mariebrunelm's Reviews (478)

The next stop in my middle-grade-literature adventure was this book I stumbled upon while reordering the children's section at the library. I'd been looking for books about food & magic, which is exactly what this one is about. The first volume wasn't available, so I had to start with book 2 and had a little difficulty understanding what I'd missed in book 1. All in all it's a fun adventure, but it really went too fast for my liking. I'd say it's good for children aged 8-10. There's time-travel, coffee that isn't really coffee, and a terrible plan to wipe out culture & entertainment from the city of Paris where the story is set. To me, the author tried to make the young girl the heroin of the story, but she couldn't compete with Madame Pamplemousse who is the real protagonist, as in "the one moving the story forward". That created a little frustration, but nothing major. All in all, a cute story about the importance of wonder - and delicious treats. 

I can't resist a good time-travel story, particularly when it's about feelings rather than science. When my eyes fell on Time Was's synopsis, an imaginary pen ticked many boxes I love: old books & bookshops, queer love, time-travel. And the book delivered. I finished with tears in my eyes and the satisfied feeling of having read a powerful story, no matter how short. 

Voilà un roman sous le signe de Janus, tourné à la fois vers le passé et vers l'avenir. On y découvre Sheltel, une île dont les habitants se croient les seuls rescapés d'une catastrophe naturelle. Or l'histoire s'ouvre sur l'arrivée d'un bateau de pirates en quête de vivres et d'eau douce.
L'autrice, Chris Vuklisevic, compose un roman polyphonique complexe sans être confus, porté par une prose efficace mais élégante. Elle déploie une belle galerie de personnages variés, mettant les femmes au cœur de son récit : sa société n'est ainsi pas sexiste, mais elle n'est pas exempte non plus de violences sexuelles (voir les avertissements de contenu). C'est une lecture qui m'a intriguée et emportée, et même si au final je n'ai pas ressenti d'attachement émotionnel, je sais que de cette histoire pourra plaire à un grand nombre car elle est bourrée de qualités. 

This book is a link between Thomas Hardy and fantasy. You may read it like a folk tale with a twist, or like fantasy with firm roots in history. Most of it is the story of Gideon, a boy dreaming of a legend that is bound to remain a legend. When his father tells him about his forefather Gideon, the one who befriended a dragon, the seed of legend sends a shoot through the soil and up in the air. But it may still remain a fantasy. Part of the decision belongs to the reader, and I do love when a story makes room for those who read it.

Despite being the ultimate classic, I'd never read Le Petit Prince in full. I read the beginning when I was very young, but I didn't get it and never finished it. When I read La nuit du Faune recently, I don't really know why but I kept thinking about this French tale. Something about philosophy and the idea of traveling from one portrait to another. I was also craving something simple and straight-forward after Romain Lucazeau's mind-boggling book. So I finally read Le Petit Prince, and I did enjoy it immensely. It's really sweet, light and deep at the same time, and it celebrates a child's look on life.

J'aimerais vous parler de ce livre, mais après l'avoir terminé je ne suis pas entièrement sûre de ce que j'ai lu.
La Nuit du Faune commence comme un conte de fées, où une petite fille rencontre un faune. Il continue comme un dialogue philosophique au cours duquel les deux personnages échangent leurs vues sur la vie et le destin. Entre-temps, l'auteur y a inséré un voyage intergalactique, des intelligences artificielles, et des métacivilisations qui éclosent et meurent dans le vide intersidéral. Et un nombre astronomique de virgules. Je suis déconcertée.
La curiosité m'a emmenée jusqu'à la moitié du livre, qui m'est ensuite un peu tombé des mains mais j'ai persévéré. On sent clairement la formation de philosophie de l'auteur, et d'ailleurs je classerais ce livre bien plus à côté des dialogues de Platon  qu'au rayon SF. J'ai apprécié le style très littéraire pendant le premier quart, avant que l'accumulation des virgules et les effets de style ne me lassent. Heureusement, j'ai aimé l'épilogue, qui ferme la boucle et replace un peu les pieds sur Terre à l'issue de ce voyage à travers le temps et l'espace, mais la forme très répétitive de la plus grande partie de cet objet littéraire (un voyage, une rencontre, un voyage, une rencontre) avec l'emphase constante (des interlocuteurs toujours plus, plus, plus que les précédents) ne m'a pas particulièrement séduite.
Je pense que ce livre n'était tout simplement pas pour moi!

This middle-grade book starts in a very dark place when we meet Morrigan Crow, a young girl destined to die on her 11th birthday. But just before the bell tolls, she is whisked off to Nevermoor where a series of trials await her. She must prove she has a right to be admitted to the elite Wundrous Society, but how can she show a talent she doesn't know she possesses? 
This was a fun adventure, fast-paced and heart-warming. It was a little bit too much for me, but I would heartily recommend it for imaginative readers of all ages. 

A nurse with a temper. An assassin with a conscience. A fish with a... Diving suit?
Adrien Tomas creates a panel of highly different characters, evolving in a complex and kaleidoscopic world full of unexpected magic, steampunk-like technologies and political intrigues. I was afraid it would be too much for me, and it almost was, but it was also so *fun* and the characters were so dashing that I flew through the book. 
Rep: passing mentions of queer characters made me think it was a queer-inclusive world, but it's not very present. 

Quitter les monts d'automne has much to love. A Japanese-inspired world that has its roots in tradition but grows into sci-fi, an independent, queer heroin who finds her voice through her unique experiences, and a truly beautiful prose, very elegant and harmonious. A large part of what I didn't enjoy about it was that Kaori, the main character, is painfully passive for most of the plot. The story happens to her without her having any grasp on it, up til the very end. She appears to be some kind of Chosen One, but most choices are taken from her. I read an interview in which the author was fully conscious of this, so I store it as "an author's choice I didn't vibe with". Despite this, and as far as I can tell, I thought the author did a wonderful job with the Japanese culture running through all the story. One small detail I particularly enjoy was the different spelling of some names depending on who was speaking. It's such a small touch but as someone fascinated with languages, I appreciated it a lot.
All in all, I didn't enjoy the plot of this book and the fact that everyone except our main character seemed to have agency, but I loved the idea, the atmosphere and inspiration.
Rep : lesbian main character, bisexual secondary character.

I remember reading the adventures of these mice by the seaside, but I never read this one which is all about a pumpkin, so of course when I glimpsed it at the library I had to borrow it. Perfect to heal one's heart after finishing Assassin's Quest, this picture book shows a family of mice growing a pumpkin through all kinds of weather, watching it grow and cooking delicious food once it's ripe. It's about cycles and nurturing what's important (yes, pumpkins are important).