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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Update: 6/19/18
I'm giving this a full 5 stars because I loved the book so much that I don't even remember nor care about what I took a 0.5 off. I still keep thinking about it and I want to read it again, and so you see, I'm still in a book hangover a full month later. That's how powerful this is.
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Original review
*4.5
This was a very remarkable story! I absolutely love historical fiction and this might be one of my top ones! There was lots of pace and action, the dialogue was realistic, the whole setting of the story, the way the book takes you to Germany, back to the past in a child's eyes, all of it was just amazing. It was gripping, educational and surprisingly funny at times. The theatre aspect of it was also very interesting to see because it shaped the main character herself. Although, I had some trouble with the foreign words used (I literally had google translate open every three sentences) and some parts of the story were just so conveniently placed that sometimes problems were solved just by sheer luck and not because of the characters solving them. That only happened occasionally though, but that's still where the .5 came off. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book.
I'm giving this a full 5 stars because I loved the book so much that I don't even remember nor care about what I took a 0.5 off. I still keep thinking about it and I want to read it again, and so you see, I'm still in a book hangover a full month later. That's how powerful this is.
-
Original review
*4.5
This was a very remarkable story! I absolutely love historical fiction and this might be one of my top ones! There was lots of pace and action, the dialogue was realistic, the whole setting of the story, the way the book takes you to Germany, back to the past in a child's eyes, all of it was just amazing. It was gripping, educational and surprisingly funny at times. The theatre aspect of it was also very interesting to see because it shaped the main character herself. Although, I had some trouble with the foreign words used (I literally had google translate open every three sentences) and some parts of the story were just so conveniently placed that sometimes problems were solved just by sheer luck and not because of the characters solving them. That only happened occasionally though, but that's still where the .5 came off. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book.
sexual assault puts me off pretty much every time, especially written by a man about a teenage girl. also thrillers are Not my genre, i should know this by now,
3.5 stars
In Matt Killeen's World War II drama, blonde, blue-eyed, and Jewish Sarah finds herself on the run from the government--and straight into the lap of a mysterious man who she discovers is a spy.
He needs Sarah to become a spy to, in a different manner than infiltrating the government: Infiltrating an elite Nazi boarding school.
There, Sarah must pull off the mission he cannot--befriend the daughter of a key scientist and steal the blueprints to a bomb with the potential to destroy countless cities. But nothing prepares her for the cutthroat schoolmates she encountered a battle for survival she couldn't have imagined.
This book is an action packed monster. There's all sorts of thrilling things going on here and it makes for a very compelling narrative.
I had a lot of fun reading it in the sense that I was always entertained and sped right through the whole book--yet, this source of entertainment also left a small sour feeling in my mouth.
I can't comment on the sensitivity of this novel--I neither have the knowledge nor the cultural experience to say whether or not this would be offensive to someone. But at times I disliked just how commercial this book was.
Most WWII books you read are emotionally heavy--there are millions of people who are being discriminated against, treated badly, and killed. And with this notion of other WWII books, I did feel bad about myself when reading this because I felt like I wasn't supposed to enjoy such a terrible time in the world's history so much.
It literally says it in the summary that this is a "highly commercial...drama."
And this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do still feel kind of guilty for enjoying a book that's entertaining despite the millions of people suffering.
But if we ignore the actual premise, this book is so entertaining.
I was totally sucked in and read this all in one morning because it was such a entertaining read. The plot and pacing were all great and it balanced out well.
But, I was a little foggy on some things.
The character development. This happens to countless action-y novels, but I felt like the characters were not developed enough.
What really got me was the lack of motive. I'm not sure if I just missed it, or if it was really unclear, but I didn't really get a good grasp of why Sarah agreed to be a spy. She's a 15 year old orphan--why would she risk her life like that?
I get the very basic "revenge" and "free Germany from the bad government" idea, but she can't be that moral. I needed more on her motivations, and this was what ultimately dropped the rest of the book's rating for me. It was just too unclear on the why, and it made me not appreciate what was happening as much.
