Scan barcode
booksaremythirdplace's review against another edition
What an absolutely horrible protagonist. I actually can't stand April, and I just know this is going to end up with her cheating w/the smug Frenchman who smokes. No thank you. What sucks is that the actual journal entries of the long dead apartment owner are actually super great-just not great enough to keep me reading. Yet another contemporary read that's not for me. Points for a pretty cover tho!
sksrenninger's review against another edition
2.0
I really loved the central story of this plot. I didn't love the "theme" of provenance, which I thought was both overwhelming and unnecessary (and I thought the repetition of the word itself was just lacking in creativity). I also really couldn't stand the scattered French, because it was very repetitive, and making full words into (completely invented) contractions based off of how they sound to anglophones is both distracting to the reader and not representative of how francophones speak the language. My annoyance at "le grand m'sieu" took me out of the story pretty regularly. I would have really loved to spend more time in the present day, exploring the backstory through the furniture. So, some mechanics notwithstanding, the story was pretty intriguing and a good flight of fancy.
shhchar's review against another edition
2.0
DNF, skimmed latter half. Very unsympathetic main character, and I didn’t like the aspersions cast on therapy. Could not keep my attention.
glennaparks's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bickie's review against another edition
2.0
A frothy, fun beach-type read; not literature. Story drew me in and kept me reading; however, the characters were largely unsympathetic, inconsistently drawn, and somewhat cardboard. Dialog was often stilted and unbelievable. I enjoyed the demimondaine's journal entries the most even though they required some suspension of disbelief. There were also a few timing/continuity errors the editor did not catch which were somewhat distracting. I did appreciate what must have been some very diligent research, and it was fun to be "in Paris" for a little while.
mdodson's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite part of this book was the French atmosphere and culture. There were times when I found it difficult to care about several characters. I think some of the book's strongest moments were near the end of the story and I could have read an entire book about those characters and the potential new story lines. Reading this in a wintry and cold Midwestern location made me miss Paris and travel.
amandap716's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book so much. April is a fantastic main character, and I spent the whole book hoping for good things to happen for her. I loved hearing Marthe's voice through her journals. Such a life she lived! And Paris, oh Paris. I love Paris so much, and was happy to see one of my favorite spots (place de vosges) get a mention.
Great debut novel. I look forward to more from this author.
Great debut novel. I look forward to more from this author.
themrsmcfarland's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
2.5
<b>2024 Review:</b>
What I liked:
• The parts set in Paris
• The Francais incorporated into the prose and dialogue
• The cover art
What I disliked:
• Pretty much everything else.
I hated April so much, she was a whiny, self-involved pinnacle of obnoxiousness.we could’ve omitted her story entirely and probably had a better time. She refused to communicate like an adult, was as entitled as the day is long and was a generally revolting human. She wrote her mom off the minute she got sick, had the audacity to tear into her Dad about his parenting the right after her mom died, she was materialistic and shallow, she literally had retaliatory sex with some creepy guy in France (to punish the husband for his affair?) and fails to see the irony in that at all. She was just horrid.
Marthe was horrid too tbh but at least her story was interesting. If we’d spent the book with her rather than flip-flopping between her and April, it might’ve been more tolerable.
I didn’t get on with the writing style. Too much mention of “provenance” (it was seriously annoying) and far too much playing into the American stereotypes and culture. The author didn’t need to mention April’s nationality in every other sentence and in so much dialogue. We get it. Some of the language choices were odd too. Luc was always sneering and smirking and I don’t think that was the word the author wanted to use. The guy came across as a smarmy sex pest for much of the book… idk if that was the point? But ugly language begets an ugly characterization and I don’t know why April was so charmed by “sneering”.
There was also way too much focus on April’s crumbling life and inner monologue. I didn’t want to read about her whining about how hard her life was. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I wish this book had been about Marthe without the “modern” storyline.
So, while I love travelling to France in fiction, the awful characters, bogged down “modern plot”, and lacklustre writing rendered this an unenjoyable read.
