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bin_chicken4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sillyyjillyy7's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
spinich's review against another edition
4.0
This book is still as enchanting as i remember when i first read it ages ago
emleemay's review
4.0
4 1/2 stars. This is pretty close to five stars and I might change my mind yet. Just a beautiful, lyrical and magical book, even though there is no literal magic or fantasy elements.
karen pretty much nailed it when she said this was "classic-feeling". This whimsical historical tale has something timeless and wonderful about it - like all the best children's classics. The characters are so well-drawn and memorable, and the writing sparkles with a certain bittersweetness.
It's about a spunky, intelligent girl called Sophie, who was found floating in a cello case in the English channel as a baby. The man who found her - Charles - decides immediately to do the only natural thing - raise and love this baby girl as if she was his own.
People will easily fall in love with Charles. He is not a conventional parent and the child services certainly don't value his habit of letting a little girl wear trousers (god forbid!). He is quirky, weird and more concerned with raising a happy child, than one who fits into society's expectations. Also this:
There's something about his attitude and the way he speaks that gives me a Dumbledore vibe.
The setting moves between the rooftops of London and Paris as our charming pair of criminals run from the authorities who wish to take Sophie away. Behind this, though, is the search for Sophie's mother and all they have to lead the way is the cello and it's music.
There is so much love for life, language and adventure in this book. It has you wishing you were the kind of person who could go racing around rooftops at midnight, seeing the whole of a beautiful European city laid out before you.
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karen pretty much nailed it when she said this was "classic-feeling". This whimsical historical tale has something timeless and wonderful about it - like all the best children's classics. The characters are so well-drawn and memorable, and the writing sparkles with a certain bittersweetness.
It's about a spunky, intelligent girl called Sophie, who was found floating in a cello case in the English channel as a baby. The man who found her - Charles - decides immediately to do the only natural thing - raise and love this baby girl as if she was his own.
People will easily fall in love with Charles. He is not a conventional parent and the child services certainly don't value his habit of letting a little girl wear trousers (god forbid!). He is quirky, weird and more concerned with raising a happy child, than one who fits into society's expectations. Also this:
“I do, I’m afraid, understand books far more readily than I understand people. Books are so easy to get along with.”
There's something about his attitude and the way he speaks that gives me a Dumbledore vibe.
The setting moves between the rooftops of London and Paris as our charming pair of criminals run from the authorities who wish to take Sophie away. Behind this, though, is the search for Sophie's mother and all they have to lead the way is the cello and it's music.
There is so much love for life, language and adventure in this book. It has you wishing you were the kind of person who could go racing around rooftops at midnight, seeing the whole of a beautiful European city laid out before you.
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ivetace's review against another edition
5.0
Mīlīga grāmata gandrīz pusaudžiem, īpaši, ja nav māmiņas. Ļauj noticēt brīnumam.
jordan_reads11's review against another edition
1.0
When I first found this book I thought the idea of the book was one of the best I had found in YA literature. However once I had actually begun the book the original feeling of exitement for this great plot idea soon disapeared becuase of the style of writing that I think was targeted for readers younger that the YA readers. In the end I had to put the book down becuase I wasn't drawn into the plot.
The descriptions at the beggining seemed charming, for example the description of the main characters hair as like lightning but the style of simple description soon became boring and repetetive. Another reaso I failed to finish this book was becuase of how I found the three main characters, Sophie, Matteo and Charles, to be irritating and completely unrelatable. Sophie was a young, exitable girl who longed for adventure but she seemed to me as more of a pestering girl who's disobediance to what Charles told her to do became repetetive and predicatable, although I guess without her rule breaking the book wouldn't have had much action. However I think the author wrote from the point of view of someone of Sophie's age relaistically although the style of writing from a child's point of view in a teenage book is not a good choice. I can't give an opinion on Matteo becuase he had recently been introduced bfore I put it down, however I liked the idea of Charles. Charles is Sophie's gaurdian and an intellectual who seemed interesting but what annoyed me about him was his ability to be continually entertained by Sophie even when she was being extremely irritating, surely such a smart man would find this girl irritating too. Also it annoyed me that Charles gave Sophie far more freedom than a child of her age is usually given and the duo seemed unrealistic. I liked the idea of the lifestyle the two lived, the writing on the wall and the ivy growing inside the house, I thought these were original and imaginative.
I couldn't get into the plot becuase I could not engage with the characters therefore I had no desire for Sophie to find her mother. If by the end of the book she actually did find her mother I would have thought it entirely unrealistic because given the posibility that mother had survived it was entirely unrealistic that Sophie and Charles would have been able to find her.
Overall I think this book would be much enjoyed by younger readers but it is really too simple for YA readers.
The descriptions at the beggining seemed charming, for example the description of the main characters hair as like lightning but the style of simple description soon became boring and repetetive. Another reaso I failed to finish this book was becuase of how I found the three main characters, Sophie, Matteo and Charles, to be irritating and completely unrelatable. Sophie was a young, exitable girl who longed for adventure but she seemed to me as more of a pestering girl who's disobediance to what Charles told her to do became repetetive and predicatable, although I guess without her rule breaking the book wouldn't have had much action. However I think the author wrote from the point of view of someone of Sophie's age relaistically although the style of writing from a child's point of view in a teenage book is not a good choice. I can't give an opinion on Matteo becuase he had recently been introduced bfore I put it down, however I liked the idea of Charles. Charles is Sophie's gaurdian and an intellectual who seemed interesting but what annoyed me about him was his ability to be continually entertained by Sophie even when she was being extremely irritating, surely such a smart man would find this girl irritating too. Also it annoyed me that Charles gave Sophie far more freedom than a child of her age is usually given and the duo seemed unrealistic. I liked the idea of the lifestyle the two lived, the writing on the wall and the ivy growing inside the house, I thought these were original and imaginative.
I couldn't get into the plot becuase I could not engage with the characters therefore I had no desire for Sophie to find her mother. If by the end of the book she actually did find her mother I would have thought it entirely unrealistic because given the posibility that mother had survived it was entirely unrealistic that Sophie and Charles would have been able to find her.
Overall I think this book would be much enjoyed by younger readers but it is really too simple for YA readers.
itsemilykaty's review against another edition
2.0
This was a lovely read and I could see this being a beautiful film!
fulyao's review against another edition
4.0
I gave this to my niece as a gift, and when I saw her after a few months she asked if I had read it. I said no and she asked if I wanted to. Not wanting to say no to my niece, I said yes and was pleasantly surprised. It was a good book that made me happy and remember why I liked reading so much when I was a kid.
_marcied's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
a good book, a bit young for me but i enjoyed it
emilyburton's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0