I couldn't read this book. The formatting on my kindle was too weird and disjointed to be able to follow. I read maybe 25% before giving it up. I saw it was translated from French and maybe it just wasn't connecting with me because of that, I'm not sure.

In Paris With You is in verse, which is hard for me to enjoy under the best of circumstances, but add in the way fluff is tossed over some potentially very triggering/traumatic stuff made this one difficult for me to engage with. I would recommend it to verse novel fans only and with the caveat that they are okay handling more difficult issues than the cover hints at and that sometimes, sadly, the content provides. Eta: If "new adult" is still a thing, I would put it more in that camp than ya.

I normally love books in verse. In certain situations the sparse wording and stanzas can make the emotional impact so much greater (Looking at you, The Poet X). Sadly, I don’t think using verse worked well here. The wording felt stilted and restricted. I kept getting that feeling of wearing a sweater two sizes two small and trying to find a way out of it. It’s possible the translation had something to do with it (originally written in French), but I’m not sure if a different translation would have made a difference.

This book is so problematic. I want to eat mint ice cream, which is the worst ice cream flavor, just to have some physical manifestation for all my disappointment.

I just wasn't expecting this book to be so uncomfortable???? Can we have a moment to look at the deceptively adorable cover, DON'T LET IT FOOL YOU there are issues with this book for days and days. (At no point did I feel an ounce of happiness.)

A Convenient List of Reasons Why You Shouldn't Read This

1) Very serious, triggering issues are playfully handled. For example, Tatiana informs people that she's pregnant and her that baby has Down syndrome. UPDATE: She's not pregnant, nor the parent of a disabled child, but instead just wants a free seat on public transit. I didn't feel comfortable with Tatiana joking about Down syndrome, even if it didn't become a theme (it's briefly mentioned).

2) Suicide is handled SO BADLY?? This is a major TW for many people, but the characters just casually mention it, often describing it as a potential escape from boredom. Eventually, one of the characters carries out the act.
"Up on the rooftop, he told me: my life is fucked up, it's all over, and then he jumped."

Overall, the tone remains fluffy through even this. It's almost handled comically???? Eugene can't take it seriously and I was f'ing astonished.

3) Fatphobia. I'll just provide the quote.
"Lensky turns up at the usual time, escorted by Eugene's elephantine absence, which, having gained twenty pounds overnight, proceeds to break three wicker chairs, crush the parasol and smash all the porcelain before slumping across the forged-iron table."

I understand the above is creative imagery to describe the feeling of missing Eugene while he's away. However, it's imagery nonetheless, concerning personified weight gain and body size.

4) There's a moment in which Eugene is trying to decide how to organize his condoms, and he can't decide whether to leave the box open or closed. He says open = slut, closed = virgin, and both are considered Bad. I'm so tired of the negative connotations related to sexual experience.

Overall, we've covered insensitive handling of disabled children, suicidal teens, sex, and fat people. Honestly, I would recommend just skipping this book altogether.

We do get some really lovely descriptions of Hallmark moments. (I mutter weakly)
"Are you bored, sitting with me now?

"Hello, madam I would like to buy the little mole from Eugene's neck please yes that one yes yes the one that looks like a peppercorn."

"Eugene observes Lensky as he falls to pieces before his eyes...I was fragile, and naive, but at least I was free."

But for me, the few redeeming poetic instances of prose didn't make up for all the problems. The tone wasn't right for the material.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!
When I requested this title, I didn't know it was written in verses. It was interesting, but also a little confusing. I love poems, but I don't believe this is what people expect when they look for a YA novel. I couldn't bring myself to feel the characters' emotions, because most times I was really just trying to understand what was happening. The story is very sweet and the author did a great job innovating the genre, but personally it didn't work for me.

This book is told with gorgeous verse. You are able to see inside both of the characters head back and forth which is a nice change. You are thrust right into the middle of their story and it takes a bit to figure out what is going on. Overall, it was okay, the lyric-ness of the verse was nice, but I was not able to get engaged into the story.

I love second chance romances and this one was just adorable. And set in Paris. What more could you need?

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was honestly a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Quiet, lyrical novels in verse are usually not my thing, but this one was so engaging and charming, it drew me in and I read the whole thing in one sitting. The words were so well put together, and the narrator just slyly humorous enough to keep the poetic format from feeling over the top. I was really invested in the characters and I found myself relating to so many of their feelings and experiences. And I loved how the author played around with the narrative voice, kind of breaking the fourth wall - it’s risky but in this case it worked. The author was so talented and somehow, improbably, it all came together just right.

