... gorgeous ... Even when Margot is at her most misguided, the reader aches for her ... Lemoine writes in lush, lyrical prose that perfectly captures the heightened emotion and confusion of being a young woman with a bruised heart and limited experience.
It’s impossible not to love Margot’s delicate mixture of maturity and naïveté; her probing curiosity, as much for culture as for other people; and her tender, minute examinations of inner, and interpersonal, space ... Lemoine’s descriptions are embroidered and sensory, delivering exquisite details ... This is a startling, affecting first book by an author who is confident in her craft, who knows that a loving portrait includes flaws.
... cherishably Gallic ... This secondary storyline introduces gothic elements to the narrative, as well as a derivative dimension. Themes of violence and predation lend an undeniable chill to the book’s pages but also import notes of melodrama and predictability that jar with the fresher, insular, incremental process of Margot’s unsentimental education ... this is an evocative and compelling story of young emotions explored and exploited, set in a beguiling, class- and money-conscious French landscape ... an evocative, female-oriented debut, a superior summer read that explores identity, sexuality and attachment during the transition to adulthood. Chic and fluid, it offers a compelling tale, and an immersion that Francophiles in particular may relish.
