This is a beautifully written story in dual timelines. Present day, kind of (2009) and WWII Paris. I found both timelines to be interesting, heartbreaking and captivating. I did not want this book to come to an end.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Sarah Jio for this wonderfully disturbing book! This book is due to release in August 2019.

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio Split Time Historical Fiction set in Paris, France during World War II and in the present day. Old secrets hidden in an apartment found by a woman with memory loss. Written in Jio‘s delightful style that immediately captivates from the first page to the last. I really enjoyed the characters and the historical details.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book.

Paris, to me, truly is a city of love and lights. My husband and I love to share a kiss on the Pont Alexandre III bridge with the Eiffel Tower glowing in the background. The city just seems to celebrate enlightment “la ville lumière” and vibrancy “la joie de vivre”.

It is almost unbearable to think of the time when the city of love and lights was occupied by Nazis, who were filled with hate and darkness. In Sarah Jio’s new novel, All the Flowers in Paris, we see this terrible time through the eyes of Celine. In 1943 Celine is a widow and single mother who lives with her father, the owner of a flower shop. Once her father’s partial Jewish ancestry is discovered, a yellow star is painted on the flower shop. The business is ruined when customers refuse to do business with them, neighbors become traitors, old friendships are lost, and the family is torn apart. Celine is then held hostage in the apartment of a high ranking German official, who lives at 18 Rue Cler.

Celine represents the strength, dignity and courage of French Jewish people and those in the Resistance movement during the war. She also shows the steadfastness of a mother’s love as she protects her young daughter, Cosi, from all the evil surrounding them. Celine’s boyfriend, Luc, is a policeman who leaves to fight for the resistance. His is mother is the owner of Bistro Jeanty, who tries to find favor with the Germans to keep her restaurant flourishing during the occupation. Celine’s childhood friend, Suzette, is one of the many who are seduced by the Germans, and end up conflicted and emotionally unstable.

The other main character in the book is Caroline, who is living in France in 2009. She suffers a head injury in a bicycle accident after leaving the Bistro Jeanty after an unpleasant encounter with an unnamed man. She wakes up five days after the accident with temporary memory loss. Upon discharge from the hospital, she returns to her apartment at 18 Rue Cler, to try to discover her true identity. She befriends the new owner of the Bistro Jeanty, Victor, as well as a college student who is studying the history of occupied Paris. We follow not only Caroline’s recovery, but learn of how the apartment connects the lives of Celine and Caroline. Like lotus flowers, they lead harrowing journeys, forging their ways through darkness, summon inter strength, and emerge and bloom triumphantly.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BallantineBooks for my advanced reader copy. This book will be published on August 13, 2019.

Let me just start by saying that I LOVED this book! There are two storylines in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. The author does a great job making you sympathetic to both main characters. I loved the way she flipped back and forth and expertly tied them together in the end. Don’t miss this book because it is a sure winner! #alltheflowersinparis #sarahjio #netgalley

I love historical fiction and this one didn’t disappoint. Sarah Jio is a new author for me, and I will be adding her other works to my TBR list.
It is written with duel timelines, in Paris during the 40’s German occupation and in present day Paris. The writing is beautiful, with all of the lure of this iconic city pulling you there. The characters are interesting and well developed and the chapters relating to occupied Paris are descriptive and frightening, while modern Paris is beautiful and inviting.
Each timeline weaves a story of love, loss, intrigue, with the characters attempting to maintain and put their lives back together, after the tragedies of their lives take them to dark places. You will love Celine’ and Caroline who’s lives are intertwined, but we don’t know how or why. It’s a page turner, from the beginning to the end.
I received an ARC from #NetGalley #PenguinRandomHouseBooks for my honest review and honestly, I loved it!

I enjoyed the entertaining story lines of past and present. The characters are all rich and believable.

Two story lines in two different times are enhanced by the Paris setting. In 2009, Caroline is in a serious at accident, waking up with no memory of who she is. Her identity and past slowly come back to her at the same time she becomes immersed in the story of Celine and Cosi, a mother and daughter caught up in the horrors of Nazi occupied Paris. I was absorbed in both stories, and would recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This novel is told across two timelines – the first is Paris just after the Nazi occupation and features Celine who lives with her young daughter and her father, a florist. The second timeline is set in the recent past and tells the story of Caroline who is involved in an accident that leaves her with no memory. When she is able, she returns to her Parisian apartment on the rue Cler hoping something there will job her memory, but nothing does. She’s fascinated with a bundle of letters she finds that were written by Celine.

This is a wonderfully written book by a very talented author. Jio is able to evoke occupied Paris for the reader, including the fears, love, and sadness that were those years. Jio’s characters are well drawn and readers will find themselves rooting for both of them and holding their breath as Celine is forced to make terrible choices in order to ensure the safety of her family.

If you love well-written books that evoke your emotions as well as the time period., then this is the book for you. You’ll want to put this one at or near the top of your to-be-read list. You’ll also want to set aside a weekend to read it so you can savor the story, the writing, the setting, and the characters.

Thanks to Orion and NetGalley for an e-ARC.

Absolutely beautiful! Sarah Jio’s All The Flowers In Paris is an engaging written story of two women, two different time periods, two stories of heart-break, yet intertwined together. Celine in Nazi occupied Paris and Caroline in modern-day Paris, both live through tragic heartbreaks. The story was so suspenseful at times I was nervous and so gripped. I love the ending and so thankful I got to read this! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

It’s 1943 in Nazi-occupied Paris, France. Celine lives with her Papa and her daughter, Cosi. She runs a flower shop with her father and is in love with a French policeman, Luc, whose mother owns a famous restaurant—Bistro Jeanty. When Luc is sent away from Paris, Celine is left to take care of her family alone. And things take a turn for the worse when a yellow star is put on their flower shop’s door, closing it for good and securing their family’s terrible fate. Papa is taken away by the Nazi soldiers due to his Jewish heritage, while Celine is taken prisoner by a German soldier who takes special interest in her. Somehow, she's able to hide Cosi in her room, praying that one day, they’ll both find safety.

Meanwhile, over 6 decades later in Paris, a woman named Caroline is involved in a terrible accident on her bicycle. After several days in a coma, Caroline wakes up, but has no memory of who she is or where she came from. So she goes back to her apartment and tries to put the pieces back together of a life she can’t quite remember. When looking around her beautiful apartment, Caroline discovers a cigar box full of love letters dated 1943 from a woman named Celine to a man she loved, Luc. Even though Caroline has no idea who these people are, she feels deeply connected to them and wants to uncover what happened to this pair of lovers during WWII.

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio is a heartfelt story about family, love and survival set in the backdrop of WWII. I’m a sucker for WWII fiction, especially books told in dual timelines/perspectives, and All the Flowers in Paris is no exception. We follow along two women’s stories—Caroline and Celine. Not often do we encounter people with amnesia in WWII fiction, so I found this aspect intriguing and added an element of mystery. Although I guessed a couple of the reveals in Caroline’s story, I still was heavily invested in her storyline. My heart truly went out to Celine and her daughter, Cosi—their mother-daughter bond touched my heart and I hurt for the pain they endured. I was surprised to discover this was less of a love story and more a story about mother-daughter dynamics, I still really enjoyed this book. Definitely recommend to lovers of this genre! 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Sarah Jio for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading books by new artists. This was a great book, easy to get into, i love the time i spent reading it. Very well written and a great easy to understand story!! Very nice new author find! Thanks!!

Sarah Jio has a talent for connecting two stories across time. This novel weaves together the story of Celine living in Nazi-occupied WW2 Paris with that of Caroline in modern day Paris. Caroline wakes up in the hospital after an accident with amnesia and is trying to rediscover who she is. Celine is trying to survive and keep her family together in spite of their Jewish heritage. Celine and Caroline both have heartbreaking stories that are woven together seamlessly. The characters and compelling, the story is heartbreaking, and the Paris setting is perfect.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Celine and Caroline are the two main characters in this story told in different time periods. Celine and her family are faced with the consequences of living in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII. Caroline's story takes place in modern Paris when she loses her memory after a tragic bicycle accident.

