Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Paris Library

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The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

8 reviews

daralexandria's review

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emotional reflective fast-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

3.5

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passionatereader78's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Refreshing historical point of view of WWII. I've read many other historical fiction books based on events during WWII. It was nice to reading from a Librarian's point of view. Great writing!

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zeldamazzy's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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bookishaddictions's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I love good historical fiction novels, especially the ones that are based around true events. While The Paris Library isn’t exactly how the events happened, Charles definitely got the overall basis of it across. I found that the characters each faced so many relatable challenges, as well as scenarios I could never imagine being in myself. Odile and Lily take readers on adventures that show both the best and the worst of humanity. If you enjoyed The Paris Architect, you’ll likely enjoy this one 🇫🇷

I will say, The Paris Library has reminded me that I could never learn the Dewey Decimal System 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️

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zoepagereader's review

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I was intrigued by this one. I had never heard of the American Library of Paris nor did I know that that was a thing countries did. However much I enjoyed that aspect it though, I didn’t understand why it was necessary to add 80’s Orile’s story in, much less told through a different person’s perspective. Not to mention the horrid amount of slut-shaming that took place throughout the book. “Oh she’s wearing furs when people are starving? What a slut.”It just made no sense it the contexts it was frequently used in. I think the majority of the characters could have handled their problems better, or at the very least not take their anger out on others.

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charity1313's review

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adventurous informative inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I know the dual timeline narrative is popular right now and it was an okay device for this story but I didn't think it was necessary. I found myself annoyed when the story would skip to the future timeline. I didn't really care about the modern storyline and, in the end, it seemed like a plot device thrown in to create extra tension, an extra pause, for what the narrator wasn't telling us about her past...but it still wasn't necessary. 1) There was enough foreshadowing to know what was coming though perhaps not the specifics. 2) The delay in telling the whole truth was plausible even without jumping timelines over and over. It felt like the second storyline was added just to meet a publisher checklist and add length to the book. Or maybe some editor somewhere thought the original story wasn't enough on its own? Idk but I could have lived without it.

I appreciated that the author's note was included in the audio version so I only had to hunt down a bit of information myself. It actually seemed like this group of people had an easier time of things during the war than many, perhaps even most, of the books I've read from this time period so it surprised me and I had to go looking it up but the author's note also provided more clarity.

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briwithabook's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, did I love this book! While it was based during WWII, as so many historical fiction books are, it focused on a topic I knew nothing about until reading this book: The American Library in Paris. The library sounds like it was an lovely place even before the war, but what's really incredible is the heroes that worked there during WWII. Their dedication to their jobs, subscribers, and their soldiers is incredible. I think it's amazing that they made the effort to send and deliver books to soldiers to help keep up their morale.

This book included a great cast of characters, and it was incredible to learn that many of them were real people, and this was based on their real stories! I found most of the characters likeable and really liked the dual timeline. So many times with dual timeline books, the more recent timeline is present day, so the people who lived through WWII are not normally present in the current day timeline. But because this book's more recent timeline was set in the 1980's, we got to experience Odile's story both in the 1940's and the 1980's. I really enjoyed her friendship with Lily and the advice and direction that she gave her.

If I had to find one thing to critique it's that there was a part of Odile's life that was explained towards the end of the book that felt a bit rushed. I realize there was no way to explain all of those years in detail, but because I found Odile so endearing, I would've loved to have known more about her life in the years in between the two timelines that were the focus of the book. So not necessarily a critique, just a desire for more, because I enjoyed Odile's story so much!

I also really appreciated the library setting, as I think any bibliophile will. This was a great story that was well-written and, judging by the author's note at the end, also very well-researched. I will look for more work from Janet Skeslien Charles in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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internationalreads's review

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emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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