Likewise, the motivation of the spy guy she meets should have been questioned more--who would actually risk the life of a random girl? Why would he accept her so easily?
The motives behind all the actions were one of the parts that I think needed a little more work in this novel, but besides this and the niggling feeling, I did enjoy this book (hence the positive rating).
If you're looking for an entertaining read in a high stakes environment that won't require too much emotional investment, check out Killeen's debut, Orphan Monster Spy!
Trigger warning for rape.
Thank you to my library and Viking BFYR/Penguin for providing me with an (uncatalogued) advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
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In Matt Killeen's World War II drama, blonde, blue-eyed, and Jewish Sarah finds herself on the run from the government--and straight into the lap of a mysterious man who she discovers is a spy.
He needs Sarah to become a spy to, in a different manner than infiltrating the government: Infiltrating an elite Nazi boarding school.
There, Sarah must pull off the mission he cannot--befriend the daughter of a key scientist and steal the blueprints to a bomb with the potential to destroy countless cities. But nothing prepares her for the cutthroat schoolmates she encountered a battle for survival she couldn't have imagined.
This book is an action packed monster. There's all sorts of thrilling things going on here and it makes for a very compelling narrative.
I had a lot of fun reading it in the sense that I was always entertained and sped right through the whole book--yet, this source of entertainment also left a small sour feeling in my mouth.
I can't comment on the sensitivity of this novel--I neither have the knowledge nor the cultural experience to say whether or not this would be offensive to someone. But at times I disliked just how commercial this book was.
Most WWII books you read are emotionally heavy--there are millions of people who are being discriminated against, treated badly, and killed. And with this notion of other WWII books, I did feel bad about myself when reading this because I felt like I wasn't supposed to enjoy such a terrible time in the world's history so much.
It literally says it in the summary that this is a "highly commercial...drama."
And this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do still feel kind of guilty for enjoying a book that's entertaining despite the millions of people suffering.
But if we ignore the actual premise, this book is so entertaining.
I was totally sucked in and read this all in one morning because it was such a entertaining read. The plot and pacing were all great and it balanced out well.
But, I was a little foggy on some things.
The character development. This happens to countless action-y novels, but I felt like the characters were not developed enough.
What really got me was the lack of motive. I'm not sure if I just missed it, or if it was really unclear, but I didn't really get a good grasp of why Sarah agreed to be a spy. She's a 15 year old orphan--why would she risk her life like that?
I get the very basic "revenge" and "free Germany from the bad government" idea, but she can't be that moral. I needed more on her motivations, and this was what ultimately dropped the rest of the book's rating for me. It was just too unclear on the why, and it made me not appreciate what was happening as much.
Likewise, the motivation of the spy guy she meets should have been questioned more--who would actually risk the life of a random girl? Why would he accept her so easily?
The motives behind all the actions were one of the parts that I think needed a little more work in this novel, but besides this and the niggling feeling, I did enjoy this book (hence the positive rating).
If you're looking for an entertaining read in a high stakes environment that won't require too much emotional investment, check out Killeen's debut, Orphan Monster Spy!
Trigger warning for rape.
Thank you to my library and Viking BFYR/Penguin for providing me with an (uncatalogued) advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
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There were a lot of twists I wasn’t expecting. There are a few references to child abuse and that was a little uneasy while reading. It’s an interesting take on the WWII historical fiction genre. I wouldn’t suggest it for students who have a difficult time reading about violence.
4 stars
“Like the contents of a desk , a library tells you about the person.”
This was a fast-paced, thrilling and disturbing novel that really gripped me. It is set during WW2 and it is about a 15 year old Jewish girl called Sarah who ends up on the run from the government after her mother is shot and killed at a checkpoint. She then meets a mysterious man who turns out to be spy, they decide to team up and she ends up spying in a Nazi boarding school in order to befriend one of the top Nazis daughters.
