daniellesalwaysreading's review
4.0
A bit of a slow burn and some hurt/comfort. A good story with believable characters that I cared about. Definitely had a HEA, but because it was historical and it took place in Paris between the wars, I felt like there could have been something in the epilogue about getting through WWII.
_isabel_'s review
4.0
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
"Lost and Found" was absolutely lovely.
I requested it because I love the 1920's and I love stories about the aftermath of WW1. A love story between a soldier and a wounded ballet dancer in Paris during the roaring Twenties sounded just like my thing but I definitely wasn't expecting this book to be so lovely and warm but also bittersweet and hard.
Benjamin, our main protagonist, is a complex man, full of self-loathing and shame and a desperation that makes him hard to like at times. I did appreciate him though, his tenacity and sweetness, and I found the author's portrayal of his memory loss and his shell-shocked mind very realistic.
Louis, on the other hand, I loved with my whole soul. He's snarky and tough and resilient and sweet and vulnerable. He blew my mind and broke my heart.
The whole cast of side characters were lovable and wonderful and they made Paris feel like home to me too.
I loved the setting. Liv Rancourt has a gift when it comes to painting Paris with such vividness: you can actually feel and see the light and darkness the city is full of.
If you're looking for a lovely '20 atmosphere, lost and broken souls that find each other (and also lots of descriptions of food and wine!) "Lost and Found" is the book for you.
"Lost and Found" was absolutely lovely.
I requested it because I love the 1920's and I love stories about the aftermath of WW1. A love story between a soldier and a wounded ballet dancer in Paris during the roaring Twenties sounded just like my thing but I definitely wasn't expecting this book to be so lovely and warm but also bittersweet and hard.
Benjamin, our main protagonist, is a complex man, full of self-loathing and shame and a desperation that makes him hard to like at times. I did appreciate him though, his tenacity and sweetness, and I found the author's portrayal of his memory loss and his shell-shocked mind very realistic.
Louis, on the other hand, I loved with my whole soul. He's snarky and tough and resilient and sweet and vulnerable. He blew my mind and broke my heart.
The whole cast of side characters were lovable and wonderful and they made Paris feel like home to me too.
I loved the setting. Liv Rancourt has a gift when it comes to painting Paris with such vividness: you can actually feel and see the light and darkness the city is full of.
If you're looking for a lovely '20 atmosphere, lost and broken souls that find each other (and also lots of descriptions of food and wine!) "Lost and Found" is the book for you.
susanscribs's review
3.0
Loved the post-WWI Paris setting, but the romance didn't work for me. I couldn't understand the initial enmity between Ben and Louis, and I didn't buy it when that turned to attraction and love. The narrator, Ben, was extremely closed off from his own thoughts and feelings, which made sense as he was suffering from PTSD and memory loss, but it contributed to the lack of connection with Louis. I liked but didn't love Rancourt's [b:Aqua Follies|34729900|Aqua Follies|Liv Rancourt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495115641l/34729900._SY75_.jpg|55913082], so I guess her voice just doesn't quite work for me.
georgiewhoissarahdrew's review
3.0
3.5 stars
An unusual book. I liked the setting (Paris in the early 1920s) and the premise: Benjamin is trying to track down his old friend Elias, but is hampered (or maybe misled) by the PTSD that's affected his memories. Rancourt is good on the little details that convey atmosphere, and there's a excellent sense of place and time - both Paris in early summer and later a Frost-ian Vermont autumn.
She's good too on the sense of dislocation Ben feels -uncertain of his past, uneasy with the foreign environment he finds himself in, and worried about his future. I liked the slow friendship he establishes with the prickly Frenchman Louis Donadieu, which is all the time contrasted / threatened with the absent Elias. The Elias story works well; its conclusion is convincing, and it's also a natural cause and catalyst in Ben's romance.
Where the book fell short for me was in the writing style. It's told in the 1st person (past tense), which, for me, means we should be very close to the narrator - in his head. But Rancourt gives Ben such a formal manner of expressing himself that actually we're completely distanced from him. I get that books written in the 1920s were indeed more formal than more modern ones, and if this were setting out to be pure pastiche I'd rate it higher.
But I think we're expected to sympathise with Ben - it's theoretically an angsty story. Only it all reads as if it's happening to someone else. For example, there are a couple of places where Ben, describing nominally intimate scenes, sounds like a lecturer instead of a man at the mercy of his body.
"I stayed in bed for three days, rising only to void."
and
"His tongue flicked my chin, sending a throb to my organ. My organ. That one part of my anatomy I generally ignored."
Although intellectually I liked the story and how it worked out, the writing got between me and real emotional involvement.
It's the first book by Liv Rancourt I've read, and there's enough good stuff there to make me want to read something else of hers to see whether my problems with this book were a one-off. I hope so.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.
An unusual book. I liked the setting (Paris in the early 1920s) and the premise: Benjamin is trying to track down his old friend Elias, but is hampered (or maybe misled) by the PTSD that's affected his memories. Rancourt is good on the little details that convey atmosphere, and there's a excellent sense of place and time - both Paris in early summer and later a Frost-ian Vermont autumn.
She's good too on the sense of dislocation Ben feels -uncertain of his past, uneasy with the foreign environment he finds himself in, and worried about his future. I liked the slow friendship he establishes with the prickly Frenchman Louis Donadieu, which is all the time contrasted / threatened with the absent Elias. The Elias story works well; its conclusion is convincing, and it's also a natural cause and catalyst in Ben's romance.
Where the book fell short for me was in the writing style. It's told in the 1st person (past tense), which, for me, means we should be very close to the narrator - in his head. But Rancourt gives Ben such a formal manner of expressing himself that actually we're completely distanced from him. I get that books written in the 1920s were indeed more formal than more modern ones, and if this were setting out to be pure pastiche I'd rate it higher.
But I think we're expected to sympathise with Ben - it's theoretically an angsty story. Only it all reads as if it's happening to someone else. For example, there are a couple of places where Ben, describing nominally intimate scenes, sounds like a lecturer instead of a man at the mercy of his body.
"I stayed in bed for three days, rising only to void."
and
"His tongue flicked my chin, sending a throb to my organ. My organ. That one part of my anatomy I generally ignored."
Although intellectually I liked the story and how it worked out, the writing got between me and real emotional involvement.
It's the first book by Liv Rancourt I've read, and there's enough good stuff there to make me want to read something else of hers to see whether my problems with this book were a one-off. I hope so.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.
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