Erica Bauermeister

Erica Bauermeister, the author of the February Reese's Book Club pick The Scent Keeper, presents a moving and evocative novel about childhood stories, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives. Emmeline lives 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 glass bottles 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. Captivating and emotional, 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.

A Novel

The Scent Keeper

Oh boy, this was a tough one to finish. 😬 I have a pretty excellent sniffer and can usually pick up what most people can’t smell. And yeah, sometimes a smell can bring back some memories but this book goes extra hard. Smelling fear and other emotions on people or even colors is wildly absurd to me. 

The start of this book was so slow and dry I almost gave up entirely. Emmeline and her father live on an island alone. He raises his daughter to track scents and uses his machine to capture them on paper before sealing these scents up in glass bottles. Then dear old dad dies. Not from old age or cancer or a heart attack. He sees his preteen daughter tossing some of these scent bottles off a cliff and runs towards her trying to catch one mid-air. He falls off the cliff into the ocean. He hollers “come find me” to Emmeline before either drowning or freezing to death. He’s left her all alone on an island. What kind of father does this? There was never an explanation as to why he took his daughter to this island or why he lied to her about literally everything! 

Part 2 Emmeline is rescued by Henry and Colette. They take her in and register her for school where she uses her ridiculous sense of smell to get a feel for people. This oddity makes her less popular in the classroom but she does manage to make one friend. 

Fisher is a little older. Held back from missing so much school and has problems of his own when it comes to family. Eventually the two fall in love and he can tell her anything while she still holds secrets. Secrets don’t make friends though so Fisher runs away to the city. Emmeline runs away to find him but when she can’t she settles on finding her mom. 

Victoria is a super sniffer just like her daughter. Emmeline moves in immediately and starts working for her mom’s company. She doesn’t get answers from her mom about anything regarding her dad or the island. Only smells. 

The ending is over before you get a sense of it closing in. I turned the page over and over again looking to see if something was left out. All I know is Em and Fisher are having a baby and that baby might see her grandma one day or might not. 

Christa Bell

Oh boy, this was a tough one to finish. 😬 I have a pretty excellent sniffer and can usually pick up what most people can’t smell. And yeah, sometimes a smell can bring back some memories but this book goes extra hard. Smelling fear and other emotions on people or even colors is wildly absurd to me. 

The start of this book was so slow and dry I almost gave up entirely. Emmeline and her father live on an island alone. He raises his daughter to track scents and uses his machine to capture them on paper before sealing these scents up in glass bottles. Then dear old dad dies. Not from old age or cancer or a heart attack. He sees his preteen daughter tossing some of these scent bottles off a cliff and runs towards her trying to catch one mid-air. He falls off the cliff into the ocean. He hollers “come find me” to Emmeline before either drowning or freezing to death. He’s left her all alone on an island. What kind of father does this? There was never an explanation as to why he took his daughter to this island or why he lied to her about literally everything! 

Part 2 Emmeline is rescued by Henry and Colette. They take her in and register her for school where she uses her ridiculous sense of smell to get a feel for people. This oddity makes her less popular in the classroom but she does manage to make one friend. 

Fisher is a little older. Held back from missing so much school and has problems of his own when it comes to family. Eventually the two fall in love and he can tell her anything while she still holds secrets. Secrets don’t make friends though so Fisher runs away to the city. Emmeline runs away to find him but when she can’t she settles on finding her mom. 

Victoria is a super sniffer just like her daughter. Emmeline moves in immediately and starts working for her mom’s company. She doesn’t get answers from her mom about anything regarding her dad or the island. Only smells. 

The ending is over before you get a sense of it closing in. I turned the page over and over again looking to see if something was left out. All I know is Em and Fisher are having a baby and that baby might see her grandma one day or might not. 

Cheri McElroy

Lyrical and beautiful writing frame a coming of age story. Emmaline lives on a remote island with her father. His secrets, and her impetuous nature, lead to tragedy and she’s thrust into the real world.

There is a note of melancholy throughout, but the character of Emmaline showed me the importance of moving forward, learning from your mistakes, and not giving up.

Lori Stewart

Sara Turner

4.5 stars. 
After reading The School Of Essential Ingredients, I knew this book would be full of beautiful writing and heart-tugging characters.

Emmaline, the protagonist, is endearingly vulnerable and smart. I loved her character and how my heart lurched for her and her relationships. 

I absolutely love the way Erica Bauermeister weaves words in describing feelings, people, and scents as personified/animated/tangible things! I feel like I can touch the scents and feelings that come up in the story. It’s just so real and relatable. I love it!

The ending was more abrupt than expected. I wanted more about Henry and Colette, Fisher, and even Victoria! I feel like I just wanted to know how their story ended- if they were ok? 

Favorite quote:
“I remember the way the rain seemed to talk to the roof as I fell asleep, and how the fire would snap and tell it to be quiet... I could feel the tendrils of a fragrance tickling the inside of my nose, slipping into the curls of my black hair... I inhaled, and fell into the fragrance like Alice down the rabbit hole.”

