Reviews

The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton

wiseowl33's review

Loved this book! I am anxious to read more about these amazing women.

lnel's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

it wasn't a "bad" read, it was just okay. the build up to the end was so, small, it felt like just another part of the story. normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but for how convoluted and back and forth the story had been, it was confusing. 

ciska's review

3.0

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review*

There are a lot of subjects in the book. There is the war obviously. There is this thing about woman rights going on. There are relationships everywhere and there is a lot of personal struggle.
Most of the book is narrated by Jane. Daughter of a housekeeper she feels privileged to get the chance to write about the war and even getting accredited to go oversees to write. She is ambitious and does not have to much to live for but still I did not really see her as the type to go on such an adventure. I do not feel her motivation to do what she is doing even if the words are spoken.
Liv on the other hand is one piece of emotion with clear motivation though it takes some time to figure that out. She was a really powerful character.
Fletcher is obviously needed to put a male character in the story to make it possible for the woman to move. I think this is done well and he is a realistic character.
I liked the developments in the story. First the moaning that woman do not get the same opportunities as men and the reasons they come up with to justify their motivation. It is not overdone but stated as facts and information and throughout the book this is an important part. I do find that most of the male characters react rather smooth. I cannot imagine they walked into so many different characters and none of them did not agree and would get upset.
The view the story is giving of the front line of a war and being part of a liberation army felt realistic. There are some very harsh scenes about death, murder and other war related nastiness without getting really descriptive.
In the end I do miss an emotional connection with any of the characters to be really involved in the story but it is an interesting view on female journalists and photographers in that period for sure.

beckethm's review

3.0

As a record of life on the front lines during the liberation of France, [b: The Race for Paris|23460961|The Race for Paris|Meg Waite Clayton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422519825s/23460961.jpg|43034137] was fascinating. As a story, it was less successful. Clayton brings the battlefields, field hospitals, and press corps gathering places to life in great detail; however, the book ended up feeling too one-note. We hear over and over how women journalists are kept away from the real action, yet once the novel's heroines decide to flout the rules, this point becomes moot. Perhaps it's just hard to get invested in a story where the only thing really at stake is a byline. There is a love triangle, but it feels perfunctory. There's no real romantic tension, and it's difficult to see the characters' attractions to each other as anything more than the effect of proximity under stressful circumstances.

Clayton attempted a sort of Gatsby-esque approach, using a sort of "everywoman" narrator to tell the story of a more flamboyant character. I don't think it worked here. The point of view keeps us at arm's length, making it hard to empathize with any of the characters. It isn't handled consistently, either: she frequently slips into the viewpoints of other characters without a clear break from first person to third.

I admire the research that went into this novel, but in the end the storytelling just wasn't strong enough to keep me engaged.

wrightashleyg's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

sarahs_readingparty's review

Tried to read in February 2016...didn't finish. Too slow, too much else to read. Maybe another time.

katejeminhizer's review

4.0

As someone who has never read Meg Clayton before let me say I was mesmerized. I don't normally gravitate toward war stories but this one intrigued me. Some will say that it's a book about following the paths of war. I really could feel the vividness of each scene depicted in that horrible time. I more relate this to a book about the complexities of women. Clayton outdid herself in her ability to develop the complex emotions in all the characters without exposing all of what they were about. Bravo!

darcijo's review

3.0

I received this from a giveaway on Goodreads and was excited to start reading it. I did enjoy the book a lot and would probably give it 3.5 stars if I could. It started kind of slow for me and I didn't really feel like there was a tension built, you know that "Oh my gosh what's going to happen. I must keep reading." However, I did enjoy the book, the characters were likable and the storytelling was well done. My biggest complaint would probably be the use of different languages in the book. Sometimes the reader was told what was said and other times you just had to wing it. Overall, an enjoyable read.

joabroda's review

adventurous emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.0

A well researched, well written book, based on the lives of the few women journalists who dared to cover WWII from the front lines.

Meg Waite Clayton's writing had the power to take me to France in 1944-45.  I could see the beautiful French countryside being destroyed, I could feel the bombs going off. 

For me, connecting to the characters is an important  factor.  Our 2 female leads, Liv and Jane are believable and I connected to them immediately.

For those of you who are tired of WWII, let me just say that this is more than a war story.  It is story of women, strong and resilient-women who dared to do what men thought only they could do. 

emma_russell's review

5.0

I absolutely loved this book.

Reading a WW2 story from such a unique perspective - that of a journalist and her two friends, a military photographer and photojournalist - was such a delight, perhaps enhanced because of my own photographic interests. The story is paced and written beautifully, and my graphic-designer-eyes loved the typesetting as well.

I think that the "fiction based on the truths of many individuals" was a fantastic way to build this story, and found it fascinating afterwards to read up on many of the female journalists and photographers mentioned throughout. I also loved how the start of each chapter a short "real-life" quote featured that gave further context and weight to the stories direction.

A wonderful read, I borrowed this one and can't wait to purchase it for myself.

4 1/2 Stars.