Reviews

The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham

mrsmoger's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

voela321's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The time line on this book drove me nuts. The author would have multiple chapters that encompassed 1 or two days and then suddenly the time line jumps 2 years in the next chapter. I felt like it stretched the historical accuracy— I went down a rabbit hole to see if West Berliners trapped in the East by the wall overnight are truly trapped there forever—in most cases they were allowed to return home. I felt like the whole thing was rushed and unbelievable and it wasn’t even a compelling fiction story to keep me interested.  I finished it because it was a book club pick but might have DNF’d otherwise.

strawberrymivvy's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Whilst these novels will likely never win any literary fiction awards, they are well-researched and the characters and time period are brought to life.  I read a lot of WWII fiction but really enjoyed this foray into the later history of post-wall Berlin and what it did to so many families.

An enjoyable read, even without taking on board too much of the didactic history lessons we should all learn from.  The romance storylines were only a minor part of the story, which I was grateful for, this was far more about the sisters' relationship, made all the more special because they were twins

mishon's review against another edition

Didn’t grab my attention. I might come back to it 

taylorretter's review against another edition

emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jasminegalsreadinglog's review against another edition

4.0

The Girl Behind the Wall is a very different historical fiction novel that tackles life in Germany post the World War II where it is divided into East and West suddenly by a Wall. A Wall suddenly divides Berlin into two and families are torn apart. People need passes to visit East Germany but Stasi decide whether to accept them or not. This novel is about one such family where twins Jutta and Karin are suddenly separated. Karin is stuck in East Germany and Jutta is trying to get her out of there.
This novel is a good paced, unique story which I have not read before. I was barely 9 yrs old when the Berlin Wall came down so don't remember it much and this novel gave me a perspective about the life during communism. Highly recommend this novel.

yvo_about_books's review

2.0

Finished reading: June 16th 2021

"There are no winners when it comes to this Wall; boundaries never unify, despite the GDR's insistence that it benefits their country."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and ... in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

WARNING: It's unpopular opinion time again!!

I have a weak spot for 20th century historical fiction and I don't think I've read all that many stories focused on the Berlin Wall and the beginning of the Cold War before. It was one of the reasons I instantly caved when I was invited to read The Girl Behind The Wall. I've had mixed reactions to her books in the past, but I had high hopes for this newest story as it focuses on a topic I'm highly interested in... Sadly, it wasn't ment to be. I'll try to explain below why this story didn't work for me.

First of all I do have to say that I still love the time period and setting of the story. Like I said, most 20th century historical fiction stories tend to be set during WWII, so it's refreshing to have a focus on the Cold War period and the appearance of the Berlin Wall instead. The story was a great for refreshing my memories of this era as dates and events were mentioned, and it gave me flashbacks to my own visit of the many sights relating to the Berlin Wall in the city a couple years ago. It's such a fascinating time in history and I'm still surprised we don't see this setting more often... And especially with its focus on Berlin, its inhabitants and the division between West and East Berlin.

This was sadly just about the only aspect of The Girl Behind The Wall I did enjoy, as the rest of the story fell rather flat for me and I even debated whether to simply DNF it multiple times. I struggled with the writing style and the tone, and the short chapters and constant jumping between the two sisters really got on my nerves. I think that staying with each sister for more than a couple of pages would have benefitted this story greatly, because as it is you hardly get the time to start feeling invested in either POV. The characters themselves felt rather flat and cliche and I was never able to warm up to them. I think part of the reason was also the constant repetition of their situation and surprisingly shallow feelings and thoughts... It felt like the story was simply going in circles at times, repeating what was already said and done before over and over again.

I also struggled considerably with the pace, which was slow and didn't help at all. In fact, I started skimreading quite early on in the story, which is never a good sign to be honest. On top of this, I simply didn't think part of the plot was credible. True, people have moved between East and West during the Cold War, but having Jutta crossing multiple times and nobody noticing her obviously disheveled appearance on either side? I'm sorry, but that just felt too unbelievable for me, and I'm not even talking about Karin's rather comfortable situation being a West Berliner in the East.

All in all, The Girl Behind The Wall definitely failed to hit the mark for me, which is such a shame as I was really looking forward to finally read a book set during Cold War Berlin. I seem to be in the minority though, so who knows, this story might just work better for you.

katiemunro's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

violet97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

3.5

ephant08's review

5.0

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was excellent, not at all what I expected! This topic was well researched. I have taken classes and read numerous non-fiction titles that shed light on the building of wall. Families were separated during the night. It is hard to believe that could happen. This book tells the story of twins that ended up on opposite sides of the wall, and the struggle to reunite. I would highly recommend this book for a book club, as it would lead to a great discussion.