Reviews

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

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kyemmpem's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

caw281's review

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emotional reflective 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

4.5

chloemakesbooks's review

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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

sgkann's review

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

cheri325's review

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5.0

Stella grows up alone in New York City, with a mother who barely acknowledges her. She creates her own safety net, and finds comfort in art and literature. When her mother dies, she leaves her just enough money to take a trip to Paris.

What follows is encounters with a quirky and lovable bunch of people, along with a bit of mystery, and a lot of delicious food and wine. This story was simply delightful.

no_more_shelf_control's review

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hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.0

THE PARIS NOVEL by Ruth Reichl was a lovely delight of a story!

I was generously #gifted an ARC of this book by @atrandombooks from an IG giveaway and it was such a fun escape read!

Stella is left an odd inheritance from her aloof mother that stipulates a Paris trip to collect. Against her better judgment, she goes but it doesn't seem to make any sense. One fateful day, she pops into a vintage dress shop and and comes out with a dress that unlocks the door to a new world...if she dares.

I found this later coming-of-age story to be so well written, I was immersed in Stella's adventures and cuisine (though some of these dishes did cause me to cringe). I found all the characters she fell in with to be delightful and full of life. The ending did feel a bit fast in comparison to the rest, but by then it was wrapping up and still felt lovely. I did enjoy watching Stella discover her strengths and allow herself to live, not simply survive. I am not a tidy ending lover, and this one had an abundance of them, but overall I left this novel feeling good...and hungry!