Review : Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Hardcover: 472 pages

Release date: Oct. 12, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.

Thoughts

I have a story about finding this book. I stumble on this book out of the blue, when my friend checked on a wrong book on ‘goodreads.com’. I saw its cover and grab hold of my attention, then; I always keep Revolution in my mind that I will buy it soon. And that’s how I end up loving the book, than I ever thought. Revolution is the first book that I read by Jennifer Donnelly. At first the start of the book was kinda hard for me to understand, when Ms. Donnelly writes in like an old method. But then I managed to keep up with it and soon flow with the motion of the story. Andi Alpers has got some problems with her family, grades, and even on herself. Her father leaves them, and her mother can’t muddle through with the death of her brother and her, blaming herself that she’s the reason why Truman is dead. Everything started to fall on her, that even her only way of escape, her music, seems to go downhill too. Her father decided to help her by having Andi on his project on Paris. That’s when everything started to changed on Andi’s’ life, she founds her new friends and even a love interest, Virgil. The biggest changed, is when she discovered a diary of an Alexandrine Paradis, a girl who lived during the time of Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. As she unfolds the truth about the French Revolution she suddenly feels comfortable with it and let the past becomes suddenly horrifyingly present.

I love how Ms. Donnelly brings the history of France in a different way that would let you turns every page. I’m not an aficionado of history or even music; really, I mean I kinda sucked at it. But then reading Revolution lets me discovered that there’s a different way of how music and history can be exceptional and beguiling. The story was made very wise and neat. The characters are remarkable, Alexander, Virgil, and Andi. Andi is a person who can be stubborn sometimes but have a soft spot for music. While Alexander is totally a dreamer of herself and wants her life to be perfect, but everything changed when she found the prince of France. Virgil--okay I know that you all think the name was familiar, of course its Virgil from Dante Alighieri—the partner of Andi was really cool, he’s got fine looks...I mean really fine looks and got a talent in rap. I like how there affection grows in the story. Andi soon finds asylum with him and soon arranges her life and put every piece of it in one again. The end of the story is pretty quick-witted; I recommend this book for every person who wants to understand the importance of time. That in life time is one of the most important thing in our life, ‘coz you can’t bring it back. That life doesn’t have the second chance, but you can always bring everything in right by correcting everything that you did on the present for the sake of the future. How you can do everything for love that even laws can’t destroy.