The Synopsis
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.
I received this book from the author/publisher for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.
Review
The Little Paris Bookshop has an interesting, inspiring twist on fiction; where the main plots of the stories are actually held in books. The main character is especially inspiring with how he reveals the hidden messages found within books; however there were a few things that will cause me to rank this novel lower than I normally do.
Though the author has a splendid way of telling the story, and I love her choice of vocabulary; I found it difficult to follow certain scenes. She would have the main character talk, or reflect, on people that he knew as if we already knew them too. This worked for many scenes and I thought it nice and different, however there were many scenes that I really had no idea who I was reading about or what was happening, even after re-reading the section several times.
As for the content, there are several uses of cuss words as well as semi-detailed descriptions of sexual-scenes. I didn’t read anything that I could define as “spiritual” either, which I wasn’t exactly expecting anyways because I know that this is not a “Christian” book.
So in conclusion, I am only rating The Little Paris Bookshop 3 out of 5 stars, because though I enjoyed the storyline and the author’s writing style, the other content caused me to not “love” the book.
Rated:
Rayleigh is a Freshman in college with a major in Accounting and long-term goal of being a CPA. She is an avid reader of all genres, and just as much of her time is spent writing as it is reading. She is the Associate Editor and Web Manager for PURSUE Magazine, in addition to posting her monthly articles on their blog. Rayleigh interns for Hartline Literary Agency where she advises authors in the best way to market their books. She is also a Social Media Manager for various businesses.
Her writing pseudonym is Rae Leigh and she is in the process of seeking publication for her Dystopian novella, Program MIRA.