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chloemakesbooks's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-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? Yes
3.25
Enjoyable beach read. Lots of unfinished story threads, and a forced/overly convenient love story. Love that the descriptions of food were very real and period accurate. As with all historical fiction, you can't think too hard when all the famous people show up. Clearly very autobiographical. As usual, the wide eyed ingenue routine was fairly irritating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexism
michelles_books9's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Pedophilia
alyceno's review
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault
clarelou612's review
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.75
There were some things I absolutely loved about this book and some things that completely did not work for me. The good: the food writing was unsurprisingly excellent. It was a mostly lighthearted and relaxing read. There were a few little mysteries over the course of the book that kept me engaged.
What I didn’t like so much: there were a lot of side plots and extra characters that felt unnecessary. The inclusion of some real historic figures as main characters along with some purely made up ones felt odd - the real chefs and artists mentioned made sense, but having the fictional Stella interacting with some real and some fictional figures didn’t work for me. (Although I certainly can’t come up with a better way to tell the story haha)
Overall I recommend it because it’s a fun story, but you do have to suspend your disbelief a bit.
What I didn’t like so much: there were a lot of side plots and extra characters that felt unnecessary. The inclusion of some real historic figures as main characters along with some purely made up ones felt odd - the real chefs and artists mentioned made sense, but having the fictional Stella interacting with some real and some fictional figures didn’t work for me. (Although I certainly can’t come up with a better way to tell the story haha)
Overall I recommend it because it’s a fun story, but you do have to suspend your disbelief a bit.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
justplainbeth's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
mabel_pines_loves_waddles's review
Child sexual assault
Eating ortolan
Eating ortolan
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault
jansreading's review
Child abuse described early on. Some Mommy Dearest vibes here ruined what I thought was going to be a fun and light novel
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia and Child abuse
vidotson's review against another edition
This book summary needs a trigger warning! Graphic child molestation scene in the second chapter. WTF.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
katgoetzzz's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read The Paris Novel after a string of mysteries and books with plot twists, so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did. Ultimately, I found The Paris Novel to cover a woman’s reflective journey throughout Paris.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault