Review: The Life of Elves

The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm still not sure what to make of this book.
I've read Muriel Barbery's "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" and "Gourmet Rhapsody" and absolutely loved them, but struggled to finish this book. Is it a fairy tale? A fantasy? An allegory? None of the above?

Two little girls are born on the same day and hour. One is adopted in France the other one in Italy. We later find out that they were taken to this countries to protect them. One is half elf half human and the other is an elf, but with human characteristics. They will have to fight a terrible enemy that wants to destroy the elf world... or at least that's what I understood.

There is much description about the land and some of the characters, but then there are others that barely merit description and the stories are confusing. I read somewhere that this is the first part of a 2 book series, and maybe there will be a bigger xplanation in the next book, but for now, all I can say that the elf world needs much more in depth description.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3, because even if it's a confusing book, Muriel Barbery is an amazing writer

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

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