Atria/Emily Bestler Books
256 Pages
I read this book at the end of November, 2025, and it quickly found a spot in my top five of the year. The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye got one of my rare five star reviews on Goodreads. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with this book. When I picked it up at the Lockport Public Library, I was intrigued by the summary on the inside cover. And as I read it, I discovered that it was so much more. Ultimately, when I look back over my year of reading, this very well could be my second favorite book of the 150 or so that I read in 2025.
Chloe Quinn is in elementary school when she’s given an assignment to be a penpal. Oliver Jones is her assigned partner in her writing fortunes. As she finishes her note to her new friend, she whispers an additional message into the missive. The miraculous thing? When Oliver receives the letter, he hears her voice. This would begin a friendship that would grow into something bigger than simple penpals. As they were reaching the best part of their relationship years later in high school, Oliver disappears without a trace. Chloe is devastated.
Two decades later, Chloe is having another bad day. She’s just been let go from her high school guidance counselor job with no real prospects. To cheer herself up, she writes messages on paper and then folds the paper into roses. When one of the roses falls into the hands of one of her neighbors, beautiful things happen. Through these roses that keep finding their way to the people who need them, something even more miraculous happens. One of the roses finds its way into her past.
At the beginning of this book, I thought I had a pretty good idea of where it was going, but was unsure exactly how it was going to get there. While it is a short book, it was long enough not to be a simple, straight path. Every good book has a long and winding road. This book is no different. There is a bit of a moment in the middle of the book where it seems to lose a bit of steam, but then it powers on to fantastic finish. With only 256 pages to play with, the author packs a lot of punch into those few pages.
The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye is very much a feel-good story. Some might call it chick-lit, but it is far more than that. It is a story about humanity. It is a story about even in our darkest moments, there can be shining beacons of light showing us the great things in life. Sometimes the path can get very dark, but there is always a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Reading this book will make you feel better about your day.
I read this book the Sunday after Thanksgiving while my wife and I were taking Daughter #3 back to her dorm at college. As I was reading and my wife was driving, I would tell her about various parts of the book that I found fascinating. She asked me what I was reading. So, I read the front cover summary to her. She said the book sounded amazing. I told her that it was even better than the summary made it out to be. Every Christmas, I get each of my four daughters, their significant others, and my wife a book. This book will be given to my wife for her book this Christmas. I want to spread the joy of this book much like the joy spread by Chloe’s roses.
If you’re looking for a really fantastic book that is short, engaging, and powerful, then you need to read The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye. This is one of those books that I want everyone to read. In a world where we seem more and more isolated from each other, we could all use a yellow rose to brighten our day and remind us that we are all human.
Craig Bacon wants to write a book that moves people like this one moved him.