Revolution

by Jennifer Donnelly

Readers of If I Stay and Elizabeth George will love Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, New York Times bestselling author of Stepsister, Poisoned, These Shallow Graves, and the award-winning novel A Northern Light.

    Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And her father has determined that accompanying him to Paris for winter break is the solution for everything.
    But Paris is a city of ghosts for Andi. And when she finds a centuries-old diary, the ghosts begin to walk off the page. Alexandrine, the owner of the journal, lived during the French Revolution. She’s angry too. It’s the same fire that consumes Andi, and Andi finds comfort in it—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs, words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes terrifyingly present.
    Revolution artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.

Praise for Revolution:
An ABA Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year
An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book
A #1 Indiebound Selection
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book
An Amazon.com Best Book of the Year

★ “A sumptuous feast of a novel, rich in mood, character, and emotion.”—SLJ, Starred Review

★ “Every detail is meticulously inscribed into a multi-layered narrative that is as wise, honest, and moving as it is cunningly worked. Readers  . . . will find this brilliantly crafted work utterly absorbing.”—The Bulletin, Starred Review

★ “Brilliantly realized, complete, and complex. The novel is rich with detail, and both the Brooklyn and Paris settings provide important grounding for the haunting and beautifully told story.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

• ISBN10: 0385737645
• ISBN13: 9780385737647
• Publish Date: 26 July 2011 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 512
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385737647

Reviews

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

As someone who has dealt with multiple tragic losses, depression and anxiety all at the same time, this book really hit me with the emotions. I was feeling them all with this amazingly written novel from a truly talented author. From the start, Ms. Donnelly had me hooked. I picked this book up at the local used bookstore just to have something to read, not knowing the emotional connections I would have with all the characters. 

Andi and Alexandrine are beautifully chiseled with their flaws and their pain and sadness. Both characters, while one in the present and one in the past, really tore at my heart. Alexandrine's character wrote in her journal, but the tragic loss she endured, the heartache she was dealt became mine. Andi's teenage mind, her rebelliousness, was so much like my own and the way she dealt with her pain, her loss, was so familiar to me. 

That takes an incredible author to get me to connect so fully with their characters. This story of an epic revolution of mind, soul, and events, will really cocoon the reader. I stayed up long into the night, turning page after page, reveling in one world and then the next in an instant. These characters, this story line, this author deserve 4 stars and high recommendations from me, so that is what they are getting. I absolutely can not wait until I get my hands on another amazing story from this very talented author. 

*I Purchased a copy of this book for my collection and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

[Rinn]

Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

Because I don’t have a lot of space for storing books, I do quite often donate them to charity after reading if they aren’t favourites or I don’t think I will re-read them. This allows me to buy even more without taking up more space, so my book collection pretty much remains at the same size. Revolution was in my ‘donate after reading’ pile, and as I will soon be moving I’ve been trying to work through more of these so I don’t need to take them with me.

I’m not really sure what I expected when I picked up this book. In fact, after a couple of chapters I almost DNFed it because of the main character, Andi. The book opens with Andi hanging out with her friends, and they immediately seemed so pretentious and ridiculous, but I decided to keep going. And whilst I finished the book, Andi was definitely not my favourite of characters. I loved that she was so passionate about music and art, and really knowledgeable, but at times she felt elitist and a bit of a snob. Not to mention the whole very ‘try hard’ emo style she was going for. I get that she’s grieving. I get that she’s gone through this horrible event. But it kind of felt lazy for the author to use the emo look to portray someone who is struggling to get over the death of someone close to them.

However, Revolution was a clever story. I thought the use of the French Revolution, and entwining both Andi and Alex’s stories to be very well done. I maybe didn’t enjoy reading Alex’s journal entries as much as I’d expected – they just didn’t flow as well – but it was nice to revisit this area of history that I studied in detail eight or nine years ago.

