First, let me say that this is the first book by Jennifer Donnelly that I have read. So, I was able to read it with a fresh mind, no expectations and not compare it her previous YA offering, A Northern Light. 
 That being said, I can say that I pretty much loved almost everything about this book. I mean that. Revolution has angst, rebellion, a fabulous mystery, solid scholarly research and the most fantastic playlist I've ever read in any book. The main protagonist, Andi, is still dealing with her brother's death that happened two years earlier. Her mom has gone a bit crazy, and her dad couldn't deal and basically left Andi and her mom. Andi starts doing what a lot of angry teenagers do when they are depressed: she starts ditching school and ignoring her schoolwork. Big Papa finds out, comes in, stamps out some quick decisions, and makes Andi come with him to Paris so she can get away and catch up on schoolwork while he conducts some heavy duty scientific research. That is a very basic introduction to the story - it is a lot more involved, but this story is so beautifully written, I truly don't want to ruin the experience for anyone. 
 Andi might be one of the most intelligent characters I've ever read. Also one of the most tormented. She's brutal and makes the most sarcastic, clever, but caustic observations I've read in quite a while. Consider: 
 "Orla McBride is a cancer survivor and wrote about it for her college apps and got into Harvard early admission. Chemo and hair loss and throwing up pieces of your stomach beat the usual extracurricular hands down. Vijay only got waitlisted, so he still has to go to class." 
 Pg. 6 
 This might make me a sick puppy, but it was her comments like this that made me simultaneously laugh out loud and make my jaw drop. I've read a few reviews that said this was teenaged angst on overload. I most firmly disagree. We're mot talking about normal adolescent pain. We're talking traveling-up-your-spine, splicing-your-soul, you-can-only-see-one-way-out pain. It ain't pretty. Some people do notice and try to help, but really, Andi only wants her mom, and that lady is too busy trying to have an emotional connection with two dimensional versions of her deceased son to notice her living daughter. If you have no frame-of-reference for Andi's anguished mental state, then yes, it might be easy to dismiss her anger, depression and suicidal wishes as melodramatic moodiness. However, if you ever have been affected by depression or watched someone you love go through it, you might be more sympathetic to Andi's attitude and issues. Being a teenager has nothing to do with it. Andi has been through some seriously stuff, and its taken its toll. 
 Andi also comes from a background that has produced a worldly, cynical and extremely well-educated person. Some people may find this pretentious. I didn't. Any comments she made about her and her classmates' superiority were dripping with sarcasm. She certainly knows that she and her cohorts have the best of everything. Again, Andi has a very sharp-tongued and caustic observation style regarding her family, peers and overall place in the U.S. social and wealth hierarchy. It's really not referenced much in the story by Andi, but just the mere fact of where she goes to school, that she simply jets off to Paris with her father. . . you are very aware that she is a 'rich girl' and an extraordinarily privileged individual. Trust me, Donnelly meant for you to be aware of this. 
 I don't want to go through the book in detail. I will say that Andi stumbles onto a mystery in Paris when she finds the diary of a poor girl named Alexandrine Paradis, who lived during the French Revolution. Andi becomes obsessed with what happened to her, and their pain parallels the other's, regardless of their very different backgrounds. Alexandrine's fate becomes intertwined in Andi's own, and you become as interested in what becomes of Alexandrine as you do Andi - I particularly liked that Andi found herself wrapped up in this character of history as she read her diary while I was doing the same with Andi. At some point, you do start wondering if both Andi and Alexandrine are going mad, or if each's conscience is speaking to them through subconscious, uncanny ways. More than a few times, I wondered if Alex and Andi were/are the same person. 
 There is so much layering in this book that I could not possibly go through it all without ruining some things for you. I will say that is there is a significant amount of debate about whether history is fact or narrative, and about what makes people what they are. The way the history is woven through the modern story is absolutely marvelous and at no point did I feel jarred from one setting to the other - it felt like a smooth road in and out of two different times. The only thing part I had trouble getting into is a part I can't mention - it's too pivotal a part of the story! It borders on the supernatural, and you are never quite sure if it really happened or not. It works, but it took a moment to accept. You'll know what I mean when you get there. 
 Other points about the story I liked: the entire story is absolutely steeped in music - the history of it, the structure of it and the listening to it. It's amazing, and I am sorely tempted to keep the book for a few days extra and pay the library fines just so I can go through it, collect all the songs and make a Revolution playlist. I also appreciated how much work went into establishing the historical context of the French Revolution - I've read a few recent histories of that time, and Donnelly's writing is spot on. Also included in the story are references to the feelings of marginalization being felt by the same French communities that Virgil is from. 
 I recommend this book. It was a brutal, take-no-prisoners sort of read. I wish I could go into more detail as I normally do, but that would be cheating you out the experience of reading this book and discovering all its layers yourself. The mystery, the music, the history, the family tension, the developing romance, the question over what is truth and the personal battle that Andi fights with her own grief. . . this story is simply a lovely, living thing. 
 Overall: A