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Saturday, October 12, 2019

Review: The Girl Who Reads On The Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury

The Girl Who Reads On The Metro 
by Christine Feret-Fleury 

Thank you to Flatiron Books for this adorable read.


Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publish Date: October 8, 2019
Hardcover
192 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Contemporary


Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her metro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.


One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman's name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette's daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.

Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Metro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all. 

My Review:


I think this is just a book/reader mismatch. The premise is cute but it reads almost like a historical novel/contemporary literature-ish type style that I'm just not very fond of. I couldn't connect to any of the characters, wasn't a huge fan of the dialogue or choices. However, the suggested reading list in the back give this book a little oomph. It makes sense though as the majority of those books are ones I wouldn't pick up. SO at the end of the day, just not a book for me in particular.

I think those who like cultural contemporary books would enjoy this. The back says that fans of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop would like this one and I haven't read either so... *shrug*

★★

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