A French Girl in New York coming October 15, 2024 from Wattpad Books; 312 pages
Content Warning: Discussion of death
About the Author: “Born in France, raised partly in the United States and in France, Anna grew up loving stories in French and English. Anna is the author of ‘A French Girl in New York’ that garnered millions of reads on Wattpad. She currently lives in the beautiful city of Paris. And when not in France, Anna enjoys writing in libraries all over the world” (Bio from Goodreads).
Find Anna Adams on the following platforms:
Raised in a small town in northern France, Maude is an orphan who’s always dreamed of being an opera star—and discovering who her birth parents were. When Maude is filmed playing the piano and singing in a Parisian café, the video goes viral. Suddenly, she’s offered the chance to move to New York to produce three hit singles in six months. If she fails, she’ll have to move back to her small town. Maude accepts with hopes of pursuing her dreams and finding out who her parents were, having learned her father was from New York after overhearing her foster parents speaking about her. As she spends time with her co-writer Matt Durand, Maude discovers a whole new world of music and romance. But, not everyone is on Maude’s side in New York, and she’s running out of time to create these hit singles and learn the truth about her family.
While I was excited to read A French Girl in New York, I was disappointed from page one. The concept of a French girl being whisked away to create music in New York while falling in love had so much potential, but it just fell flat in execution. The writing felt awkward and juvenile, and I often found myself cringing at what was said. There were a few plot points that made little sense and left me unnecessarily frustrated and confused. While I liked some of Maude and Matt’s scenes together, there were not enough of them to convince me that they had a genuine relationship. There was also a love triangle element that seemed extremely rushed and unnecessary, and I could see the resulting “twist” coming from miles away. I did start to enjoy the story a bit towards the end, and I liked the results of her search for the truth about her parents. Maude’s character continued to grow, and she slowly let go of the narrow biases she held as she opened her mind to new kinds of music and cultures. I appreciated her character arc and the support she received from those around her. However, I just couldn’t move past the writing and frustrating lack of communication. Maude’s emotions changed without warning; one second she hated Matt and the next she was thinking about how much she loved being with him. So many things got lost in translation as a result, creating problems that could’ve been easily avoided. A French Girl in New York simply missed the mark.
A French Girl in New York releases on October 15, 2024.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Wattpad Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Sam Yanis, Pine Reads Review Lead Writer