Review: ALL THE FLOWERS IN PARIS by Sarah Jio
All The Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio 
Published by Ballantine Books on August 13, 2019
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 240
Source: Netgalley
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
ALL THE FLOWERS IN PARIS Review
Sarah Jio’s All the Flowers in Paris is a beautifully written and compelling story about family, love, survival, and the sacrifices people are willing to make for their loved ones. Jio uses a dual timeline format to intertwine the lives of two women who each lived in the same apartment in Paris, albeit decades apart and under very different circumstances.
One timeline is set in 2009 and follows a woman named Caroline who has been in an accident and now has amnesia. Once she is finally discharged, since no family have come to claim her, the hospital staff takes her to the apartment listed on her identification and there she slowly begins the process of piecing her life back together. As she encounters people around the neighborhood who knew her and watches them gingerly skirt around her, Caroline realizes she must have been living a pretty sad and lonely existence.
To keep herself from dwelling on her amnesia, Caroline strikes up a friendship with the handsome chef at the restaurant she frequents. But as their relationship blossoms, she starts to regain a few vague memories of a man and a young child but can’t figure out where they fit into her life. Are they loved ones? If so, where are they now?
The other timeline is set during 1943 at the height of WWII and follows a young widow named Celine who lives with her father and is raising her young daughter alone in Nazi-occupied Paris. When a German officer takes an interest in Celine and she rebuffs him, he exposes her family’s Jewish heritage, forces their flower shop out of business, and then imprisons Celine’s father and tries to take her child from her as well. He imprisons Celine in his apartment, but not before her daughter breaks free and sneaks in with her. Celine now must not only fight for her own survival, but she must also hide her daughter right under the enemy’s nose in hopes that they’ll both be rescued.
One thing that really struck me while I was reading was that both Caroline’s and Celine’s storylines were compelling enough that they easily could have been standalone stories. I enjoyed both characters immensely and was very invested in both Caroline’s plight to get her memory back and Celine’s plight to survive the Nazis and protect her family at all costs. My one complaint with the book was actually that I thought it took a little too long to actually have the storylines start moving toward one another. They felt like standalones for a pretty big chunk of the book. When the two timelines finally did fully intertwine, however, via a diary Caroline finds hidden in a closet in her apartment, the end result is so moving and so powerful that it had me shedding more than a few tears.
If you’re a fan of WWII historical fiction, stories set in Paris, and stories about family and the sacrifices people make for love, All the Flowers in Paris is the book for you!
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Two women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious journal, and shocking secrets, sweeping from World War II to the present–for readers of Sarah’s Key.
When Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her past, she’s confused to learn that she’s lived a sad, reclusive life for years in a sprawling apartment on the Seine. Slowly regaining vague memories of a man and young child, she vows to piece her life back together–though she can’t help but feel she may be in danger. A budding friendship with the chef of a charming nearby restaurant takes her mind off of her foggy past, as does a startling mystery from decades prior…
In Nazi-occupied Paris, young widow Celine lives a quiet life with her father, the local florist, and her daughter, Cosi. When a ruthless German officer discovers the family’s Jewish ancestry, he blackmails Celine, forcing her to become his mistress in exchange for the others’ safety. The trio plans an escape, but their mission goes horribly awry and Celine’s beloved father and daughter are sent away to a cruel fate. Initially distraught, Celine fears the worst. Yet she soon discovers that Cosi has snuck away and followed her into captivity. More motivated than ever, Celine must now fight to hide and protect the person she loves most.
Parallel timelines intersect when Caroline discovers Celine’s diary tucked away in a closet, and it is revealed that the walls of her apartment harbor dark secrets. With the help of a local student from the Sorbonne, she realizes that she may have more in common with Celine than she could ever imagine.
About Sarah Jio
Sarah Jio is the New York Times bestselling author of ALWAYS, published by Random House (Ballantine), as well as seven other novels from Penguin Books, including, THE VIOLETS OF MARCH, THE BUNGALOW, BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE LAST CAMELLIA, MORNING GLORY, GOODNIGHT JUNE, and THE LOOK OF LOVE. Sarah is also a journalist who has contributed to The New York Times, Glamour, O, The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, SELF, Real Simple, Fitness, Marie Claire, and many others. She has appeared as a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition. Her novels are translated into more than 25 languages. Sarah lives in Seattle with her three young boys.
Top Ten Tuesday – Book Characters I’d Love to Have in My Circle of Friends
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is a Book Characters I’d Love to Be Besties With. When I think of my real life friends and the qualities I love about each of them, a few common denominators carry across all of them. I love their humor and specifically their ability to bring some levity to a stressful situation, I love their loyalty and that I can always count on them for whatever I need, whether it’s a sound word of advice, a shoulder to cry on, a stiff drink, whatever. They just have my back no matter what. I also think my friends are very interesting and I love the unique perspective they can bring to any conversation. And of course, we share many similar interests.
The list of fictional characters I’ve come up with embody many of these same traits so I think they would make great additions to my circle of friends.
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Book Characters I’d Love to Have in My Circle of Friends
1. HERMIONE GRANGER and FRED & GEORGE WEASLEY from the Harry Potter series.
Hermione for her wisdom and general badassery; the Weasley twins for their wicked sense of humor.
2. PERCY, MONTY, & FELICITY from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue
Similar to above, Felicity for her wisdom and because she’s a woman ahead of her time;
Monty & Percy because they’re hilarious and hold the promise of great adventures.
