Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Gaby B

If you dont like us being demanding, then we politely ask you to
check out Revolution. But its rare when a story hits me so hard. I
read many books, and they make me laugh, cry and smile. Once Im done
with it, I give it little thought and move on to the next book. I
thought it would be the same with Revolution. Its in the middle of my
long list of books to read. But now that I have finished it, I cant
seem to move on from it. Revolution is a powerful story with history,
love, grief, and mystery beautifully woven together.

The story follows Andi Alpers, a Brooklyn native who is grieving the
loss of her brother, Truman. Wrecked by sadness and guilt, Andi stops
doing well in school, takes anti-depressants, and focuses only on her
music. Music seems to be the only thing that is keeping her alive. Her
usually absent father decides to give her an intervention. He sends off
her grief-stricken mother to a psychiatric hospital and takes Andi with
him to Paris for her Winter break. The deal is that she uses the time in
France to work on a thesis for a school project. While researching, she
stumbles upon the diary of Alexandrine Paradis, an actress who lived
during the French Revolution. As Andi reads Alexs diary, she becomes
enraptured with Alexs tales and cant help but find how much their
stories are alike.

The story focuses a lot on the French Revolution. If you dont know
too much about it, dont fret. Author Jennifer Donnelly provides enough
information to make it interesting and not like youre reading a history
textbook. I personally knew an overview of what happened during the
French Revolution. But I didnt know the little details. I found it so
fascinating how Donnelly was able to weave fiction and history together
so perfectly. She made Alexs story feel so real; every time I read her
one of her diary entries, I felt like I was right next to her living in
1790s France. Andis story is just as gripping. She is a girl on the
edge. Literally. When reading her thoughts, my heart felt pained with
her grief. I felt her annoyances, her sad moments, and her little
flickers of hope.

Revolution is a very human story. When we learn about history,
theres usually a detached feeling that comes along with it. Probably
because many of us didnt live through it. The story reminded me that
those wars, massacres, and general evilness affected real people with
the same hopes, dreams and feelings I have.

I wish I could go on and explain the sort of unexpected (yet
thought-provoking) message Donnelly relays through this story, but I
dont want to ruin the magic of the book. I want you to discover it on
your own. I will, however, say that it changed the way I look at the
world. Alex and Andi end their tales with the same line. Even as I woke
up this morning after finishing the book, I read the latest news and
that line proved itself so true. It makes me want to both cry and smile.

Reprinted here with author's permission. Original: http://www.theyoungfolks.com/?p=928