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shelbynik's review
It is like a high school relationship: it seems like such a good idea and it is fun at first, but then it just kind of fizzles out. I had such high hopes for this novel. If you are okay with longer winded books this might be for you. I might have liked it in another time but as of right now it just didn't fit with my mood and schedule so it got more drawn out than it probably should have.
bags_and_bookz's review
3.0
The Ventriloquists is a story about Resistance Group in Belgium. Marc Aubrion, the Jester, is a mastermind behind fake newspaper affair. Lada Tarcovich, the Smuggler, Aubrion’s true friend; David Spiegelman, the Gastromancer; Theo Miller, the Saboteur; Martin Victor, the Professor; Gamin, the Pyromaniac help him to make the newspaper happen. There are many obstacles they have to go through, many dangers to avoid, and they all know what if the fake newspaper operation succeeds, they all will die. They are ready to give hope to Belgians and make fun of Hitler and the Reich, even if it costs them their lives.
The plot is mind-blowing. There are not many books that show WWII from other European counties’ perspectives. Usually it is set in occupied France, or in concentration camps, may be in Germany, or Russia. I personally have never had a thought of what happened in Belgium during those dark years. The Ventriloquists is like a breath of fresh air with so many possibilities to learn. It made me do my own research and I am forever grateful for opening my eyes.
However, I did not enjoy the book, as much I wanted to. The structure of the narrative is hard to follow. There is a storyteller, Gamin (Helene), an old lady now, who remembers what happened in November 1943 as clear as it was yesterday. She is sharing the story with a young girl, who is seeking answers to her questions. Helene tries to grasp everyone at the same time and the narrative jumps from one character to another. There is little background given to protagonists, and it scattered through 500 pages. It was hard to connect to anyone with only bits and pieces of their personality provided. I would love to read more about Aubrion’s pre-war time, what made him who he was (especially, known that Marc Aubrion was a real person who managed to do just as he planned and create a fake newspaper to mock Nazis in Belgium in 1943).
Thank you Negalley and HARLEQUIN Publishing House for e-ARC The Ventriloquists by E.R. Ramzipoor in return of my honest review.
The plot is mind-blowing. There are not many books that show WWII from other European counties’ perspectives. Usually it is set in occupied France, or in concentration camps, may be in Germany, or Russia. I personally have never had a thought of what happened in Belgium during those dark years. The Ventriloquists is like a breath of fresh air with so many possibilities to learn. It made me do my own research and I am forever grateful for opening my eyes.
However, I did not enjoy the book, as much I wanted to. The structure of the narrative is hard to follow. There is a storyteller, Gamin (Helene), an old lady now, who remembers what happened in November 1943 as clear as it was yesterday. She is sharing the story with a young girl, who is seeking answers to her questions. Helene tries to grasp everyone at the same time and the narrative jumps from one character to another. There is little background given to protagonists, and it scattered through 500 pages. It was hard to connect to anyone with only bits and pieces of their personality provided. I would love to read more about Aubrion’s pre-war time, what made him who he was (especially, known that Marc Aubrion was a real person who managed to do just as he planned and create a fake newspaper to mock Nazis in Belgium in 1943).
Thank you Negalley and HARLEQUIN Publishing House for e-ARC The Ventriloquists by E.R. Ramzipoor in return of my honest review.
alikatmckin's review against another edition
2.0
3.5 out of 5 rounded down. The writing was good, but the story was chaotic. I had to constantly remind myself where I was and review notes to keep up. It's hard to say what would have made it better, it wasn't bad. But this isn't a book I would outright recommend to everyone.
travistn's review
2.0
I feel like it is hard to learn how to write from "Great books." They are hard to breakdown, to deconstruct, to take apart and see why they worked in the way that they did. Many great works end up working like a rolex watch, a smooth movement of time without the engineering being noticable.
On the flipside terrible books are not much help either. They are obvious in their flaws. Mary Sue style protagonists, ridiculous plot points, etc. combine to show what happens when many decisions are wrong.
This book is in the middle. It has some good points, but makes some mistakes and I found myself more interested in how it was created than what the plot was doing.
There is a frame story element to this that I feel works as a detriment to the novel. It removes a layer of suspense from a main character. It is also confusing because there are times when the narrator of the story states they do not know what happened when they were not in the room, yet other times we got whole chapters and interior thoughts of characters whom the narrator was not around. It was very confusing.
Very early on in this book, I was reminded of the Aaron Sorkin TV show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." That show began much like this book with other characters telling us how funny and talented the main character was. It did not work for the show, and I don't think it really worked here. "Show don't tell" is a classic narrative axiom for a reason.
