Little spent more than a few years languishing on my wishlist, to the point where I forgot why I wanted to read the novel in the first place, but of course - the French Revolution. I'm glad that I did finally commit to this whimsical revision of the life of Marie Grosholtz, later Tussaud, although the rambling, fantastical style did put me off slightly. And the later, more realistic chapters about the Revolution were well worth waiting for. The author's illustrations were a quirky addition too - and very eerie when reading with a black screen on Kindle - even if the faces did mostly look the same! ( )

I'm debating between 3 and 4 stars, so I am just going to round up. The story is unique and the illustrations really enhance the reading experience, but it is a little uneven. Most of the time I was really engaged, but there were several occasions where it started to feel like a slog. If you're going to write a novel that's over 400 pages, every sentence must be absolutely necessary. However, this book is definitely worth reading since it's very enjoyable overall. ( )

Bailed @ 49%.

Es 1761, y una niña diminuta y de aspecto bastante extraño nace en un pueblo de Suiza. La llaman Anne Marie, aunque no tardarán en referirse a ella como Little. Pronto la tragedia se cierne sobre su vida: sus padres mueren, y su única salida es convertirse en aprendiz y sirvienta de un excéntrico modelador de cera, el señor Curtius. Espléndidas cabezas de cera la observan desde todos los ángulos del taller: Curtius las rellena con trapos y serrín, y las vende por encargo a los hombres más ricos de Berna. De la Suiza de su infancia a París, donde funda con el señor Curtius el primer museo de cera, y más tarde a Versalles, para asistir a María Antonieta en el parto, esta es la asombrosa historia de la modeladora de cera más ilustre de la Revolución francesa. Porque la revolución exige cabezas para su incansable guillotina, y solo ella puede conseguirlas.

I'll read him again, he's a lovely writer, but ultimately this book was too sad for me. It flirted with magic realism (events and characters seemed very unlikely to me) which, if in a fun-filled romp, is delightful, but in a somewhat depressing historical novel it didn't quite work. Nonetheless, I felt for his protagonist, and yearned (alongside her) for her happiness. It's a good book--a very good book--but I'm not its ideal audience (I watched Manchester by the Sea, for example, and walked out thinking "why would anyone make this?")

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )