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pam2375's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of Berlin during WWII. I will tell you that there are many players in this book and there is a lot that is going on throughout the book, but that is what makes it so dang good.
Sigrid Schroeder is the wife of a German Soldier and lives with her mother in law in an apartment in Berlin. Before she knows it she is involved in hiding and moving Jews out of Berlin.
Throughout the entire book, you are never sure who you can trust and who you can't. Just when you think that you have it all figured out and the latest group of Jews are going to be moved to safety the rug is ripped out from under you. What you thought you knew is garbage!
This book is full of suspense and I thought that it was so well done and absolutely, totally believable. I found myself transported to 1940's Germany and many times hyperventilating or holding my breath with the situations that we find Sigrid getting herself into.
Are you interested in suspense stories? Are you interested in WWII? Then I would say that this is the book for you. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed.
Sigrid Schroeder is the wife of a German Soldier and lives with her mother in law in an apartment in Berlin. Before she knows it she is involved in hiding and moving Jews out of Berlin.
Throughout the entire book, you are never sure who you can trust and who you can't. Just when you think that you have it all figured out and the latest group of Jews are going to be moved to safety the rug is ripped out from under you. What you thought you knew is garbage!
This book is full of suspense and I thought that it was so well done and absolutely, totally believable. I found myself transported to 1940's Germany and many times hyperventilating or holding my breath with the situations that we find Sigrid getting herself into.
Are you interested in suspense stories? Are you interested in WWII? Then I would say that this is the book for you. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed.
kategolledge's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lastpaige111's review against another edition
4.0
Okay so there are Nazis. I love the main character. The writing is often lyrical. What else does a reader need?
tmoake's review against another edition
3.0
The book was terribly slow for the first half. In fact I had to switch to the audiobook which helped a lot— or that might’ve been when the plot picked up pace. Regardless, I really enjoyed the last 3rd of the book.
poischiche31's review against another edition
4.75
I’m surprised that people think this book is just a male fantasy. I’m usually the first to critique how men depict women in media, but IMO the depiction of sex in this novel contributes a lot to Sigrid’s characterization and illustrates her passionate nature—which is exactly what leads her to become so committed to saving those in danger from the Nazi regime.
Not to mention - do we really think women without their husbands in wartime were celibate the entire time? Sex is natural and a part of being human. What good comes from simply acting like sex ceased to exist for civilians and soldiers during the war? I can imagine extramarital affairs were a way for women to distract themselves from the war and find a sliver of a good feeling. So the pearl-clutching over this book doesn’t make much sense to me.
Anyway, my little rant over. I was super immersed in this book and kept trying to find slivers of time to read more. It’s a fascinating POV, the women of Nazi Germany, and I think the author did a great job of writing a captivating story that imagines what life might’ve been like.
Not to mention - do we really think women without their husbands in wartime were celibate the entire time? Sex is natural and a part of being human. What good comes from simply acting like sex ceased to exist for civilians and soldiers during the war? I can imagine extramarital affairs were a way for women to distract themselves from the war and find a sliver of a good feeling. So the pearl-clutching over this book doesn’t make much sense to me.
Anyway, my little rant over. I was super immersed in this book and kept trying to find slivers of time to read more. It’s a fascinating POV, the women of Nazi Germany, and I think the author did a great job of writing a captivating story that imagines what life might’ve been like.
mfraise05's review against another edition
5.0
Me likey! The characters were complicated and diverse, it was like a mystery and I was always trying to figure out who was lying and what their motivations were. There were some editing glitches which the previous library patron was happy to correct, much to my amusement. And I was pleased at the ending, even though on second thought it is a bit too clean.
Despite being called City of Women, the men in this novel are very present, even in their absence.
Despite being called City of Women, the men in this novel are very present, even in their absence.
