Reviews

Biblioteka Paryžiuje by Janet Skeslien Charles

lopat_92's review against another edition

4.0

Slow build but a brilliant story line and depth of character development.

bookycatlady's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Writing itself was a struggle. Dialogue felt clunky, and scenes or action would move so fast I thought I skipped a page. This was throughout the book and especially in the beginning. It was honestly hard to get through the book until the war started, which is when the good action picked up, I’m sorry to say. It was easier to read the trials of war and occupation than it was to read Odile’s rapid-fire emotional swings. I liked 1980s Lily more than 1940s Odile, and 1980s Odile was more tolerable than 1940s Odile. 

I did like that I didn’t get the betrayal twist. I thought it would be

Paul sending the denouncement letters which would have been a truly sick betrayal, but it was a subscriber.

I think the author revealed her hand too early with

Paul, by saying Odile was married to Buck early in the book. It made reading the Paul storyline pretty easy to skin because you knew it wasn’t the end game

.

Overall not a great book for me. I’m not into WWII stories at all, and that was the best part of the book, so that doesn’t bode well. I would read more about Lily and what comes next for her but Odile can stay in the past.

amayes's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.5

raereadings's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

lauracooleyjohnson's review against another edition

2.0

The American Library in Paris sounds like it was a cool place, with heroes doing their bit to save books and support all readers everywhere (Soldier, Jew, Foreigner or local) with the gift of reading. (Sign me up!) I enjoyed the story to a degree, as it had an interesting angle of life in Paris during WWII. But it is yet ANOTHER pattern-following historical fiction that flashed back and forth in time. And the modern story arc felt forced, an obvious and artificial device to (try to) illustrate Odile’s character development. But Odile and Lily both were poorly explored characters, doing things inconsistent with their own values from one page to the next. I think the story actually would have been improved if the author had left out the entire plot line from the 1980’s. The author could have just told the story of the librarians during the war, and arranged some other way for Odile to reconcile herself to her mistakes. Instead, she waits 40 years, and the author has to stretch to force a situation like a Montana homecoming dance for analogous life lessons. This struck me as trying too hard, and unfortunately felt inauthentic. Too bad, because the raw threads of a good story were there to be woven.

jennyluwho's review against another edition

2.0

Incredible WWII story. Unnecessary time hopping. The cheesy cheesiest writing.

sumbum22's review against another edition

5.0

This was a very enjoyable read that I will recommend to others. I didn’t realize until the end that it was based on real events.

cwalter01's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Very good read.   Ending was slightly confusing, but still good

hoovershawna03's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

toobusy's review against another edition

5.0

When it comes to these two timeline/historical fiction books I often find myself disliking one of the story lines, that was not the case with this book! I genuinely enjoyed both storylines and characters. I adored the relationship between Odile and Lily. Odile was the much needed straightforward mentor that a young tween girl needs to help her realize what she does/says right now matter and hurt. I haven't done much reading into the occupation of Paris during the war so I found this really eye opening to the prolonged hardships of war on civilians and our humanity (feels really relevant and scary due to world events at the time I read it). Some of the ALP characters are based on real librarians who defended the library during the occupation which adds another layer of depth to this novel.

Towards the end of the novel I felt the pace accelerated to push us along to a conclusion, which did end up feeling a little jumpy. But that ending left me clutching the book to my chest with tears in my eyes.