Victoria how lucky she is to be with Eric. She finds solace in her books and her fantasies – which range from romantic rendezvous with her “soul mate” to dreaming up scenarios in which her husband ends up dead. As the narrative progresses and the suffocation in her life and marriage start to become unbearable, Victoria decides to take charge of her life and the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur.

I believe I enjoyed the concept/premise of this book more than the book itself. I did sympathize with Victoria’s plight and while I initially found her train of thought and wild imagination amusing it soon became repetitive and a tad off-putting. Ordinarily, I enjoy dark humor/satire and identify with characters who are voracious readers//bookworms. I did enjoy both the literary and pop culture references interspersed throughout the narrative. I also don’t mind unlikable characters if the story is good but overall, I wasn’t completely invested in this story. I’d expected to enjoy this book more than I actually did, which surprised me. I couldn’t find much humor in Eric and Victoria’s toxic relationship and/or dysfunctional marriage. I felt that the author could have avoided certain stereotypes ( I won't say more because I don’t want to give too much away.) Overall, though Bookworm by Robin Yeatman is a well-written book and I did find parts of the story quite entertaining, I wasn’t quite as taken with it as many other readers have been.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing a DRC of this book via Edelweiss+. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on February 13, 2023.