Review: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: Revolution
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Supernatural
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 496

Andi lives in New York and is dealing with the emotional turmoil of her younger brother's accidental death. Alex lives in Paris and is a maid to the royal family as the French Revolution rages. They're both struggling with their responsibilities and their places in the world. (More from Goodreads)

I picked this book up because the cover caught my eye. I found it gorgeous, and as you can see at the bottom of the cover, it touts the author as having written a best-selling novel. I looked at the back cover and it talks about a curious girl in a very vague, single sentence paragraph. The first thing that crossed my mind was romance. Probably historical, by the looks of the book. Revolution? Only one historical time period, in one particular region, came to mind.

I actually contemplated getting the book multiple times on my first visit, but settled for other books that I desired more.

It actually took me the second visit to get this book,  because I happened to look it up on Goodreads and found the cumulative rating suitable enough for me to pick up an otherwise-unknown book from a genre I am not entirely partial to. By that time, there were only several copies left, scattered around the huge hall. I got one that was least damaged. Besides, I was trying to go into more adventurous book territories.

I started reading the book not long after new year celebrations have begun, even before people ceased with the loud fireworks.

Cue the typical spoiled rich teenager having fun and being difficult. Throw in some obscure band names and song lyrics and you've got me feeling rather uncool. We know, not long into the book, that the main character Andi and her family are coping with some serious issues. That serious issue happens to be the untimely, tragic death of Andi's younger brother, Truman, under some vague circumstances- and Andi blames herself for it.

It doesn't bode well for Andi, who was a genius turned into a pill-popping, depressed failure of a senior high school student with suicidal tendencies and the ability to see and hear things that are not necessarily there. The only things that seem to be keeping her together- barely- is her love for music, an eccentric music teacher, a devoted best friend and her equally-distraught mother. 

I was barely coping with the book at this time, in all honesty. The whole music scene, and all that hipster talk. I'm not the coolest bean around and it felt like the book was talking down to me. Andi's brazen behaviour and deliberate stubbornness further made me want to punch a wall.

Anyway.

Her ever-absent father decided that Andi and her mother needed a change stat and flew Andi to France to work on her senior project, while sending her mother to a psychiatric facility to get the help she needed. 

Cue some bizarre coincidences, centuries-old diaries and letters, and a hunky hip hop rapper/taxi driver with a golden heart. Around here is probably the part where the book gets more interesting and I actually started to attempt to finish the book within a day. We get dragged into the world of Alexandrine, through her diary discovered by Andi, in 18th century France (oh, THAT revolution!)- a totally different world. Meanwhile, Andi becomes less of a pain in the butt and more of a girl who needs help. I finally stopped wanting to punch her.

Guys, if nothing else, this is a good book to learn a little bit on the French revolution, something I barely know about because I didn't take History past Grade 9 in a British high school. The angsty teenager thing has been overhyped and overused in many books- let's face it, teenagers will be teenagers- but the way Jennifer Donnelly made two totally different stories from different ages work together, even linking them, is kind of profound. Story within a story which would end up, somehow, merging. It reminds me of another book I read not so long ago. I think I'm starting to like these inception-type books.

What is there?

There is a bit of magic involved. Or supernatural-ness, whatever you may call it. 

There's angsty teen drama.

There's music, and heaps of it, classical and modern (and hipster).

There's the French revolution, detailing the lives and struggles of the poorest to the royalty.

There's family drama.

There's love too, all kinds of it.

There's also some very smart science talk going on in this book that vexes me (if only I remember more of my foundation Biology courses).

There's hope, and courage, and daring quests and all other uplifting things. But there's also realism.

There are, actually, a lot of things going on. You can tell the author did quite some work going into the book, and it is appreciated. But it gets overwhelming- it's the kind of book you'd read with Google in the background, or with a pen and a notepad. So yeah, there is that.

That is probably the selling point of the book. It mashes together a lot of complex things to form this complex story, and it may not work for everybody, but I find it engaging.

I think the most difficult part is to deal with the first few chapters. Andi is difficult, but you will end up feeling for her when more light is shed on her situation, and believe me that might take a while. Or maybe Andi reminds you of your own rebel self, and you end up loving her on the spot! Whatever it may be, this is an intelligent and enjoyable read, if a bit ambitious.

It makes me want to check out more of Jennifer Donnelly's work, so yay for Revolution!

~My Rating~

4 out of 5 Magic Keys!

★★★★☆