katmullen 's review for:

This One is Ours by Kate O'Donnell

4.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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I’m not usually a contemporary person, but this one intrigued me with it’s premise of Paris, protests, and the fight to change the world. It’s very introspective and reflects our world.

It takes place in 2019 and shows how two different parts of the world are experiencing climate change, protests, and their governments. The bushfires and protests in Australia were mirrored with the Notre Dame fire and protests in France. Both these events impacted Sofie and led her to grow and find her voice.

I loved how the book showed how small moments across our lives build up until we just can’t stay silent anymore and protests happen. Crow and Delphine were wonderful characters crucial to helping Sofie grow. And that was mirrored in how Olivier was crucial in her growth too. We got to touch on a cute Parisian romance, but I loved how Sofie learnt that first love doesn’t also work out and he unintentionally pushed her in the right direction.

It’s half a story of a girl finding herself and first love in Paris and half story of a girl learning she can’t stay silent and using her art to make the world a better place. There were so many moments where I was like ‘this is a real conversation I’ve had.’ This book is one I could hand to my future children and be like ‘this was what part of 2019 was like.’

It reminded me how angry I am at governments who don’t care, I got to learn a bunch about France, my one semester of French came in handy, and I got to see moments so relatable to my own life. You feel the emotions of feeling helpless in the face of such devastation, but finding how to fight back anyway. Sofie learns to use her art for good, and I believe Kate has too with this novel.