Storybook Ending - Moira Macdonald - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Moira Macdonald

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: June 3, 2025

RATING: 3.5 stars

In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction about a misunderstanding that lasts too long. Character-driven, with some well-sketched characters in the lead. Interesting story, though it is built upon a plot hole. Slightly slow-paced and repetitive. Recommended but not to all. Better if not read as a romance, and definitely not as a romcom, despite that cutesy cover.

Plot Preview:

Seattle. April, who works from home in a tech job, finds herself increasingly lonely. In desperation, she leaves an anonymous love note for Westley, an employee of a local indie bookstore whose job is to sort out the piles of used books. However, Westley, who is lost in his own issues, doesn’t even notice the note, and when he sells the book to Laura, a middle-aged single mom who hasn’t even considered dating after the death of her husband five years back, she assumes that he has written the note for her. Thus begins a strange correspondence involving three people, where one of the parties isn't even aware of the letters being written to and “by” him.

The story comes to us in the third-person perspectives of the above three characters, with some first-person interludes and email exchanges from the POVs of some key secondary characters.

Bookish Yays:

📚 The three main characters:

🔖 April, with her paradoxical personality of being an overthinker and yet not thinking enough. Her frustrations with her personal and professional life comes across well.

🔖 Laura, with her conflicts as a single mom and a working professional. Probably my favourite character in the book as she felt the most realistic in emotions.

🔖 Westley, who is not like typical romance leads. I mean, he is extremely handsome (as expected), but he is aware of his appeal but doesn’t take advantage of it. He is also not ambitious, quite awkward, not highly educated, doesn’t enjoy sci-fi… So his personality is quite refreshing for this genre, even when he isn't entirely likeable.

📚 Several other good characters, some of whom are nicely quirky. Laura’s seven-year-old daughter Olivia is the sweetest and written in an age-appropriate manner.

📚 The characters range in age from single digit to fifty-something and they mostly act their age. We do get one immature thirty-something-year-old, but there are indeed several immature thirty-somethings in the world to make him convincing enough.

📚 Everything about books and indie bookstores.

📚 The description of Seattle. Always good to see a story make proper use of a place. Also nice to see a different location pop up. High time NY and LA get a break!

📚 The first-person interludes from secondary characters and the emails offer a good break in between the main characters’ narration.

📚 Though a debut, there is no overload of themes, all the more relevant because each character faces a key personal issue. The narrative is focussed on the core idea of urban loneliness and wanting to making connections.

📚 Despite the potential for grief and sadness in each character’s arc, the plot focuses more on their path ahead rather than on their sad past. I like that it doesn’t forcibly attempt to wring out the emotional drama.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

📖 The title and the cover are quite cute, but they probably indicate ‘romcom’, which isn't valid. The book is better read as a contemporary/general fiction than as a romance or a romcom.

📖 As the story is character-focused, the pacing is on the slower side, with the first half mostly focussed on divulging the character’s personalities. We get to know them intimately because of this approach, but those wanting a quicker storyline might be slightly bored.

📖 The ending is too perfect, but that's a hallmark of this genre so I can't really complain too much about it. But a part of me wishes that at least some characters would have got a HFN instead of a HEA ending.

Bookish Nays:

📕 The plot stands on quite a farfetched premise. If you found a letter in a used book that you purchased, would you assume that the owner left it for you, or that the earlier owner of the book left it in by mistake? The very fact that Laura didn’t question even once that it could be the latter case was odd. Plus, the key characters meet in real life at times, but they don’t even bring up the letters for some flimsy reason or the other. Basically, a whole load of suspension of disbelief is required, which I always struggle with.

📕 The repetition of some information. Several facts related to the characters are mentioned time and again, which gets annoying after a while. Readers should be trusted to retain character detailing in their minds; too much telling isn't ever required.

📕 Minor complaint: In emails, the ‘From’ column is always before the ‘To’ column, and this format is retained even in fictional works containing e-correspondence. Why was the order reversed in this book? I was often confused while reading the emails because my head kept inverting the sender and receiver.

All in all, this is quite a decent debut, with its characters outshining the plot. It's even a good contemporary fiction work, as long as you aren't looking for a romcom. Had the repetitions been ironed out, it would have been compelling.

Recommended to those looking for a character-driven contemporary novel about life and relationships in the city.

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for providing the DRC of “Storybook Ending” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.