crey18's review against another edition
2.0
Donnelly is an author I have read before and really enjoyed, but this one. It was too much for me - too cliche, too predictable, not representative of what I admire about her as an author.
samantha_89's review against another edition
3.0
This book tries to handle a lot all at once. Like any juggling act, eventually when you're juggling multiple items you get tired and fail. This book wasn't bad or a failure or even a waste of time to read. I think it's a great historical fiction novel but struggles with some aspects in the modern portion of the novel.
I loved the parallels of the two time periods throughout the novel. It was very interesting to see how history really does repeat itself. Donnelly does such an amazing job of giving us this history lesson without making the reader feel like they're getting a history lesson. Revolution made me want to research the French Revolution (spoiler: Amade Malherbeau is not a real person). Perhaps more importantly, it made me want to research the French Revolution from both sides of the story, which is actually a point made in the novel.
I mostly found issue with Donnelly's portrayal of Andi's relationship with her father. Andi seems very immature in the scenes with him; picking up the phone and yelling at the doctor, come on, really? I don't mind the note their relationship ended on but I wish it had felt more valid. Perhaps if I had read this as a teenager I would have been more understanding but from my adult perspective Andi just doesn't understand some things about life. You can be an artist but art can be all that you are. Sitting in your chair and painting portraits of your dead son day after day is not coping.
Hand in hand with that note, I also found issue with Donnelly's use of Qwellify throughout the novel. I'm pretty certain it's a made up prescription so I suppose Donnelly can make up whatever side effects she wants to. Typically anxiety meds have pretty nasty side effects when you start to change the dose and have withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking them. This wasn't really shown in the novel. Had Qwellify just been some meds that Andi was taking it wouldn't have been a big deal, but Qwell was practically a character in this novel. Knowing what I know about anxiety meds this took me out of the novel.
I really enjoyed this book for its portrayal of history. Unfortunately, and perhaps this is because I don't read YA as often as I used to, the level of teen angst that was being emitted by Andi made me not respect her as a narrator. I never want to roll my eyes at the main character of a novel. I want to feel sympathy for the main character and root for them and see them grow. My biggest issues with the book are probably minor to some people. I think that it would be great for people who prefer to read contemporary but want to read historical fiction. Jennifer Donnelly blends 21st century teen narrative and 18th century teen narrative very well.
I loved the parallels of the two time periods throughout the novel. It was very interesting to see how history really does repeat itself. Donnelly does such an amazing job of giving us this history lesson without making the reader feel like they're getting a history lesson. Revolution made me want to research the French Revolution (spoiler: Amade Malherbeau is not a real person). Perhaps more importantly, it made me want to research the French Revolution from both sides of the story, which is actually a point made in the novel.
I mostly found issue with Donnelly's portrayal of Andi's relationship with her father. Andi seems very immature in the scenes with him; picking up the phone and yelling at the doctor, come on, really? I don't mind the note their relationship ended on but I wish it had felt more valid. Perhaps if I had read this as a teenager I would have been more understanding but from my adult perspective Andi just doesn't understand some things about life. You can be an artist but art can be all that you are. Sitting in your chair and painting portraits of your dead son day after day is not coping.
Hand in hand with that note, I also found issue with Donnelly's use of Qwellify throughout the novel. I'm pretty certain it's a made up prescription so I suppose Donnelly can make up whatever side effects she wants to. Typically anxiety meds have pretty nasty side effects when you start to change the dose and have withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking them. This wasn't really shown in the novel. Had Qwellify just been some meds that Andi was taking it wouldn't have been a big deal, but Qwell was practically a character in this novel. Knowing what I know about anxiety meds this took me out of the novel.
I really enjoyed this book for its portrayal of history. Unfortunately, and perhaps this is because I don't read YA as often as I used to, the level of teen angst that was being emitted by Andi made me not respect her as a narrator. I never want to roll my eyes at the main character of a novel. I want to feel sympathy for the main character and root for them and see them grow. My biggest issues with the book are probably minor to some people. I think that it would be great for people who prefer to read contemporary but want to read historical fiction. Jennifer Donnelly blends 21st century teen narrative and 18th century teen narrative very well.
ghostofsirius's review against another edition
4.0
Before I start my review I will say I started this book once when I was in high school to read between classes and I never got through it, not because it was boring but I wasn’t interested in books like this at the time. Reading it now, I’m obsessed with Jennifer Donnelly’s writing style. Some of the reviews for this book make me feel like this is an unpopular opinion but I personally think she perfectly represented how someone feels when they experience depression and grief after a tragic accident. This book also had the a perfect mix of Andi’s life and Alex’s during the revolution and it took so much effort for me to put it down and not read it all at once. Just like Andi, I needed to know what happened to Alex and Louis-Charles, but I was also excited to learn more about who Amadé was.
If you’re thinking about reading this book or it’s sat on your to be read list for a while, do it!! It’s totally worth it.
If you’re thinking about reading this book or it’s sat on your to be read list for a while, do it!! It’s totally worth it.
cassmcgifford's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
minty's review against another edition
2.0
The historical fiction aspects were interesting but the character unbelievable, and the modern day characters were annoying. Still, it was entertaining enough (though the last part was too long and too boring).
kiperoo's review against another edition
4.0
For me, there were two awesome things about this book: the spot-on voice of the MC, and the unique mystery she discovers in such a cool, unique way. You can tell the author did a lot of research, and the details she brings to life were as compelling as the present-day turmoil of the MC, especially with all of the sensory details.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked how this was done. I like Jennifer Donnelly's writing style, and I thought this was a great book for introducing the concepts of the French Revolution to young adults. Actually, it was funny because I was reading this during the Tour de France, which I force my co-workers to watch with me at lunch. My boss asked "Bastille Day - that's like, the French Independence Day, right?" Because of this book, I was able to answer, "Well, it's not really that simple, the French Revolution was pretty f'd up!" I thought the ending was appropriate and I didn't mind how they handled the jumping between times.