Review: The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green

Genre: Historical Fiction 
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: Nov. 15, 2022
371 pages

About the Book:

An impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European Front puts Avis Montgomery in the unlikely position of head librarian in small-town Maine. Though she has never been much of a reader, when wartime needs threaten to close the library, she invents a book club to keep its doors open. The women she convinces to attend the first meeting couldn't be more different--a wealthy spinster determined to aid the war effort, an exhausted mother looking for a fresh start, and a determined young war worker.

At first, the struggles of the home front are all the club members have in common, but over time, the books they choose become more than an escape from the hardships of life and the fear of the U-boat battles that rage just past their shores. As the women face personal challenges and band together in the face of danger, they find they share more in common with each other than they think. But when their growing friendships are tested by secrets of the past and present, they must decide whether depending on each other is worth the cost.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a new to me author and I will be reading more by her. It is a historical fiction set at the beginning of World War II in a small fictional town of Derby, Maine. It follows four main female characters and switches between their points of view, but you get a little glimpse of other characters throughout. It is not a romance in particular however there is a little bit of a romance in it. It does start a little slow but as I got further into, it the more I grew to love the characters and didn’t want to put the book down.

One of the main characters is Avis who made an impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European front that puts her in a position as head librarian of the Small Town Maine. She has never been much of a reader but promises to do her best for her brother (who was the librarian). When wartime needs threaten to close the library she starts a book club to keep the doors open. We follow the initial four book club members and see how the club grows, what they are reading and can they convince the owner to keep the library open. There are quite a few different storylines happening, but I found it easy to follow and flowed together nicely. Friendships are formed between these characters and people who felt like they were alone discover new friends who will be there for them, even when they don’t ask for help. It just warned my heart.

I learned some stuff about life during the war that I had never really considered, like some of the restrictions people had to follow like don't leave lights on after a certain time because of them being on the coastline.

Every few chapters there are experts from the club notebook written from the perspective of the writer, along with collecting the groups thoughts on certain books it also provides inside thoughts of the writer that isn’t meant to be shared with everyone, these notes were some of my favourite parts of the book.

It's a book that revolves around friendships and books, perfect for readers. I loved this book and can’t wait to read more by this author. 

(I was gifted this book from a friend; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)