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Dec 02, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

Beginning to end, I hated the main character. Hate is a strong word and I didn't feel that strongly about her, but I didn't sympathize with her one iota. I kept thinking of that saying "a lack of planning on your part doesn't make for an emergency on my part." With Andi it isn't so much a lack of planning as much as a lack of awareness of other people or the world around her or the consequences of her actions that got her into trouble and garnered no sympathy from me. I get that she's More...

18 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

I thought Jennifer Donnelly's debut YA novel A Northern Light was remarkable and well deserving of Printz Honor. I don't think Revolution is worthy of winning any major awards no matter how earnestly it tries to be original and important and how heavily it is promoted as the next big thing. I am just not sold on its merits, even though I understand my personal dislike of certain things in literature might be interfering with my assessment of the novel.

I don't have any problems with D More...

23 comments like (40 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Nomes added it

Made it to page 200. And... that's it.

The story is *just* starting to get fascinating, but unfortunately I cannot see myself enjoying this enough to keep wading through it.

The beginning was incredibly slow, and far too suicidal-emo (without stirring any compassion in me) for me to connect to our depressive narrator.

I also found it text book style info-dumpy in parts (regarding music and the French history). This did not help me feel transported into the story.
More...

34 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2011

Aleeza rated it:

EDIT ON 9/13: Gahhhh, I want to read this book ALL OVER AGAINNNN.

Original Review:

When I found out about Revolution, I positively went mental with excitement. Jennifer Donnelly had me utterly in love with her writing and characters in A Northern Light(ALL OF YOU NEED TO READ THAT BOOK! IT'S AMAZING! Ahem), and Revolution sounded absolutely amazing. It didn’t hurt that it snagged glowing review after glowing review, which only whet my wanting for it.

And then...w More...

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2011

Kate rated it:

The first 50-60 pages of this book made me incredibly nervous. Mostly because I really love Jennifer Donnelly, and ever since reading A Northern Light, I've felt like I had this silly fan based attachment to her. So I felt like if she were to disappoint me with this book, I would take it really personally, like I'd been dumped by a good friend, (no matter how one sided our friendship was to begin with.) So anyways... the first several chapters took me a long time because I was worried Donnelly a More...

9 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2011

Mariel rated it:

"Oh, dead man, you're dead wrong," I tell him. "The world goes on stupid and brutal, but I do not. Can't you see? I do not."
That line is the best part of the whole book. The problem with this book is that the ability to understand what message is being told is easier than taking that intimacy inside of you and making it your own heartbreak. You know what they say about forgetting what you learned immediately after the test is over? You didn't really earn it. Experience More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Becky rated it:

This is the second of Donnelly's books that I've read, the first being A Northern Light (or if you're in the UK, "A Gathering Light") which I loved. I loved the wordplay and the characters and the story... it was just beautiful to me, with a bit of innocence almost.

This story is nothing like that, but if anything, I like it more for it. There are some similarities between the two stories, though. Each features a girl who stumbles upon a link to the past that is surrounded More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 02, 2010

Ralph rated it:

This book is staggeringly good. It is literary and lyrical like "A Northern Light," but edgier. I think Donnelly takes more risks here: in characterization (Andi is a handful, to say the least), subject matter (the horrors of the French Revolution are at times excruciating to read) and structure (contemporary and historical plot lines are mashed together -- which, of course, is the point: the world goes on stupid and brutal, just like it always has).

What I'm most struck More...

1 comment like (25 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2010

Ashley rated it:

Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly is a vivid and captivating book filled with feeling. If you haven't yet read anything by Donnelly, I seriously think you are missing out, and I strongly recommend you fix that. Now.

Revolution is the story of Andi, an intelligent, talented girl who should have her whole future ahead of her. She's always been smart, has done well in school and is a gifted musician- able to play More...

