Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Paris Library

Title: The Paris Library
Author: Janet Skeslien Charles
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.5
Pub Date: February 2, 2021

Thank you to Atria Books for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

T H R E E • W O R D S

Enchanting • Unforgettable • Literary

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Paris, 1939: Odile, seems to have it all; a handsome boyfriend, an English best friend, a beloved twin, and her dream job as a librarian at the American library in Paris. And when war is declared, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapon she has - books.

Montana 1983: Widowed and alone, Odile is suffering from loneliness. Lily, a lonely teenager, soon takes a keen interest of her recluse, French neighbour. What develops is a unlikely friendship.

A story of love and friendship, of family and sacrifice, of grief and betrayal, of self-discovery and the power of literature.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Based on the true WWII story of the heroic American librarian, Miss Reeder, who created the Soldiers' Service in order to deliver books to servicemen and to Jewish readers after they were banned from entering the library, The Paris Library is a reminder of why I love historical fiction so much. It brought to life a part of history I knew nothing about, and is an ode to the essential nature of books and libraries.

The library atmosphere, the description of books, and the cast of incredible characters really immersed me into the story. The sense of 'found family' among the secondary characters was an additional bonus. It demonstrated how the library staff risked their lives to provide a small piece of normalcy to patrons, all while exploring the consequences of their choices. This novel was well researched, and the dual timeline worked, but I continually was drawn back to Paris and Odile's trials. At times there were parts of Lily's story that felt unnecessary. I also found it odd how there were only a small numbers of chapters from the perspective of secondary characters, to me this detracted from the story and felt inconsistent. And yet it was the ending which felt rushed, that left me feeling disappointed, although I adored the story as a whole.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• book lovers
• readers of historical fiction (particularly WWII)
• fans of Lilac Girls and/or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Breathing in the best smell in the world - a mélange of the mossy scent of musty books and crisp newspaper pages - I felt as if I'd come home."

"I wished I could go back to that last moment. I would say, 'You were the best mom in the world. I need you. We need you. I loved the way we watched robins and hoped for hummingbirds. I wished we had one more morning. One more hug. One more change to say I love you."

"Grief is a sea made of your own tears. Salty swells cover the dark depths you must swim at your own pace. It takes time to build stamina. Some days, my arms sliced through the water, and I felt things would be okay, the shore wasn't so far off. Then one memory, one moment would nearly drown me, and I'd be back to the beginning fighting to stay above the waves, exhausted, sinking in my own sorrow."

Content Warnings

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it, and I am ecstatic that I was able to get a signed copy ! I live in Paris, and I get all my library books from The American Library in Paris, so purchasing this book in a local shop and reading about such familiar places just comforted my soul.

I've known that the ALP has a deep WWII history since I first started going there, and it felt fantastic to learn more. I was pleasantly surprised to find out at the end of the book that most of the characters were real people. I expected the names to be made up, but this was not the case. It really helps to make this book feel even more real.

I have an...interesting relationship with the Historical Fiction genre, as I've disliked most of the books I've read. Going into this one I was a little scared of how I would feel about it, especially after reading the first few chapters, and just feeling "meh" about it. Luckily that quickly changed, and I really enjoyed the main story of Odile.

You can feel the tension and anxiety in the first half of the book as the war begins, and fear of the Germans closing in on the city heightens. The portrayal of people's changing lives, feelings, and thoughts was done quite well. I liked that it was reiterated multiple times that people act rashly, especially under such stressful circumstances, and that no one is perfect.

One thing I could have done without is the multiple timeline/perspectives. I really did not care about Lily in the 1980s timeline, and it didn't feel like it added too much to the story. I though there might be some reveals using her, but there really wasn't. There were also times where I could go 100 pages with only 1 Lily chapter, so it would feel like such an abrupt change, and take me out of the story. There were also several times were we got a chapter from another character's perspective, which most of the time didn't feel needed either. It seemed like the author was trying to give us all of the information, when hearing the story from Odile's perspective was perfectly fine.

I knew going into this that there would be French words peppered throughout, as that always seems to be the case with a book taking place in a non-english speaking country. However, it is done extremely often, and even after living in France for 3 years I had to ask my husband how to pronounce some words and what their definitions were. So if you're going into this with no knowledge of French, prepare to Google some words !

I loved reading all the street names and places that I am familiar with. I felt invested in the story and fell in love with the characters. The ending of Odile's story felt strange and sudden, so the last few chapters of the book were a bit odd for me. As someone who lives in the area and frequents the library this is written about, I definitely think I have a bit of a bias towards liking this book, so those who are not as familiar with the setting might not find as much enjoyment as I did.

Content Warnings

emileereadsbooks's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Thank you for the Gifted Book Libro.fm, Simon Audio, and Atria Books.

I have had a hard time coming up with words for how to review this one. Overall I really enjoyed the book and think many historical fiction fans will as well. This book has many things going for it. It's a book that celebrates the power of libraries and books. It highlights some of the lesser known resisters of the Germans in occupied France and how even seemingly small actions can have big consequences.

What I didn't love about this book is that it alternates POVs and spends disproportionate amounts of time with each character making it a bit of a shock when the POV changes. Also I did not really see where this book was headed for 75% of it and although I did enjoy the ending, it took so long to get there. That being said, once I listened to the author's historical note, I did appreciate the whole scope of the book more. The amount of research that went into this title made me reflect on each element of the story and how it all ties together.

Content Warnings

acitygirlsthoughts's review

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, and Janet Skeslien Charles for choosing me to review this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I'm a huge fan of WWII historical fiction so I couldn't pass up this opportunity to review this! On top of that, I'm also an avid library user and supporter, so two of my favorite topics in one book? Yes! I enjoyed Janet's exploration of the different employees who worked at the American Library in Paris, their quirks, and Odile's (the protagonist's) all-conuming love for her work and friends at the American Library in Paris. Told in alternating point-of-views: Lily, an ambitious, lovable, and curious teen who's Odlie's neighbor in 1980's Montana, USA, and Odile herself.

Lily's growth from her middle school to high school years are influenced by Odile's wisdom as she helps Lily navigate adolesence through her mistakes she made as a teen herself. Although she didn't experience the brunt of WWII, her run-ins with the Nazis on-the-job shaped her morals and ethics as she dealt with secret spies for the Nazis, anti-semitism, and her friend's questionable loyalty to the Allies. Assumptions and hesitation led to some hiccups in her relationships but she used those lessons to teach Lily how to deal with situations similar to her's, such as jealousy. The writing isn't hard to follow; there's a few typos at the beginning but other than that it's fine.

Odile, Lily, Odile's family, Felix (Odile's boyfriend), Mary Louise, Odile's second husband, and the residents of Montana are the only fictional characters in this story, but just because they're fictional doesn't mean I agree with their justifications as a teachable moment. For example - this will be a spoiler but its worth mentioning - Odile tricks her husband into thinking she's single when she's currently married to Felix, all because Felix beat up her friend over her (friend's) affair with a Nazi. There's also an emotional disconnect between the reader and Odile's WWII story. Yes, she's probably blessed to have escaped a lot of violence and gore under the Nazis, but I didn't feel the thriller-esque feel promised, even when she physically ran into them twice. But other than that it's a great story.

Content Warnings

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