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olliewheaton's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
smoxen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Pedophilia
ap088's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ssham92's review against another edition
4.0
Whew!
This book was a roller coaster. Despite having a WWII setting, this book was different than any other WWII book I have read. First, the opening of the story starts out with a bang. Um, maybe not the right use of word, but I'll go on. In this book, Sarah, our main character, is a Jewish orphan, who meets a man is involved in a spy operation. She is sent to a boarding school. Her mission is to be friends with a girl whose father is a scientist and creating something that is potentially life threatening. The main plot of the book is whether she succeeds or not.
The writing is really good. I'm shocked this is a debut book, because Matt Killeen can write really well. On top of that, he did a ton of research for this book, and it showed. Sarah was an excellent protagonist. She was smart, but also vulnerable and naive. Her character made sense, and she wasn't the bad ass, not afraid of anything female character, which I enjoyed. This book gets really really dark, and touches on heavy issues. There were parts where I was cringing, because of what was happening. This book had a lot of layers. In the end of the book, the author added some great commentary to the story about WWII and his book. Overall, this book was an excellent and unique read. I recommend this book for historical fiction, spy fiction , and WWII literature fans.
This book was a roller coaster. Despite having a WWII setting, this book was different than any other WWII book I have read. First, the opening of the story starts out with a bang. Um, maybe not the right use of word, but I'll go on. In this book, Sarah, our main character, is a Jewish orphan, who meets a man is involved in a spy operation. She is sent to a boarding school. Her mission is to be friends with a girl whose father is a scientist and creating something that is potentially life threatening. The main plot of the book is whether she succeeds or not.
The writing is really good. I'm shocked this is a debut book, because Matt Killeen can write really well. On top of that, he did a ton of research for this book, and it showed. Sarah was an excellent protagonist. She was smart, but also vulnerable and naive. Her character made sense, and she wasn't the bad ass, not afraid of anything female character, which I enjoyed. This book gets really really dark, and touches on heavy issues. There were parts where I was cringing, because of what was happening. This book had a lot of layers. In the end of the book, the author added some great commentary to the story about WWII and his book. Overall, this book was an excellent and unique read. I recommend this book for historical fiction, spy fiction , and WWII literature fans.
kbfrantom's review against another edition
4.0
15 year old Sarah is alone after her mother is shot at a checkpoint and hasn't seen her father in years. Without any choices, she meets a man who is kind to her. She finds out he is a spy and since she looks more like a blonde Nazi than a Jew, he sets her up as a spy at a girls boarding school. Her assignment is to get close to Elsa, whose father is working on a bomb. There are troubling scenes involving teachers and other students humiliating and inflicting pain on others as well as some abuse. It was a suspenseful read and I like how the author's notes at the end discussed how some of the book was based in fact.
evreardon's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn’t as wowed as I thought I would be but this was definitely right up my alley. I am a hardcore WWII reader. It’s my favorite time period to read about (I apparently enjoy bleak, horrible, evil times).
Commit to the move.
Sarah’s story was so interesting and her thought process was fun to read. It was complex and thorough. You really felt like you were in her head.
Some of her characteristics were convenient like the gymnastics training. It was only brought up when the character needed to be spry or athletic. I think the far more interesting trait was that her mom was in theatre and taught her to act & copy accents & learn languages. Also, far more useful in spy work.
More stories about women/girl spies please.
Commit to the move.
Sarah’s story was so interesting and her thought process was fun to read. It was complex and thorough. You really felt like you were in her head.
Some of her characteristics were convenient like the gymnastics training. It was only brought up when the character needed to be spry or athletic. I think the far more interesting trait was that her mom was in theatre and taught her to act & copy accents & learn languages. Also, far more useful in spy work.
More stories about women/girl spies please.
hanyuism's review against another edition
4.0
i had to read this for english so it was kind of boring...? maybe ill reread it later and see how much its changed in my opinion
vivireadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this riveting story of a 15 year old blond haired, blue eyed Jewish girl during Nazi Germany. In this story she sees her mother shot at a nazi checkpoint, meets a mysterious man who helps her turn spy to infiltrate a nazi school for girls and to collect information to thwart the their bombing plans. I couldn’t put it down!