The Girl with No Shadow audiobook

3.5 STARS - MILD SPOILERSAs the second book in the Chocolat series, I was excited to read The Lollipop Shoes. And it was reasonably good, but I just hated Zozie so much! I mean, we were supposed to hate her (she's the antagonist in the book and you know that from the start) but I don't think you were supposed to hate her as much as I did. As I do . I just hated how she influenced Anouk/Annie and how Vianne/Yanne didn't notice that she was evil. I hated everything that she did - becoming friendly to everyone and taking over the shop - and how she secretly laughed at Vianne and Anouk. I hated her so much! (I'm not sure if you knew yet). And I honestly think that the amount of time that Zozie spent with Vianne could have been cut shorter. So I can't say that I loved this book, but it was well written and the ending brought it up an extra half a star. I don't think I'll read the next book quite yet, but I'll read it eventually. And hopefully I'll enjoy it a bit more!

The Lollipop Shoes = The Girl with No Shadow (Chocolat #2), Joanne HarrisThe Lollipop Shoes is a 2007 novel by Joanne Harris—a sequel to her best-selling Chocolat. It was released in the U.S. in 2008 as The Girl with No Shadow.No longer living in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, Vianne Rocher and her two daughters, Anouk and Rosette, are settled in the Montmartre quarter of Paris. Their lives are changed when befriended by the mysterious and free-spirited Zozie de l'Alba.تاریخ نخستین خوانش: بیست و هفتم ماه سپتامبر سال 2009 میلادیعنوان: کفش‌های آبنباتی؛ جوآن هریس؛ مترجم: چیستا یثربی؛ تهران، پوینده، 1387، در 192 ص؛ شابک: 9789642950164؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی قرن 21 مکفش‌های آبنباتی داستانی از افسون و جادوست، با شخصیت‌هایی عجیب اما شاد و زنده. این داستان از ابتدا شما را شگفت‌ زده می‌کند. رمان با داستان زنی با شخصیت آغاز می‌شود، که مرده‌ ها را زنده می‌کند. همین‌ قدر عجیب. او آگهی افراد متوفی را پیدا می‌کند، و با داستان زندگی آن‌ها، زندگی خودش را تغییر می‌دهد… اینبار او با نام «زوزی دی‌ آلبا» به پاریس می‌رود. در یکی از خیابان‌های سنگ‌فرش پاریس، «یانی» و دخترانش در مغازه‌ ی شکلات فروشیشان، زندگی آرام اما نه‌ چندان شادی را می‌گذراندند. همه‌ چیز در زندگی آن‌ها آرام بود… تا اینکه سروکله ی «زوزی دی‌ آلبا» با کفش‌های آبنباتی پیدا شد و همه‌ چیز ناگهان تغییر کرد. ... ا. شربیانی

I’ve been sitting in my chair thinking about what I was going to write about the story I just finished. The question, “what did you think?” always makes me feel like it is some kind of test and I am going to give the wrong answer. I try not to think about it that way. I always think that this is not the question that I should be answering. My question would be “what did you feel?” Ahhh, yes, that’s it. Let me tell you about the story by telling you how I felt. The whole time I was reading The Girl With No Shadow, I felt…anxious.Anxious to start the story, anxious to know what was going to happen, anxious to find out why the characters in this second story were so different than in the first book, anxious to know what had happened to them, anxious about the new character in the story, stomach churning, bile in the back of my throat anxious about what she appeared to be, about what she was going to do, what she did, and what she said. The first chapter shocked my socks off. Too much information! It scared me, not like I had never heard about it before, just to see someone – some character saying the things that were printed on the pages. Who was this? What did she have to do with the story and the characters I had left in the first book? Where were they? I wanted them, not this bad person! And there they were, so, sad, so, melancholy, so not right, so ordinary? I wanted them to snap out of the gloom. I wanted to shake them and slap them until they could see what was happening and how wrong everything was. I wanted them to drink a cup of hot chocolate, because that makes everything better, right? I wanted to drink a cup of hot chocolate to make me feel better.There were moments of hopefulness, glimpses of almost happiness, and snippets of laughter. Then, Bam! Then, more what? Don’t get me wrong, there were answers, eventually, lots of them. There were a few shocking moments at the end. Then a glow began to clear away some of the tarnish and haze and allowed a sparkle to shine here and there. I’m not so anxious now, except to start the next story…

