Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

4 reviews

rowiash's review

adventurous inspiring reflective

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

5.0

Lovely nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout, and the characters are flawed enough to prevent it from seeming too preachy or Mary Sue-ish. It’s the mix of cozy heartwarming library love and tense serious moments I was wishing for back when I read The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Infidelity

elisabethshanahan's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, War, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ginadapooh's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Cancer, Sexual assault, Rape, Police brutality, Bullying, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Grief, War, and Toxic friendship

mariasreading's review

slow-paced

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

I almost didn’t finish this book, but I finished it out of pure hate LMAOOO

Before I go onto the review, a summary: Odile is a French librarian working at the American library in Paris during the German occupation. In the 1980s, Odile has moved to Montana and has a curious little neighbor named Lily, who she begins teaching French to and slowly reveals her life story. 

Any book that tries to make me sympathize for a Nazi just because he also likes books, or feel sympathetic for a girl who falls for a Nazi? It’s a no for me. (An actual line was: “He wasn’t bad looking, for a Nazi,” and one girl describes a Nazi officer she’s fallen for as: “I need one person to know him, to see how kind he is.” No thanks.)

Technical notes: dual timeline, but it’s very choppy with no real rhythm, and switches randomly to side character POVs that don’t seem to add much. The ending was rushed and I didn’t feel like there was much depth to any of the characters.

Most of all, I felt it was a bit insensitive to the actual plight of people in WWII. At one point, one of the characters posits that if Odile had hidden Anne Frank, Anne would be alive - I think that’s a line that shouldn’t have been crossed, personally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and War

Slut shaming