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bubblewombat's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Arlem Hawks the writer that you are *chefs kiss*
jeaninetaniece's review
5.0
“I don’t know how I’ll rise tomorrow. When I wake and find you missing from me,” he whispered. ~ Gilles
Gilles, Gilles, Gilles…oh how I love thee, let me count the ways! I have had this on my tbr way too long and I could kick myself for not reading it sooner. I loved this book!
Such an amazing story of two unlikely people finding friendship, while being on different sides of the French revolution. Marie-Caroline is a royalist and Gilles, a Jacobin révolutionairre. Both have strong convictions and beliefs, each concluding that the other is woefully wrong in their loyalty to their respective causes. But as circumstances continue to thrust the two together, respect and admiration.
What a beautiful emotional journey we get to experience between Gilles and Caroline. There is danger, death, and destruction, but, also hope, faith, and love. And love is worth any amount of risk or sacrifice.
Gilles, Gilles, Gilles…oh how I love thee, let me count the ways! I have had this on my tbr way too long and I could kick myself for not reading it sooner. I loved this book!
Such an amazing story of two unlikely people finding friendship, while being on different sides of the French revolution. Marie-Caroline is a royalist and Gilles, a Jacobin révolutionairre. Both have strong convictions and beliefs, each concluding that the other is woefully wrong in their loyalty to their respective causes. But as circumstances continue to thrust the two together, respect and admiration.
What a beautiful emotional journey we get to experience between Gilles and Caroline. There is danger, death, and destruction, but, also hope, faith, and love. And love is worth any amount of risk or sacrifice.
jnak's review
5.0
Wonderful book about finding love despite differences and during a time of great unrest and division. I found so many truths in this book and so much I could relate to our day. Wonderful historical romance.
heidirgorecki's review
5.0
A great story centered around two people on either side of the French Revolution, who fall into unlikely friendship and love, as the violence and hatred of the revolutionists changes from seeking liberty to seeking vengeance and retribution. While they try to determine how to navigate their different political views and what they stand for, they find that love can lead them towards common ground because “doing what is right is more important than who is right.”
Ms Hawks paints a vivid and heart wrenching picture about the passion, brutality, violence, and fear of the time period in France, and also shows very important truths about figuring out what you believe and are built to do rather than blindly getting swept up in someone else’s opinions and passions. So much in that time period was so dark and full of hate, from a group of people that was oppressed too long and then fought back in such evil ways in the end, becoming no better than their oppressors.
The love and friendship between Gilles and Caroline was beautiful and self sacrificing, and I enjoyed the growth and determination in their characters, as well as their families. Ms Hawks did an excellent job and having you fully invested in each of the characters, hoping for the heroes to succeed, and for the villains to lose. Very well written.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for honest review.
Ms Hawks paints a vivid and heart wrenching picture about the passion, brutality, violence, and fear of the time period in France, and also shows very important truths about figuring out what you believe and are built to do rather than blindly getting swept up in someone else’s opinions and passions. So much in that time period was so dark and full of hate, from a group of people that was oppressed too long and then fought back in such evil ways in the end, becoming no better than their oppressors.
The love and friendship between Gilles and Caroline was beautiful and self sacrificing, and I enjoyed the growth and determination in their characters, as well as their families. Ms Hawks did an excellent job and having you fully invested in each of the characters, hoping for the heroes to succeed, and for the villains to lose. Very well written.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for honest review.
midnightmomreader's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
theseasoul's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
|| 4 ⭐️ ||
Loved this! Such an enjoyable historical romance, especially given that it’s entirely clean! The beginning was a bit slow to the point that I actually almost DNF’d it, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. The characters had so much depth to them and their growth in various ways throughout the story was wonderful to witness. Almost leaves me wishing for a sequel!
kimber_reads's review
5.0
I recently read Beyond the Lavender Fields by Arlem Hawks and absolutely loved it! I don’t even know how to begin to describe this flawlessly beautiful story! Gilles and Marie Caroline are two people with completely opposite political opinions living in the same city during a time of political unrest. Their older brothers are best friends and Gilles works for Marie Caroline’s father. At the beginning of the story Gilles and Caroline are practically enemies, but as they spend more time together and start to better understand one another’s perspectives, they realize they want the same things, they just disagree on how to obtain them. As it becomes more and more dangerous for Gilles and Marie Caroline to be connected, they have to decide what they are willing to sacrifice, and what they are not.
