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liziev's review
3.0
I won a copy of this book from Goodreads Firstreads.
Things Iiked:
The descriptions of Paris -- the streets, the food, the scenery, the people -- reminded me of when I was there a few years ago. The imagery at times was really beautiful and gelped to set the scene for what was taking place.
There were some pretty funny bits. A lighthearted, easy read.
There was one scene at the end where Aurelie actually works with food. The way the food is described, the way it makes her feel and the way she handles and respects the ingredients was really touching.
On the down side:
This book was pretty fluffy. I'm tempted to classify it as YA. An easy read is ok, but this was a bit too easy.
Fairly predictable plotline.
Shallow character development and inconsistency in personality. My biggest complaint is that Aurelie is supposed to be an independent 30 year old entrepreneur. But she thinks and acts more like a silly highschool girl than a self sufficient woman.
Overall, the author seems to do a better job with evoking emotion out of scenery, memories, and food thanhe does with the actual characters. But this is a sweet book that I'm sure people would enjoy.
Things Iiked:
The descriptions of Paris -- the streets, the food, the scenery, the people -- reminded me of when I was there a few years ago. The imagery at times was really beautiful and gelped to set the scene for what was taking place.
There were some pretty funny bits. A lighthearted, easy read.
There was one scene at the end where Aurelie actually works with food. The way the food is described, the way it makes her feel and the way she handles and respects the ingredients was really touching.
On the down side:
This book was pretty fluffy. I'm tempted to classify it as YA. An easy read is ok, but this was a bit too easy.
Fairly predictable plotline.
Shallow character development and inconsistency in personality. My biggest complaint is that Aurelie is supposed to be an independent 30 year old entrepreneur. But she thinks and acts more like a silly highschool girl than a self sufficient woman.
Overall, the author seems to do a better job with evoking emotion out of scenery, memories, and food thanhe does with the actual characters. But this is a sweet book that I'm sure people would enjoy.
sydodo13's review against another edition
3.0
Ich wünschte, dass André von der Rolltreppe gestürzt wäre, nicht seine Mutter.
jagoda_readsbooks's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
roe_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️
It’s not my type of book, to be fair. I’m not into adult romance, and I don’t love french authors’ style. That said, this book was a quick and easy read, funny and nice and cute and soft. Definitely different from my last reading.
I loved the male character, Andrè Chabanais, much more than Aurélie Bredin, and his point of view was hilarious. I give it 3.5 and not more mostly because I find the main idea a bit irrealistic, just because normal people would hardly acted like the characters, in my opinion.
Anyway, I loved the last two to three chapters, which I found more deep and “serious” and were more in my “reading zone” in some way.
Recommend for a nice easy reading in winter time!
It’s not my type of book, to be fair. I’m not into adult romance, and I don’t love french authors’ style. That said, this book was a quick and easy read, funny and nice and cute and soft. Definitely different from my last reading.
I loved the male character, Andrè Chabanais, much more than Aurélie Bredin, and his point of view was hilarious. I give it 3.5 and not more mostly because I find the main idea a bit irrealistic, just because normal people would hardly acted like the characters, in my opinion.
Anyway, I loved the last two to three chapters, which I found more deep and “serious” and were more in my “reading zone” in some way.
Recommend for a nice easy reading in winter time!
lauravials's review against another edition
3.0
No me esperaba nada de este libro. Literalmente NADA. Ni siquiera sabía de qué se trataba, solo que era una novela de amor (y eso no sirvió de nada para darme esperanza de que llegara a ser buena). Al final resultó que La Sonrisa de las Mujeres me sorprendió agradablemente, hasta el punto que le daría 3.5 estrellas y retiraría la mirada de escepticismo que le lancé a mi mamá cuando me pasó el libro.
El principio es confuso, en el sentido de que no sabes hacia dónde se va a dirigir la historia, sobre todo cuando termina el primer capítulo y resulto que cambió el punto de vista de Aurelié a un editor que no pinta nada en el asunto. Mi principal pensamiento era un continuo "ya...?", hasta que llegamos alrededor de la página 70 y se nos revela la dirección del libro. Desde ese momento la historia pasa de mediocre a entretenida, y me vi a mi misma dando vuelta las páginas sin parar.
La trama es simple, entretenida, y aunque la traducción podría ser mejor, me gustaron las pequeñas frases en distintos idiomas que adornaban el libro, que le dieron un toque pintoresco. Ambos personajes principales tienen sus fallas, Aurelié me pareció a veces extremadamente ingenua e infantil a pesar de sus 32 años y André, a pesar de su carisma y lo mucho que me hizo reír, demasiado egocéntrico. Aun así, me entretuve leyendo sus aventuras y felicito al autor por sus excelente manejo de la narración en primera persona; los dos tenían voces marcadas y reconocibles que hicieron que, a pesar de no ser una fan de ese tipo de narración, no tuviera ningún problema leyéndolo.
Un libro dulce y con personalidad, bueno para pasar el rato, desconectar la mente y que te deja sonriendo. Recomendado para los románticos y los amantes del país franco, porque quedas con ganas de ir a París o al restaurante más cercano de comida francesa a comértelo todo (lo que en mi caso es bastante trágico porque no tengo plata para ninguna de las dos cosas).
El principio es confuso, en el sentido de que no sabes hacia dónde se va a dirigir la historia, sobre todo cuando termina el primer capítulo y resulto que cambió el punto de vista de Aurelié a un editor que no pinta nada en el asunto. Mi principal pensamiento era un continuo "ya...?", hasta que llegamos alrededor de la página 70 y se nos revela la dirección del libro. Desde ese momento la historia pasa de mediocre a entretenida, y me vi a mi misma dando vuelta las páginas sin parar.
La trama es simple, entretenida, y aunque la traducción podría ser mejor, me gustaron las pequeñas frases en distintos idiomas que adornaban el libro, que le dieron un toque pintoresco. Ambos personajes principales tienen sus fallas, Aurelié me pareció a veces extremadamente ingenua e infantil a pesar de sus 32 años y André, a pesar de su carisma y lo mucho que me hizo reír, demasiado egocéntrico. Aun así, me entretuve leyendo sus aventuras y felicito al autor por sus excelente manejo de la narración en primera persona; los dos tenían voces marcadas y reconocibles que hicieron que, a pesar de no ser una fan de ese tipo de narración, no tuviera ningún problema leyéndolo.
Un libro dulce y con personalidad, bueno para pasar el rato, desconectar la mente y que te deja sonriendo. Recomendado para los románticos y los amantes del país franco, porque quedas con ganas de ir a París o al restaurante más cercano de comida francesa a comértelo todo (lo que en mi caso es bastante trágico porque no tengo plata para ninguna de las dos cosas).
rosetyper9's review
3.0
Correct me if I am wrong but I think this is a translation of a novel originally in French? It was not a bad book. I loved the idea, the plot was fresh and continued to move forward but I wanted more from the heroine. She didn't feel complete for some of the book, also the hero felt a bit strange to me...but it could have been A) the translation or B)Frenchmen (I don't know this as I have no experience). Anyway, decent story. I'll look for other books by this author and try them. I just liked it.
aristeegan's review
2.0
Two stars is generous. It was a struggle to get through the pages of this book...the writing style was simplistic, bland and awkward. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it was translated into English and something was "lost in the translation".
franciiii's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0