1. I love lesbians/sapphics
2. The bilingual bits were a bit annoying to read. Either translate it from French or don't? They could have used < > to indicate something was spoken in French as that's already common in comics. Having to google things in order to understand parts of the story was a little bit annoying.

A sweet love story of what could have turned tragic but didn't.

Its the whole rich vs old; tradition vs. independence but with a dash of art.

Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this!

Thanks NetGalley and Image Comics for this arc!

4.5/5 stars

Wow what took me so long to read this? I loved this lesbian love story set in 1950s Paris! It was predictable but sweet, and there was a lot of flipping to the back to translate the French terms being said, but I don't mind at all. The art style is so sketchy and fun! I really really liked this

Charming, beautiful, and an overall enjoyable read!! It felt a little short, as others have said, but only because I would've loved to linger in the world for a bit more time!

I loved both the illustration style and the story, I just don't know if I loved them together. The art style was incredibly chaotic, and for some reason I really enjoyed it, while the story was was something we've seen many times and very simple in its premise.

A charming little graphic novel of sapphic love and constraint in 1950s Paris. Fabulous illustrations. I wish it had been a little longer, though.

Paris is a lovely little story of two very different women's chance meeting in the city of love. They share a love of art and leave a great impression on one another. At first I wasn't sure of the art style, but as I read on I actually grew to love it. The detail on every panel was beautiful. The story is both clever and funny, I only wish it had been longer so that we could see the relationship develop. I particularly liked the added extras included at the end of this edition.
I look forward to picking up more by Andi Watson.

This story is set in the 1950s revolving around a young American artist living in Paris to study art, since Paris is considered the bastion of the masters of fine art. She struggles with the classic academic style of education that has been the norm for centuries. Fun fact: Van Gogh also studied this Parisian academic art and quit because he loathed the lack of creativity and the practice of drawing plaster busts.

The girl ends up being commissioned for a stodgy sit down portrait of the daughter of an affluent British family who are still steeped in the old British pastime of being snobby Francophobes and complaining about anything and everything not British or to their tastes. Including the MC being American and not magically whipping out a completed portrait.

The story takes off when the MC finds that the daughter is trapped in this lifestyle and has her own opinions, wants and needs that compliments the MC’s own.

I loved the jagged fractured lines that provided texture to the artwork, instead of the smooth continuous lines that is used by most comic artists. It adds to the story as it bucks traditional norms like the characters themselves. The characters’ expressions were captured perfectly and riled my own emotions about a lot of the more odious characters.

I would like to express my gratitude for the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book, generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Andi Watson's "Paris" takes readers on a journey through Bohemian Paris of the early 1950s, immersing them in the world of Juliet, a penniless American art student, and her unexpected romance with Deborah, a young woman trapped in the constraints of her wealthy family. The graphic novel, illustrated by Simon Gane, promises an LGBTQ fairy tale romance where old and new worlds collide.

The art in "Paris" is undoubtedly a highlight. Simon Gane's work. However, my experience with the graphic novel was not as delightful as I anticipated. While the artwork was impressive, the characters and storyline left much to be desired. The narrative follows Juliet and Deborah as they navigate their love for art and each other in a world that tries to tear them apart. Unfortunately, the characters felt flat, and their development was insufficient for me to fully invest in their journey.

The storyline proved challenging to follow, and the attempt to blend old and new worlds often led to confusion rather than cohesion. Additionally, the language used felt rather modern and not appropriate for the 20th century setting the author aimed to portray. This inconsistency added another layer of disconnection from the intended historical atmosphere. The romantic aspect, while promising, did not resonate as expected, leaving me wanting more depth and substance.

Despite my initial excitement, "Paris" fell short of expectations. The characters lacked the complexity needed to engage readers, and the storyline's difficulty hindered my overall enjoyment. While the artistry deserves recognition, the narrative complexities and linguistic inconsistencies may be a barrier for some readers. I reluctantly give "Paris" three stars, appreciating the visual feast but yearning for a more compelling, historically authentic, and accessible storyline.

