Reviews

The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham

Only show reviews with written explanations

bhunsberger's review against another edition

3.0

I received an advanced copy of this book.

3.5 stars

This book is set in Berlin at the time that the Berlin Wall was erected. Karin and Jutta are identical twins, and are caught on opposite sides of the wall after Karin unexpectedly needs an appendectomy while in East Berlin and is in the hospital there when the city is divided. Jutta and her family are devastated, and Jutta is relentless in her attempts to enter into East Berlin. One day she finds a secret passageway and takes the risk to see her sister.
It was very interesting to learn more about the time in history when the Wall was built. The book is told from the view of each sister & produced some good anxiety as Jutta pushed her luck to get across the wall or contact her sister. I saw the time changes at the beginning of each chapter, but didn't have the energy to track how much time was actually passing between each chapter. I thought that the ending was a bit abrupt.

kiwikazz's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Another fab book from this author. Loved it

thelibraryofimagination's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book with the wonderful online book club, The Pigeonhole. I was also gifted a physical copy of the book by Jenna at her fantastic bookish event a couple of weekends ago.

Thank you both for this wonderful story.

I was utterly engaged with this story from the very first stave. The separation of the twins Karin and Jutta was heartbreaking. When Karin found a way to see her sister I was all nerves, whispering aloud, ‘please do not get caught,’ over and over again.

Despite it being slightly stressful, the historical realness added to my anxiety as each description of Karin’s crossing the wall was intense, thanks to wonderful writing of course.

I am a fan of historical fiction and I enjoyed this book immensely, not only for its historical context but for character development and writing. The Girl Behind the Wall has a certain vibe that set this story apart from others I have read. In such a good way. I’d say it’s a historical fiction novel that doesn’t feel it’s historical, if you know what I mean…

I highly recommend this book on the premise of it being a fabulous story, with loveable characters and a real word vibe that is the perfect read for a bit of escapism.

jaded618's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book started a bit rocky for me. There was no leading up to the wall, I would have liked a little backstory about the sisters before fhe wall and leading up to Karin ending up in the hospital.

The first few chapters then seemed very repetitive, which historically that time for Berlin people would have been the same.

Once the story got going further I became hooked and had to know what happened.

Overall a great story of love and family and history.