French classics recommendations | Celebrating Bastille Day

Hello, beautiful people!

Today is Bastille Day, the French National Day! It celebrates the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on July 14th 1789, as well as la Fête de la Fédération (Federation's Party I guess?) celebrated on July 14th 1790, which celebrated the unity of the French people. 

Happy Bastille Day!

While I'm French, I mostly read in English, because there are so many books I want to discover that were written in that language and that's also why I'm always speaking in English on social media. However, I have many French classics that I adore and I thought today would be the perfect excuse to share that with you all!

Side note: all the Goodreads links are of course, for the translations in English! I'm not completely sure whether the Marcel Pagnol books I recommended were translated, but they can be a good place to start if you want to try to read in French. *wink* The first three recommendations are my ultimate favourites, then I put the books in publication order!

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (1862)

I couldn't start this post with any other book, because Les Misérables is my favourite book ever. It is set through different time periods and places, but mainly follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict who tries to put his past behind him. His path crosses many times with memorable characters, such as Fantine, Javert, the Thénardiers, Cosette, Gavroche or Marius. It is such a masterpiece, depicting history so closely (a lot of it is set in 1832 during the barricades), crafting such fleshed-out characters, with a gripping plot, even though it's more than a thousand pages long. I won't even get started on Marius and Cosette, but I adore them so much. I dedicated an entire blog post to Les Misérables last year, as it's both my favourite book and my favourite musical, so if you're interested in that, it's here. Please, whether it's the abridged version or the musical, give it a chance, it's so worth it.

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal (1839)

Many readers know Stendhal thanks to his novel The Red and the Black (Le Rouge et le Noir), but my personal favourite is The Charterhouse of Parma (La Chartreuse de Parme), set in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. It follows the young aristocrat Fabrizio del Dongo, who wants to go to war to fight for Napoléon. He stumbles on the Battle of Waterloo, ill-prepared, yet filled with enthusiasm for war and glory. He goes back to Milan and is entangled in a series of amorous exploits, fuelled by his impetuous nature and the political chicanery of his aunt Gina and her lover. According to Balzac, it is the most important French novel of its time, a compelling novel of extravagance and daring, blending the intrigues of the Italian court with the romance and excitement of youth. I read this one for a literature class four years ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. Fabrizio and Clélia are my ridiculous babies and I love them so much.

The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola (1883)

Ever since we had to read The Ladies' Paradise at the end of middle school, I've been obsessed with Emile Zola and one of my life goals is to read his entire Rougon-Macquart series, which follows the fates of an entire family during the Second Empire in France (from 1851 to 1870) and is made of twenty novels. The Ladies' Paradise is by far my favourite novel by Zola and the first I have ever read. The novel recounts the rise of the modern department store in late nineteenth-century Paris. Its main character, Denise Baudu, is particularly interesting, because she's such an independent and hard-working woman, very different from Zola's usual female characters. She wasn't even supposed to be the heroine of this novel at first, as it also follows Octave Mouret, founder and owner of the store, and I love her even more knowing that. The store itself is a character, it's a symbol of capitalism, of the modern city, and of the bourgeois family: it is emblematic of changes in consumer culture, in sexual attitudes and in class relations taking place at the end of the century. 

Interesting fact: The BBC period drama series The Paradise was inspired by this novel. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm planning to, at some point!

Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert (1862)

Gustave Flaubert's most famous works are Madame Bovary and Sentimental Education, but plot twist, I haven't read any of them just yet, but fell in love with this historical novel, Salammbô. This one is an epic story of lust, cruelty, and sensuality set in Carthage in the days following the First Punic War with Rome, with such historical details that there aren't many French historical novels that can compare to it. I'm fascinated by this novel, because I studied history and adore understanding what people knew of history during their time, how they viewed it, how they studied it and Salammbô is a great example of that. 

A Love Story by Emile Zola (1879)

My second favourite novel by Emile Zola is A Love Story (Une Page d'Amour), it's also translated as A Love Episode sometimes. It follows Helene, a young widow who lives a secluded life with her only child, Jeanne, a delicate and nervous girl who jealously guards her mother's affections. When Jeanne falls ill, she is attended by a doctor, who falls in love with Helene. Jeanne realizes she has a rival for Helene's devotion in the doctor, and begins to exercise a tyrannous hold over her mother. This novel is an intense psychological and nuanced portrayal of love's different forms. Zola's study extends most notably to the city of Paris itself, whose shifting moods reflect Helene's emotional turmoil in passages of extraordinary lyrical description.

Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant (1885)

Bel-Ami is fairly well-known outside of France, especially since there was a movie adaptation with Robert Pattinson a few years ago (I don't think I ever watched it, though). This book is the scandalous tale of an opportunistic young man corrupted by the allure of power. George Duroy, the main character, is offered a job as a journalist in La Vie Française and soon makes a great success of his new career. He learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. It also describes very accurately the life of Paris in the Belle Epoque very accurately and I've read it several times, I really love this one.

Swann's Way (1913) and In the Shadow of Young 
Girls in Flowers (1919) by Marcel Proust

Swann's Way (Du Côté de Chez Swann) and In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flowers (A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs) are the first two books in Marcel Proust's In Search for Lost Time (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu) series, which is set at the beginning of the 20th century in France. I love reading about society at that time and the author portrayed it so well. In this seven book series,  Proust attempted the perfect rendering of life in art, of the past recreated through memory. It is both a portrait of the artist and a discovery of the aesthetic by which the portrait is painted, and it was to have an immense influence on the literature of the twentieth century. The first two books follow the narrator as a child and as a young man, there are a bit hard to read at times because they don't have many chapters, but I enjoyed them so much. I'm so glad I got motivated to read them three years ago, thanks to one of my literature professors, and I'm finally going to continue with Guermantes' Way soon enough, as I want to have read the entire series by the time I turn twenty-five!

Marius (1929), Fanny (1931) and César (1936) by Marcel Pagnol

Marcel Proust is a French author I adore, I've read most of his plays when I was a teenager and I have such a fond memory of it. My favourites are a trilogy set in Marseilles in the 1920s, namely Marius, Fanny and César (the names of the three main characters). To sum it up, it follows Marius - the son of César, owner of the local bar on the port - who is torn between his love for Fanny, who sells shells for a living, and his desire to travel the world. I adore these characters and relate so much to them, to the point that reading the plays made me cry, when I still haven't seen them on stage (it's going to be so much worse). Anyway, it's my dream to see them on stage one day. Marcel Pagnol usually writes about the south of France and I really enjoy that, because I don't know that part of my country very well.

Antigone by Jean Anouilh (1946)

I read this play for a class when I was younger and adored it. This play in one act is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and Sophocles' own play about Antigone. She is the daughter of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta and the main character in this story, in which she attempts to secure a respectable burial for her brother Polynices. Oedipus' sons, Eteocles and Polynices, had shared the rule jointly until they quarrelled and Eteocles expelled his brother. When Polynices came back, he attacked the city of Thebes with his army and both brothers were killed in battle; Polynices is considered a traitor and can't get a proper burial, but his sister Antigone defies this rule. This play was originally produced in Paris during the Occupation and was published after the Second World War. What's interesting about it is that it depicts an authoritarian regime and the play's central character, the young Antigone, mirrored the predicament of the French people in the grips of tyranny. I'm fascinated by Greek mythology, so of course I'm always interested to learn more about it, but seeing it reflected in French history is so clever and what makes this play great to read and see.

There are still so many French classics I want to get to and writing this blog post motivated me even more to finally get to them. Who knows? I might have more recommendations next year!

French classics I want to get to as soon as possible:

If English isn't your first language, what are your favourite books in your language?  Can you read in another language? Have you ever read French classics? If so, which ones?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Les Misérables: a book, a musical, a movie, and what it means to me

Me hugging Les Misérables, because hugging your favourite books is good for the soul.

Hello, beautiful people!

As you probably already know, I am completely obsessed with Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, as well as the musical and its movie adaptation. I had read the abridged version of the book when I was twelve and absolutely loved it, but this year, I decided it was time to read the unabridged version. I finally did so this month, and I fell in love with it all over again, except that it's even more powerful than it used to be. Today, I just wanted to talk to you about my story with Les Misérables (it's been thirteen years in the making. yup.) and to try to tell you why I love it so much.

What is Les Misérables about?

Les Misérables is a French novel published by Victor Hugo in 1862 and it's really emblematic in French literature. It describes the lives of miserable people in 19th century France, both in Paris and the countryside, following more specifically Jean Valjean's life, a former convict.