—————————————————
<b>2017 Review:</b>
I was going to give this book 4-stars up until the bit about April’s mother. Around this point, April’s story began to get strange. I understand that part of tension requires characters concealing information but this took it too far.
I adored the Paris setting and especially loved all the Français incorporated into the text. That was delightful.
The characters were all slimey to me, both historical and modern. Marthe was an interesting woman but horrid in her own right. Boldini sounds like a whinger and was rather pathetic. April is a difficult character to like; she’s resistant to honesty and straight-forward communication, she lies, she’s incredibly self-absorbed and she is work-obsessed. In addition, I think her retaliation-by-cheating was pathetic and made her no better than Troy. Troy was terrible from the beginning yet somehow by the end he turned from a cold, unfeeling bastard into a simpering fool; it was embarrassing. Luc was scummy for his pursuing of a married woman and his general cavorting. I would have respected April a lot more if she would have severed the relationship with Troy when she told Luc it was over between her and “le grand m’sieu”. Honestly, the wishy-washiness of her choices was profoundly frustrating. Her refusal to communicate was also off-putting and frustrating.
The history was excellent but I do have to say “I’ll See You In Paris” is the more enjoyable read of the two!
<b>2024 Review:</b>
What I liked:
• The parts set in Paris
• The Francais incorporated into the prose and dialogue
• The cover art
What I disliked:
• Pretty much everything else.
I hated April so much, she was a whiny, self-involved pinnacle of obnoxiousness.we could’ve omitted her story entirely and probably had a better time. She refused to communicate like an adult, was as entitled as the day is long and was a generally revolting human. She wrote her mom off the minute she got sick, had the audacity to tear into her Dad about his parenting the right after her mom died, she was materialistic and shallow, she literally had retaliatory sex with some creepy guy in France (to punish the husband for his affair?) and fails to see the irony in that at all. She was just horrid.
Marthe was horrid too tbh but at least her story was interesting. If we’d spent the book with her rather than flip-flopping between her and April, it might’ve been more tolerable.
I didn’t get on with the writing style. Too much mention of “provenance” (it was seriously annoying) and far too much playing into the American stereotypes and culture. The author didn’t need to mention April’s nationality in every other sentence and in so much dialogue. We get it. Some of the language choices were odd too. Luc was always sneering and smirking and I don’t think that was the word the author wanted to use. The guy came across as a smarmy sex pest for much of the book… idk if that was the point? But ugly language begets an ugly characterization and I don’t know why April was so charmed by “sneering”.
There was also way too much focus on April’s crumbling life and inner monologue. I didn’t want to read about her whining about how hard her life was. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I wish this book had been about Marthe without the “modern” storyline.
So, while I love travelling to France in fiction, the awful characters, bogged down “modern plot”, and lacklustre writing rendered this an unenjoyable read.
—————————————————
<b>2017 Review:</b>
I was going to give this book 4-stars up until the bit about April’s mother. Around this point, April’s story began to get strange. I understand that part of tension requires characters concealing information but this took it too far.
I adored the Paris setting and especially loved all the Français incorporated into the text. That was delightful.
The characters were all slimey to me, both historical and modern. Marthe was an interesting woman but horrid in her own right. Boldini sounds like a whinger and was rather pathetic. April is a difficult character to like; she’s resistant to honesty and straight-forward communication, she lies, she’s incredibly self-absorbed and she is work-obsessed. In addition, I think her retaliation-by-cheating was pathetic and made her no better than Troy. Troy was terrible from the beginning yet somehow by the end he turned from a cold, unfeeling bastard into a simpering fool; it was embarrassing. Luc was scummy for his pursuing of a married woman and his general cavorting. I would have respected April a lot more if she would have severed the relationship with Troy when she told Luc it was over between her and “le grand m’sieu”. Honestly, the wishy-washiness of her choices was profoundly frustrating. Her refusal to communicate was also off-putting and frustrating.
The history was excellent but I do have to say “I’ll See You In Paris” is the more enjoyable read of the two!