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4.0 AVERAGE

inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Loved the premise and research of the book but just didn't care for any of the characters. Predicted the end well before. The grandmother was mean and considering everything she had been part of, didn't make sense. The romance between Julian and Liv didn't seem believable. The characters just didn't grab me or make me feel for them.
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

3.5 stars
adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While I liked learning about the Champagne growers/winemakers working in the Resistance,I found all the characters rather unlikeable. They all were betraying each other, some were cold and uncaring, others were childish and petty and whiny. It was super annoying. It just soured what could have been a great setting for me.
emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Holy moly. It's fitting that my last book of 2023 would be such a rollercoaster! Harmel does it again by taking you on a rollercoaster of emotions, from hating the main characters to crying at the end. I was about ready to knock down a star because of not giving one character their happy ending but she did. 

My only tiny, almost microscopic annoyance is that the French words aren't translated and even though, normally that would knock off a star, Harmel's masterful storytelling overrides it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

4,5*/5*

Je to už tretia knihu od autorky, ktorú som čítala a aj táto mi priniesla skvelý čitateľský zážitok. Postavy boli zaujímavé a rada som sa dozvedala o ich minulosti. Prostredie v ktorom sa príbeh odohrával bol tiež zaujímavý a neraz som si povedala že nejakú vinicu by som navštívila a dozvedela sa o jej histórií.

Ako to pri tejto autorke býva, prelínajú sa nám tu dve dejové linky. Jedna z prítomnosti a jedna z minulosti, z obdobia 2. svetovej vojny. Ja tieto príbehy čítam rada aj keď majú miestami trpkú príchuť a osudy hlavných postáv sú smutné.

V tomto príbehu nájdete veľa zvratov, ktoré vás zavedú na ďalšie chodníčky o ktorých ste ani netušili. Osudy jednotlivých postáv sa preplietajú a vytvárajú ďalšie príbehy. Hlavnými postavami v tomto príbehu sú Olívia a Inés. Olívia patrí do súčasnosti a jej príbeh nebol príjemný. Prišla takmer o všetko a tak pristúpila na výlet do viníc, kde sa jej postupne odhaľovala minulosť s ktorou bola spojená. Na druhej strane je tu príbeh Inés, ktorá sa vydala do rodiny vinárov, ktorý vlastnili Maison Chauveau, kde vyrábali šampanské ale ani s ňou sa život nezahral a namiesto luxusu bojovala so strachom o vlastný život a najmä o život Céline, židovskej manželky ich vinára.

Kniha obsahuje zaujímavé informácie o regióne Champagne počas druhej svetovej vojny, je plný napätia, tajomstiev, nebezpečenstva a intríg. Čítanie som si naozaj užila a už sa teším, keď sa mi znova dostane do rúk kniha od tejto skvelej autorky.
challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Not one of my favorites. Just seemed a bit silly, especially the modern day parts.