My story with Les Misérables

I remember hearing about Les Misérables for the first time when I was about seven or eight. A teacher in elementary school once said 'Come on Cosette, go fetch us some water' as a joke, before explaining where the reference came from. For some reason, it always stayed in my mind, until I was twelve and had to read the abridged version for a class. We were supposed to read it for January or February, but once my parents bought me the book in October, I devoured it, stayed up way past my bedtime to read it, and became completely obsessed. My schoolmates complained a lot about having to read it, and I went through it twice. I fell in love with Victor Hugo's writing, the characters and the story. Now, as you probably already know, I'm French. What most of you don't know is that I come from the north of the country. The first book of Les Misérables is set there, most of it in Montreuil-sur-Mer (my actual hometown is the place where the fake Jean Valjean's trial takes place, it was fate). I've been to this town for as long as I can remember, walking along the battlements and the old castle. Every year, Montreuil-sur-Mer has a sound and light show, a sort of reenactment of Les Misérables, as part of the story is set there. I begged my parents to go the year I first read the book and they took one of my brothers and I. It was a very cold summer evening (it's the north of France, after all), but while I was freezing, seeing the characters alive in front of my eyes amazed me and I have such a fond memory of it. That's how I first became obsessed with Les Misérables.

As you can see, I definitely didn't know about the musical... Until they decided to adapt it into a movie. I saw a lot of gifs on Tumblr and decided to start listening to the songs, which I completely fell in love with. I didn't see the movie right away, because I'm not sure they showed it in my hometown or I had someone to watch it with me, and it was years until I finally did. I was already obsessed with Eddie Redmayne by then and you know... He's playing Marius' part in it (hence 60% of my love for Marius). Anyhow, I watched the movie and fell in love all over again (it was also a weird experience the first time, because I started watching it in a train with lots of noise...). I listened to the songs for months on end and I still listen to them at least once a week. 

Then, back in September... I saw the musical live in West End, in London. It was one of the best moments of my entire life and I cried most of the time, because it was a dream come true. I can't thank my boyfriend enough for buying us these tickets, I thought it would be way too expensive and didn't dare to dream going for at least a few years. Now, I'm planning on going back again and again, I know I'll never be tired of it.

Last but not least, this month, I read the unabridged version of the novel. While it's 1662 pages long... I read it in three days. I still don't know how. It is one of the best books I have ever read and it made it into my top 3 books of all times, without even needing to try. I'm already thinking about rereading it over and over again. After I finished it, I rewatched the movie again, have been listening to the songs on repeat again, and it's not going away anytime soon.

Why do I love Les Misérables so much?

Now, that is a complex question, because Les Misérables is a book, a musical, a movie, my entire life. I will never be able to do Victor Hugo's words justice, nor the musical's.

I love the book in all its complexity. I won't lie, it's not for everyone, because it has long descriptions, a lot of historical facts and it can seem boring sometimes (I guess?). Yet, I love history and being so engrossed in a book that I feel like I time-traveled in a different era. With Les Misérables, I time travel and for me, there aren't too many words, it's just fine. Hugo describes everything perfectly to give you a sense of what early 19th century France was like, of why these characters act like this or why the plot is going that way. He's always going back to give a backstory to his characters and because of that, they're perfectly developed. You all know how obsessed I am with Marius Pontmercy, and I feel like I know everything I need to know about him. He could have been a real person, for all I know. Victor Hugo's characters are perfectly fleshed-out, he shows you the good, all of the bad, he doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. I got something out of every character in this novel. Les Misérables is about the hardships of life, how you can make the right choices and yet seem all wrong in society's eyes, how you can still dare to hope and fight for your dreams, to be recognised and even if it didn't work, at least you tried (that last part isn't so happy but hey, it's life). Les Misérables is the story of a society that is still relevant today, a heart-breaking tale, an adventure, a sum of knowledge, a romance, and so much more. For me, you can't fit it in one genre (it's considered to be a historical, social and philosophical novel), unless you consider 'a literary masterpiece' as one.

One of the other reasons I love Les Misérables so much can seem pretty random, but it's relevant to my life. Like I told you, I come from the north of France, which always made the first part of the book important to me, because it was set home, in a way. For a long time, it was the part of the story I knew the most, I didn't know that much about Marius, or Cosette when she was older. Recently, it struck me. I moved to Paris for my studies, to begin my adult life, four and a half years ago. The second part of the novel is set in Paris, Cosette is older, like I was, in a way; the friends of the ABC meet in the Latin Quarter, so close to where I live. It might be one of the cheesiest things I have ever written, but the geography of Les Misérables is the geography of my life, somehow. This story will always be even closer to my heart for personal reasons I can't exactly explain, but it makes me love the book even more.

For me and many other people out there, Les Misérables also means the musical. I discovered it later, but it's a masterpiece on its own as well. All the songs are absolutely amazing and now that I've read the entire book, I can tell you that all the lyrics have twelve times more meanings than you might think. Every little thing is a reference to a detail of the book. Every time I listen to the songs, I discover a new one. The songs of the musical are moving, unforgettable and even iconic today. The musical has run continuously in London since October 1985, it's been thirty-two years and the theatre is still full whenever they play it. I first saw the musical as a movie and I love it with all my heart, but when I was about to see the musical on stage... I wondered how they would do it. Let me tell you that the staging is genius, the costumes, amazing, the actors, so talented. It's perfect. It's my favourite musical by far, and I'm a huge lover of musicals. I'm sure the musical will still run for a long time, and I know that I'll go back to see it as many times as I can.

I can't convey all of my thoughts into proper words, but I do love Les Misérables with my entire body, soul and heart (I'm being overdramatic, but I couldn't care less). It's a story that has been following me since my childhood and will never truly leave me. My words will never be able to do it justice, but at least, I tried. Writing this post was a cathartic experience for me, because I know that my words are stocked somewhere and that I will always be able to reread them. If you read this entire post, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your time means the world to me.

Lots of love,

Lucie

Paris was accurate so I'm alive! | The Magician

The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2) by Michael Scott

Published: June 24th 2008 by Delacorte Press

Genre: young adult, fantasy

Goodreads summary: Ashes to ashes…

California: In the hands of Dr. John Dee and the Dark Elders, the book of Abraham the Mage could mean the destruction of the world as we know it. The most powerful book of all time, it holds the secret of eternal life—a secret more dangerous than any one man should ever possess. And Dee is two pages away from the knowledge that would bring the Dark Elders into ultimate power.

His only obstacle? Josh and Sophie Newman—who are eight thousand miles away.

Paris: After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris. The City of Lights. Home to Nicholas Flamel. Only, this homecoming is anything but sweet.

Niccolò Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He's in hot pursuit, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenelle. Every day they spend without the book, they age one year: their magic becomes weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophecy is growing clearer and clearer. It's time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic.

Fire Magic. 

And there's only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel's old student the Comte de Saint-Germain—alchemist, magician, and rock star. 

Josh and Sophie Newman are the world's only hope. If they don't turn on each other first.

REVIEW

Reading a book series everyone read and loved during their childhood involves so much pressure when you do read it, but years after. I was expecting an amazing first book, but sadly it didn't deliver, so I was a little reluctant to continue with the series, at first. But well, there are reasons everyone loves the Alchemyst series, right? So I gave the second book a go and I will definitely pick up the sequel in the future, because this series is starting to reach its potential.

WHAT I LIKED

The setting - As you know, I live in Paris when I'm at uni and because of that, I'm always anxious when American authors set their books in the City of Lights, because they're trying to make their characters speak French and the language is all wrong, or they only speak of le Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. It's cliché, but sadly, I've read so many books that fit that category that I can cry with frustration. However, Michael Scott definitely did his research, it was so realistic and I loved it. When the characters were taking the subway, he was even mentioning the name of the situation, which totally pleased me. He also named the streets the characters were passing and because of that, I felt like I was there. The author definitely captured the feeling of the city and took the reader to so many places!

Addictive writing - I have to admit that while I wasn't always entertained by the plot, the writing kept me reading. Indeed, Michael Scott has a way with words that makes me craving for more, which is definitely a gift. Moreover, he's very good at writing action scenes, because he had me turning the pages so fast.

A plot filled with tension - I wasn't very invested in the first novel, but this one was so much better. Indeed, I felt like the stakes were higher and I enjoyed the new "villain" that was introduced, because he seems so shady and I think he might become one of my favourites, okay? He's an opportunist and it's one of the best types of characters, haha. But anyway, because the characters were chased down, the plot was filled with tension and the action scenes were so well-written, like I said! Also we went to the catacombs, so it's a win-win situation for me.

