Book Review | The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

Erica Bauermeister, the national bestselling author of The School of Essential Ingredients, presents a moving and evocative coming-of-age novel about childhood stories, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives.

Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world—a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.

Lyrical and immersive, The Scent Keeper explores the provocative beauty of scent, the way it can reveal hidden truths, lead us to the person we seek, and even help us find our way back home.

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For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #2: Bibliosmia – A smelly book)
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

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The Reason

I came across this book while browsing my library’s audiobook catalog and it fit one of the prompts from the 2024 52 Book Club Challenge, so I decided to give it a try.

The Quotes

“It’s amazing how easily we can cast ourselves in the role of hero.”

“We are the unwitting carriers of our parents’ secrets, the ripples made by stones we never saw thrown.”

“Everyone else thought it was magic, but I knew better. In the end, it wasn’t the flavors or the alcohol that made people relax—it was the experience of being seen and understood.”

“I think one of the most fascinating things about perfumes is how they change with each person’s skin chemistry. I’ve always thought of them as verbs, not nouns. Truth, I’ve found, is much the same.”

The Characters

The story follows Emmeline from childhood until young adulthood, so we see her development as a person and as a character. I must admit that I really didn’t like her as a child. I felt like she made a lot of rash and reckless decisions, and even though she was a child, she was old enough to understand the consequences of her actions. She was better as a young adult, but obviously still had a long way to grow.

I don’t think I loved any of the characters in the book, except maybe the goat and the dog. I liked some of them, but there were no standouts. I find it interesting because I’m a character-driven reader, and it’s hard for me to like a book if I don’t like the characters, but I do also enjoy complicated characters, as long as they are real and interesting, and I think Emmeline was real and interesting.

My Thoughts

The most fascinating parts of the book for me were the scents and everything to do with them. The description of Emmeline’s father’s machine, and all the bottles of scents, the different scents Emmeline paid attention to, the ways to use scents, how Emmeline learned to work with scents. Some of these things we learn about are obviously pure fiction, and there were a few things I know to be true in real life about the science of scents, but there were many that I had no idea of their veracity. Still fascinating in the context of the story, and I loved reading about them.

My Feels

My favorite parts of the book were when Emmeline bonded with the goat and the dog. Those scenes were just so wholesome and beautiful. They don’t actually play very prominent parts, but out of all the relationships Emmeline had in the story, it was her relationships with the goat and dog that made me feel the most.

My Rating

4/5 stars. It’s really good and I liked it, but I don’t love it. I’m giving points for the beautiful writing and execution though.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?