Happy Valentines Day, It’s an absolute honour today to be sharing my review for The 24 Hour Cafe by Libby Page as part of the blog tour. Thanks to Tracy Fenton for the invite and to Orion for the ecopy via NetGalley.
Day and night, Stella’s Café opens its doors to the lonely and the lost, the morning people and the night owls. It’s a place where everyone is always welcome, where life can wait at the door.
Meet Hannah and Mona: best friends, waitresses, dreamers. They love working at Stella’s – the different people they meet, the small kindnesses exchanged. But is it time to step outside and make their own way in life?
Come inside and spend twenty-four hours at Stella’s Café, where one day might just be enough to changeyour life . .
The 24 Hour Cafe is available to purchase now – Amazon
My Thoughts
I first caught sight of The 24 Hour Cafe over on instagram months ago when lots of bookstagrammers were receiving copies and it was one of those books that I knew instantly I wanted to read. There was something about this book that really drew me to it and I instantly went and pre-ordered it.
I love a story that is character driven and the The 24 Hour Cafe is just that, it covers a 24 hour time period with Hannah and Mona who both work in Stella’s cafe and share a flat together. Both Mona and Hannah strive to be performers, Hannah a singer and Mona a dancer but life in this industry is tough and I really enjoyed reading how they came to be where they are and the life they’ve led so far. The story gives us flashbacks to the past which were sometimes happy and sad and really gave as insight into the two characters.
Not only do we find out about Hannah and Mona but we get a glimpse into some of the customers lives as well. Some of these customers it’s more of an observation of their lives and others we get a bit more, it’s almost like a short story within the story which I absolutely loved and reading some of the those stories really made me feel emotional at times, the writing is so wonderfully done it makes these characters really come to life and I had to give myself a shake and remind myself this was fiction.
I finished The 24 Hour Cafe a couple of nights ago and it’s one of those books that really stays with you, the characters really take hold of your heart and they’re not easy to forget about. This is the first book I’ve read by Libby Page and her writing is just sublime, it really pulls you into the story and just absorbs you.
If you’re looking for a story that totally draws you in and consumes you, with characters that come to life and feel so real, a story about friendship and so much more then The 24 Hour Cafe is the story for you. I’ll warn you now though that once you pick this book up you won’t want to put it down until you’ve turned the very last page and then you’ll feel bereft it’s over.
I’ve really not done this book justice at all with this review so I highly recommend you see for yourself just how wonderful it is. I never re-read books but this one may just be an exception.
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