A review by charity1313
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

adventurous informative inspiring tense 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

4.0

I know the dual timeline narrative is popular right now and it was an okay device for this story but I didn't think it was necessary. I found myself annoyed when the story would skip to the future timeline. I didn't really care about the modern storyline and, in the end, it seemed like a plot device thrown in to create extra tension, an extra pause, for what the narrator wasn't telling us about her past...but it still wasn't necessary. 1) There was enough foreshadowing to know what was coming though perhaps not the specifics. 2) The delay in telling the whole truth was plausible even without jumping timelines over and over. It felt like the second storyline was added just to meet a publisher checklist and add length to the book. Or maybe some editor somewhere thought the original story wasn't enough on its own? Idk but I could have lived without it. 

I appreciated that the author's note was included in the audio version so I only had to hunt down a bit of information myself. It actually seemed like this group of people had an easier time of things during the war than many, perhaps even most, of the books I've read from this time period so it surprised me and I had to go looking it up but the author's note also provided more clarity.
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