Suzy Dean

3.5
Reminded me a bit of Circe with a more serious romance thread and a bit of mystery. Many layers. I enjoyed reading, definitely took me out of reality and was definitely better than the description. Not life-changing, but a heavier beach read. Good for in between serious texts.

Megan Leprich

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press for providing me with a free copy of this book and inviting me to participate in the blog tour! 

I’m honestly not even sure where I should start with this book, my mind and body are still trying to process this amazing piece of work. This book has definitely left me with a book hangover and I’m not regretting it. 

Emmaline lives on an island with her father and it’s the only home she’s ever known. Her dad tells her amazing stories about Jack the scent keeper and has a machine that captures smells and puts them on pieces of paper that go into little bottles. As Emmaline gets older her curiosity about the thousands of bottles grows and after a tragedy happens, she finds herself thrown into the real world. As she tries to learn more about the new world around her Emmaline also must learn about her true identity and where she actually came from. 

When I first started reading this book I was a little put off. The way Emmaline and her father lived was very odd to me and once the scent machine came into the picture I really started getting weirded out. But the author’s writing style kept drawing me back in and I honestly couldn’t put it down. This book gripped me so hard and honestly left me a little emotional. Everything Emmaline went through and had to learn was so hard and I felt so bad for her. 

The characters were all so well developed and the relationship between each of them was so different. I loved Fisher and Emmaline’s relationship and I also loved Emmaline’s relationship with her stand in parents. They were all so complex in their own ways but such a joy to read about. 

This is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time and I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to read such an amazing book. Getting to follow along with Emmaline’s journey through self discovery and learning all these new things brought tears to my eyes at times but also made me ridiculously happy at others. I haven’t had a book touch me this way and I felt so many different emotions while reading it. 

Thank you so much to Erica Bauermeister for writing such an incredible book!

Chelsea White

Overall an okay book. There were parts that felt overly dramatic to me, and it took awhile to get used to scent being used as an anchor for Emeline’s world. Lots of dramatic twists and turns that really felt anticlimactic overall.

Jan Talkington

An enchanting story. Wouldn't it be great if we could capture aromas and open a bottle to smell them at anytime! Not just the smell of lemon, but the smell of your house on a certain day. The memories that would invoke would be fun and heartwarming. The story of the Scent Keeper, his daughter and ex-wife was an entertaining read.

Jolie

I wasn’t too sure about this book when I first started reading it. I didn’t think that a book about scents would be a good read. The first couple of chapters seemed to cement my initial feelings about the book. Then something happened. The author was able to get me interested in scents. I started to enjoy reading the book. I wanted to know how Emmeline’s journey would end.

The main plotline, Emmeline’s search for answers, was beautifully written. I did wonder, at points during the book, why Henry and Colette didn’t tell Emmeline everything. I also wondered if they knew how well she smelled. I concluded that while they wanted to shelter Emmeline. After everything she had been through, they didn’t want to stress her out anymore.

Emmeline’s relationship with Fisher was a huge focal point in the latter half of the book. From the first day they met, I knew that they were soul mates. Fisher taught Emmeline how to look out for herself. He accepted her for herself. I understood why she needed to find him. I also understood her feelings when she was why he was fired. What I didn’t think was fair was that she compared him to his abusive father. They were apart for a couple of years. Of course, he is going to change!! But that comparison was stomped out when they got back together.

Emmeline’s search for her identity was heartbreaking. She kept getting the runaround from people who should have told her the truth. I kept wondering if she would ever find out why her father did what he did. It did happen, and I was surprised at what was revealed. Looking back, it made sense.

Like I said at the beginning of this review, I wasn’t sure if I would like this book. I had never read a book that was centered around scent. But the author was able to make it work. Emmeline was a savant when it came to smells. She more than proved that scents and memories are intertwined. The last scene in the book shows my point.

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           “Smells don’t care what the mind or heart wants, however. Scents will find their way around the darkness of closed eyes, slipping past barricades of thought. The body is their accomplice. We can live without food for weeks, and water for days, but try not to breathe and the kings mutiny.”

Such a beautiful read. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I became captivated by the lyrical writing that tells Emmeline’s story. It’s been a while since a novel has brought tears to my eyes, but the moment when Emmeline finds out that Dodge has passed away really struck me, and I could feel how much it shattered the new world Emmeline finds herself in. This moment was a catalyst for Emmeline and reminded me how much of an impact our furry friends can have on our lives.

“I’ll come back, I’d promised Dodge- but I hadn’t, and now he was gone. I remembered him waiting outside on the front porch until I was no longer scared, the way he’d helped me understand my new world. He’d been the only being on earth who knew every one of my stories, even the worst ones, the ones I’d whispered into his fur so no one else could hear. I could still feel the curve of his head in my cupped palm.” 

Overall, this is a story about a girl who is lost and believes she is found, then realizes she is still lost and chooses for herself to find who she is using the sense that has shaped her.

The Scent Keeper A Novel

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