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4.27 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
slow-paced
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No

I haven't always been an avid reader and admittedly this book is well out of the scope of books I normally read, but this book is probably my new favorite book. I was blown away by the incredible store of Pino! This book had me hanging on every word from the preface on. I can't recommend this book enough... it has a little of it all, romance, thriller, action, and to beat all it is based on a true story! INCREDIBLE-- you won't regret it!

So this is a good book. It’s historical fiction following the true story of this really interesting guy during WWII in Milan, who helps the Allies by spying on the Nazis. It’s a really cool story. However, I was told it was better than All The Light We Cannot See and I have to STRONGLY disagree with that. Granted, that book is not based on a true story, so this guy was definitely really brave and awesome and I loved learning about his life, but I didn’t feel like the book itself was even comparable, in terms of writing. You should read it, just expect a really good story and not a beautifully written novel like I did haha.

This is an amazing true story of an unknown hero in Italy during World War II. Despite being just a teenager at the beginning of the war, Pino Lella devoted his time to helping others whose lives were at risk, and therefore, risking his own as well. His role in the resistance against Nazi Germany in Italy provided the Allied forces with invaluable information that was pivotal in their defeat of the Nazis and Fascists. Time and time again, he risked his life in numerous ways to help others and help the war efforts, and lived to tell his story 60+ years later. At times, the book almost seems as if it's a work of fiction, since the stories of his life during the war makes it seem unlikely that he would've lived through these instances, yet the story is true and relayed to the author by Lella himself. This is a story of love, dedication, and incredible resistance that is an amazing testament to life in Italy during World War II and how one survived to tell his story.
dark emotional informative fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous informative slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I enjoyed reading about a part of WWII I knew nothing about, but I found the story, based on a real person, to be a pretty superficial description of a complicated time & place.  His ability to be at so many historical events reminded me of Forrest Gump.  The love story was also a distraction for me, because it seemed so silly, and his attitude toward women so juvenile (granted, the character was young).