3 out of 5 Hoots

I randomly picked this book up at the library because it sounded interesting enough. The little blurb said “Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people—though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible. The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending.” Martha sounded like a character that I could identify with so I decided to give the book a shot.

The book switches between present day Martha, young Martha, and the fairytales that Martha wrote as a child. The little fairytales were actually one of the things I really enjoyed about this book. They were not your usual fairytales and if there was just a book of the fairytales I would totally pick it up! The portions of the story with young Martha really broke my heart. Her father was a very controlling and verbally abusive man. I did not like him at all! If her grandmother gave her gifts he wouldn’t let her have it. If she was given a book he would take it away because she should e reading the encyclopedia instead (I kid you not!). And if she wanted to have cake he would tell her that he would always love her but he couldn’t say the same for anyone else if she gained weight. There are so many examples of him tearing her and her mother down any chance her could get. The only person who was there for her growing up was her grandmother, but she ended up dying when she was a child….or so she thought.

A mysterious book landed in her possession that had all of the stories that she wrote as a child plus stories her grandmother told her. What made it more mysterious what that they dedication was to her and it was written years after her grandmothers death. This lead her on a journey that would change her life.

Overall, I did enjoy the book but I was really expecting a little more from it. It was written very well but there just wasn’t anything that left me saying “holy cow that was great”. The story was a little predictable but it was cute. The main character got to realize the truth about her past and made positive steps towards the future. She was able to finally stop being taken advantage of and realized that what she wanted mattered. It was almost like a coming of age story but the main character was a grown woman instead of a teen. It was a quick read which is nice, but it kind of fell flat for me. It almost felt like the message inside was for a younger audience than I think it was meant to be. Either way the story was cute and I’m that Martha had a happy ending.