In Pars with You... was nothing like I had expected! I was conflicted at first in how I wanted to rate this book.

First off, I must have not been paying attention because this book is actually written like a poem. This threw me off a little bit in the beginning because the format wasn't making sense. I don't think I particularly enjoyed reading a formatted book like this but am SO glad that I experienced this book (if that makes any sense haha)

Clementine has such beautiful writing and you clearly see how much effort and time the author put forth this book. The scenes of Paris were gorgeous and made me want to jump on a plane!

Can I just say the ending left me an emotional mess. How sad I was thinking!!! But, in a way I see why the author left the ending this way because love can be messy and raw and it's not always a happy ending.

AND.. let me just say for the record I was not a fan of Eugene at all. Eugene is a bit of an ass and he's boring and blahhhh. Tatiana I LOVED her! She's so real, sweet, and full of life. But, we fall in love with sometimes people we may never have imagined. I think the author left her readers on their toes with Eugene... he added a mix to Tatiana.

Overall, I enjoyed this one.

3.5 stars for this one :)

Huge thank you to St Martins/Wednesday books for a copy of an advanced arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Publication date: 1/8/19
Published to GR: 10/16/18

The ultimate will they/won't they.

Girl meets Boy. Girl LOVES boy. So much that she imagines an entire life where the two are together, in love. But unfortunately, the love is unrequited. Ten years later, they meet again in Paris, and this time it's the BOY who falls in love with the GIRL. The only thing holding them back... a secret from all those years ago that changed everything.

I loved this book. As a translation, I wasn't sure what to expect, and at times the verse shifted from rhyme to free verse, with long stretches of prose, but I didn't find it distracting. I thought the author did a good job keeping us in one decade or the next. Nods to Myspace and MSN messenger littered through the older passages, while newer ones were focused more on text messages and email.

The story itself kept me hooked until the very last page, following these two through both teen angst, adult lust, and every aching emotion in between.

I think you have to be in the right frame of mind to read this novel in verse. I tried. One thing that threw me off is the inconsistency of some lines rhyming, while most don't. I forgot for a second that I had received this ARC from Netgalley and started to return it to the library. I feel bad because I was given this copy, but I'm going to pass.

In Paris with You is a translated story, it was originally published in French back in 2016 and now is coming to us all in English next year!

Yes, I said next year and I happen to have read this story already because I got an E-ARC thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

This story was so compelling and at times confusing, that you just want to keep reading until you understand what's happening and it breaks your heart and then... ugh! There are just so many emotions when it comes to this book!

In Paris With You is such a sweet, yet bizarre story.

This story follows Eugene and Tatiana in 2016 and 2006. Yes, two different decades and two different beings.

We get the story through a narrator who sometimes feels like someone watching the story as a bystander and other times it feels like a friend of both Eugene and Tatiana and the narration feels like a conversation, like Eugene or Tatiana are talking to this narrator person and just telling this being what is happening in their lives, back in 2006 and 2016.

Sort of a good weird thing, because is a new format for me, I'm used to reading stories told by the main character's point of view or a narrator, but this narrator is the kind of narrator that feels like is also living what the characters are living. Such a weird concept, yet a fantastic one.

The story follows Eugene and Tatiana and it starts when they see each other after ten years while Eugene is on his way to a funeral and Tatiana is on her way to the library. They instantly recognize each other and both start recalling what when wrong ten years ago and that is when we also get the events that transpired in the summer of 2006 when they first met.

two caricature characters running toward each other and hugging

We learn how Eugene came to meet Tatiana and how nothing matter to him and how the complete opposite was true for Tatiana. She fell for Eugene and every single little thing matter to her.

We also get to met Tatiana's sister Olga, and Eugene's friend who happens to be Olga's boyfriend Lensky. Every relationship in this story is weird and sort of codependent, Lensky is madly in love with Olga and there is this kind of dependency he's got toward the idea of their love that ultimately ends horribly.

Then there is Eugene's dependency on Lensky and the sisters. He doesn't want to admit that he cares about anything and that he has any emotions at all, but deep down we can tell that he cares and though he sort of sabotages anything and everything that might bring him any sort of happiness, he is still dependent of that facade.

Then we have Tatiana who just feels everything and is hopeful about everything in the world until Eugene breaks her heart, she doesn't become an angry person per say, but she does realize that love is not what her novels make it out to be and that having feelings for someone else is a bit more complicated.

