Revolution

By: Jennifer Donnelly

Narrated by: Emily Janice Card, Emma Bering

Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Brooklyn
Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

Paris
Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want - and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages - until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2010 Jennifer Donnelly (P)2010 Listening Library

Critic reviews

" Revolution is a sumptuous feast of a novel, rich in mood, character, and emotion. With multiple hooks, it should appeal to a wide range of readers." ( School Library Journal)

Incredible

Lots of people complained about the narration, I thought it was wonderful. This is an incredible book and teaches you a lot from both Andi and Alex. I usually don't like stories with sad endings, even if it is only sad for one of the main characters. It was captivating from beginning to finish, and I wish I could come across audio books with this level of brilliant writing and narration more often.

Revolution: A Music Lover's Delight

I love novels about the French Revolution, it was such a time turmoil and upheaval that it lends itself to great story lines. This is a young adult novel but I think it was probably one of my biggest favorites of this year. It is a book for anyone who has a daughter about fifteen to twenty or for anyone who enjoys the time period and music. The main character is so in love with music, much like myself and music almost becomes another character. It is a book that I have listened to it more than once and I enjoyed it even more every time. Two young women, going through difficult times in different centuries. The one of the most important question this novel asks is "What would we do without "Stairway to Heaven"?" Its read by two narrators and usually I don't get into those novels, but this time it works. If you read/listened to "Madame Tussuad" by Michelle Moran, you will enjoy this novel as well.

“God loves us, but the devil shows interest…”

Classic, I loved this story; it gave me goose bumps and left me wanting more, more, more. The character development astounding, the musical references absolute and the story line well...beautiful. I highly, highly recommend this audio book; it is an absolute pleasure to listen too on so many levels, a wonderfully written tale full of heart and soul.

Ablelism

Sadly the book pulls the mentally ill violent trope and that unfortunate. Good otherwise.

One of the best books I've ever heard! Seriously!

I've listened to over 1,000 audio books. I've listened to this one probably 20 times! It's an amazing story with rich character development and a very strong modern day story overlapping a historically provocative saga. To top it all off, the two narrators do am amazing job. They are extremely animated. Love, love, love it!

Multiple Stories in One/Great Narration

There are multiple stories going on which is really interesting. It took a while before I could really get into the story so you may have to hang in there knowing it will be worth it in the end. You also have to be in the right mind set when you are listening to it. It is not a light read/listen. I tend to listen to audiobooks while I work and so what I can listen to will depend on what I am working on. This book required a little more attention so things weren't missed. There is a lot going on and it is a long book so plan accordingly. I appreciated the amount of research that had to have gone into writing this book. There was a lot of detail on multiple subjects. The narrators did a great job with both the characters and voices. I am interested in looking into other books by this author and the narrators.

The French Revolution told from the inside

I don't know.....I bought the book based on people's reviews & I must admit as much as I like Historical romances, it wasn't what I expected. It's a 'double-story', one timeline in the past & one in the present. Both are good, but in my opinion you have to be REALLY 'into' the French Revolution to thoroughly enjoy this. Andy was hurting so much I could scarcely wait for the book to finish just because I knew (or desperately hoped) there must be a 'positive turn' in the end (& there was)
Not sure.....it's good, but its not really a book I can rave about & not one I'll listen to again.

Fascinatinly Complex

For some reason, I always think Young Adult books should be simpler than their Old Adult counterparts. This book went a long way towards dispelling that stereotype. The word that best describes the plot is - dense. If you peeled back the top layers, the tragic death of a sibling, the destruction of a family unit, New York and Paris through the eyes of a jaded, wealthy, emotionally unbalanced, humorously sarcastic, tragic heroine there is still so much more to explore.

The arguments between history and science, the therapeutic quality of art, a young girl's struggle to keep her life together, parent her mother and forgive her father, the healing ability of friends and the destructive and vindictive quality of those who are not your friend and the debris that occurs when the technology and culture of today collides with a pocket of civilization that still exists but has remained unchanged for centuries all could fill a book.

The role of music in this story is critical. And just exploring the lyrics and the history of the songs on Andi's iPod could have made a complete and fulfilling read. The author lists a playlist on her website, but I would be fascinated to know how she selected the music she used if it all holds specific meaning to her and who wrote the lyrics attributed to the characters in the book. They were beautiful bits of poetry, absolute grace.

My only criticism of the book was that sometimes the diary segments were hard to track. Jumping back and forth between two periods of history, especially if they are separated by several hundred years, makes the plot timeline more difficult to follow. In this book, it is even more complex. The story unfolds in real time, and the narrator also relays her recent past - the death of her brother and the breakdown of her family. Then the author uses a diary to explain the distant past, but instead of just relaying what happened on the actual dates of the diary entries, the entries also relay what happened on numerous days over the last six years. There were diary entries when the diarist was recording her interaction with the living Duke d'Orleans and memorializing her conversation with his ghost and the entries read as if both happened that day. Keeping track of whether I was reading about today or some time between two years ago and today or 212 years ago or sometime between 212 years ago and 218 years ago, was difficult. The two narrators helped, and keeping the diary entries brief helped. But it still made sections of the book tough to follow. But the beauty and tragedy of the plot made this difficulty worth the effort.

Young Adult, Old Adult or someone in between - you should read this book.

BEST STORY for young adults and old adults

What did you love best about Revolution?

The story was absolutely riveting and was well narrated by the reader

What was one of the most memorable moments of Revolution?

The juxtaposition of time between present day and the time of the French Revolution. It really taught me a lot about the French revolution

What does Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration was SO GOOD that I couldn't stop listening - finished it in two days and I didn't want the book to end. The narrator for the present day protagonist caught the slang, intonation and emotion of teenage angst. The person who narrated the 1700's time frame made me feel as though I was there

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yes. I neglected everything until my children MADE me put it down

Any additional comments?

Your quality of books is just wonderful - please keep that up!!!!!!!

Very nice fiction story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

maybe the plot .. and the romance between Andri and Vergil , but the story has a strong back bone and I commend the author for that

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

maybe I would make Vergil travel in time with Andi , it would make the story much more interesting

Would you listen to another book narrated by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering ?

yeah they get the characters and I like their narration

Could you see Revolution being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

yeah it would make a nice movie .. with a little changes of course , Maybe Demi Lavato as Andi LOL

Any additional comments?

the story is very strong and well researched but it wasn't for me , but I'm glad that I listened to it .. thank you audible for your Excellent work