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liralen's review
2.0
So. Taylor is in Paris. She came on a family vacation a year ago, her parents died in a car accident, and Taylor's been hiding out in a vacant apartment ever since. And I have questions.
First: Is this actually Paris, France? I have a pet conspiracy theory that Taylor is actually in Las Vegas, near the Las Vegas 'Eiffel Tower'. That would explain why not a single character in this book ever speaks French; why we have no indication whether Taylor herself speaks French (and if so, why and how much; if not, how she's been getting by in Paris); why there are very American-sounding chocolate-chip cookies all over the place; why a seventeen-year-old has a car (or a licence); why said seventeen-year-old feels the need to drive everywhere in the first place (I don't think public transit is ever suggested)...and maybe why the Seine is first described as a river and then called a lake, though as far as I know there isn't any kind of Seine in Las Vegas.
Still. I think this theory could go somewhere. That, or this is just one of the weakest uses of place I've seen in a long time, but I prefer the conspiracy-theory angle.
Second: How exactly is Taylor getting by? I know, I know: she's staying in an abandoned apartment complex and picking up money that tourists drop, because apparently that happens a lot. But. If she barely has money to eat, how does she have multiple sketch pads, pencils, and charcoals? (Or money to go up the Eiffel Tower? If she wants to call it a splurge, or something she saved for, okay, but that isn't discussed.) She says she started her new life with no suitcase, no clothes, no nothing, but she still has multiple pairs of jeans and a dress and so on. Maybe we can assume that she picked up some inexpensive clothing at a flea market, but how is she doing laundry? Does she have any kind of electricity or heat or water in the apartment? If so, why has it not been turned off? (If not, how is she doing things like showering and using the toilet?) Why does 'her' apartment magically still have a bed and bedding and, it seems, everything an underage girl would need to be comfortable? What about winter? If she's already spent a year in Paris, she's been through all the seasons, but with (as far as I can tell from the skimpy contents of her closet) no coat or anything like that. Again: how?
This is another argument for Las Vegas, I think, where the average winter temperature is still well above freezing...
Third: What is the deal with Taylor's family? She tells us she has nobody; she tells us she 'wasn't even aware that I had relatives' (loc. 2721)...and then her grandparents show up and she's all 'oh, I recognise these people!' And I'm confused, dammit. Were her parents not on good terms with her grandparents? If so, why not? Actually, for that matter, how did Taylor spend five days in a hospital (without any known injuries, mind) without anyone saying 'oh hey we're going to ring up your grandparents'?
I can't explain this one through Vegas. Alas and alack, I am destined to remain confused.
Bonus typos:
a dozen of forgotten knives (loc. 1200)
Dad is sitting in the diver's seat (loc. 1219)
He stares at me a beat too long, accessing (loc. 1577)
First: Is this actually Paris, France? I have a pet conspiracy theory that Taylor is actually in Las Vegas, near the Las Vegas 'Eiffel Tower'. That would explain why not a single character in this book ever speaks French; why we have no indication whether Taylor herself speaks French (and if so, why and how much; if not, how she's been getting by in Paris); why there are very American-sounding chocolate-chip cookies all over the place; why a seventeen-year-old has a car (or a licence); why said seventeen-year-old feels the need to drive everywhere in the first place (I don't think public transit is ever suggested)...and maybe why the Seine is first described as a river and then called a lake, though as far as I know there isn't any kind of Seine in Las Vegas.
Still. I think this theory could go somewhere. That, or this is just one of the weakest uses of place I've seen in a long time, but I prefer the conspiracy-theory angle.
Second: How exactly is Taylor getting by? I know, I know: she's staying in an abandoned apartment complex and picking up money that tourists drop, because apparently that happens a lot. But. If she barely has money to eat, how does she have multiple sketch pads, pencils, and charcoals? (Or money to go up the Eiffel Tower? If she wants to call it a splurge, or something she saved for, okay, but that isn't discussed.) She says she started her new life with no suitcase, no clothes, no nothing, but she still has multiple pairs of jeans and a dress and so on. Maybe we can assume that she picked up some inexpensive clothing at a flea market, but how is she doing laundry? Does she have any kind of electricity or heat or water in the apartment? If so, why has it not been turned off? (If not, how is she doing things like showering and using the toilet?) Why does 'her' apartment magically still have a bed and bedding and, it seems, everything an underage girl would need to be comfortable? What about winter? If she's already spent a year in Paris, she's been through all the seasons, but with (as far as I can tell from the skimpy contents of her closet) no coat or anything like that. Again: how?
This is another argument for Las Vegas, I think, where the average winter temperature is still well above freezing...
Third: What is the deal with Taylor's family? She tells us she has nobody; she tells us she 'wasn't even aware that I had relatives' (loc. 2721)...and then her grandparents show up and she's all 'oh, I recognise these people!' And I'm confused, dammit. Were her parents not on good terms with her grandparents? If so, why not? Actually, for that matter, how did Taylor spend five days in a hospital (without any known injuries, mind) without anyone saying 'oh hey we're going to ring up your grandparents'?
I can't explain this one through Vegas. Alas and alack, I am destined to remain confused.
Bonus typos:
a dozen of forgotten knives (loc. 1200)
Dad is sitting in the diver's seat (loc. 1219)
He stares at me a beat too long, accessing (loc. 1577)
rattletheshelves's review
2.0
Read for the #aroundtheworldin100days ( #atwi100d ) challenge - France
There clearly must be something about this book because despite how ridiculous it was I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. And it was ridiculous and it kept getting more absurd towards the end - how everyone in France seemed to be American, even a policeman was called Kevin, how everyone follows American laws/way of living (driving cars everywhere, eating freaking chocolate chip cookies in cafe (good luck finding these outside of Starbucks), driving cars when you are 17.5))... I could go one and on. Also, how come that even though basically half of the book was a 20-questions game, Taylor never asked Nathan the most obvious question - how come he and his family live in France??? And don't get me started on the surreal way that Taylor overcomes her trauma. Or the way the book ends.
In other words, it's not the next Anna and the Frenc Kiss, far from it. It's just another example of American-author-attempts-and-utterly-fails-at-European-setting but, hey, at least it was entertaining.
There clearly must be something about this book because despite how ridiculous it was I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. And it was ridiculous and it kept getting more absurd towards the end - how everyone in France seemed to be American, even a policeman was called Kevin, how everyone follows American laws/way of living (driving cars everywhere, eating freaking chocolate chip cookies in cafe (good luck finding these outside of Starbucks), driving cars when you are 17.5))... I could go one and on. Also, how come that even though basically half of the book was a 20-questions game, Taylor never asked Nathan the most obvious question - how come he and his family live in France??? And don't get me started on the surreal way that Taylor overcomes her trauma. Or the way the book ends.
In other words, it's not the next Anna and the Frenc Kiss, far from it. It's just another example of American-author-attempts-and-utterly-fails-at-European-setting but, hey, at least it was entertaining.
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