Showing posts with label Marc Levy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marc Levy. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2016

Double Book Review: Replay and Stronger Than Fear by Marc Levy

Author: Marc Levy
Series:N/A
Publisher: Robert Laffont
Release Date: January 1st 2012
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):
On the morning of July 9th 2012, New York Times investigative reporter Andrew Stilman is jogging along the Hudson River when he feels a sudden, sharp pain in his lower back. He collapses in a pool of blood. When he regains consciousness, it's May 7th 2012—exactly two months earlier. From that moment on, Andrew has sixty days to uncover his murderer. Sixty days to find out who wants him dead and why. From New York City to Buenos Aires, Andrew embarks on a gripping race against time. By turns funny and heartrending, this page-turner builds up to a mind-blowing denouement.


Author: Marc Levy
Series: N/A
Publisher: Robert Laffont
Release Date: February 14th 2013
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):
"Once again, Marc Levy proves his undeniable talent for storytelling… This powerful novel is a real pleasure to read." - LE FIGARO

High in the French Alps, amidst the wreckage of a plane trapped for years under ice, Suzie Baker recovers a document that she hopes will clear her family name. But Suzie's discovery catches the attention of the highest echelons of the American intelligence agencies and she soon realizes that there are many powerful, vested interests who want to keep the truth buried at all costs.

When New York Times journalist Andrew Stilman meets Suzie, he is immediately won over by her wicked charm and sheer spunk. Unwittingly, he finds himself lured into her investigation. By the time he realizes how dangerous it is, it's too late for him to turn back. From the underground tunnels of New York City to the North Pole's barren icescapes, Andrew and Suzie are on the run. As they try to outmaneuver their enemies, they risk their lives to expose one of the best-kept secrets of our time.

One of France’s bestselling authors, Marc Levy’s novels have been translated into 49 languages and over 35 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.

This review is going to be a little bit different that my normal reviews. I usually don't feel the need to review two books *(that are connected), together, but these two books kind of deserve to be together. My parents, who both share my love of Marc Levy, read them before me, and they both warned me to prepare myself to get my mind blown. I wasn't even ready for the awesomeness.

You guys already know how much I love this author, so I may be a little bit biased, but I feel like these are his best books so far. Before I talk about the plots, the characters, the writing style, I need to acknowledge the research put into these novels. With Replay I got to learn a little bit about the darkest times in Argentina's history, a time where breathing the wrong way could get you killed. I knew a little bit about the Dirty War, about the military government and about how thousands of people suffered because of it, but I never knew the finer details. I never knew about the hundreds and thousands of people who disappeared and were never again found, I never knew about how even today there are people who still suffer because of those years. And then with Stronger Than Fear I got to explore the concept of global warming, and the North Pole and it's economic value. I always love reading Levy's books not only for the story telling, but because of his research, the way his books always teach the reader something.

Andrew is, among some other characters, the main hero in both of these books. Funny enough, I read STF first, not knowing that it was a sort of continuation of Replay. Andrew is a really smart and stubborn guy. Throughout both of the books I loved his dedication and his willingness to get to the bottom of things no matter what. I liked how passionate he got about whatever subject he was researching and writing about, how he would stop at nothing to find out the truth about stuff.

Another thing that I loved about both books is not knowing what's real and what is happening in Andrew's mind. Replay tells Andrew's story leading up to him being stabbed on the street, and then how he magically wakes up and he realizes he went back in time and ended up 2 months prior to being attacked. Stronger Than Fear, although focused on a very different story, has a few scenes that happen in Andrew's comatose state, where he's "seeing" things that aren't really happening. So this is basically making me question not the facts of the second novel, but the plot and if it wasn't by any chance something drug-induced. That would be an interesting plot twist! The other characters, while some of them very important (like Suzie, the heroine from Stronger Than Fear) are also really well created and make the story seem multifaceted. However, it's Andrew that held my attention in both novels. Maybe because I was so focused on finding out where the action was taking place, instead of on character development and plot. It's possible that if I was to reread these books, I'd have a very different experience and I'd focus on the rest of the characters, who knows?!

The writing style is, as always, magnificent. Trust Levy to write a complicated story and make it engaging. Both novels are pretty fast paced, and they both gave me massive book hangovers after I finished reading them.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 01 – Best book you read last year

Last year I read a bunch of amazing books, books that made me laugh or cry or shudder or frown. So it really is incredibly hard for me to choose just one. I have to say that the book that stands out more is Le Premier Jour by Marc Levy.


Besides the fact that Marc Levy is one of my favorite authors of all times, I have to say I've never read a more unique book than this one. You have a mix of romance, drama, mystery, comedy, thriller and a bit of supernatural that make this book so amazing. What's more amazing is the unique view of how life and humans appeared on Earth. The two main characters, Adrian and Kira, come from totally different backgrounds and opposite theories and beliefs about how life started. The thing I love most about this book is the way the author manages to make those theories work together and to make them complement each other and somehow make some aspects of one theory plausible answers for the questions of the other theory.

This story continues in La première nuit. I believe both books are great, but Le Premier Jour is better in my opinion.

I had a lot of fun reading this book (like with every other Marc Levy book).

What's your favorite book from last year?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Book review: Premier Jour by Marc Levy

Author: Marc Levy
Original Title: Premier Jour
Country: France
Rating: 5 cups


If you remember, in February I decided to have a little personal reading challenge to help me get out of the "I don't want to read" phase, Book Around the World. The first stop was in Italy, with Federico Moccia's Three meters above the sky.

This week's stop is France, with a very well known French author, Marc Levy. If his name doesn't ring any bell, you might have seen the movie Just like heaven, with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. This movie is based on Levy's first novel, If only it were true (original title Et si c'était vrai...), which I believe it was WAY better than the movie.

The novel Le Premier Jour (The First Day) was published in 2009 and it has a really interesting plot. An astrophysicist and an archaeologist team up and find a strange object inside a volcano, object that might change history as we know it.

Adrian, the astrophysicist, has one big dream: to find out where the dawn begins. He's just returned in England after a 3 year research project in Chile when he reconnects with an ex-girlfriend, Kira.  After they spend the night together, she leaves him, leaving behind a note and a necklace. After searching for her, he finds out she's in Ethiopia, conducting some archaeological research.

As an archaeologist, Kira wants to find out who the first human being was, how many years ago he/she lived and how different was he than what humans are nowadays. Kira is convinced that the answers to these questions can be found in Ethiopia.

When Adrian arrives in Kira's camp, he convinces her that the necklace she left him is very special and that they need to find out where it comes from and if there are other object similar to it. At the same time, a secret international organization that wants to make Adrian and Kira to give up their research and the people in that organization doesn't stop from anything, whether it's murder, bribe, lying or stealing. The people in this organization are convinced that humanity is not ready yet for the secrets that the fragments could uncover if they are brought together.

I think this book is a mystery of sorts, a romantic mystery, a genre that I think fits very well with Levy's writing style. What I love about Levy's novels is the fact that each of them has a lesson. For example, in another of his novels, My friends, my lovers (original title: Mes amis, mes amours), the lesson is that real friends are there for each other always.

The book is light, easy to read. The ending is kind of surprising, but that is because the book has a second part, The First Night (Le Premier Nuit) which I am currently reading.

I just hope someone will make it into a movie.

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