3. HAZEL from Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating
Hazel for her whimsical sense of humor. There would never be a dull moment with Hazel as your friend.
4. SAMWISE from Lord of the Rings
Could there possibly be a more loyal friend than Samwise?
5. BRIENNE OF TARTH from the A Song of Ice and Fire series
Although I’d put Brienne of Tarth as a close second to Samwise in the loyalty department.
6. TYRION LANNISTER from the A Song of Ice and Fire series
Tyrion is such a wonderful mix of wit, humor, drunken fun, but at the same time,
he is also someone you would want in your corner when it comes down to it.
7. CHARLOTTE GORMAN from The Accidental Beauty Queen
No social circle of mine would be complete without a few socially awkward book nerds. Enter Charlotte Gorman.
8. NINA HILL from The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
And Nina Hill for the same reason. Us book nerds have to stick together.
9. CASSIE HANWELL from Things You Save in a Fire
I actually just finished this book over the weekend and found myself wishing I was friends with Cassie.
I admired her strength and tenacity, and the fact that she’s a female firefighter just made her really someone I’d like to have in my corner.
10. JUNE AND NORA from Red, White & Royal Blue
Although technically only secondary characters in this book, June and Nora were just all kinds of awesome
and I’d love to have them on my squad. They’re fun, loyal, and very creative.
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Who are some book characters you’d like to have in your circle of friends?
Review: THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center
Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center Also by this author: What You Wish For, The Bodyguard
Published by St. Martin's Press on August 13, 2019
Genres: Romance, Women's Fiction
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE Review
Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, engaging story about family, love, and the power of forgiveness. It follows Cassie Hanwell, a young woman who unexpectedly has to uproot her life and relocate from Texas to Boston to take care of her ailing mother. Cassie is a superstar firefighter at her precinct in Texas, but it’s a whole new ballgame when she has to start over in another city. Then there’s also the fact that Cassie’s mother abandoned her when she was 16 and Cassie has pretty much written her off ever since. Moving in with her after all these years is awkward, to say the least.
I’m just going to throw it out there right now and say that Things You Save in a Fire was a 5 star read for me. It’s just one of those wonderful books that checks off all the boxes I look for in a read. The writing is excellent, the characters are well developed – both the main characters and the secondary characters, and Cassie’s journey is such a compelling one to follow on every level.
I really adored Cassie from the moment we are introduced to her. Cassie, a female firefighter trying to make it in what is traditionally a male-dominated profession, is impossible not to root for. She’s one of those messy, complex characters that I love so much. She’s scrappy, smart, strong, and she’s very good at what she does – the best honestly, and she knows she has to be if she’s going to be taken seriously. While she’s calm, cool, and collected when it comes to putting out fires and saving lives, she’s the opposite when it comes to all areas of her personal life, especially her rocky relationship with her mother and her non-existent love life. Cassie has made a conscious choice not to date and not to fall in love. She doesn’t have the time or interest in doing either…until she meets the Rookie.
Don’t even get me started on how precious the Rookie is. He’s adorable, like a Golden Retriever in a firefighter’s uniform. He’s sweet, polite, and he even bakes a mean chocolate chip cookie. He’s practically perfect in every way that matters and Cassie is finding him pretty hard to resist in spite of her no dating rule. But it’s not all sunshine and roses for the Rookie either. He has a few messy layers too, in the form of a secret he has carried around since he was a child that weighs him down, a secret that could potentially crush his father if he were to ever find out.
Aside from really enjoying reading about Cassie and the Rookie individually, I was of course rooting for them to get together. They were hired at the firehouse on the same day and their chemistry was immediately off the charts. The more time they spent together, whether it was being tied to a flagpole all night as part of a hazing prank or sharing a late-night omelet (of course cooked to perfection by the Rookie), the more I wanted to scream at Cassie to abandon her no dating rule.
What I loved the most about Things You Save in a Fire is how multi-layered the story was and how every aspect of it was equally compelling. Aside from loving the Cassie/Rookie relationship as it developed, I also enjoyed reading about the firefighting aspect of it – all of it, the pranks, the actual fighting of fires, the EMT training, and of course how the all male dynamic evolves once they have a woman in their midst. It was all quite fascinating to read about. I’m also all about a story that features a complicated family dynamic and that is exactly what I got with Cassie agreeing to move in with her ailing but estranged mother.
As fantastic as all of these elements were though, the themes of Things You Save in a Fire are what really captured my heart. Yes, it’s a story about a woman making it in a man’s world, but it’s also an incredibly moving story about family and the power of forgiveness. And finally, and most importantly, it’s a story about strength and finding the courage to let love into your heart.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel about family, hope, and learning to love against all odds.
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s excellent at dealing with other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it’s an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.
The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because she doesn’t fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don’t date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping…but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she’s worked so hard to be taken seriously?
Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, affecting novel about life, love, and the true meaning of courage.
About Katherine Center
Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away, the upcoming Things You Save in a Fire (August 2019), and five other bittersweet comic novels. Six Foot Pictures is currently adapting her fourth novel, The Lost Husband, into a feature film starring Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, and Nora Dunn. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine recently gave a TEDx talk on how stories teach us empathy, and her work has appeared in USA Today, InStyle, Redbook, People, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Real Simple, Southern Living, and InTouch, among others. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her fun husband, two sweet kids, and fluffy-but-fierce dog.