A French Girl in New York (The French Girl series) by Anna Adams

Price: Free!

Official Rating: 5/5

“Maude Laurent is a spirited sixteen year-old orphan who grew up in a small, provincial town in the North of France with a passion for piano and a beautiful voice. One day in Paris, she is discovered by an American music producer who takes her to New York to live with him and his close-knit family while producing her first album, with help from teen pop star, Matt. Maude will dive into a new fascinating world discovering New York City, music, family, love and the truth about her past.”

My Review:

Even though I had read the synopsis, based on the cover of the book, I expected to read some gushy girly story about an only-child prodigy, with adoring parents, who makes it big in the music industry and oh! a handsome man is here too? Should I fall in love? Don’t mind if I do! But don’t let the cover fool you as it did me because that isn’t what this story is at all and I adored this book because of it.

After the first couple of chapters, it seemed like it was going to be an enjoyable modern remake of Cinderella, but it was so much better than that. The story about Maude’s life going from ordinary to extraordinary had a tastefully done, but subtle love triangle, anger, jealousy, sacrifices, lies, deceit, and betrayal, strong sibling bonds, acceptance, fear, protectiveness, family bonds, deep pain and struggles, truth coming to light after a time of darkness, and so much more, all gracefully spun into one book.

I appreciated and enjoyed how Anna Adams mixed opera and pop songs together with respectful elegance and managed to capture each character’s inner thoughts and emotions, switching smoothly between each character from an omniscient point-of-view. I was utterly shocked and rather disappointed when I found out that this is a series. I felt that this book was good just on its own, without adding any other scenarios or issues to bother poor Maude. But, that doesn’t take away the uniqueness and beauty away from “A French Girl in New York”, because it was a beautiful book that I had the pleasure of reading.