I loved the plot of this novel is was so unique and well thought out and some of the plot twists took me by complete surprise however sometimes this book could be completely disturbing . Another thing I loved about this novel was the characters , they weren’t one dimensional people who were either bad or good – they were complex. I especially loved that Sarah was questioning her morality , her character was definitely an interesting one and seeing her develop through the novel was so amazing.
Overall this was a clever and well researched historical fiction novel but sometimes the plot slowed down a little and I got bored but the characters were incredible. I am definitely going to be reading the next book.
“Like the contents of a desk , a library tells you about the person.”
This was a fast-paced, thrilling and disturbing novel that really gripped me. It is set during WW2 and it is about a 15 year old Jewish girl called Sarah who ends up on the run from the government after her mother is shot and killed at a checkpoint. She then meets a mysterious man who turns out to be spy, they decide to team up and she ends up spying in a Nazi boarding school in order to befriend one of the top Nazis daughters.
I loved the plot of this novel is was so unique and well thought out and some of the plot twists took me by complete surprise however sometimes this book could be completely disturbing . Another thing I loved about this novel was the characters , they weren’t one dimensional people who were either bad or good – they were complex. I especially loved that Sarah was questioning her morality , her character was definitely an interesting one and seeing her develop through the novel was so amazing.
Overall this was a clever and well researched historical fiction novel but sometimes the plot slowed down a little and I got bored but the characters were incredible. I am definitely going to be reading the next book.
Her mother is dead, and she has no papers. Still, she must flee. If you’re 15 and Jewish in Nazi Germany, your only hope is escape. But where? You watched them kill your mother at a checkpoint, and you escaped. Now you’re running, running, and you don’t have a plan.
That’s how it starts for Sarah who, after an encounter with a man whose accent she can’t place, changes her name to Ursula and adopts his fake last name, Haller. Sarah is blond and blue-eyed—the genetic product of a gentile dad and a Jewish mom. She mostly got dear old Dad’s looks, so she can pass for a little Nazi monster in one of the nation’s most elite schools for girls. Her benefactor, the British spy who saved her from capture, needs her to befriend one of the students in the school—a student whose father is developing the ability to create a guided bomb that can level Great Britain with very little effort.
You will read this because Sarah’s character will stand out and be memorable to you. Those who have sensitivity to violence perpetrated against people by people, be aware that there is one scene here where a Nazi teacher savagely beats one of the students. Sarah is also subject to an attempted rape at one point. The final quarter of the book will elevate your heart rate and leave you unable to activate the stop button on your player. Yes, it really is that good.
A quick word, if I may, about the narrator: I normally have an almost-allergic reaction to this narrator. Her angsty style and constant vocal fry are a complete distraction and turnoff. However, she avoids all that depressive angst and nearly all of the annoying-as-heck vocal fry in this narration. You can actually read this and not yearn for a different narrator.
That’s how it starts for Sarah who, after an encounter with a man whose accent she can’t place, changes her name to Ursula and adopts his fake last name, Haller. Sarah is blond and blue-eyed—the genetic product of a gentile dad and a Jewish mom. She mostly got dear old Dad’s looks, so she can pass for a little Nazi monster in one of the nation’s most elite schools for girls. Her benefactor, the British spy who saved her from capture, needs her to befriend one of the students in the school—a student whose father is developing the ability to create a guided bomb that can level Great Britain with very little effort.
You will read this because Sarah’s character will stand out and be memorable to you. Those who have sensitivity to violence perpetrated against people by people, be aware that there is one scene here where a Nazi teacher savagely beats one of the students. Sarah is also subject to an attempted rape at one point. The final quarter of the book will elevate your heart rate and leave you unable to activate the stop button on your player. Yes, it really is that good.
A quick word, if I may, about the narrator: I normally have an almost-allergic reaction to this narrator. Her angsty style and constant vocal fry are a complete distraction and turnoff. However, she avoids all that depressive angst and nearly all of the annoying-as-heck vocal fry in this narration. You can actually read this and not yearn for a different narrator.
While I didn't always like the writing, the fast-paced female-dominated plot offered an interesting perspective on resistance in Nazi Germany.