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
1.0
Hated this book! How do so many people like it? This is nothing more then a man's fantasies about women and how they would view sex in the timeline of world war 2 Berlin. Half of the book is really just a bunch of sex scenes strung together with a little bit of a side story that seems half developed at first and boring. All the characters are hypocrites. The MC is not likable at all if fact she's despicable. You can't relate to or feel for any character they are all horrible people not a single one is likable. Men should not be writing from a women characters point of view or at least Mr. Gillham shouldn't. His views on how women act and treat each other and react to things makes me think he hasn't spent time around many women. When not arguing with each other and insulting each other they are just used as sex receptacles for the men. The MC is obsessed with her lover to the point of a Manson groupie except that she would kill to keep him for her own sexual pleasure because she is written as a bitch in internal heat. Seriously she is sitting in the theater when this guy sits down, starts talking to her a few minutes later takes her hand and places over his erection and she decides to immediately have sex with him right there in the public theater seat!? (has this author been to a theater? Even the old time seats are not easy to do anything in but sit.) From there she meets up with this guy to have random sex (because sex with her husband sucked? She complains many times about this, she wants sex all the time and he doesn't and he is no good in bed) when it's convenient to him and manipulates the hell out of her. But from all this, and even really the first time they fuck she loves him...over her husband whom she could give two shits about. If you didn't love the husband why did you marry him? Don't think she ever loved him. But she'll do anything for her lover even when she finds out/knows he doesn't give two shits about her and is just using her for sex.
Lots of inconsistencies in the story and the timeline. The first half of the book there is so much jumping back and forth from the present to the past with no transition break or lead in it felt like a schizophrenic wrote it.
Lots of inconsistencies in the story and the timeline. The first half of the book there is so much jumping back and forth from the present to the past with no transition break or lead in it felt like a schizophrenic wrote it.
dobbydoo22's review against another edition
5.0
Tight plotting, excellent writing, complex characters; this one is a winner.
hiimjaimee's review against another edition
5.0
The City of Women was actually a better book that I could have possibly expected. I've had this book for a total of 3, dragged to many apartments and houses only to finally pick it up and read one day. So glad that I did. City of woman tells that side of the German people in WWII that isn't often written about in fiction; those who were willing to risk everything to help complete strangers escape the Hitler killing machine
The book tells the story of Sigrid, a woman living in 1943 Berlin, it starts with Sigrid's reflections on the months before her husband Kaspar was put into the Army and shipped to Russia and when she was having an affair with a Jewish man she met in a movie theater. Throughout the book Sigrid continues going to work at the patent office, flashing back to former times, and then befriending a young girl in her building named Ericha who is working through an informal underground (in that it never belies a connection to any of the named larger underground groups) that is protecting Jews and other "criminals" from deportation. Ultimately Sigrid becomes part of this group while also befriending the half-brother and half-sister of an SS soldier, entering bomb shelters during air force attacks, and facing increased scrutiny from friends and neighbors...many of whom have informed on other.
Already the story can be a hard one to read some parts, its tells the truth, giving us raw honestly about how it was to live during a time when everyone is living in fear. Whether it be from bombs dropping at night to neighbors ratting you out to the Gestapo.
What I really enjoyed about the book was enjoyed following Sigrid during her awakening of consciousness as she first forces herself to take notice of the horrors going on around her and then to take action to combat those horrors. I also found it interesting that Sigrid takes some not completely moral actions in her personal life that are stark contrasts to the actions she is taking to help others.
I would definitely recommend the book for those who, like me really enjoy reading books about WWII.
The book tells the story of Sigrid, a woman living in 1943 Berlin, it starts with Sigrid's reflections on the months before her husband Kaspar was put into the Army and shipped to Russia and when she was having an affair with a Jewish man she met in a movie theater. Throughout the book Sigrid continues going to work at the patent office, flashing back to former times, and then befriending a young girl in her building named Ericha who is working through an informal underground (in that it never belies a connection to any of the named larger underground groups) that is protecting Jews and other "criminals" from deportation. Ultimately Sigrid becomes part of this group while also befriending the half-brother and half-sister of an SS soldier, entering bomb shelters during air force attacks, and facing increased scrutiny from friends and neighbors...many of whom have informed on other.
Already the story can be a hard one to read some parts, its tells the truth, giving us raw honestly about how it was to live during a time when everyone is living in fear. Whether it be from bombs dropping at night to neighbors ratting you out to the Gestapo.
What I really enjoyed about the book was enjoyed following Sigrid during her awakening of consciousness as she first forces herself to take notice of the horrors going on around her and then to take action to combat those horrors. I also found it interesting that Sigrid takes some not completely moral actions in her personal life that are stark contrasts to the actions she is taking to help others.
I would definitely recommend the book for those who, like me really enjoy reading books about WWII.