Dear Paris was so beautiful! Its compromised of all letters written to Paris. I loved reading these letters and feeling like I was there in Paris experiencing everything the author was experiencing and feeling. The illustrations were absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't get enough. I can't wait to purchase a copy off this wonderful book!

I would have liked to read this book, but the format was not compatible with my computer, so I couldn't access it.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This seemed like the perfect book to start my unfortunate 12-day #covidquarantine with since Paris is my first #travellove. I wanted a travel escape and to feel nostalgia for past adventures. This is a book of hand written and illustrated letters from an expat author in Paris to her penpal. I devoured the book up until the letters from recent years, 2019 did not have the passion I would have expected with the #yellowjacket demonstrations and the burning of #notredame. Then 2020 was a total letdown because not one mention of the #globalpandemic was referenced. According to these letters life did not change in Paris for the author. 🤔 My favorite aspect of the pages were the famous quotes included at the bottom of the letters. A beautiful ⭐️⭐️⭐️ book that would make a great gift for someone who loves Paris and is missing the #cityoflights. 📚📚📚 #netgalleyreview #netgalleyreads #dearparis #netgalley #bookreview #bookstagram

This book of painted and handwritten letters absolutely appeals to my art journaling and artist heart! What a fabulous idea and what a joy it must be to receive such a letter!

To me, some of the illustrations are more attractive than others as there are some that appear more like what I would call sketches. However, her skills obviously improved over the years and coupled with the handwriting and lots of colour, each letter page makes a wonderful package.

I enjoyed reading about the author's life in Paris as an expat. She writes with wit and humor, and some of her stories brought back fond memories of when I visited the city as a tourist. It was fun to see this fascinating place again through her eyes.

This is such a beautiful book. Full of beautiful illustrations and descriptions of various spots around Paris, this would be a nice gift for someone who likes Paris. However, the letters sound very pretentious and even after reading a few of them at one time, I got very tired of the writer. Still beautiful if even just for the pictures.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Dear Paris: The Paris Letters is a collection of letters written by the author Janice Macleod to her friend Aine.
This whimsical book of illustrated letters is so beautiful and a book I could just pick up whenever I feel like a dose of romantic art and whimsical reading. Janice captures the beauty of Paris within these letters as well as adding in the realities of travel and the city itself too.
I received a pdf version of this book but would love to see a paper copy which I'm sure would be even more beautiful.

Beautiful collection of letters - really love letters to Paris. I love the illustrations and the cover of this book is just gorgeous and really what made me request it!

What a lovely book. We can’t travel now but this book transports me to Paris with lovely illustrations and personal letters. I’m highlighting all the places I want to visit the next time I go to Paris.
This scratches the travel itch, just a little. I yearn for the days when I can travel and find a cafe where I can sit, drink, observe and write to friends back home.
A perfect little gift for someone that loves to travel.

Dear Paris, the Paris Letters Collection is filled with the artwork by Jaice MacLeod, and that alone is reason enough to have and enjoy this book.

I love Paris. I got engaged there. That city means a lot to me, so I read everything Paris related.
Obviously I was very curious about this book. It wasn’t what I expected but it was still interesting and a pleasure to read.
It sure made me want to go back to Paris and visit some spots mentioned!

This is a true love letter to Paris. It is absolutely stunning! The art work is to die for. I love Paris and this is life in Paris in a nutshell what's. not to love!

There were a couple of other random travel pages in there which felt disjointed and unnecessary ( could just be a separate book! or could've been spaced more thoughtfully!).

Would love to have this as a coffee table book though!

* I received an arc in exchange for an honest review *

Travelled to Paris nearly 3 years ago.
This book brings back all the good memories to me.
Simply love the drawing and the handwriting style.

DNF @ 14%

I was intrigued by the concept and drawn in by the visual design — the drawings are lovely, as is the color palette and design of pages that feature text.

But if I were looking for an outsider/touristy perspective on Paris I might as well go there myself; while there is clear love for Paris, it feels more like "look how cool and different everything is; marvel at how lucky I am to be here right now" than respect or even simple appreciation for the culture in its own right. I just can't seem to get invested in the writer's experiences and musings, in part due to the almost-excessive use of personification. (Statues, the rain, even hot chocolate ... you name it, it's been personified.) And I'm also not particularly impressed with the selection of quotes, some of which seem arbitrarily chosen because they're just barely related to the content of a letter.

Dear Paris swept me off of my home-bound feet (in this, the era of COVID). It delivered me - no postage required - to my first and only trip to Paris, circa April 2019. I fell in love all over again - with Paris, with the intrinsic beauty of a hand-written letter, and with MacLeod's artful rendering of her experiences, which feel both universal and authentically personal.

But first, I need to explain the unique format (genre?) of this book. At its core, Dear Paris is perhaps best categorized as epistolary, illustrated travelogue pulled together as a 'best of' MacLeod's deocrative letters that first gained her a broader audience. The book is a compilation of 140 of these letters that span from 2012-2020. The book is formatted (assuming no change from the advanced reading copy to the point at which it is published) as first a page with a type-written letter, enhanced with quotes that range from literary to pop culture inspired, then the following page is a colorful copy of the original letter, which was hand-painted and hand-written by the author. The following page moves on to the next letter, etc. While the author's handwriting is very legible, having the typed pages makes it easier to read the contents of each letter before turning the page for the more visual experience.

