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Writer's pictureSelena | Beauty's Library

The Paris Hours Review

Updated: Feb 26, 2021

Told over the course of a single day in 1927,The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit.


Rating: 4/5

The Paris Hours is about 4 strangers whose lives are ultimately changed within a 24 hour period. A beautiful story capturing how our smallest actions and choices affect others in more ways than we can even begin to fathom.


Held on a day post-war in France in the 1920s, we get short snippets of each of the characters’ points of view during their present and past. We follow a journalist, a painter, a maid, and a refugee. Living their normal life, each of them has a story and a past. However, one day each of them will end up at the same place at the same time. But their reasons why are all different.


One day each of them will end up at the same place at the same time. But their reasons why are all different.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a different genre than I’ve been reading lately so it was a good chance to switch things up. Historical fiction has become a genre that I’ve started to really enjoy. The pages of this book flowed really well. It helped that each of the chapters were mostly on the shorter side, we were constantly jumping between the different characters and learning about their lives. This helped keep the pace up and led me to want to know more about what was going on. I was captivated by the characters’ lives, their past, and their story.


I was captivated by the characters’ lives, their past, and their story.

It reminded me of The Age of Light based on the descriptions of Paris, which was set around this time as well. As well as The Lost Roses, with some of the actions and experiences, the characters went through. I was also vaguely reminded of how Ellen Hopkins creates her story like Traffick and Tricks. Those had characters that weren’t connected or related to one another, yet their actions affected one another.


Overall, this book is beautifully written filled with genuine characters that remind us how all our lives are entwined together. The smallest of actions can impact, change, or define each other’s lives in more ways than we’ll ever know.

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