no stars language - its a kids book
no stars romance - once again, middle grade
10+ because it does take place during World War 2 and the Holocaust
Thank you Quill Tree Books for the ARC! I really appreciate it! This review is my own facts and opinions.
I love historical fiction books, French things, and books written around the Holocaust era so imagine my excitement when I saw this one! I have previously read 1 book by Claire Swinarski (What Happened to Rachel Riley?) and really enjoyed it, so decided to give this one a try. I was impressed by how good it was! this book reminded me of Jennifer A. Nielsen and Alan Gratz books.
plot: penny and her family move to France, something she did not want to do. she misses all her friends and really, really, REALLY doesn't want to be there. when she discovers a note on an old painting, she wants to investigate and see who it belonged to.
Marie lives with her sister Heloise and it is Nazi France. She wants to do something about the world she lives in, but Heloise is really overprotective. When she gets the chance to help with the revolution, she jumps at it.
thoughts: I felt so immersed and sucked into this world! I always wanted to keep reading and read this book in a couple sittings. the transitions between all the chapters were PERFECT! for example, penny would tuck a note into her pocket and in the next chapter Marie would be writing a note (not the same note, but it was still really cool). This happened MULTIPLE TIMES, nearly every chapter and I loved it so much!! at one point penny's mom says something along the lines of "when you think of Paris, you think of pastries, you don't think of the history" DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT but it really made me think and agree with her. This book was amazing as a whole.
~penny~
I really felt for her, having to move to France and leaving all her friends behind. She was such an interesting character, and a curious one, which led to SO MUCH good plot. her family felt very realistic, something I appreciate.
~marie~
she was so curious and wanted to do so much! I loved seeing this story and this time period through her eyes.
~heloise~
I absolutely LOVED this character, as well as her name. can we all just appreciate how pretty her name is? being an older sister, I really felt for her trying to take care of marie while trying to live her own life
~jeanne~
I have conflicting feelings about this character. if you read this book, you will know why. she is a very strong character and very independent, which is inspiring.
if you like Jennifer A. Nielsen, Alan Gratz, or any historical fiction really, you will love this book! it is a middle grade book, but it is still very engaging (coming from a nearly 15 year old). I really enjoyed this book and thank you so much Quill Tree Books for the ARC!
xoxo
emma
View my Goodreads review here!
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