Stephanie Jane reviewed Actores by Sylvain Magilaner Gonzalez
Good for French practice
3 stars
Actores is the first volume of a series about a future world in which animals and humans live side by side as equals. I chose to read it for its vegan message and vegan author, and also to practice my French language skills. Actores is intended for children aged 8 years and above, however its vocabulary and prose complexity was just about on the limit of my French knowledge so it was a satisfying story to read - challenging, but not insurmountably so. I enjoyed discovering the world as Gonzàlez imagines it and could envisage the town at the base of its two hills. I did sometimes struggle with understanding exactly where the story was headed, but this could be due to my inexpert language comprehension. Actores starts slowly, but once it gets into gear the story was quite exciting and I liked the intrigue of the dream sequences at …
Actores is the first volume of a series about a future world in which animals and humans live side by side as equals. I chose to read it for its vegan message and vegan author, and also to practice my French language skills. Actores is intended for children aged 8 years and above, however its vocabulary and prose complexity was just about on the limit of my French knowledge so it was a satisfying story to read - challenging, but not insurmountably so. I enjoyed discovering the world as Gonzàlez imagines it and could envisage the town at the base of its two hills. I did sometimes struggle with understanding exactly where the story was headed, but this could be due to my inexpert language comprehension. Actores starts slowly, but once it gets into gear the story was quite exciting and I liked the intrigue of the dream sequences at the start of each chapter. I developed an idea of what these might be about and, as it turned out, I wasn't too far from the truth. I don't know that I will rush into the second book in the series, Fleur-salée, but I have it bookmarked for future reading.