Book Review- The Red Notebook

Hi guys, hope you're having a wonderful Christmas Eve! I've just finished reading a book called The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain and I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions of it.

The book is all about a man named Laurent, a true romantic who spends his live indulged in books as he carries out his dream job as a bookseller. One day while going about his daily business, he comes across an expensive looking bag on the street. Through his inspection, he can see that all the valuable possessions are gone, and all that is left is a few random items which are meaningless to anyone other than the owner. He makes it his mission to return the assumed stolen handbag to its rightful owner. He can find no information about the woman, no name or address but whilst looking through her notebook and other items for clues, he feels he would really get along with her. He enjoys reading the random comments she makes in this journal and knows that meeting her, would give him great joy and maybe even love.

I absolutely adored this cutesy original book and the characters within it. It's rare for me to not dislike any of the characters in a novel but I just felt so connected to all of them and I was so invested in their stories. You constantly want to know what happens to them and what will happen next, and the dual perspective added to this bond you feel with both the main protagonists. I would also like to point out that the added aspect of cats made this even better for me, I love cats so much and even the cats had personalities which I found endearing.

This book is set in Paris which is one of my favourite cities in the world and is really what drove me to pick this book up in the first place, as well as the exciting sounding plot. It was such a quick read, I flew through it but enjoyed every second of the journey.

The cover is so simplistic but that makes it beautiful in my opinion. The colours are minimalistic but related so well to the actual book. I'm not great at describing covers so I never usually mention them but this is one of my favourites so I couldn't help myself.

As well as being a great read, I believe this book also offered a lot of different messages, such as how important possessions are and that objects can sometimes be the way into someones personality and allow you to see who they truly are in a way nobody else has.

Antonie Laurain is one of the most beautiful writers. He has the ability to draw you in with just one sentence, as I was hooked from the very first page.  He adds detail to things which need detail but leaves enough room for imagination for you to make the story your own and enjoy it however you feel fits, which I think is super important for an author to be able to do. I will definitely be picking up more of his books and would encourage you to read this one, as I haven't seen much hype about it!

I gave this book: