Book Review: Lily B. on the Brink of Paris

Book: Lily B. on the Brink of Paris (Lily B. book #3) by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Edition: Paperback

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This was a cute read as the story follows Lily Blennerhassett and seven of her Mulgrew Middle School 8th grade French classmates on a school trip to Paris, France. The chaperone was their French teacher Madame Chavotte which I found to be slightly unbelievable. Because it's hard to believe that there would be only one chaperone accompanying eight students on an international trip.

As an inspiring writer, Lily one day plans to write a great novel, she hopes to find her inspiration while in Paris. But her Parisian experience was not exactly like she had hoped. Instead of glitz and glamour, they were staying in a hotel that was more like a dorm and the food served there was equally unimpressive.

While the accommodations may be lacking, the sight seeing more than made up for it. Among the sights the class visited was the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral which was an awe inspiring experience for Lily. From this trip she wanted to experience the culture of Paris but not by being a Simple Tourist with ones nose in a guide book.

But the use of a guide book (which was still in her suitcase) would have come in handy when she got separated from her group and got on the wrong subway train. She had not been paying attention when her classmates, Janet, Bonnie and Charlotte were in the subway. She was too busy trying to figure out a potential character for her book to notice that she had gotten on the wrong train.

It was bad enough that she was lost and going the wrong way but she needed to get to the Louvre at a certain time to meet up with her teacher and the rest of her classmates. Because if her teacher found out she had gotten separated from the group (which was a warning that was stated quite often) she could ruin the international school trip for the entire school. It was interesting to see Lily who is rather inept with tech try to figure out how to use her cellphone. Which came in handy when her classmate Lewis helped her by texting her the location of the group once she finally arrived at the museum. But getting to the museum was an adventure, she was so nervous she had a difficult time trying to communicate in French as she tried to get directions. I'll leave the mystery of how she finally arrived at the museum unspoiled for anyone who wants to read the book.

However, this wasn't the only mishap Lily had while in the city of lights and that's because she tends to be a little bit scatterbrained and not paying particular attention to details. She tends to rely on her friend Charlotte's organizational skills instead of taking responsibility in solving her own problems (which her friend pointed out). But she's working on it.

This was my first time reading anything from this series and Lily B. on the Brink of Paris was a well-written fast-paced story that was humorous with a little bit of drama as it gives the reader an arm chair view of Paris. Although the story focused on Lily, the reader does get to know her eclectic classmates. I think Lily learned a lot about herself from this trip, she was definitely less disorganized by the time the trip was over. I enjoyed reading this and I'm interested in reading the first two books in the series.