Overall this book felt more like a polished first draft that needed some hard questions from an editor.
*******Spoilers below*******
One of the main problems with this book is the lengths it has to go with the Nazis. The subplot of them entrapping members of the residence to create their own fake resistance newspaper is outlandish and only serves to create an extraneous countdown because the resistance members next decide the fake paper should be published in 2 weeks to mark Armistice Day in November.
The books' Nazi blackmail actually does a disservice to the real people who were involved because it takes their choice out of their hands. They feel like they are going to be arrested and killed anyway after working for the Nazis so they are "free" to create the spoof and go out on their own terms.
The reality is that these were resistance members that CHOSE to write this knowing that puts a target on them and that they would be disappeared for their actions. That was much heroic and idealistic than being "given" the 2 options (create a fake paper for the Nazis, a spoof for the public)
At another point the Nazis raid the resistance HQ, then just let our heroes continue. I thought that could have been an interesting angle. The writers could have been willing to sacrifice themselves for "a joke" but what about others? Was it worth it for them? The book does not know how to deal with that question so the other people taken in the raid are just forgotten about by both the author and the heroes.
In general it seems that the Nazis in this book make dumb/ridiculous/illogical decisions and that takes away from their threat/power. They were horrible people, they were monsters they killed millions. (I don't think they would let a prisoner decide which other prisoners could leave with him.)
There are plenty of roadblocks in secretly printing 50,000 copies of a fake newspaper and get it out under the occupier's nose. Simple logistical questions like where to get the ink, paper, presses and money to pull off the trick pile up throughout the rising action. The book however seems to find solutions that rival more Ocean's 11 than reality. At one point the Nazis decide to AUCTION off a key piece of intelligence, the list of places that sell their propagandist newspaper!
HUH??!?!?!?
I am willing to bet the real way the Belgium resistance got that information would make a good story, but instead we get the auction and a later contrived scene at a brothel for the heroes to acquire that piece of the puzzle.
At one point, the book would have us believe our intrepid band of heroes are able to concoct a disagreement between Churchill, Roosevelt, and the RAF. How did they do it from central Belgium? If the Nazis could access the high-level communications of the Allies why was that not being used for their own gain?
How do that Allies win the war if a telex machine in a small Belgium town can get documents on Churchill's desk?
Again a simpler explanation would fix these problems.
Realistically, the Belgium resistance did have contacts with the RAF, and they did raid the day after, possibly in connection with the publishing. However, the book's fantastical explanation takes away agency from the real people who did this. Someone risked their life to contact the RAF and tell them to attack when they did. That person was heroic.
By the end of the book, I saw that there was a really good story here. There were heroes and the idea of giving up your life to create a spoof mocking an authoritarian regime is a compelling story. However, this version of the story we never really see the characters grapple with it.
The ending is a letdown.
If the central question of the novel is "Would you die to make fun of your oppressors?" then having several of the made up characters escape deus ex machina style undermines that choice. In real life around 30,000 Belgian resistance members were captured by the Nazis and more than half died in camps or were executed.
I realize that this review is coming off more negatively that even I had anticipated. The style is good the dialogue is believable and there is a sprout of a really good story/book here, it just needs pruning.
A final quibble, the version of the book I read had no picture, or scan of the real paper. I went online to read the real thing. I was disappointed that the few snippets in the book were the ones from wikipedia. Why not give readers a full translated version as an appendix?
On the flipside terrible books are not much help either. They are obvious in their flaws. Mary Sue style protagonists, ridiculous plot points, etc. combine to show what happens when many decisions are wrong.
This book is in the middle. It has some good points, but makes some mistakes and I found myself more interested in how it was created than what the plot was doing.
There is a frame story element to this that I feel works as a detriment to the novel. It removes a layer of suspense from a main character. It is also confusing because there are times when the narrator of the story states they do not know what happened when they were not in the room, yet other times we got whole chapters and interior thoughts of characters whom the narrator was not around. It was very confusing.
Very early on in this book, I was reminded of the Aaron Sorkin TV show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." That show began much like this book with other characters telling us how funny and talented the main character was. It did not work for the show, and I don't think it really worked here. "Show don't tell" is a classic narrative axiom for a reason.
Overall this book felt more like a polished first draft that needed some hard questions from an editor.
*******Spoilers below*******
One of the main problems with this book is the lengths it has to go with the Nazis. The subplot of them entrapping members of the residence to create their own fake resistance newspaper is outlandish and only serves to create an extraneous countdown because the resistance members next decide the fake paper should be published in 2 weeks to mark Armistice Day in November.
