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A review by snowbenton
Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor
1.0
Just another derivative, uninspired war book. One bonus point for WWI instead of the classic WWII, but that's the only nice thing I have to say.
The writing wasn't terrible, but there was no plot beyond a weak attempt at a will-they-or-won't-they-romance but all the suspense is spoiled because the framing device for the entire novel is Tom missing his beloved wife Evie now that she has passed.
The bulk of the novel (minus the framing device) is letters, and despite the cast of a half dozen, every one of them writes with the same style so all the pages blur together in a big snooze of lazy writing.
The bits about the perils of war could have been really compelling, if we didn't have Evie shrieking about how she wants to join the war effort in France and how dare her loved ones be concerned for her safety. This trope is like corsets: it's been used as shorthand for oppression for so long that instead of rooting for her, I've rolled my eyes so hard that I've fallen off the couch.
The writing wasn't terrible, but there was no plot beyond a weak attempt at a will-they-or-won't-they-romance but all the suspense is spoiled because the framing device for the entire novel is Tom missing his beloved wife Evie now that she has passed.
The bulk of the novel (minus the framing device) is letters, and despite the cast of a half dozen, every one of them writes with the same style so all the pages blur together in a big snooze of lazy writing.
The bits about the perils of war could have been really compelling, if we didn't have Evie shrieking about how she wants to join the war effort in France and how dare her loved ones be concerned for her safety. This trope is like corsets: it's been used as shorthand for oppression for so long that instead of rooting for her, I've rolled my eyes so hard that I've fallen off the couch.