The premise of this book is intriguing: a love story where
the MCs concurrent lives are actually in two different time periods and in two
different continents.
Adeena Kahlo lives in Chicago. In 1952 she is an
18-year-old high-schooler with dreams of studying journalism in Vassar and becoming
an author. She lives with her cousin Rachel and is surround with a happy,
close-knit, loving family. Rachel, who is one half of a happy couple, sets
Addie up on a blind-date with Alan. Addie goes along, not because she is
interested (in fact she’s fairly certain that her interests lie elsewhere) and surprisingly
gets along with Alan. Alan and Addie become friends and confess their
alternative preferences to each other. One evening Alan takes Addie to a nightclub,
Café du Temp an altogether strange place
(one of the strange things are innumerable doors leading around the space), but
in an intriguing rather than sinister way. At the club, Addie’s attention is
drawn to and elegant woman, in her early twenties, who seems to be equally
fascinated by Addie. She is Isabelle Androsko. Addie an Isabelle
strike up a conversation and then Addie finds herself visiting the club by
herself to be with Isabelle. As their relationship grows, Isabelle invites
Addie to come home with her. Addie agrees, steps out of Isabelle’s door of the club
and finds herself in Paris, 1911. The couple try to make sense of their situation
and grapple with the impossibility of their circumstance while their attraction
bubbles over.
Adeena and Isabelle are a lovely couple and their attraction
towards each other is quite palpable. At some point we actually thought that
the impossibility of their individual realities would mean that this one just
couldn’t have an HEA (we are very happy to report that this has an HEA ending).
In fact, we love the rediscovering part, like, a lot.
Yes, the book could’ve done with more even pacing and we
really wish that the author hadn’t had Addie break Katie’s heart to underscore
her passion for Isabelle (we really don’t want MCs to be heartbreakers) – but on
the whole, this is an interesting read.
⭐⭐⭐★
