Christy's Review: The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose
Publisher: Atria Publishing
Pages: 384
Pub Date: 13 March 2012
Format: ARC Kindle

A special Thank you to Atria Publishing and NetGalley for sending me this book to review.

Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America. 

Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.

 Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume?

 The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

Christy's Review:
I read a lot of YA fiction. I like YA fiction. I don't like gruesome murder or "adult" scenes. But every so often I want to read something less... juvenille, less wistful, more intense. I recently picked up The Book of Lost fragrances not having clear cut expectations from it. I hadn't heard of this author and I'm not a huge follower of mystery and crime novels. But I do LOVE travel factoid mysteries, like Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code. (I've read everything by Dan Brown, actually. Love the history/mystery. The Plot lines are predictably formulaic.) Anyhoo... The summary of this book was definitely intriguing enough to catch my attention. I decided to give it a whirl, because hey, I could have just put it down if I'd hated it, right? Right. 

Wow. Who knew this book was going to knock my socks off? Not me. And it did. (Obviously.) 


It is safe to assume that I really, really had a hard time to put this book down. There is so much more to it than the enticing summary lets on. Ancient Egyptian mysteries, Crime in modern Paris. Jet setting from New York. A bit of the supernatural/reincarnation. Great research. Catacombs. Kidnappings. Tibet and China. The Dalai Lama! Wow. Just wow. It was all tied together in a beautifully coherent, infinitely visual storyline involving characters that matter.

For a great frolic through time and across continents pick up The Book of Lost Fragrances!