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bepisaun's review against another edition
3.0
A short story set in post WWII Germany, with the British proposing a 'cleansing program' for the Germans. This book reads like a soap opera or novella. Romance, scandal and the gritty realism of war make for a quick and interesting read.
kadeherrera's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
_dat_edi_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lindsayw's review against another edition
3.0
I am ridiculously excited to announce that this is the first giveaway I have ever won! I am really looking forward to reviewing it when it arrives :)
Update: Now that I'm done the book, here is my attempt to review it, even though I'm not totally sure what I thought of it yet. I'd probably put my rating at 3.5 stars, because I want to give it a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. There were some stylistic/diction related things about this book that I didn't really like, such as overly wordy descriptions, or using the same word several times in a paragraph that I thought could have been better if they'd been edited more. And, given that I was reading an "unedited proof" version, I daresay the final version is probably better than what I read, so I don't want to be too harsh in that respect.
In spite of my small issues in that respect, this book was pretty good. The characters of Rachael and Stefan in particular were well-written, I thought, because they go through more transformation and actually grow over the course of the book. I felt that Lewis and Freda didn't really get this same opportunity, maybe because the book is only 320 pages, so there isn't a whole lot of time to get the whole story out for everyone. While I found that Rachael went from being quite bitter and overly stand-offish to actually being fairly sympathetic despite her flaws, Freda just seemed nasty. Maybe justifiably so, given the hardships she's suffered, but she was hard to like, and I didn't really see much growth in her character.
The story was compelling, and the premise is interesting, but I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between the families as a whole, which I guess is what I was expecting based on the summary on the back of the book. By isolating them to little moments between two characters at a time, I never felt that they were learning about one another, but really just co-existing.
In the end, this was a book with a lot of potential, and it lives up to it to a certain extent, and it's possible the final version is even better. There was a little something missing for me, though.
Update: Now that I'm done the book, here is my attempt to review it, even though I'm not totally sure what I thought of it yet. I'd probably put my rating at 3.5 stars, because I want to give it a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. There were some stylistic/diction related things about this book that I didn't really like, such as overly wordy descriptions, or using the same word several times in a paragraph that I thought could have been better if they'd been edited more. And, given that I was reading an "unedited proof" version, I daresay the final version is probably better than what I read, so I don't want to be too harsh in that respect.
In spite of my small issues in that respect, this book was pretty good. The characters of Rachael and Stefan in particular were well-written, I thought, because they go through more transformation and actually grow over the course of the book. I felt that Lewis and Freda didn't really get this same opportunity, maybe because the book is only 320 pages, so there isn't a whole lot of time to get the whole story out for everyone. While I found that Rachael went from being quite bitter and overly stand-offish to actually being fairly sympathetic despite her flaws, Freda just seemed nasty. Maybe justifiably so, given the hardships she's suffered, but she was hard to like, and I didn't really see much growth in her character.
The story was compelling, and the premise is interesting, but I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between the families as a whole, which I guess is what I was expecting based on the summary on the back of the book. By isolating them to little moments between two characters at a time, I never felt that they were learning about one another, but really just co-existing.
In the end, this was a book with a lot of potential, and it lives up to it to a certain extent, and it's possible the final version is even better. There was a little something missing for me, though.
ailawilliams's review against another edition
3.0
This book was alright. I found it quite hard to follow from time to time and it isn’t really as interesting to me as other history fiction books. I liked but disliked reading it at the same time.
Not my favourite but it was okay :)
Not my favourite but it was okay :)
armanbeer's review against another edition
3.0
3 star ratings
Writing was good and started good but I can't understand the purpose or the change in the characters, or it was meant to be gray. I really feel insane with quite understanding and not understanding elements of this book. It feels incomplete or not a closure at all, not even for imagination or too much for it than I can take on.
Writing was good and started good but I can't understand the purpose or the change in the characters, or it was meant to be gray. I really feel insane with quite understanding and not understanding elements of this book. It feels incomplete or not a closure at all, not even for imagination or too much for it than I can take on.
bookloves's review against another edition
3.0
Now I've always been a huge fan of historical fiction. So I naturally gravitated to this book when I came across it in Borders. The book had small print so I took longer-than-usual to finish it.
Overall the book is quite enjoyable but unfortunately it only received 3 stars because of its lack of drama and the characters didn't really stand out. I felt that Lewis could have been more portrayed as the hero, but he merely "appeared/disappeared" throughout the story. Rachel, his wife, was more evident in the book along with Herr Lubert.
I found the story to be a bit disappointing merely because I had to wait till the last 100 pages for something exiting to happen. And even when it did, it was so short lived that all I felt at the ending was.."Oh, that's it?"
The book was filled rich with history and the concept was beautiful as rarely do I find books that tells the story AFTER WWII and how Germany struggles to rebuild its nation.
Not much of a recommended read from me, but you might enjoy the deep analysis of the daily life after the wake of the war.
Overall the book is quite enjoyable but unfortunately it only received 3 stars because of its lack of drama and the characters didn't really stand out. I felt that Lewis could have been more portrayed as the hero, but he merely "appeared/disappeared" throughout the story. Rachel, his wife, was more evident in the book along with Herr Lubert.
I found the story to be a bit disappointing merely because I had to wait till the last 100 pages for something exiting to happen. And even when it did, it was so short lived that all I felt at the ending was.."Oh, that's it?"
The book was filled rich with history and the concept was beautiful as rarely do I find books that tells the story AFTER WWII and how Germany struggles to rebuild its nation.
Not much of a recommended read from me, but you might enjoy the deep analysis of the daily life after the wake of the war.
stonypockets's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting account of British-occupied Germany. Reads almost like a play. The unwavering benevolence on the main character was a little questionable.