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bookgirl4ever's review against another edition
4.0
Eugenie is a true aristocrat trying to understand her role and that of the citizens during the French Revolution. She recognizes the hypocrisy of the Revolution, while seeing she truly has been given more than her maids whom she sees as friends. At the same time, she is unknowingly betrothed to Le Fantome, a powerful man with ties to the government and who wants revenge against her late father. She also sees her brother Armand change with his leadership in the Revolution.
This is a different and more detailed perspective on the French Revolution than Sally Gardners books The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade.
Recommended for ages 14+
This is a different and more detailed perspective on the French Revolution than Sally Gardners books The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade.
Recommended for ages 14+
asteinke19's review against another edition
5.0
I apsolutly loved this book, the unexpected romance, the interesting historical backdrop. I would reccomend this book to ANYONE!
apopenhagen's review against another edition
3.0
I did like this book. I did. but..there were problems. For one thing, I didn't like the main character's name, which is really off-putting. Scratch that, I didn't dislike it, I just didn't know how to pronounce it. Eugenie. You-Genie? I honestly don't know. Then, the bad guy. What precisely was wrong with him? Yes, he wanted Armand gone and yes he wanted to marry Eugenie, and he tried to kill her dad, but all I see is a spoiled, selfish person who isn't exceedingly smart and is called an assassin, but never really kills anyone. As far as I can see, he's just trying to get rid of the royalists. And understandable goal. It is the French Revolution and emotions are running high. So, what makes him so evil?
then, there's Eugenie herself. She goes from this spoiled kid to a mature adult in a matter of pages. How? Yeah. That's what I'd like to know.
On the other hand, I really like Julien and he's really sweet...most of the time.
So, I'm glad I read it because it was enjoyable, but not my favorite.
(I will be reading the sequel ;) )
then, there's Eugenie herself. She goes from this spoiled kid to a mature adult in a matter of pages. How? Yeah. That's what I'd like to know.
On the other hand, I really like Julien and he's really sweet...most of the time.
So, I'm glad I read it because it was enjoyable, but not my favorite.
(I will be reading the sequel ;) )
ashbrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this book!!!
And i was so happy when i found out it is going to have a sequel.
I would recommend this book to anyone
And i was so happy when i found out it is going to have a sequel.
I would recommend this book to anyone
ebroadbent22's review against another edition
5.0
Really good book. The beginning was a bit slow, and my favorite character died, but it was interesting and historically accurate.
corkykat's review against another edition
2.0
This book was almost three stars, but it just needed a little more umph to push it over the edge. I found the characters to be a little dull, and the plot had some vague hints of being interesting, but it just wasn't executed correctly. I really do love historical fiction, and I thought this was fairly accurate, but it was just missing... Something.
jessicamdawn's review against another edition
2.0
The Pale Assassin seemed, from the summary, to insinuate that our main character would be forced to fight for her life, perhaps as an assassin. The truth of the matter is that she is a pampered girl who is almost wholly incapable of understanding the circumstances of others and that she is pursued by a character sometimes referred to as 'the pale assassin' - though they are not much of a concern during the first half of the book and are a phantom of a menace more than a physical one later.
Eugenie spends most of the book being moved around by others into 'safe' places while the revolution goes on, never quite aware of what is actually happening. I cannot blame her for this, because everyone around her is determined to 'protect' her by keeping her in the dark. However, it means that she has less chance to grow as a person because she feels that everyone is being too controlling or paranoid. Elements of the danger around her touch her at times, and after the halfway point, she begins to become more useful as a character rather than the extra baggage.
Eugenie is a passive character much of the time, or is active in ways that directly disobey the orders or negatively effect the plans of others on her 'side.' It is only later, after Paris is in the distance, that she begins to sometimes exercise some form of common sense and even make proper plans that help instead of hurt.
There seemed to be many references to things that were never explained, and I can only assume that this is because the book is the first in a series. The fate of several characters is left uncertain, facts relayed to the reader by the vague narration surrounding the villains never make it to our main characters, and a happy plot point in the very last chapter seems to appear out of nowhere, as if the writer wanted to have a hopeful ending but only had a hundred or so words left to fill so she tied a hasty, crooked bow of pretty phrases and hoped no one would notice.
Eugenie spends most of the book being moved around by others into 'safe' places while the revolution goes on, never quite aware of what is actually happening. I cannot blame her for this, because everyone around her is determined to 'protect' her by keeping her in the dark. However, it means that she has less chance to grow as a person because she feels that everyone is being too controlling or paranoid. Elements of the danger around her touch her at times, and after the halfway point, she begins to become more useful as a character rather than the extra baggage.
Eugenie is a passive character much of the time, or is active in ways that directly disobey the orders or negatively effect the plans of others on her 'side.' It is only later, after Paris is in the distance, that she begins to sometimes exercise some form of common sense and even make proper plans that help instead of hurt.
There seemed to be many references to things that were never explained, and I can only assume that this is because the book is the first in a series. The fate of several characters is left uncertain, facts relayed to the reader by the vague narration surrounding the villains never make it to our main characters, and a happy plot point in the very last chapter seems to appear out of nowhere, as if the writer wanted to have a hopeful ending but only had a hundred or so words left to fill so she tied a hasty, crooked bow of pretty phrases and hoped no one would notice.
mxemma's review
2.0
I have to say, I was really disappointed with the way this book turned out. Not necessarily because of the ending, though that was part of it, as was the fact that I didn't like the main characters very much. Maybe it was just because the cover and the synopsis implied a very different type of story than what I got, and I was excited for the story I expected.
reader25's review against another edition
3.0
I thought that the book was pretty good, but it was kind of slow at parts and I never really liked the main charater Eugenie. However I enjoyed reading the book