I started this book with a lot of expectations and i am happy to report that I enjoyed it thoroughly. Joanne Harris's Lollipop shoes is like dark,creamy chocolate with a hint of spice-totally heady and difficult to resist. Narrated from three POVs(Yanne, Anouk and Zozie), the narrative flows seamlessly. I loved how Joanne let a huge chunk of the narrative be told from Zozie's perspective- I don't really think i have read too many novels that have been narrated from the Villain's point of view.Also,even the minor characters seemed etched out and the writing exceptionally vivid.Despite being a sequel to Chocolat, this one reads like a stand-alone book.I don't think not reading the first book before tackling his one matters much.The spells,totems,fables and stories about faeries and witches that Zozie and Yanne mention make the book more exotic and fascinating.It's no secret that I am a huge fan of magic realism-Joanne's book is a fine specimen of that genre.The writing is measured,yet intimate and warm,just like the characters in the book. There is something dangerously appealing about a slinky,chameleon-like villain and I loved Zozie's character the most(even more than Anouk and Yanne.). The bullying and name-calling that goes on in schools also forms a huge part of the story -atleast when the narration is done from the perspective of the eleven year-old Anouk.Joanne's writing is breathtaking and flows beautifully.This has to be one of the best books I have read in a long, long time and I don't think I can rave enough about it. People who are fascinated with the art of chocolate-making will love the details that Joanne shares with us and the book is about good food as much as it is about anything else.

This book is also most excellent. I shall give a full review at a later date.

Both heartwarming and chilling. I wish I had a copy of my last review. As I've said, it was the first or second review I ever wrote. I have no idea how I experienced it then. But this book has as a core theme, mothering, and what it means to have loss, as your children grow away from you - which is a theme I can currently relate to. Its also about how Vianne deals with her power, which runs alongside her fear. But it is the love of her children, and her "life" that ultimately causes her to fight for what is her own. "Zosie" is a compelling character in the way that she is a very pitiable villain, one whose traumas are on her sleeve. A compelling theme remains, that we have seen in other places and forms. Does magic have its price, and if so, how and by whom, and when should it be used. And should it? As Chocolat is my series for the year, I suppose we will learn more in books three and four. I look forward to hearing more about this family, and am excited to jump in somewhere after this one left off. And I am quite curious about the newest character Rosette!

Quite a few years ago I read Chocolat. Then I watched the film, which is not as good and not as dark as the book. Then I read other books by Joanne Harris: Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, Gentlemen and Players, Blue-eyed Boy and Different Class. They're all great reads. I now finally got around to reading the sequel to Chocolat, which is called "The girl with no shadow" in America. (Why do those American publishers have to be awkward and give European books a different title. I've seen it happen so many times and it causes confusion, while the original title is often better anyway. Idiots.)The Lollipop shoes is a great sequel and I really enjoyed reading it. I said it before: Joanne Harris has a way of pulling you in and not letting go until you've finished to book. (She must be using magic.)I'm delighted that I still have two more books in this series and also some other works by Joanne Harris to read. They will be patiently waiting for me on our bookshelves because my partner Orla is a great fan of her work so as soon as Joanne Harris brings out a new book, she buys it or I buy it for her. :)The Lollipop Shoes is highly recommended and best read accompanied by bars of high quality dark chocolate, mugs of chocolate, death by chocolate (cake) or anything else made with high quality chocolate.

I enjoyed this more than Chocolat, perhaps because I had nothing to compare it to. Harris' writing style is just as easy to read as chocolate, and this book is just as amusing a morsel (and just as likely to make your mouth water). However, I found it more nuanced and a bit less obvious than Chocolat.Zozie is a much more satisfying villain than Chocolat's Reynaud ever was; and Anouk's sullen teenage resentment of (and at times, fierce love for) her mother and attraction to Zozie as a surrogate made for an enjoyable conflict. The story rolls along at a good pace, and switching between the three character voices of Anouk, Zozie and Vianne/Yanne from one chapter to the next works well for the most part. Anouk's voice is fairly unique, but there were places where Zozie and Vianne's became a bit interchangable. Keep an eye on the shifting image at the beginning of each chapter: it lets you know who's narrating, if you're ever uncertain.If you've seen the movie of Chocolat, it's not necessary to read the book before picking up The Girl with No Shadow. The movie is close enough to the original story that you won't be lost as to who's who in the novel's sequel.(NB: The original UK title for this book was The Lollipop Shoes.)

Having read chocolat I already had an interest and liked the character of viane. It was good to see the changes in the child as she has grown up and the development of the relationship with her mother. Some of the references which pinpointed dates threw me a bit I had the sense in chocolat that it was more historical but the mention of mobile phones threw me into an era I had not really thought of this book being in. Although I perhaps appreciated more the contrast of the more traditional and old magic elements compared to this. And magic/chocolate/ seduction... Well I have a soft spot for that.