Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Revolution

by Jennifer Donnelly

Andi lives in New York and is dealing with the emotional turmoil of her younger brother's accidental death. Alex lives in Paris and is a companion to the dauphin, the young son of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI, during the violent days of the French Revolution. When Andi is sent to Paris to get her out of the trouble she's so easily enveloped by in New York, their two stories collide, and Andi finds a way to reconcile herself not only to her past but also to her future. This is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful, evocative portrait of lives torn apart by grief and mended by love.

Reviewed by rakesandrogues on

4 of 5 stars

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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.

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  • Started reading
  • 26 December, 2010: Finished reading
  • 26 December, 2010: Reviewed