In Paris With You takes us through the painful memories of two individuals that have been deeply hurt by their past and the way they behavided and dealt with tragedy.

Eugine and Tatiana take us through their history and to what could become their future in this amazing story that you won't want to miss.

a guy saying love just does not just disappear

Beware though, this book does not follow the normal form of most books, it is read in verse almost and though there are a lot of details in the story, while reading it you still feel like you might be missing some information, just because it is not filled with a lot of description of location or even actions, it is filled with description of feelings and only telling you what you need to know to know where the characters are and what is happening around them.

Like I said before, it is a complicated story to get into, but it is something completely worth reading.

Love, tragedy and second chances is what this story is all about and it literally ends in one of the most open and hopeful ways that the story just toward the end really reflects reality and that is what made me love it this story just the way it is.

**Review will be published to blog closer to publication date**

I chose this book because:

There are so many things about this book that make it seem so romantic: Paris, the most romantic city in the world. The title, equating Paris to love. The cover, the wispy hand drawn illustration reminiscent of handwritten love letters. I’m ready to fall into mush with this sweet novel!

Upon reading it:

When the blurb said it was “written in gorgeous verse,” I thought it meant metaphorically, but In Paris with You is actually narrative poetry and it’s translated from French. If it were a plain old novel translated from French to English, I wouldn’t have any doubts, but I feel like poetry often has a special quality that can’t be accurately translated between languages. Of course, I can’t say for sure because I can’t read French, but I think that’s a pretty reasonable guess. I found the English translation I read rhythmic but not quite lyrical, leaving me wondering if the whole experience would have felt more musical in the original French.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story and it reminded me of One Day by David Nicholls; it tells the story of two people meant to be but who have had the misfortune of bad timing. After looking at some Goodreads reviews, it seemed that most people didn’t like Eugene, but I actually kinda liked him at the beginning. I identified with his pessimistic attitude and his belief in the insignificance of each of us, though as the story went on, I did find myself becoming more impatient with him. But no matter how I felt about him, I wanted him and Tatiana to work out, because Tatiana is a lovely and intelligent character, and she deserves happiness. When they ached for each other, my hands ached as well. Told in alternating chapters between past and present, we follow their love story of missed chances, and wonder whether they’ll get their happy ending.

Eugene and Tatiana knew each other for a brief but tumultuous summer when they were young. Around ten years later, they meet again on the train and feelings that didn't have time or room to grow when they were teenagers come back up. Going back and forth between that summer and the present, Eugene and Tatiana explore what it means to relive a relationship after you have changed from the person you once were. Young love given another chance is always an interesting topic to explore but the omniscient narrator was odd at times.

This is not your typical YA book, and that can be a very good thing. Translated from its original French,In Paris with You follows two individuals over time and explores their relationship. This is not a bubbly love story; it’s an existential exploration between Eugene and Tatiana. It is also written in a style that jumps between time, POV, and verse.

This book is a retelling of the Russian classic Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. I wasn't familiar with the classic so I googled it as soon as I finished
In Paris With You. I am so glad I did because it gave me a greater appreciation for the book and it's characters.

I read in some reviews that some people didn't like Eugene. I believe that in many ways we aren't suppose to. If Clemntine Beauvais, the author, was reflecting the original story I believe she represented Eugene well as a "superfluous character" who parties, is cynical, and feels a sense of existential boredom. He even participates in a modern duel. The modern Eugene seems depressed and lost rather than just selfish and pessimistic. Tatina represented both a classic and modern version of a thoughtful and deep teen girl that grows into a real intellect . I found her likeable but Eugene is who really drives the story for me.

The story is confusing at first , alternating between points of view and past and present. However, this style also lead to the anticipation. The story is in verse which made it easy to read quickly and I was anxious to figure it out. Like a good love story this was filled with passion. And due to the pace of the story I was swept up and even felt my breath quicken as I approached the ending.

Some with be frustrated by the ending, some will find it realistic, and some will want to continue the story in their own head.

I honestly didn't feel like this was a YA book. Although teens could read it I don't think they'd get as much out of it without an English prof alongside to help them see all the existential elements. I pictured reading this in high school with my favorite English teacher helping me see the deeper meaning in the story. I've seen this book compared to Eleanor & Park and I don't see that at all. Possibly it is more like the adult read One Day. However, I think it is a much deeper story than either of those (and Eleanor and Park is one of my favorites) I don't think this is as "enjoyable" as Eleanor and Park, I hate books being compared to it, I am almost always let down. Then I need to step back and judge the book in it's own right. In doing that, I could then appreciate this book for something different. I think it is literature that deserves to be picked apart, analyzed, and then one can see the beauty in it.

