Reviews

Revolution #9 by Peter Abrahams

janina_reads's review against another edition

4.0

This is actually a very hard review for me to write. Or, more precisely – it is actually very hard for me to make up my mind about this book.

What I loved:

- The French Revolution not as a political event that shaped nations and changed history, but as an event that shaped people, affected them personally and changed their lives. The French Revolution looked at from a different side, from the perspective of someone who was close to the king – loyal, but not for political reasons. Alexandrines story was captivating and achingly sad – a bittersweet ‘love story’ in a way, but without the happy ending. Together with Andi, I desperately hoped that there would be some kind of solution, but sadly, what’s in the past can’t be changed now.
If you like personal accounts of historic events, this should be for you! I am not a historic fiction fan myself, but this story was just great. It has definitely made me interested in reading more about this revolution that has had such a great effect on our world as a whole, but especially on the people of France.

- Andi’s love of music and the important role it played in her life – not being able to play an instrument or hear music the way she does, it was great to discover and feel her dedication and admiration through Donnelly’s words.

- Virgil. Sigh. Definitely a contender for my fictional crushes list ;).

- The way things turned out at the end. Not perfect, not happily-ever-after happy, but just right.

- Paris. The atmosphere Donnelly created just felt so similar to my personal experience and if Rémy’s actually existed, I would love to spend some time there. The parts that played in the Paris of the late 1700s had a very real feel to them as well. I could sense the desperation and the hope the people felt. I could imagine the dirty streets and the bloody raids. I could see the splendour and gold of the royal palaces on one side, and the misery and hunger the common people lived in on the other. It almost was as if I was there myself, and I think that’s the greatest compliment you can give in cases such as this!

What I found weird and/or annoying:

- Andi moping around the whole time at the beginning. I mean, I got it, she was hurt and she felt guilty. She didn’t want to live anymore. But she was extremely whiny and made sure everyone noticed how much she suffered in this I-don’t-care-about-you-don’t-you-dare-care-about-me way that annoyed me to no end. This got a lot better as the story progressed, but the first couple of chapters, she was actually very hard to take.

Spoiler

- The time warp twist shortly before the end. Okay, it wasn’t revealed if it was actually a time warp or if it was just a drug-induced hallucination, but it felt very time-warpy. And it totally changed the tone of the story. I wouldn’t have needed this kind of resolution. It felt weirdly out of place and I was reluctant to even read it.

I am finding it hard to make up my mind if I should let those 50 pages around the end destroy the great experience reading this book was for me. On a total account, I have to say that the positive aspects outweigh the negative ones. Despite its size, I finished the book rather quickly. When I put it down, I was always looking forward to picking it up again (with the exception of the before mentioned chapters at the end). I would recommend it for history fans and history sceptics (like me) alike. And I’ll definitely be reading more by Donnelly. All in all, I would say I loved the book. Still, some of the stuff that happened towards the end leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

in_and_out_of_the_stash's review against another edition

3.0

Teenage angst. Weak ending