17 comments like (15 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2010

Nian rated it:

Let me just say that I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I have the most respect for authors who decide to write a book in this genre. Just thinking about the amount of research Donnelly had to do, and the expertise she had to consult, awes me.

Revolution refers to not only the French Revolution, but our inner struggles, our inner revolution, and because of that, I think the title is beautiful. This book has just about everything - history, arts, music, passion, love, grief, More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2011

Joy (joyous reads) rated it:

10/5 stars? :p

Here's the thing with this book, I know jack squat about the French Revolution. And if I were a person who wanted to learn about it, this is probably how I would start. Sure it's not telling the whole story...the monarchs of France back then were all about excess. Alexandrine's diary kind of gave me both sides. How the King was stupid and naive and all they knew was taking money from the poor. The story of Louis-Charles was so heart breaking. Imagine being walled up, star More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 19, 2011

Trudi rated it:

I find writing reviews for books I love quite intimidating really. I feel overwhelmed with the task of ever doing a book justice that I want everyone to read. And then there’s always the risk that if you gush too much, it’s going to turn people off, or build their expectations so high that when they do pick the book up they can’t help but be a little disappointed. But perhaps I’m over thinking it too much.

I had never read anything by Jennifer Donnelly before and didn’t know quite wha More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Heather rated it:

How does one pen a review for such an exquisitely layered work of art? Revolution reads like sadness feels. It’s throbbing, aching, raw, desolate and poignant. In short, it’s lovely and extraordinary in scope.

Revolution is a juxtaposition between two 17 year old girls set worlds and over two centuries apart. Nevertheless, these girls are bound by their love of music and a tangible guilt they both feel as a result of their own perceived selfishness. Andi and Alex each provide an asto More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 04, 2011

smoreads rated it:

holy hell, that was powerful. all historical fiction should be this transportive & transformative. i want absolutely everyone to read this book; the bibliography is three pages long, and with good cause. but don't let that scare you off. question: do you want to take a trip to paris with more adventure than you can handle along with a simultaneous joyride through 200 years of some of the greatest music ever written? the previous sentence is laughable in how little justice i just did to th More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2010

Barb rated it:

I enjoyed Jennifer Donnelly's most recent work of fiction 'Revolution'. While it's cleary written for the young adult reader I found the story and characters engaging, the history interesting and the sense of loss suffered by the main character moving.

Donnelly threads together the past and the present with the story of two girls who are struggling to survive. Andi Alpers has suffered the loss of her brother and the after-effects his death has had on her family. Alexandrine Paradis i More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 05, 2010

rachel rated it:

I'm sorta crazy about the idea of this story, of the idea of history living and bringing solace to a contemporary girl who's mentally checked out of her own life. Donnelly executes it pretty well, too. The voice she gives to Alexandrine, an 18th century French actress who lived during the Revolution, is inspired -- not a small feat, since both historical fiction voices and young adult fiction voices tend to fall flat as often as they come alive (imo of course).

Along these lines, More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 05, 2010

Jaclyn rated it:

Two girls, one from the past and one from the present, whose destinies become intertwined. Well, I've seen that plot plenty of times before, so I figured Revolution had to really deliver with the characters and the details.

It does. In the beginning, I wasn't sure about it--the writing was good, but the present-day teen characters were rich and sort of pretentious. But in the end, I think that's a parallel to the situation of the French aristocracy, and when Andi finds the diary of a g More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Wow! This story, two intertwining stories actually, was very effective storytelling. It was a fabulous way to tell a historical fiction story.

It’s about two young women in their late teens, Andi who’s living in the 21st century and Alex who’s living in the 18th century, during the time of the French Revolution. We learn about Alex as Andi is reading her diary.

Does every main character in young adult books have to be extraordinary to be interesting to the reader?! When I f More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

REVOLUTION is a tough book to crack. It's not one of those where you can give an explanation and get on with it. There's a lot more to it than that. There's so much going on, but I suppose what I can begin with is music. Music plays such an important role. Not only are both MC' rather exceptional with the Guitar, but in this instance - music become a coping mechanism. It's one of the only things that in the midst of all the death, pain and hunger that they can really call their own.

