THE ECHO OF OLD BOOKS Book Review

The Echo of Old Books¹ by Barbara Davis, physical & audio, 425 pages & 13h 8m

Synopsis from Goodreads: Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.

With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers’ tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.

BOOK REVIEW: Ashlyn has an ability that I wish I could have some times. I wish I could feel what the owners of my old cookbooks felt. That would be wonderful to feel the love that people have to pour into their food for their families. Anyway, this has a little bit of everything. You get the scandal and the forbidden romance. You have the girl of high society falling for the journalist from across the pond. You read each side of their story but in Belle's she is defending herself to Hemi's words that were written and delivered to her first. The author does a great job describing the feelings that Ashlyn feels while reading these books.

I read this book and listened to the audiobook. The audiobook had a male and female narrator so no one was having to raise or deepen their voices for the opposite sex. I really loved that aspect of the audiobook. I think listening to it helped me from DNFing this book to be honest. Here's the thing. This would have been a 5 star read for me a couple years ago. The only reason it is not right now is because I have been in so many different fantasy worlds in the last couple of years that are fast paced and your in it right from the jump but this book is a slow build. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all!

I guess that leads me to my rating. It's a 4 star read for me. Even listening to the audiobook at 1.5x speed, the story felt like it was still moving too slow. I loved the story. I loved the characters. The ending was perfect in my opinion. It just moved too slow for the way I've been reading lately. If you want a slow building romance, this is the book for you. The characters are fun and watching Ashlyn try to figure out who these people are in real life was so much fun and work on her part. It kept me hooked on the story because I needed to know how it ended. I know I mentioned DNFing this if I hadn't listened to it and I'll be honest again. It would have been a soft DNF. So not a forever, get rid of it, but it would have ended up on my bookshelf to finish at a later date. I will say this was a book club book and I think I may have been the only one to read it.

4/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 32/55 complete

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