Skip to main content

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro - Christine Féret-Fleury

 


Description

For fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Elegance of the HedgehogThe Girl Who Reads on the Métro is the French phenomenon by Christine Féret-Fleury, ready to charm book-lovers everywhere . . .

When Juliette takes the métro to her loathed office job each morning, her only escape is in books – she avidly reads on her journey and imagines what her fellow commuters’ choices might say about them.

Then she meets Soliman – the mysterious owner of the most enchanting bookshop Juliette has ever seen – and things will never be the same again. For Soliman believes in the power of books to change the course of a life, and he’s about to change Juliette’s forever . . .

Review

This book was on a list for  books to choose from in my library book reading group. The title of the book and the description drew me to this book, but in the end I was disappointed with it. I listened to the audio version of the book. 

In essence this is a fairytale set in the real world. I hadn't thought that would be the case, instead believing it to be by someone who goes to run a bookshop. I like a little bit of magic and fantasy but for me this was just too fantastical and for a lot of the book I had no clue what was happening. 

The parts of the book I liked the most where those where the books were used to help sell and market properties in Paris. Ironically this is the job that Juliette leaves behind. A lot of the narration on the Metro reminded me more of the London underground and many words were not translated as such but English words substituted when French ones would have been understood. So at times I forgot the book was set in Paris.

The narrator had a fairy tale telling lilt to her voice and this was just right I think, making it a little more intriguing. It's not the voice I would have had in my own head whilst reading. I'm pleased I listened to it as audio as I don't think I would have finished it in paper book form. 

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to borrowbox and the local library for the loan of the audio book. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The C Word - An anthology of murder, mystery, death & destruction

  Great to be on the book tour today for this book today especially as 100% of all royalties from The C Word will be donated to NHS Together Charities. Description So, what do writers do during Lockdown? They create murder, mystery, death and destruction of course! The C Word is a collection of short stories collated during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise money for NHS Charities Together. A plethora of wonderful stories created by a wide variety of writers, each with their own unique style. Some you will know already and some we’ve yet to introduce you to. However, we’re sure you’ll want to hear from each and every one of them again as we leave 2020 behind us. With contributions from Steve Mosby, Sophie Hannah, Elly Griffiths, Sarah Hilary, Rob Scragg, Trevor Wood and many more. Review A great collection of short stories and certainly written for our times. Some of these stories were a little too dark for my usual reading tastes, but as they were short I stuck with them. There could...

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Description THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. YOU DON'T KNOW HER. BUT SHE KNOWS YOU. Rear Window  meets  Gone Girl , in this exceptional and startling psychological thriller Review I must be one of the last people to read this book. I did apply for a review copy but unfortunately wasn't successful. I then waited for the book to come down in price which it didn't - so I decided I would buy it and read it straight away! I'm sure it will be a film and before anyone gives away what happens I felt I really needed to get it read, so it jumped the TBR queue. There is not much plot outline from the publisher as you can see in the description above, so there wasn't a lot to go on when I began to read the book. First of all the book jumps around date wise - past and present and also between the main characters. I did have a little trouble remembering who was who and which time frame we were in - but that soon settled down. I also had to re-read the beginning because I th...

This Immaculate Body - Emma Van Straaten

Description ' From the very first page, Emma Van Straaten had me by the Hail Marys.  Obsessive, delusional, disastrous - but so intricately woven with heart, warmth and empathy. An impeccable debut from a rising talent ' ALICE SLATER 'An addictive deep-dive into the dark, throbbing heart of obsessive desire.  Baby Reindeer  meets  Convenience Store Woman '  KIRSTY LOGAN, author of  Now She Is Witch Alice has been cleaning Tom's flat every Wednesday for a year. With every smudge wiped from his coffee cup, every crease smoothed out in his bed, every multivitamin counted from the jar, Alice spirals deeper into infatuation. But as Alice prepares for the moment when they will finally meet face-to-face, she discovers that love might not be the cure she thought it was. . . This Immaculate Body  is a story of obsession, of the way women view the world and the ways that the world views them. As Alice frantically tries to cling to an imagined future with Tom, th...