GoodRead - Liberty's Fire

A few weeks ago, I was at the Hot Key Books Bloggers Brunch (not read about it? Here's the link!) and I was given, very kindly, some books. One of the books I got (and was very excited to get my hands on) was Liberty's Fire by Lydia Syson. Lydia was at the event and talked about the book, and there was something about it that caught my attention that made me want to read this book as soon as I could.

It is Paris, 1871. Life since the war has been tough for everyone. Life should be getting settled now. But it's not. Rumours of another revolution are cycling. But Zephyrine's life is beginning to spiral out of control. But two things save her: The City's new leadership and young violinist, Anatole. Anatole opens her eyes to a new world. And she is swept away by her passionate beliefs and the two fall in love.

But their friends - Jules and Marie - aren't convinced. And the future is slowly turning dark for them all, and Paris itself. As a bloody week's approaching, will all of them survive and at what cost?

Ok, am going to admit it here; I am not much of a historical reader. I liked studying History when I was younger, but I never took it up for GCSEs. But with historical fiction, I always seem to pick up books where I feel overwhelmed by the facts and this takes away the fun of the book.

But this book never felt like that. It was balanced in a way that when Lydia put in a fact, it felt important to the story. I never felt that Lydia put facts in for the sake of putting it in and showing off all the research she done.

The story itself surprised me. I got caught up with it very quickly and I found it gripping, even though at times, not much happened. I got swept away with the characters and the situations they were all in: unrequited love, family, dreaming of a better life. Also, the book took its time. It slowly built up the character and the situation, before it suddenly goes dark and you speeding through, trying not to panic over how it will end and hoping that the characters you care about will be ok.

Of course, there was one or two things I didn't like. The ending, mainly. I get why it had to be the way it was - you can't rewrite history, folks - but there was something about the ending that bothers me. I'm not sure why, though. Maybe it could have been a page or two longer...

But I really enjoyed reading this. It was gripping (which was surprising as someone who doesn't read historical fiction often). I do have another Lydia Syson book in my TBR pile - A World Between Us - and I am making plans to read that soon!