The world-building - While I still noticed case of info-dumps (ugh), I was so much more invested in the world, maybe because it was set in France and I knew more about the characters based off the historical figures. But anyway, I thought it was more interesting, because it was easier to digest the information - even if it was still hard during the first chapters.

The temptation - I loved that this theme was so important in this book. Indeed, while Sophie's powers had been Awakened during the first book, Josh's, her twin, hadn't. Because of that, he was jealous of her and craving power, which lead him to be weaker in front of the temptation.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

The pacing- I have to admit that I skim-read sometimes… Oops. I felt like it dragged a little in the middle, because there was so much action in the beginning and at the end of the story. Moreover, this book felt a little like a filler, as it was still about learning a new element, and it will also be the case in The Sorceress. It makes me frustrated because the plot line was similar to the first one and I wanted the main plot line to move forward. It's the problem when the series is six-book long, I guess…

I didn't like/relate to the characters - They could die and I wouldn't cry… Oops. I think it's a problem, but I have no feeling whatsoever about ANY of the characters. Please, someone tell me I'll like them when I read the next book, because I can't read a book without feelings for the characters! Moreover, I'm frustrated that even when they hadn't powers, they were SO special because they lived everywhere. How is that relatable? Most of us live in the same city until graduation, or sometimes more. It was enough to make them travel everywhere during the series, right?

The time-span - This book is set on three days… Which is ridiculous, considering it was 464 pages long! Moreover, the characters slept fourteen hours in the middle so how. Is. It. Possible? I understand that the characters were chased down and the author managed to create tension, but it's so unrealistic that so much happened in a few hours/days.

The ending - It felt anticlimactic, in my opinion. The plot was pretty good in the last third of the novel, because it was filled with tension and crazy scenes but the ending? It felt so flat. The characters are doing extraordinary things for the whole novel and then… They take the train to go somewhere else and learn another element. THE FALL WAS HARD, GUYS. At least if the author hadn't said what was going to happen next it would have been fine, but I was disappointed.

Overall, I think the Magician was a step-up from the first book and I will definitely read the sequels, because I'm intrigued to see what will happen next. While some elements irritated me, like an unrealistic time-span or a flat ending, I really enjoyed reading this book, because it was full of tension, which kept me glued to the story, thanks to the writing. This series is starting to live up to its potential and I can understand why so many readers loved it when they were younger!

Other:

• Review of The Alchemyst

Have you read this series? Do you love it? Which book is your favourite? Do you keep reading book series even when you don't really like the characters?

Strange and Ever After | Book review

Title: Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3)

Author: Susan Dennard

Published: July 22nd 2014 by HarperTeen

Goodreads summary: In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.

He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

REVIEW

One of my favourite aspects of these books was the traveling parts. With Something Strange and Deadly, we started the story in Philadelphia, then went to Le Havre and Paris in A Darkness Strange and Lovely, finally went to Marseille and Egypt in this book. There was no way I could have been bored because there was this perpetual change of scenery, we went to so many places.

I felt like we didn’t see the Dead that much because this book focused more on necromancy and Eleanor trying to control it. We also got a really interesting take on Egyptian mythology, which was linked to necromancy, a change from the demi-gods trope. The artefacts were a little creepy tbh. Moreover, choosing to kink everything with Egypt was a great idea because at that time, people were so fascinated with Egypt, which you can see with the party in Cairo.

I really enjoyed the characters; they grew a lot since the first book, especially El, of course. Her relationship with Oliver improved a lot in this book; he became a lot more like a brother to her than just a tool. The romance we all waited since the first book finally happened and the characters looked so right together!

This book was action-packed; the situation started at the end of Something Strange and Deadly was resolved, with some betrayals. The ending made me feel so emotional, I was like: WHY SUSAN WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO US THE CHARACTERS? Sadly, I expected it; I hoped I was wrong but nooooo. It still hurts so much…

The last chapter was full of hope for the characters so I’m making my peace with event. The characters will be able to complete part of their dream, hopefully.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

A Darkness Strange and Lovely | Book review

Title: A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2)

Author: Susan Dennard

Published: July 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen

Goodreads summary: With her brother dead and her mother on the verge of insanity, Eleanor Fitt is utterly alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters - Joseph, Jie and the handsome, enigmatic Daniel - have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor begins to hear the vicious barking of hounds and see images of haunting yellow eyes, she fears the worst - that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are coming for her.

