Rachel C. (RachelACrawford) reviewed on + 22 more book reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Slow moving and not as good as I had hoped..., October 4, 2010
By Denise Crawford "DC" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
After reading the reviews on this product page, and with much anticipation for a great historical fiction story, I opened this book and found...boredom. I am not sure what novel the others read, but it couldn't have been this one?! I am afraid that I will be one of the few dissenters in raving about this book. In case I have totally missed the point of the novel, I'm going to pass it on for a true "teen test" by giving it to one of my Library Science students at the high school where I'm the librarian. I will post back and amend this review to include her reactions and thoughts. I thought the story was "ok" but in the latter section toward the end I had to stop myself from shouting out, "You've got to be kidding!" The suspension of disbelief required for me to finish the novel was immense.
The heroine, Andi Alpers, was quite annoying and totally addled -- certainly didn't act like the brainy private school girl that she was supposed to be. Her self medication treatment, depression, suicidal ideation, and fixation on her music was interesting enough to portray the teen angst so popular in YA fiction today, BUT the side story of her trip to Paris and her "involvement" in the life of Alexandrine Paradis was just a bit too far-fetched. I'm not a European History expert so I can't say how accurate the portrayal of the famous royals and the other characters was, but I will definitely will be researching that out of curiosity.
This novel is supposed to be about the "struggles of the human heart" and certainly these two girls endured their private personal struggles -- quite differently. I do not think that this book, however, will touch the teen reader nearly as effectively as did Jennifer Donnelly's previous novel (which I loved), A Northern Light. I was not impressed but I will see if the students check out and read this book. I would guess most won't finish it!
Hesitate to recommend.
By Denise Crawford "DC" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
After reading the reviews on this product page, and with much anticipation for a great historical fiction story, I opened this book and found...boredom. I am not sure what novel the others read, but it couldn't have been this one?! I am afraid that I will be one of the few dissenters in raving about this book. In case I have totally missed the point of the novel, I'm going to pass it on for a true "teen test" by giving it to one of my Library Science students at the high school where I'm the librarian. I will post back and amend this review to include her reactions and thoughts. I thought the story was "ok" but in the latter section toward the end I had to stop myself from shouting out, "You've got to be kidding!" The suspension of disbelief required for me to finish the novel was immense.
The heroine, Andi Alpers, was quite annoying and totally addled -- certainly didn't act like the brainy private school girl that she was supposed to be. Her self medication treatment, depression, suicidal ideation, and fixation on her music was interesting enough to portray the teen angst so popular in YA fiction today, BUT the side story of her trip to Paris and her "involvement" in the life of Alexandrine Paradis was just a bit too far-fetched. I'm not a European History expert so I can't say how accurate the portrayal of the famous royals and the other characters was, but I will definitely will be researching that out of curiosity.
This novel is supposed to be about the "struggles of the human heart" and certainly these two girls endured their private personal struggles -- quite differently. I do not think that this book, however, will touch the teen reader nearly as effectively as did Jennifer Donnelly's previous novel (which I loved), A Northern Light. I was not impressed but I will see if the students check out and read this book. I would guess most won't finish it!
Hesitate to recommend.
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