⋙ PDF Gratis The Girl You Left Behind A Novel Jojo Moyes 0884295594976 Books

The Girl You Left Behind A Novel Jojo Moyes 0884295594976 Books

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The Girl You Left Behind A Novel Jojo Moyes 0884295594976 Books

My Review: I read Moyes huge hit Me Before You back in January 2013 and I absolutely loved it. I actually gave it one of my rare 5/5 stars for the emotional rollercoaster that it put me on. So I went into this book very eager to read another book by this author and I will admit that the story surrounding art stolen by the Germans in WWI was the other reason that I had to pick up this book.

This book is told using two different points of view in two different eras. Sophie tells her story of living in her small French town during WWI and Liv's modern-day story is set in London with a piece of art connecting the two. I loved learning more about occupied France in WWI. Seeing the day-to-day life of these small town French people and how they had to live alongside the Germans was very poignant. It was an interesting era and there were a couple of dynamic characters, namely Sophie.

Unfortunately I cannot say that Liv's modern-day part of the story affected me in the same way as Sophie's. The only character I truly connected with in Liv's storyline was her quirky friend, Mo who was the only character who felt honest and believable. Everyone else seemed flat - especially Liv who came off as too self absorbed. I guess I just didn't 'get' Liz. Her character was one-dimensional and I couldn't whole-heartedly get behind her determination to keep the painting at all costs. The romance aspect was also a little too convenient to be believable.

I was very torn about this book and had, perhaps, overly high expectations after loving "Me Before You" so much. While the writing is good, the characters and storyline (specifically the modern-day London storyline) just didn't grab me. I found the ending too predictable with all of the loose ends tied up too neatly.

While this book may not be my favourite I would still classify it as a good escapist read. But if you want to see Moyes at her finest please read her 'Me Before You' which was truly stellar.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) **


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The Girl You Left Behind A Novel Jojo Moyes 0884295594976 Books Reviews

I made a mistake when I started reading this book. I made the mistake of starting on a Saturday morning. Before I knew it, half of my Saturday was gone because I finished it in a little over four hours. I have loved each of the Jojo Moyes books I have read previously and she does not disappoint. This was a tale of two women Sophie, who was struggling during WWI with her husband at war and then nearly a hundred years later Liv, who was still grieving the loss of her husband. I was so incredibly engrossed with Sophie's story. This author does a great job with historical fiction. Somehow I could imagine very clearly this small town of Paris in 1916 dealing with the occupation of German soldiers. But I had to take a star away because of Liv's story. I really wasn't as engaged and she kind of annoyed me a bit. I could not put the book down though because I was so anxious to see what happened to Sophie. I won't give away any spoilers, but I do think the author took the easy way out with that one. There were too many coincidences and twists that basically had everything wrapped in a neat bow at the end. I think it was actually too neat. But I loved the story and I love happy endings so I still gave this book four stars. I can't wait to read the author's other novels!
Brief summary and review, no spoilers.

This book is narrated by two different women at different points in time. The first part of the novel takes place during WWI and tells the story of Sophie LeFevre, who owns and helps run a bar/cafe in a small town outside of Paris. The town has been taken over by Germans and the locals have all suffered from deprivation and oppression at the hands of their captors.

Sophie and her sister Helene are both concerned about their husbands who are French soldiers and possibly in a prison camp or worse. Sophie's husband is a talented and fairly well-known artist named Eduoard, and Sophie's most prized possession is the portrait he did of her shortly after they first met. She has it prominently displayed on the bar wall. When the German Kommandant sees the portrait, he becomes enthralled with it and with Sophie as well. What will happen to Sophie and her family and to their town if the Germans don't leave? And what will Sophie do in order to save her husband and see him again?

The story then moves to the present times and we meet Olivia (Liv) Halston, a woman who's been in a state of depression and grief since the death of her young husband 4 years earlier. Liv is struggling financially and emotionally but things seem to take a turn for the better when she becomes attracted to a man named Paul McCafferty. Paul works for an agency that tries to give priceless paintings stolen by the Nazi's back to their original owners, and when he spots Sophie's portrait in Liv's home, he feels he must take action.

I really enjoyed the WWI parts of this book, which pretty much make up the majority of the first half. I thought this part of the book was stellar and I loved reading about Sophie and the descriptions of her life and of the conditions during the occupation were vivid and educational.

My problem came when we come to the present day. As believable as I found Sophie and the decisions she had to make - I had the opposite reactions to Liv. I didn't buy into her character and found myself often annoyed rolling my eyes at her actions and thoughts. I don't necessarily have to like the characters to like a book, but I think we were supposed to like Liv and at times I just didn't. I also had trouble buying into the relationship between her and Paul.

My biggest problem, and this is without giving away any spoilers, is that I don't like books that try to wrap up all the loose ends with a bow. I thought the book could've had a stronger impact without this and I thought there were way too many coincidences and convenient twists along the way.

So this was a mixed bag for me; I loved the WWI bits but was frustrated by the present-day storyline.
My Review I read Moyes huge hit Me Before You back in January 2013 and I absolutely loved it. I actually gave it one of my rare 5/5 stars for the emotional rollercoaster that it put me on. So I went into this book very eager to read another book by this author and I will admit that the story surrounding art stolen by the Germans in WWI was the other reason that I had to pick up this book.

This book is told using two different points of view in two different eras. Sophie tells her story of living in her small French town during WWI and Liv's modern-day story is set in London with a piece of art connecting the two. I loved learning more about occupied France in WWI. Seeing the day-to-day life of these small town French people and how they had to live alongside the Germans was very poignant. It was an interesting era and there were a couple of dynamic characters, namely Sophie.

Unfortunately I cannot say that Liv's modern-day part of the story affected me in the same way as Sophie's. The only character I truly connected with in Liv's storyline was her quirky friend, Mo who was the only character who felt honest and believable. Everyone else seemed flat - especially Liv who came off as too self absorbed. I guess I just didn't 'get' Liz. Her character was one-dimensional and I couldn't whole-heartedly get behind her determination to keep the painting at all costs. The romance aspect was also a little too convenient to be believable.

I was very torn about this book and had, perhaps, overly high expectations after loving "Me Before You" so much. While the writing is good, the characters and storyline (specifically the modern-day London storyline) just didn't grab me. I found the ending too predictable with all of the loose ends tied up too neatly.

While this book may not be my favourite I would still classify it as a good escapist read. But if you want to see Moyes at her finest please read her 'Me Before You' which was truly stellar.

My Rating 3.5/5 stars
** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca) **