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A review by jugglingpup
Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman
4.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I have been working on this book for the last few days, which is no fault of the author or the book. It is just hard to read right now. So I am glad I managed to read this one on time to be part of the blog tour and because the book was fascinating.
The book starts a bit slow and is written in a way that took some getting used to. The first chapter is so riveting that I shocked. I wasn’t expecting something so raw and so intense to be the opening, but Feldman really drew me in from the very first word. Then things slowed down. My main issue with the book is that is often hard to tell where the story is in the timeline. The narration jumps between past and present a lot without any distinguishing them. So it is incredibly easy to get lost in those jumps. Once I got used to them, it fleshed out the story in a really fun way. I just missed a ton in the first three or so chapters while I adjusted.
The characters felt alive and three dimensional. I really cared about what happened to them and what their stories were. I didn’t want to befriend any of them despite how real they felt. There were so many flaws and so many feelings of guilt. Guilt and angst were pretty much the main draws of this story for me. I loved seeing the characters evolve and start to handle their guilt and their grief.
There were a few times in the book I was starting to doubt what Feldman was doing. It is not a Jewish woman/Nazi officer romance. Trust me. This is not in any way a book that romanticizes the horrors of the Holocaust or WWII. This was a totally new view of things. This was not a memoir (or a memoir that was written for fiction badly) or a badly placed romance novel. There is some romance, some you wouldn’t expect and some that may even be a bit on the ill advised side of things. The romance serves a purpose and it makes the book stronger, which is so often not the case. Leave the knee jerk reactions to me and give this a shot.
The ending was a bit of a let down, but it also really fit the story. I can’t be mad about it and I have nothing to add that would make it better. So I am just sitting her going “well, I guess it ended”. The ending is smooth and it fits the pacing, the characters, and the story. It just didn’t feel conclusive enough, which I have no doubt is the point. The story is not done. There is so much more for the characters to figure out and handle in their lives before they can settle. Just because it works and I couldn’t do better, doesn’t mean I won’t pout about it. I wanted something big to happen for Vivi in particular. I think that is the only reason I don’t like the ending, because honestly it is one of the better fitting endings I have read.
Overall, the book was fascinating. I often had issues putting it down and would fall asleep on my kindle trying to fit just another few pages in before I went to bed for the night. It is one of the best Holocaust/WWII books I have read in years.
I got an ARC of this book.
I have been working on this book for the last few days, which is no fault of the author or the book. It is just hard to read right now. So I am glad I managed to read this one on time to be part of the blog tour and because the book was fascinating.
The book starts a bit slow and is written in a way that took some getting used to. The first chapter is so riveting that I shocked. I wasn’t expecting something so raw and so intense to be the opening, but Feldman really drew me in from the very first word. Then things slowed down. My main issue with the book is that is often hard to tell where the story is in the timeline. The narration jumps between past and present a lot without any distinguishing them. So it is incredibly easy to get lost in those jumps. Once I got used to them, it fleshed out the story in a really fun way. I just missed a ton in the first three or so chapters while I adjusted.
The characters felt alive and three dimensional. I really cared about what happened to them and what their stories were. I didn’t want to befriend any of them despite how real they felt. There were so many flaws and so many feelings of guilt. Guilt and angst were pretty much the main draws of this story for me. I loved seeing the characters evolve and start to handle their guilt and their grief.
There were a few times in the book I was starting to doubt what Feldman was doing. It is not a Jewish woman/Nazi officer romance. Trust me. This is not in any way a book that romanticizes the horrors of the Holocaust or WWII. This was a totally new view of things. This was not a memoir (or a memoir that was written for fiction badly) or a badly placed romance novel. There is some romance, some you wouldn’t expect and some that may even be a bit on the ill advised side of things. The romance serves a purpose and it makes the book stronger, which is so often not the case. Leave the knee jerk reactions to me and give this a shot.
The ending was a bit of a let down, but it also really fit the story. I can’t be mad about it and I have nothing to add that would make it better. So I am just sitting her going “well, I guess it ended”. The ending is smooth and it fits the pacing, the characters, and the story. It just didn’t feel conclusive enough, which I have no doubt is the point. The story is not done. There is so much more for the characters to figure out and handle in their lives before they can settle. Just because it works and I couldn’t do better, doesn’t mean I won’t pout about it. I wanted something big to happen for Vivi in particular. I think that is the only reason I don’t like the ending, because honestly it is one of the better fitting endings I have read.
Overall, the book was fascinating. I often had issues putting it down and would fall asleep on my kindle trying to fit just another few pages in before I went to bed for the night. It is one of the best Holocaust/WWII books I have read in years.