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A review by kriswilli
The Paris Hours by Alex George
3.0
I am a lover of historical fiction and read so many positive reviews of this book that I was convinced I'd love it. I liked it but did not love it. The author's descriptions are beautiful with so many tantilizing details about the streets of Paris that I was hooked into reading it. Even though it started out slowly for me, I was determined to finish it and I'm glad that I did.
The four main characters confused me from the beginning so much that I had to refer to the book jacket's description of each throughout my reading. Each chapter was written from a different character's viewpoint and with their own story line, especially for the first half of the novel. This seems to be the way most of the new releases I've read are written. I'm still getting accustomed to this style.
I don't speak French so didn't understand some of the phrases used throughout without looking them up. The characters were believable yet I didn't really relate to any of them in an emotional way. My feelings were evoked mainly with Souren and the graphic violence his character experienced. I didn't like the final resolution for his character, though.
I'm happy I read this to learn a bit about post-WWI Europe and experience the style of writing. I enjoyed the way the book was tied up at the end with a fairly "clean" ending. There were definitely no loose ends left to consider.
I really wanted to love this book.
The four main characters confused me from the beginning so much that I had to refer to the book jacket's description of each throughout my reading. Each chapter was written from a different character's viewpoint and with their own story line, especially for the first half of the novel. This seems to be the way most of the new releases I've read are written. I'm still getting accustomed to this style.
I don't speak French so didn't understand some of the phrases used throughout without looking them up. The characters were believable yet I didn't really relate to any of them in an emotional way. My feelings were evoked mainly with Souren and the graphic violence his character experienced. I didn't like the final resolution for his character, though.
I'm happy I read this to learn a bit about post-WWI Europe and experience the style of writing. I enjoyed the way the book was tied up at the end with a fairly "clean" ending. There were definitely no loose ends left to consider.
I really wanted to love this book.