A Little in Love by Susan Fletcher - Book Review

I recently fell nearly in love with a stranger. He was a fine young bloke, very attractive, and friendly beyond measure. That reminded me that I needed to review this book.

This book was essentially an expansion of Eponine's story from Les Miserables. Normally, I am not a fan of fan-fiction-y things (unless it's Hartwin. teehee), but I actually adored this book. Fletcher expands on Eponine's story in a believable way, and her writing is almost reminiscent of Hugo's, which is beyond fantastic.

The plot-line starts from the very beginning of Eponine's childhood and ends at her death, going slightly beyond. Fletcher takes some time to flesh in the story that we don't get to hear when we read Hugo's original brick. We also get to hear her feelings throughout the entire story. I love that Fletcher made it very obvious that Ponine was the dreamer in her family, truly not wanting to steal and wanting to be happy. It makes Ponine even more likeable than she is in the brick.

We get to read about her adventures in Paris, her re-meeting with Gavroche, and the little things that she does to brighten people's days, which gives her a lot more heart than we originally see. I also like the character that Fletcher gives to Marius. She sticks to what he is like in the brick, but also fleshes him out a little more. We can see more easily why Eponine so easily fell for Marius in the brick when we read this book.

All in all, this is a fantastic book, one I may some day force my children or loved ones to read. It's so heart-warming (I bawled my eyes out at the end) and it makes one love Ponine even more than they do already. Eponine not only gets her story told, but is given a voice in this novel.

I give this book 9.5/10 stars.

"Perhaps I live too and always will, for love is the strongest thing of all - and love never dies, never dies." -Quotation from the novel.