A More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 24, 2011

Skye rated it:

This review is also posted on my blog, In The Good Books.

I'm always hesitant to read historical fiction, for some reason. If you asked me if I was a fan of the genre, I'd probably tell you no, but every time I read a book that falls into that category, I end up loving it. Revolution was no different.

I immediately felt a connection with the depressed, brusque, wry protagonist, Andi. She's grieving her younger brother whose murder she blames on herself. Her mother's crazy with More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 21, 2011

Teresa rated it:

Jennifer Donnelly’s first novel A Gathering Light , (US title A Northern Light), is one of my favourite YA/crossover novels so I was relishing the thought of getting my teeth into “Revolution” – 7 years is a long time to wait!

“Revolution” is a busy novel given that it encompasses so many ideas and themes – love, loss, family relationships, music (lots of music) and science including complex DNA testing. To complicate matters there’s a dual time frame narrative with Andi, our 21st More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 05, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

Two girls. Two hundred years apart. One revolution.

Brokenhearted and angry to the point of self-descruction, Andi Alpers is on the verge of losing everything. She’s already lost her mother to grief, her father to his work and a new family, and her little brother, Truman…forever. Facing expulsion from her prestigious Brooklyn prep school unless she can cobble together an impressive senior thesis, Andi travels to Paris with her father. There she discovers the best primary source ever: More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 07, 2011

Jenn rated it:

So, I've been thinking about and trying to figure out what I'm going to say about this book since I finished it and this is what I've come up with: I respect it and maybe admire it, but I don't especially like it. It's very ambitious, Donnelly gets major points for what she's attempting, as well as for the very obvious, mega-ton of research she did and for some very lovely and evocative bits of writing, especially descriptions. And I'll admit that it made me very interested in the French Revolut More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 29, 2011

Claire rated it:

Haunting.
Andi and her mother, Marianne are in a world of hurt. Andi’s brother Truman died two years ago and both are smothered in grief, it defines each moment of their days. Dad has moved on, literally. A genius Nobel Prize winning geneticist, he has faced Truman’s death, moved to Boston and started a new family.
Andi has been counseled and drugged but the only relief she gets is from making music, a talent that is apparently saving her life. Marianne is not faring as well, beyond s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 07, 2011

Hirondelle rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2010

Suzi rated it:

I love this book. I'd never been interested in the French Revolution before, but this book made me want to go out and learn as much as I could. I loved the main character. She knew exactly who she was and while she was going through an incredibly hard time in her life, she never forgot what her passion was.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Valerie rated it:

Oh... My... WOW!!! What an awesome story! I have never read anything by Jennifer Donnelly before, and I have to say that this was a great read!! :) She obviously did a LOT of research, with a huge bibliography to prove it. I loved the style of her writing, and her descriptions made you feel like you were right there - whether it was with Andi or with Alex, or sitting on the tarp, huddled under the blanket watching the sun rise over Paris from the Sacre-Coeur, or traipsing around in the catacombs More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 17, 2010

Judith rated it:

Although, the first 30 pages are a bit slow, the book picks up and turns out to be a very good suspenseful read. I enjoyed the historical background, music references and both the physical and internal journey that the main character must undergo. I would recommend this book to both adults and teens.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2011

elissa rated it:

This all worked well for me, and I've been missing it today. I was so involved in the ending last night that I keep thinking today that I'll be able to read more, and then remembering that it's finished. This happens to me occasionally, but not often. I think I just found Andi and her sad story very compelling, and the music part of it also fascinated me. I already knew the basics of the French Revolution, but now I know more. Knocked off of my 2010favorites list by HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMAN More...

11 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Kimberly(Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer) rated it:

This was a wonderful story of past and present loss, love, history and music. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)