The books' Nazi blackmail actually does a disservice to the real people who were involved because it takes their choice out of their hands. They feel like they are going to be arrested and killed anyway after working for the Nazis so they are "free" to create the spoof and go out on their own terms.
The reality is that these were resistance members that CHOSE to write this knowing that puts a target on them and that they would be disappeared for their actions. That was much heroic and idealistic than being "given" the 2 options (create a fake paper for the Nazis, a spoof for the public)
At another point the Nazis raid the resistance HQ, then just let our heroes continue. I thought that could have been an interesting angle. The writers could have been willing to sacrifice themselves for "a joke" but what about others? Was it worth it for them? The book does not know how to deal with that question so the other people taken in the raid are just forgotten about by both the author and the heroes.
In general it seems that the Nazis in this book make dumb/ridiculous/illogical decisions and that takes away from their threat/power. They were horrible people, they were monsters they killed millions. (I don't think they would let a prisoner decide which other prisoners could leave with him.)
There are plenty of roadblocks in secretly printing 50,000 copies of a fake newspaper and get it out under the occupier's nose. Simple logistical questions like where to get the ink, paper, presses and money to pull off the trick pile up throughout the rising action. The book however seems to find solutions that rival more Ocean's 11 than reality. At one point the Nazis decide to AUCTION off a key piece of intelligence, the list of places that sell their propagandist newspaper!
HUH??!?!?!?
I am willing to bet the real way the Belgium resistance got that information would make a good story, but instead we get the auction and a later contrived scene at a brothel for the heroes to acquire that piece of the puzzle.
At one point, the book would have us believe our intrepid band of heroes are able to concoct a disagreement between Churchill, Roosevelt, and the RAF. How did they do it from central Belgium? If the Nazis could access the high-level communications of the Allies why was that not being used for their own gain?
How do that Allies win the war if a telex machine in a small Belgium town can get documents on Churchill's desk?
Again a simpler explanation would fix these problems.
Realistically, the Belgium resistance did have contacts with the RAF, and they did raid the day after, possibly in connection with the publishing. However, the book's fantastical explanation takes away agency from the real people who did this. Someone risked their life to contact the RAF and tell them to attack when they did. That person was heroic.
By the end of the book, I saw that there was a really good story here. There were heroes and the idea of giving up your life to create a spoof mocking an authoritarian regime is a compelling story. However, this version of the story we never really see the characters grapple with it.
The ending is a letdown.
If the central question of the novel is "Would you die to make fun of your oppressors?" then having several of the made up characters escape deus ex machina style undermines that choice. In real life around 30,000 Belgian resistance members were captured by the Nazis and more than half died in camps or were executed.
I realize that this review is coming off more negatively that even I had anticipated. The style is good the dialogue is believable and there is a sprout of a really good story/book here, it just needs pruning.
A final quibble, the version of the book I read had no picture, or scan of the real paper. I went online to read the real thing. I was disappointed that the few snippets in the book were the ones from wikipedia. Why not give readers a full translated version as an appendix?
areader09's review
5.0
A powerful novel based on an fascinating true story set in WWII-era Belgium. The characters are richly developed and memorable. Among the many elements of this book that I enjoyed is that this book presents a different way to engage in everyday resistance to power. While bravery and hope are of course important, the Ventriloquists also demonstrates how humor can be a mighty force, against even the most powerful of enemies.
managedbybooks's review
2.0
*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
This was a great concept with poor execution. The book is far longer than necessary, some basic history facts are incorrect (America in WWII), and the chapters are short with strange point of view choices. All of these issues would have been easily solved by a decent editor.
This was a great concept with poor execution. The book is far longer than necessary, some basic history facts are incorrect (America in WWII), and the chapters are short with strange point of view choices. All of these issues would have been easily solved by a decent editor.
valpogal's review
3.0
I so wanted to love this book. Instead I found it work; there were too many moments that didn’t hold together. I had to keep referring to the list of characters and their nicknames at the beginning of the novel to know who was who. I questioned how the narrator could know what many of the characters said or felt in moments when she wasn’t present. I became quite confused as to which publication each character was purported to be working on at any given time. The novel earned three stars however: I did love being introduced to an act of rebellion I knew nothing about and I appreciated the authors portrayal of diverse and nuanced relationships. I’m wondering if I would appreciate this more after a second read? Likely, but I didn’t love it enough to invest the time.
hayleyp12's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Suicide