#paris time capsule

[booksandwords]

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 3/5

The quote: "For God's sake don't marry Christan. Don't do that to yourself, Cat. Wouldn't it be better, much better, to do what it is that you love and to find someone who cares enough to support your dreams, someone who shares your interests? Stay with him and you'll write your own tragedy. Why would you do that?" - Loic Archer

This is a pretty simple book, a fast read that got me through my daily commute. The setting is gorgeous, all of them. I liked the characters I was supposed to like, not the ones I wasn't. Chrisitan really got to me, as he would so many women. Adore Loic though, gotta love a stereotypical Frenchman, all emotion and charm. Cat is problematic. She is a bit blind, one-track mind, torn between two very different worlds. Other reviews have called it poor writing, I don't disagree. Repetition, a foreseeable ending, very much stereotyped characters. The book is based on a true opening of a Paris apartment in 2013. There are pictures in the article which reflect scenes in the book. Goodreads

[thelovely-books]

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey | Review

(Review thanks to a free digital ARC from NetGalley)

Summary from Goodreads: 

New York–based photographer Cat Jordan is ready to begin a new life with her successful, button-down boyfriend. But when she learns that she’s inherited the estate of a complete stranger—a woman named Isabelle de Florian—her life is turned upside down. Cat arrives in Paris to find that she is now the owner of a perfectly preserved Belle Époque apartment in the ninth arrondissement, and that the Frenchwoman’s family knew nothing about this secret estate. Amid these strange developments, Cat is left with burning questions: Who was Isabelle de Florian? And why did she leave the inheritance to Cat instead of her own family? As Cat travels France in search of answers, she feels her grasp on her New York life starting to slip. With long-buried secrets coming to light and an attraction to Isabelle de Florian’s grandson growing too intense to ignore, Cat will have to decide what to let go of, and what to claim as her own.

Rating: 2/5

One point I want to say before I explain more in this review is that I did not finish this book. I think about halfway through because I just could not continue reading. 

Apparently this book is based on a real-life event. In Paris a couple of years ago, an abandoned apartment was finally opened and inside all of the possessions were intact. I thought that this was an interesting premise to base a book from, and add romance in Paris, and I was sold. However, as I read the book, I was disappointed. 

One of the things that bothered me was the dialogue. Sometimes it did not make sense and it made me wonder how it even got published. I do understand this is an ARC and mistakes are bound to happen but some of this should have been easily edited. Second, the characters were just not interesting enough for me to continue. I felt there was not any depth to them. The main character, Cat, did not seem interesting to me. Especially when the little love triangle initiates, I thought it was unnecessary. 

Overall, there were so many inconsistencies going into the novel that I just could not finish it. Add the fact that I did not like the characters, it gave me more of a reason to not finish the book. 

[iwanttobedifferent-iwanttobeme]

[thegirlwhokeptkicking]

My boyfriend sent me this article. Apparently before the start of World War II a woman named Mrs. De Florian left her Paris apartment filled with her belongings and never came back. 70 years later, she dies at age 91 having paid for the apartment's rent for all those decades. Her heirs hire professional cleaners to spruce up the place and end up finding a famous painting and love letters worth millions. The apartment was left untouched for 70 years! Imagine opening the door after 7 decades. This is what they found and how the place looked. Plenty of goodies! 

(P.S. Article was posted a year back but definitely interesting stuff if you have never seen this)