{"id":29043,"date":"2016-02-18T23:12:43","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T03:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29043"},"modified":"2016-02-18T23:12:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T03:12:43","slug":"review-of-romancing-the-dark-in-the-city-of-light-by-ann-jacobus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29043","title":{"rendered":"Review of Romancing the Dark in the City of Light, by Ann Jacobus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"romancing_the_dark_in_the_city_of_light_large\"<\/a>Romancing the Dark in the City of Light<\/em><\/p>\n

by Ann Jacobus<\/p>\n

Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin\u2019s Griffin), New York, 2015. 276 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

When I saw author Ann Jacobus at the YALSA Symposium, I knew I\u2019d met her at a small conference, where she\u2019d been an organizer. I assumed it was one of the many KidLitCons I\u2019ve been to, but when I had her sign her book and mentioned KidLitCon, she said No. <\/p>\n

As soon as I turned away, I remembered, and went right back to her table. I should have known \u2013 when, after all, the reason I decided to get a copy of the book was that the Eiffel Tower is on the cover and it\u2019s set in Paris \u2013 I met Ann Jacobus at an SCBWI (Society of Children\u2019s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference in Paris almost exactly ten years before I saw her in Portland, and she was indeed one of the organizers.<\/p>\n

Ann Jacobus did set the book in Paris because of having lived there. (Paris tends to capture people’s hearts.)<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not the best reader for a dark book \u2013 I don\u2019t tend to enjoy them. This book is dark, and it took me awhile to get it read because of that.<\/p>\n

But the book is well-written, and the concept is intriguing. Summer is in Paris staying with her Mom, trying to repeat and finish her senior year of high school, because she keeps getting kicked out of schools in America. She has to finish high school and graduate from college before she turns twenty-two in order to inherit her grandfather\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of pressure on her, and Summer doesn\u2019t like it. She thinks a lot about death. She researches burial customs of different cultures on the internet. Her father died years ago. Summer carries his flask with her, filled with vodka to help her get through.<\/p>\n

Summer would like to have a romance in Paris, and she meets two people who might fulfill that desire. One is a student at her school, Moony (Munir), who walks with a limp because of a bad car accident when he was younger. Moony is uncommonly kind \u2013 and he doesn\u2019t deserve to have Summer\u2019s mess in his life.<\/p>\n

Kurt is a handsome man Summer meets at a Paris metro station, just after a woman throws herself onto the tracks in front of a train. Kurt keeps showing up. He seems to know Summer\u2019s thoughts. There\u2019s a smell of decay about him.<\/p>\n

I said this book is dark. That darkness, in Summer\u2019s life, is personified in Kurt. Yes, there are some paranormal elements going on. They are done with excellent touches, making me want to reread it now I know all that\u2019s going on \u2013 but I don\u2019t want to give it away for other readers. Let\u2019s just say that we watch more and more things in Summer\u2019s life fall apart.<\/p>\n

The novel doesn\u2019t end badly, though \u2013 and that\u2019s because of Moony. And Ann Jacobus shows us Moony\u2019s character, persistence, and kindness in a way that we believe the ending.<\/p>\n

But Moony isn\u2019t perfect. We also see hints that he\u2019s not helping Summer because he doesn\u2019t know anything about despair or problems. And that works into the ending as well.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more I\u2019d like to say, but it gives too much away. (Feel free to talk about the ending in the comments if you\u2019ve read the book!) This is a well-written book about a suicidal teen, set in Paris. (The title is perfect!) There are Suicide Prevention Resources at the back of the book, and it actually ends up a hopeful tale.<\/p>\n

annjacobus.com<\/a>
\nthomasdunnebooks.com<\/a>
\nstmartins.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/romancing_the_dark_in_the_city_of_light.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on my own signed copy, which I got at the 2015 YALSA Symposium in Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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