Book: Revolution
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Site: http://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/
Category: Young Adult
My thoughts ...
Short summary: Andi Alpers life is falling apart. She's angry at her parents, heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother and about to be expelled from school. Now Andi must accompany her father to Paris and write (a really good) thesis to graduate. While there, she discovers a journal belonging to Alexadrine Paradis who lived in Paris two centuries ago. Andi finds comfort in Alexadrine's words until - "on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present."
The good: When I started the book, the language threw me off because Andi and her classmates come off as pretentious, rich teenagers. But as Andi's family life and pain unfolded.. her voice really shined through. She's intelligent, sarcastic, extremely vulnerable. But most of all, she loves music. It's her saving grace and I haven't read many books where a character loves music like that. She would ramble on about Beethoven, the guitar, getting the notes right, The Decemberists and more. Maybe it's because I play the piano but that aspect of her and how she lost herself in music really appealed to me. The journal she finds is intriguing too and you can feel Andi's growing attachment to Alexandrine and how she relates to her. Plus she meets a guy in Paris (seriously, why didn't this happen to me?!) and I loved their relationship. I swear I'm starting to think swoon-worthy guys only exist in these young adult novels!
The bad: I wasn't thrilled with the last couple of chapters in the book. I guess I should've known it was coming based on the synopsis but I didn't. Let's just say it was a very.. Alice falls down the rabbit hole kind of moment. A moment that lasted too long in my opinion and that I could've done without.
Do I recommend?: Yes! Despite my issues with the last few chapters, the ending was mostly redeemed by the epilogue. Plus Andi's journey was something that I did enjoy reading about.
Happy reading!
This book sounds very intriguing. I definitely want to check it out! I mean, there's music in there and some sort of history, so yes, that's appealing, in my opinion :)
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