Honestly the 1 star is for lack of research when writing the book. Yes it is a YA book but providing correct details is important if you are using actual place names. Lyon has always been a major city since the Roman times and it has never been a poor small town with 200 residents. And the distance from La Rochelle is roughly three times than what he mentioned. And the most obvious thing he got wrong is mentioning it borders the north sea! Lyon is in Southern France!