Reviews

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

kaisaei's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

ekbehren's review against another edition

3.0

I was soo excited to read a book about the beginning of Shakespeare & Company but this turned out to be a drag… bits and pieces were interesting but for the most part it was repetitive and didn’t have much of a plot. Still love Paris in the 20s though :)

janetsbarth's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

oldrazzerfrazzer's review against another edition

Read like a ninth-grade English assignment. 

enaberry's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

megancmahon's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Spoilers!

This was interesting!

What I liked:

• the atmosphere of 1920s and pre-WWII Paris was beautifully depicted; I felt like I really was outside Les Deux Magot and among all the famous authors who spent time there
• It was neat to see all the famous literary characters moving in and out of Shakespeare and Company
• The LGBTQ+ representation was both true to life and thoughtfully portrayed to reflect its historical context
• I liked the feminist perspective. I think my favourite thing about this book was the way it made me reconsider all of the different perspectives and roles that go into publishing a book: there's a writer, yes, but there's also a publisher, typists, sales teams, marketers, financers, the whole shebang! Honestly this book really made me hate James Joyce for the way he completely screws all the women in his life - without whom his work Ulysses would never have seen the light of day. It really reminded me that so many of these famous male "geniuses" could never have done what they did without the unsung women who did a lot of their legwork
• Sylvia was a great character!

What I didn't like:

• There was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing - I get that Maher was trying to make it true to life but it mainly felt like the plot jumped around a lot
• There wasn't really too much plot, on the whole, just a section of Sylvia's life
• A lot of times I wasn't super up on what was happening; maybe that's just my lack of understanding about how publishing works, but I felt myself getting a bit confused at events
• The story was interesting but I didn't feel super connected to many of the characters outside Sylvia and Adrienne and I actively disliked James Joyce (though if an author can make me hate a character that's good writing!)

Overall it was interesting but it took me a while to get into, and almost felt more like a biography than a work of historical fiction. 

esterlegaz's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

josie24601's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

marissaloiacono's review against another edition

The story was generally very boring and not at all what I thought it would be. Truly lost interest and dreaded picking it up. 

nesscoffeee's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-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

A good book! I loved the beginning, though the end was a bit slow. All in all, I like to imagine that this was a somewhat realistic approximation of how the 20s had been.