The 6:41 to Paris: Jean-Philippe Blondel (A book that takes place in a single day)

This was a very fun little read. I was skimming the shelves at the library, and I completely chose this book because of the cover. The cover is cool and makes the book seem interesting, which it ended up being, so score!

I want to call this a psychological drama, but that makes it sound like an episode of CSI or Criminal Minds. No crimes occur in this novel, it really is just a psychological journey into the history of two middle-aged folks who dated when they were young. The back calls it a psychological thriller, but I think that's going a bit too far. It's not really thrilling, it's just dramatic.

First, I enjoyed the writing a lot. The book is written in first person, and each chapter switches perspective from Cecile to Philippe, maintaining that first person. The transitions between characters were smooth and seamless. The reader just rolled along with the narrator, whoever it was at the time. It was very easy to follow along, even though the chapters don't have any headings or numbers. Sometimes, it took a second to catch up, but only when the pages had dialogue in the middle and when it went back it could be a bit difficult to figure out whose perspective it was, but it was usually easy to discover who was doing the thinking at the time.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed a book where only five or six sentences are actually spoken. The rest of the book is just the thoughts of two people who interact three times.

I can't explain why it was a page-turner. Nothing happens, and nothing will happen, but I had to keep reading. I think I wanted to know exactly what happened with them, how they were going to end this "awkward" train ride, and if they were going to have a conversation about the past. The style of writing helps keep up the urgency I felt while reading. I had to keep going; I had to keep reading because I needed to know.

It's also cool that only two hours pass during the 146 pages of this book. It's just the length of a train ride into Paris. I'm impressed that an author can write a book where absolutely nothing happens, time hardly passes, and yet readers are intrigued and turning the pages rapidly throughout the whole story.

It was a good read. It wasn't life altering or changing, and I'll probably never read it again, but it was fun and easy! It took me about an hour (less time than passes in the book), and I had fun reading it!