There are so many things I absolutely LOVED about this book, but I think my favorite thing is that the story is told almost exclusively from Gilles’ point of view. It’s so fitting for this story too. Gilles grows so much as a character, he was the perfect person to tell this story. I appreciated getting a glimpse at what Marie Caroline was thinking and feeling through the letters she wrote to her cousin. That combination of Marie Caroline’s letters and Gilles’ point of view was so unique and works perfectly for this story.
I just love Gilles and Marie Caroline. They compliment each other so well. I love a good headstrong girl and Marie Caroline is just that. I love that she demands respect and doesn’t tolerate anything less. But she’s not haughty or arrogant. She truly is a generous and compassionate person, but she doesn’t put up with stuff and nonsense. And Gilles. He is trustworthy, levelheaded, intelligent, responsible, and would do anything to protect the people he loves. I loved seeing Gilles and Marie Caroline turn to each other for help more and more as they learned to trust one another. And I definitely swooned over all their romantic moments. Whether it was sitting on a wall eating pastries or dancing in a garden or stitching up a wounded arm, I loved it all!
I also loved the side characters. I loved seeing the impact they each had on Gilles and his opinions, goals, and dreams. There were a lot of people pulling him in a lot of different directions, but in the end, Gilles learned to think and speak and act for himself. He chose which relationships to nurture and which to abandon. I loved seeing Gilles interact with each of his family members. I especially enjoyed seeing his relationship with his father change throughout the book.
This book honestly has everything I love about historical romance! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves an unpredictable historically accurate plot, relatable characters who grow a great deal throughout the book, and wholesome swoony romance between a headstrong girl and quiet but protective guy. Now excuse me, while I go and read it again!
There are so many things I absolutely LOVED about this book, but I think my favorite thing is that the story is told almost exclusively from Gilles’ point of view. It’s so fitting for this story too. Gilles grows so much as a character, he was the perfect person to tell this story. I appreciated getting a glimpse at what Marie Caroline was thinking and feeling through the letters she wrote to her cousin. That combination of Marie Caroline’s letters and Gilles’ point of view was so unique and works perfectly for this story.
I just love Gilles and Marie Caroline. They compliment each other so well. I love a good headstrong girl and Marie Caroline is just that. I love that she demands respect and doesn’t tolerate anything less. But she’s not haughty or arrogant. She truly is a generous and compassionate person, but she doesn’t put up with stuff and nonsense. And Gilles. He is trustworthy, levelheaded, intelligent, responsible, and would do anything to protect the people he loves. I loved seeing Gilles and Marie Caroline turn to each other for help more and more as they learned to trust one another. And I definitely swooned over all their romantic moments. Whether it was sitting on a wall eating pastries or dancing in a garden or stitching up a wounded arm, I loved it all!
I also loved the side characters. I loved seeing the impact they each had on Gilles and his opinions, goals, and dreams. There were a lot of people pulling him in a lot of different directions, but in the end, Gilles learned to think and speak and act for himself. He chose which relationships to nurture and which to abandon. I loved seeing Gilles interact with each of his family members. I especially enjoyed seeing his relationship with his father change throughout the book.
This book honestly has everything I love about historical romance! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves an unpredictable historically accurate plot, relatable characters who grow a great deal throughout the book, and wholesome swoony romance between a headstrong girl and quiet but protective guy. Now excuse me, while I go and read it again!
thisbeauden's review
4.0
i'm a sucker for historical romances and you can judge me all you want but i have never ever been happier .
krislars08's review
adventurous
informative
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
3.5
leslie_books_and_socks_rock's review
4.0
I didn’t know what to expect with this book being a different era, French Revolution, but music from Les Mis was constantly running through my head.