Lastly, the translation and writing was exquisite. I had to reread lines to grasp the true beauty in them . I feel like this is one I will want to reread, highlight and even write notes on the side.

In Paris With You

This story follows Tatiana and Eugene. They meet as teenagers and share a unique relationship with one-sided feelings. When a betrayal and traumatic event occur, they go their separate ways. Ten years later, they run into each other unexpectedly in Paris. Feelings (re)surface, questions come up, and the past is revisited. Should they start over, go separate ways or rekindle what they once had?

This book was completely different than what I normally read. It is written as poetry, which I did not realize until about 20% into it. Once I realized that, the format at least made a bit more sense. However, I am not a fan of poetry and would not have started this book had I know this. Honestly, everything about this book was really haphazard to me. It jumped around all over the place. It was really hard to follow at times because the sentences would just run on in many places without any capitalization or punctuation. As a proofreader and grammar lover, this was exceptionally painful to me. I should also note that this was apparently originally written in French and then translated to English by someone other than the author. Because of that, I’m hopeful that the French version is at least a bit better. It wasn’t that I hated the story as a whole, but I couldn’t get past the choppiness and complete disregard for the rules of grammar. I’ve seen this book get some really good ratings, so maybe a poetry lover would really enjoy this! It just wasn’t for me.

I love any book set in Paris, so I was excited about this novel. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this book. It didn't flow very well for me and I ended up not finishing the book.

I have beef with New Adult as a genre, because instead of being a multifaceted genre about adults in their twenties flailing through all the complexities of life, it has become a code for “erotica light.” Therefore, I’ve generally steered clear. And then I saw the cover of the new English translation of Clémentine Beauvais’s 2016 French young adult novel In Paris with You and I felt a need.

The premise of the book is that Eugene and Tatiana had a chance at romance that never came to fruition, and then ten years later they get another chance. Will they be able to make up for lost time and find their way back to each other or will it be another missed connection?

I knew going in that In Paris with You wasn’t going to be the typical YA novel. It was originally written in French, and therefore the English translation is an interpretation, its own literary product based on that original thing (I speak and read French so now I’m really curious to read the original book). In terms of narration and subject, it feels unabashedly French, so just go in knowing this isn’t going to feel like the typical YA novel.

Because of the ages of the characters, this book felt simultaneously like a young adult novel and a new adult novel collapses into one. There are parts of the book that are told when Eugene and Tatiana are in their teens and then parts told when they’re in their twenties. What I think this book does best is capture the feelings of love typical in people in those age groups. There’s the sweet, but viciously consuming love of one’s teen years through the form of quickly formed infatuations and attachments. There’s the burning, all-consuming desire of one’s twenties. If you’re into romance and like both YA and NA books, this one is for you.

What I also loved about this book was just the layers of complication in terms of Eugene and Tatiana’s feelings about one another. This isn’t a straightforward romance. I love how the character’s pasts, their anticipated futures, their families, their jobs and etc. interfere with their feelings for each other. I love the conclusion and end of the novel as it felt right in the context of the overall narrative.

However, the prose does not read at all like a YA novel, and that’s where I was disappointed because it’s marketed as for teens. There is a certain level of distance throughout between the ambiguous third person narrator and the action. In some places, the narration worked for me, especially during the poetic parts of the plot, but it other places it felt strange and jarring. In terms of narration, it felt more like a literary fiction novel and that didn’t fit well with how the book was marketed and packaged in terms of its cover.

However, overall it works. This is an honest, complicated story about love and I enjoyed the story. If you love books about France, about unrequited love, about art history and about a guy who ends up pining for the girl, this is the book for you.

Beautifully written prose swirls around a story debating the existence of lasting love. Optimism vs. nihilism. The story is told from the present and the past to acknowledge how memory dilutes and feelings remain more than details. Tatiana and Eugene are realistically flawed beings who have hopes of something more than fizzled romance, but is the risk worth the pain when love fades and banality ensues. Can the embers of love be stoked for a flame that burns as the blazing sun of romance dips to the west? Is it worth it to build the fire in the first place when to sparks are ready to ignite?

The story prompts reflection on the past, consideration to what could have been, and consideration of a future that can be more the the accepted complacency of the masses.