I read the entire book in about two days, not because I intended to, but because every time I said, okay just one more letter, I realized I had already turned the page to the next one, and I had to find out what it said. Just as personal mail delivered to our physical mailboxes can be such a treat, reading each of these letters was similarly alluring and addictive.

MacLeod’s voice through the letters reflected someone in awe of her new surroundings and looking to explore them to their fullest. As a fellow North American, I find myself similarly enchanted by the history of buildings that date back so far. I found several of MacLeod’s letters echoing thoughts that I had in Paris as I reflected on the history and on its long-dead residents of note. Her sense of wonder was refreshing while maintaining a sardonic, self-aware element that prevented the musings from treading on saccharine territory. At one point, she shared that her husband (Polish-born), in response to her waxing poetic about the beautiful old cities of Europe, reacted as a person born of the middle-class, who knew that there was much more to the cities than tourist-level beauty, and what followed was her exploration of what she saw when she looked for tell-tale signs of city life. Paris’ economic troubles and the yellow vest protests, which were in full swing during my own visit, are covered as well.

But mostly, this charming book reflects the grandeur of the day-to-day of Paris life: of the city’s cultural traditions, of a pursuit for the best baguette, of secrets of macarons. Speaking of which, I never had a macaron when I was in Paris, and after seeing the beautiful paintings of them in this book, I feel that that alone is reason to return. Raison d'être, perhaps, as the French would say.

i saw the cover of this book and immediately requested a review copy. And I'm so glad I did.

Dear Paris, the Paris Letters Collection is filled with the beautiful artwork by Jaice MacLeod. I've never visited Paris, but after reading her letters, I feel like I know the city. Her illustrations are gorgeous and her letters spark joy.

A wonderful novel to experience the romantic city of Paris from your own living room. A must read for everyone with wanderlust.

I first read Janice's book Paris Letters when a blogger I followed featured it as a pick for her book club. I devoured it in not just a day, but in a sitting. I had never before had my perfect brand of wanderlust described in writing. I felt so connected to her stories of Paris and her unique way of sharing it with others. I've also read A Paris Year, which was just as amazing but with the addition of gorgeous art that had me searching for flights to Paris on the internet and digging through my closet for my suitcase, desperate to feel the same feelings half a world away. Suffice to say, I'm a huge fan of Janice, her art, and her Parisian memoirs. I've always always had a fascination with France without even realizing. I thought my heart lie elsewhere, until I slowly detected a pattern in the things that I loved. French history. French art. The French language (which I'm terrible at). French names and French films. It was time I admitted my affair and obsession; it's been a whirlwind ever since, and Janice has a huge part in that.

Dear Paris: The Paris Letters Collection is the culmination of all of Janice's work since her first step in Paris so many years ago. It was so refreshing and lovely to experience this romantic city through her illustrations and ethereal descriptions of life in the City of Lights. She's poetic but relatable, romanticising just enough to make you itch to visit, while also not shielding away the realities. Nearly all of the letters are addressed to her friend Áine, and I thought it would be strange at first to read the letters written to someone else. But it isn't. It's a love affair from afar, where one friend can send the beauty of a city through a letter and another friend can receive it on the other end. It's a way to experience Paris, to have that affair, while never even being there. You can easily picture Janice sitting at a café, or walking along the Seine, as she pens these letters with curiosity and patience, a leisurely flâneur of the city. Occasionally she mentions current events, such as the devastating fire at Notre Dame or the Yellow Vest protests. The majority of the letters however can be read as if written at any point in recent history. They're dated, but whether it's October 2020 or April 2014, they all had a similar air to them that made them timeless - which makes revisiting them all the more enjoyable, as you are taken back to a time when life was just a little bit less unknown and worrying. I also particularly loved the quotes included at the bottom of each letter. They were not all about Paris. They were not all about leisure, or historical figures, or literature, or even related to the content in any synonymous way. But they all flowed seamlessly in with the subject of each letter, and even if you recognise the quote or the person who said it (this is a subtle shout-out to the inclusion of Robert Pattinson at the height of Twilight fame), it still manages to blend in and make it seem like it was said precisely for this moment, no other. It was the perfect addition to each page.

There are thousands of books out there about what it's like to live in Paris. With how the internet makes it easier to connect to others around the world, there are even more bloggers and influencers who share the same thing, day in and day out. But there's something special about a book that just offers you a glimpse into daily life, from wandering down your street to your boulangerie, or experiencing Paris during the month of August, when it becomes a ghost town as everyone flees to the Mediterranean. I've read tons of those blog posts and tons of those books, but Janice's books still remain my favourite. Romantic yet real, titillating yet ordinary, I think I will always keep them on my shelf for reference, but also as a way to escape and dream of pleasanter days ahead.