To escape and search out the Spirit-Hunters, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. Though friendly, Oliver entices Eleanor with necromancy and black magic, yet as long as she can resist his powerful temptation, she'll be fine. But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over the city...and there's a whole new evil lurking. With the body count rising, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.

In Paris, there's a price for this darkness strange and lovely...and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.

REVIEW

This book had the same tropes that usual second books in trilogy, but it was done beautifully. I wasn’t bored a single moment, because the author took us to other parts of the world, we didn’t stay in Philadelphia. At the beginning of the book, Eleanor is truly a misfit (lol), she’s all alone because her mother is an asylum, her friends turned on her, the Spirit-Hunters have left and of course, there is the matter of her hand.

Eleanor is forced to leave town when Marcus comes after her and sail on a boat to France, because the Spirit Hunters are now in Paris. There, she meets new friends like Laure and form new alliances with the mysterious Oliver, who knows a lot more about her brother than he let on. Moreover, Eleanor is hunted down by creatures of the underworld, the Hell Hounds. I loved that Eleanor was on the ship, because it’s one of my favourite tropes in books. There was a scene of dream on the boat that was such like in Anastasia.

France was an amazing setting, because for once, I actually felt that the author did her research right. I live in Paris, so I get mad easily about French settings, haha. There was only one grammatical error in Susan Dennard’s French: it’s not “Le Cupidon Belle” but “Le Beau Cupidon”. Anyways, the French was correct for the rest of the book, and there was a lot of research about Paris, because the author mentioned Haussmann. Moreover, other cities were mentioned, like Le Havre where Americans sailed, or Marseille, from where Laure came from.

This book was a moment of deceptions for Eleanor, because a lot of people she considered friends turned their back to her. The author explained a lot more of the necromancy, because of the plot. Demons were also introduced, I really enjoyed that aspect. However, I had figured out who the bad guy was really early in the book. I noticed that the author doesn’t flinch when she has to wound a beloved character.

I enjoyed this book slightly less than the first one, but it was already SO GOOD. The next one seems full of promises; I’m really looking forward to it.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Stolen Songbird | Book Review

Title: Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy #1)

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Published: April 1st 2014 by Strange Chemistry

Goodreads summary: For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realises that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time…

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for...

REVIEW

This book caught me off guard, I'm pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I first heard of this book last year, when there was a giveaway on Goodreads, but that's all. I picked it up randomly, because I loooove high fantasy, and I was curious about trolls. I didn't like the trolls in Frostfire a few months ago, but I wanted to give these creatures the benefice of the doubt, and I was right.

This book is set in a French inspired world, a city is called Trianon (like Marie-Antoinette's little castles in the château de Versailles), the main character is named Cécile de Troyes, and so on. For once, it wasn't painful to read a book set in something that looked like France, and I'm so happy about it. I also liked the trolls' world, who looked so much like Cécile's and the fact that Trollus was located under a mountain made me uncomfortable (hi, claustrophobia!), which made me want for Cécile to escape (just like she wanted). However, I found the name of the city to be simplistic, I'm sure the author could have find something better for a city of trolls, but that's details.

I could believe in this trolls, that are deadly because they are beautiful, but at the same time deformed, which made them looked like monsters. They are cruel, like show their history, and feels utterly superior toward humans and half bloods. Of course, they also have magic. I liked that Jensen explained how trolls came to the now called trolls, they didn't appear out of nowhere. 

As a main character, Cécile was fantastic. Of course, she seems to be a little helpless at the beginning, but she accepts her fate, even if at the same time, she fights for her freedom. She went through a lot of character development during this book, it was so well done. She doesn't hesitate to fight for what she believes in, she even cares for Trollus' habitants, when she has been kidnapped on orders of the king. It's also a good idea to name the different books in this series because of Cécile: in the first, she is the stolen songbird, in the second, she is a hidden huntress. Yes. Also, Cécile isn't a human amongst others, she proves herself resourceful and I can't wait for her to work on her gifts (I don't want to spoil but welllll).

Of course, there is also Tristan, her husband. He is totally despicable at first, but he has reasons for being so. He isn't the kind of heir that want to walk in his royal daddy's footsteps, it made him such an interesting character. I liked that the romance between Cécile and him didn't feel forced, they went from hostile strangers to friends to lovers. I totally ship them together and I'm pretty sure there won't be any love triangle, so well done, Danielle L. Jensen. 

The story was fast-paced, there is action in the first chapter and that made me want to read MORE. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to read at the moment, but I caught up and I'm glad I did. The plot was executed well, it's about a curse to break, but also a rebellion and Cécile trying to be part of the court. 

The secondary characters weren't inconsistent, they were there quite often and had their backstory, like Marc. Anaïs really came at a surprise, I thought she would be the evil troll who would try to steal Tristan from Cécile, but she was a little more complicated than that. 

Overall, I loved this book and I can't wait to pick up the sequel. It's an amazing debut and I congratulate Danielle Jensen. I had a really good time with these characters and everything was believable: for example, the rest of the world doesn't know about trolls because of oaths made by the humans going in Trollus, they can't speak about it; humans just know about trolls because of legends. I highly suggest you to read it.

Have you read this book? Are you interested? Do you know other books about trolls?

Review : Rook by Sharon Cameron

Title: Rook

Author: Sharon Cameron

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Release date: April 28th 2015

Goodreads summary: History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she. 

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse.

REVIEW

"Have you ever though," he said after a moment, "that perhaps… all of this could have happened before? That the people of the Tome Before, no matter how weak we think them, that they were only making the mistakes of their ancestors, and that we, in turn, are only making the same mistakes as them? Technology or no? That the tome changes but people do not, and so we are never really moving forward, only around a bend? That the world only ever turns in circles. Do you think that could be so?"

I read this book as a part of the Perustopia Book Club, and I am not disappointed at all by this first choice of a book. First, I liked that it was a standalone, because there aren't so much of them out there-except in the contemporary genre, of course. In my opinion, this book was quite unique because it was a mix of a lot of good things (dystopia, history, adventure) and I'm sad I didn't hear anything about it before, more people should read it.

The Red Rook freeing prisoners made me think of a cloak and dagger novel, it led to such adventurous scenes. The plot was really interesting and well paced. I'm really happy about the world-building, the French revolution vibe felt so true to me, with the Razor being the guillotine, or even the dog being called St. Just (a friend of Robespierre!). It made me laugh that the Parisian was a language, because at some point in French history, it kinda was!

The characters were well-written, Sophia was one of this badass heroines that aren't helpless. It was really interesting that she thought of the after: what kind of life could she have, after all that adventures? It is a really important topic, because it's always hard to picture what the characters will be like when they'll be back to ordinary lives. It explains why she was so reluctant to marry René in the first place, even if it wasn't the only reason. She was also conscious of her own weaknesses, which I always like about a character-especially main characters.

For always being so assured of her own cleverness, Sophia Bellamy-she was discovering-could be extraordinarily stupid.

René was my favourite character in this novel. He wasn't at all what he seemed, everyone thought he just wanted to be the true Upper Parisian, when in fact he was just plotting as much as them. But even if he did, he always acted like a perfect gentleman, it was really entertaining.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course not."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you have a dagger in the inside pocket of your jacket."

I really shipped these two characters together. The romance was a part of the book, which was logical, but it wasn't overdone, because Sophia wasn't the kind of girl to dream of her prince charming.

She supposed she'd always thought of things like marriage and love as a trap, like René had said, something clever girls didn't let happen to them.

There was another love interest, who was pretty obvious but to Sophia, but he never really stood a chance, so it wasn't a love triangle. I really disliked him and I'm pretty sure the author wrote him this way on purpose, he was so possessive, overconfident on Sophia's feelings for him and wrong-like that we were supposed to like René. That was really manipulative but well done. Though, I found the way he finished pretty convenient, but I didn't care for him at all, so…

Overall, I really liked it and I'm a bit sad I didn't hear much about it when it first came out, but I think it might change a little. I was really happy to see this French revolution vibe to this book, I'm really cautious about French history usually, but here I have to congratulate the author for her job on this book. The characters were enjoyable, I developed a particular fondness for René. I will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5

What did you think about this book? If you haven't read it, are you interested?