Review: The Girl Who Reads on the Métro

Title: The Girl Who Reads on the Métro

Author: Christine Féret-Fleury

Publisher: 29th October 2019 by Pan Macmillan Australia

Pages: 192 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: fiction, contemporary, France

My Rating: 2.5 cups

Synopsis:

In the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop, a modern fairytale about a French woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter.

Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her metro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.

One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman's name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette's daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.

Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Metro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all.

My Thoughts

‘She had always loved the smell of books, especially when she bought them second-hand. New books had different smells too, depending on the paper and glue used, but they said nothing of the hands that had held them, the houses that had been their home; they had no story of their own yet, separate from the one they told–a parallel story, hazy, secret.’

The Girl Who Reads On The Metro is aimed at fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and aimed at all book lovers. The whole passuers was fabulous - giving out books to strangers or leaving them in particular places - I loved this bookish ploy, especially with how the story ends with the minivan. Books can help you through life.

The author does an exemplary job at presenting contemporary issues, such as the recent terrorist attacks in France, and the impact this has on people wanting to hide away from the world and live rather in books. It would have been good if the author had expanded on this and really developed both plot and characters on their journey - more emotion was needed with less time spent in superfluous moments or conversations. 

So whilst the concept and  potential was there - that being the power of books to transform people - I cannot help but feel it was lost in a story that did not correlate well enough. Some characters fell rather flat for me and the story somewhat disjointed. 

I do love a book about books and although this short story and easy to read,  it lacked depth and was a little too slow at times for me. I appreciate that the lead character truly believed that you could find yourself in books and help people through life. I just wished more from this book. 

‘ ... he at least made no pretence of leading a ‘normal’ life. He had chosen to hide away in a fortress built of books, fragments of which he regularly sent out into the world, like sending messages in bottles across the sea, offerings and gestures of affection destined for kindred spirits, those who, outside the walls, were confronted with real life.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.