Review: Explores emotion
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2014
At its heart, "All I Longed For Long Ago Was You" is a book about the different manifestations of the human experience. The story flips back and forth primarily between two teenagers, Odette DuJardin in France and Dan Palazzo in NYC.  In addition to moving between characters, the book moves between time periods (1944, 1954, 1963, etc). The author, L.C. Moore, does a fantastic job of smoothly transitioning between the stories and time periods. Further in the book, the characters are united and discover shared connections.The plot is character-driven, with the reader wanting to know what happens to each of the dynamic characters. The writing is engaging -- Moore does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of each time period, which is difficult to do given how close yet dissimilar the '40s and '60s were. I particularly liked how in Dan's story Moore captures the attitude of high schoolers towards World War 2. If you want a thriller with lots of action, this isn't the book for you. If you want a WW2 book that explores how the human spirit endures in times of trial, this is the perfect book for you. Recommended!