Review #471
I gave this historical fiction a 3.4/5 stars. It took me a while longer than usual to get through it. I think my brain is shifting away from this genre overall.
Here’s my random notes while reading:
Odile is interviewing to work at the library in Paris, her dream job (1939) but doesn’t think she impressed the director. Already her voice has come to life and she pops out of the page.
But the second chapter starts in a new timeline with Lily in 1983 in Montana. Lily is 12 and writing a report for school, befriending her older neighbor, Odile, who is a mystery among their small town.
Wait … a 3rd PoV was brought in at chapter 7 for Margaret in 1939 but I don’t think we’ve met her yet.
When Mrs Reeder got a chapter with her POV I started getting bored. I wish Odile or Lilly had more of a goal than the author telling a story of what happened to people instead of what the characters tried to make happen.
At the halfway mark, there are too many scene breaks that don’t help with the flow. I’m struggling getting through it at this point.
Now Boris has a PoV for first time in chapter 32. Honestly I’m just wanting the book to be over. It’s not focused enough with one direct path.
The dramatic relationship fallouts lacked the emotional depth I was looking for in the prose.
The ending, 6 years later in Lily’s timeline, resolved itself in a realistic bow even though Odile only gave one ticket…