The stories of both women are highly emotional and sad...but, ultimately, very realistic and the ending was satisfying.

I thought the characters were well drawn and the stories kept my interest throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved All the Flowers in Paris. I am a big Sarah Jio fan and her newest didn't disappoint!
I like dual storyline books and she did a great job of weaving the present with Nazi occupied France in the 1940s when love letters are found in her apartment.

A few twists that made me want to keep reading and not put it down.

When I started reading this book, I thought it really wasn’t what I needed right at that moment but I’m so glad I pushed through. All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio is an emotional, heart-breaking, and hopeful novel that I recommend to anyone that enjoys historical fiction and novels set during the WW2 times. The two storylines really sucked me in and I could not put this book down. I also really enjoyed the writing style. It has just enough details to make it beautiful without being frilly and taking away from the story.

All the Flowers in Paris is Sarah Jio's latest novel. It takes place flashing between World War II German-occupied France and present day Paris. Jio introduces Caroline and Celine, both women dealing with one of the worst times of their lives. Caroline wakes up in the present day, with no memory of who she is following a tragic accident. While Celine, who is of Jewish heritage, trying to live and stay under the German radar. You follow both woman's struggles as they find their way in the world with their paths crossing by the end of the novel. I always enjoy Jio's storytelling, but this one fell a little flat for me. I feel like the literary world has become over-saturated with the stories of World War II and I think I have had my fill. I did not devour this book like I have Jio's previous works. But I wouldn't count this one out either. I enjoyed the characters and cried along with them. I would have liked to know more about Caroline's life before her memory loss and her future after the end of the book. Special thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. #AllTheFlowersInParis #NetGalley

Sarah Jio is one of the few authors that I can total loss myself in these stories. She always surprises me how well written all her books are and how unique they are. This is an easy read that grabs your interest right away and you get lost in the story.

I am a fan of World War II fiction. This author did a good job. I loved her writing and felt very close to the characters. I will order this book for the library and I am sure I will have many patrons who will enjoy it.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!

Caroline Williams is coasting on a street in Paris on her bike when she has a collision with a truck, sending her spiraling into darkness. When she awakes she has no recollection of who she is and where she came from. With basic passive knowledge on how to function and how to communicate, she goes to her apartment and tries to piece together her life. Every person she has contact with says Caroline was troubled and saddened by something, and after learning that she's not sure she wants to remember the person she was before. While Caroline's digging up clues to her previous life, she unearths a box of letters. These letters are from a woman, Céline to her fiancé Luc during the Occupation in WWII. Céline is a young window with an eight year old daughter. They live together with her father and run the flower shop nearby. When Luc goes off for private training Céline catches the eye of a horrible German Nazi. When the Nazis discover Céline's Jewish ancestry things go downhill quickly for them. As Caroline tries to piece together her life, Céline tries desperately to survive, both women having more in common then they think.


I wasn't sure about starting this novel. I had a feeling it was going to be intense and loaded as most WWII Occupation historical novels are, and I wasn't in the mood for something like that. I knew there was going to be brutality, I knew there was going to rape and someone was going to die. That being said I decided to take a chance on it and I'm so glad I did. I had this book read in a day. I have read other novels by Sarah Jio and I knew it wasn't going to disappoint. It flows seamlessly between the time periods and the characters. The language is perfect, and the context is accurate. There are several historical fiction novels taking place in France during WWII out these days, and I will say this is on par with The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; it's that good. I will share that it is sad, I cried several times reading this, you know what's going to happen, there's no way around it, you just read through and continue with this story. I hope this novel reaches the great success that it deserves and I'm sure everyone will enjoy this read!

I received an advanced e-copy of this book for an honest review. I loved All the Flowers in Paris. It is different than any of the other books I've read that takes place during World War II- two women - Caroline, an American living in Paris, who lives in current times and Celine, who lived in Paris during the Nazi occupation, are connected through a series of letters Caroline finds in her apartment. As the story progresses Caroline learns they have more in common that one might think. Caroline suffers from amnesia after an accident and learns about herself while learning about Celine. I couldn't put it down and really enjoyed this book.