Overall, this was a quick and easy read, and actually a lot more enjoyable than I’d reckoned – but let down in places by the portrayal of the main character.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: The obsession with music and historiography were two very crucial elements that made me like the book so much. Coupled with the voices of the two narrators that brought the two main characters to life, I couldn't stop listening until I was done. 21st & 18th-century Paris were so artfully intertwined, I ended up caring much more for the story within a story than I usually do. My only gripe was that the resolution was very abrupt which left me finishing Revolution on a less than high note. Nonetheless, a worthy read!

[kimbacaffeinate]

This was a wonderful story of past and present loss, love, history and music. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone.

[jeannamichel]

A music student, still mourns for her dead brother, is failing her classes in her private school. As punishment, Dad forces Andi, the student, to Paris to finish her senoir thesis so she can graduate. (What a punishment, right?) Where in France, she discovers a hidden compartment in a guitar case- uncovering a centuries-old diary by a young girl named Alex. Alex changes her life forever. So, do you want to start a revolution?

After reading this, I sure do! This book was FANTASTIC! Mind you, I have been a little obsessive over France and the French Revolution (I know everything about Napolean Bonaparte's teenage years) ever since I could walk. This book was not something for me to miss out on.

It can also be said that the length can be a little daunting, but it's worth every minute.

Andi revolves around her music. I loved how devoted she was and I loved how all she really cared about was her mom and her music. I respected her for it, even though at times (when she was trying to commit suicide) all I wanted to do was strangle her. Alex was amazing and very much like And- which was purposely done. Virgil was like the boyfriend, I'll never have. He was perfect, but flawed at the same time. And Amade was just adorable. (Spoiler ->) After hearing all about his history from her thesis and then actually getting to meet him... It was awesome. Who knew a famous composer could like music like Coldplay and Radiohead?

I cannot say how much I want to go to France now. The descriptions were tangible and lovely. Watching the sunrise at Sacre-Coeur was truly breathtaking! This book felt entirely real to me and if I wasn't already reading something else, I'd reread it over agin.

The ending was okay. I'm not going to praise it, but I enjoyed some of the ending and some I didn't. Some of that that included her dad and her mom's bad days was why I didn't like the ending. But Virgil was still dreamy and the book was still amazing. Anyone, want to start a revolution with me? I'll get the fireworks.

[rakesandrogues]

Published at: http://muggle-born.net/book-review-revolution-by-jennifer-donnelly/

The main character, Andi, is grieving for the death of her younger brother through doses and doses of antidepressants and music. She was on the verge of flunking out of school when her dad whisks her away to Paris to get her to start writing her thesis on Amade Malherbeau. From the very beginning of REVOLUTION there was no doubt on the two things that Andi loved most: her brother Truman and music. I loved reading about Andi’s passion, and her grief was very relatable. However, at some points she did get a little too depressing to the point that it irritated me.

There is a lot of development to the story and it takes about a hundred pages in for Andi to travel to Paris. The beginning basically dictates the flow of the rest of the book: it’s a slow journey from beginning to the end. At some parts the story did drag on. The book is five hundred pages long. Length does not usually bother me when I read, and REVOLUTION turned out to be just one of those books that felt like it never ended.

One thing is definitely clear from reading REVOLUTION Jennifer Donnelly does her research and she does it extremely well. REVOLUTION is a finely crafted historical novel. I can easily picture 18th century Paris. Alexandrine’s story truly captivated me a lot more than Andi’s. I love being able to travel back into the past and see the French Revolution from Alex’s perspective. Like most historical novels, I did feel the need to brush up on my history. I could not tell the difference between fact and fiction, which just goes to show how realistic a novel Donnelly writes.

My favorite part of the book would have to be the last hundred pages. At first I did not think that the ending would leave me feel satisfied, but Donnelly does a great job tying up all the lose ends in the epilogue.

REVOLUTION is brilliantly written. It’s a long five hundred pages, but I recommend it to those who enjoy a long historical read.