This was a really fun and quick sapphic graphic novel. I LOVED the art style a lot and the setting of Paris was perfect! The characters were all really fun and the side characters really shone. There was some French throughout which was quite novel, however it felt very clunky - the French itself was not great and it was interspersed among English as French and American characters tried to converse, but so many of the words that were in French were really simple terms that are either some of the first you would learn or have very close if not identical counterparts (e.g. professeur and professor).

A beautifully illustrated, uncomplicated but overwhelmingly charming delight of a read. The cover does not do the illustration of this novel justice

Juliet, an American art student in Paris, shares a flat with Paulette and paints portraits of debutantes to make ends meet. Her latest subject is Deborah, in whom she finds an unexpected kindred spirit. The two grow close over their love of art until circumstances drive them apart.

I wish this story had been a little longer; I felt like we were just getting to know Juliet and Deborah when it ended. I did enjoy their love story, though! I would say it is best to read this book if you speak both French and English. The panels are peppered with people speaking franglais, and while there are translations at the back of the book for all of the French words, I imagine it would get old needing to flip back and forth.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I look into the struggles if two economic polar opposites. A well crafted story in short form. The illustrations were great, and you were invested in the characters from the start.

Beautifully drawn queer graphic novel set in 1950s Paris. A quick read but a visual feast. I wonder if there are more chapters?

Paris is a lovely, quick little read. While the plot didn't immediately grab me, the unique art style made it easy to keep going. I really enjoyed this art style. It is incredibly detailed and pulls from several ideas in art theory / popular artists concurrent with the novel's setting. I also enjoyed the formatting of the artwork - the multipage, busy spreads were well suited to creating a bustling city energy that can be difficult to capture. I appreciate the way Juliet and Debs are characterized - they have quite distinct personalities and never run together as characters. I feel like a bit of their story is missing, but they're so cute I would read an entire graphic novel about them going on Louvre dates. The extras at the end were adorable, especially the one of Debs drawing Juliet. My main critiques are I wish this graphic novel was a bit longer (let me see the domestic bliss!), and I wish the French was translated at the bottom of the page.

I’m somewhere in the middle on this one, so I guess I’ll give it 3 stars. There were parts I liked and parts I didn’t like. I feel like I would’ve enjoyed the book more if I was fluent in French. I did like the pictures, wish they were in color, though. The love story was cute but kind of confusing. The empowerment at the end was nice. I liked the ending.

This is not a book I can recommend to my students. Most of my students have articulation errors or language issues, since I am a speech and language pathologist. This book has French in it; which I can not speak, and would also make confusing for the language learners that are trying to comprehend the story.
The illustrations in the story were beautiful, but so many people smoking.
As stated above I don't understand French and some of the sentences were part French part English--this made it difficult for me to understand. The illustrations helped with understanding the story.
I did not realize until I got to the end of the book that there was a guide that interpreted what the French was. That would be too difficult to go back and forth.
I do like happy endings and this was a happing ending.

This was cute but I wish it was more fleshed out. Would've loved another 50 pages to show more about the growing interest on both sides for something more than friendship. Great artwork, really reminded me of Paris.

This was a cute and fast read. Paris follows Juliet, an American artist studying in Paris. Her professor connects her with a painting commission which introduces her with rich Deborah. Although the two come from vastly different backgrounds, they form a connection. Some drama ensues but mostly it felt like a low stakes opposite attract comic/graphic novel. I honestly assumed it was set in the 1980s or 1990s until after finished it and read the synopsis, so I think the political setting definitely could have been better described. I really enjoyed the art style and felt like it was unique to other illustrated works I’ve read lately. I especially loved the paper dolls and art references included in the end of the book.

A sweet, atmospheric story that makes me want to go back to Paris right now.

A few reviews have commented on the simplicity of the storyline, but the book is called <I>Paris</I>, not <I>Juliet</I> or even <I>Two Women in Paris</I>. The city is a character, maybe the main character.

When I showed pages to my wife, it wasn't the pages with the story, it was the pages that only showed the city.

If the untranslated French trips you up, there are notes in the back translating it. I didn't have a problem with it even though I know almost nothing of the language.