Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
"The law is not the truth... it is only a glimpse into the values of man at any given point in history. Don't confuse the laws of man with the word of God."
I was very excited to read this book. I love historical fiction, especially about WWII. But I also love reading form the POV of the other side. Not EVERY German was bad and I think its important to know their POV as well. While I loved the characters and the story itself, the title mad me think it was going to mainly focused on German Brides being molded into the perfect German arm piece, while being silently defiant and helping the "enemy". While this did happen a tiny bit, but the book felt incomplete to me.
What I Liked: I loved the characters !! Hanna was really a strong girl. While she was German, being forced to live with her rich aunt and uncle after her very sweet, empathetic mother died- she was still not willing to loose who she was and let the fear or the luxury change who she was inside. And Tilde- she was definitely my favorite. Her German father abandoned her and her mother when the Jewish people became "less than" and that destroyed her. She worked so hard to hide who she was to protect her family, but also wanted the love her father took from her. She was so strong and brave especially when it came to protecting her mother and that her baby. I loved her!! Even Klara, she seemed a little snooty at times, but turned out to be a lifesaver!
What I didn't like: I wish there would have been more "Bride School" I wanted to read about what the brides-to-be of very loyal official German officers had to go through and we didn't get much of that. I wanted more of the love story that started developing and more of the resistance these girls worked behind the scenes.
Overall, it was a great story. I think if the title wouldn't have implied the book would be about a Bride School, and more about the lives of German girls living in Berlin at the beginning of the war, on both sides... it would have been a lot better.
Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow and Custom House, and Aimie K Runyan for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was very excited to read this book. I love historical fiction, especially about WWII. But I also love reading form the POV of the other side. Not EVERY German was bad and I think its important to know their POV as well. While I loved the characters and the story itself, the title mad me think it was going to mainly focused on German Brides being molded into the perfect German arm piece, while being silently defiant and helping the "enemy". While this did happen a tiny bit, but the book felt incomplete to me.
What I Liked: I loved the characters !! Hanna was really a strong girl. While she was German, being forced to live with her rich aunt and uncle after her very sweet, empathetic mother died- she was still not willing to loose who she was and let the fear or the luxury change who she was inside. And Tilde- she was definitely my favorite. Her German father abandoned her and her mother when the Jewish people became "less than" and that destroyed her. She worked so hard to hide who she was to protect her family, but also wanted the love her father took from her. She was so strong and brave especially when it came to protecting her mother and that her baby. I loved her!! Even Klara, she seemed a little snooty at times, but turned out to be a lifesaver!
What I didn't like: I wish there would have been more "Bride School" I wanted to read about what the brides-to-be of very loyal official German officers had to go through and we didn't get much of that. I wanted more of the love story that started developing and more of the resistance these girls worked behind the scenes.
Overall, it was a great story. I think if the title wouldn't have implied the book would be about a Bride School, and more about the lives of German girls living in Berlin at the beginning of the war, on both sides... it would have been a lot better.
Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow and Custom House, and Aimie K Runyan for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War
prejudice- this book is not as graphic as most WWII books, but still does mention the hatred Germany had towards Jews, Gypsies and others.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Overall I thought this was a good book. I do wish it had actually focused on the School rather than just being a blip in the last 100 pages or so. It kind of seems like the title was a little misleading. Hanna's aunt and uncle, along with several other characters, were highly dislikable, but given the context of the story and the way Hanna is treated, it's obvious they are not meant to be very nice people and in that regard are written well. There were several times I wanted to grab at least one of them by the lapels and shake some sense into them. As appalling as these characters were at times, I think it's important to remember that this was a very real situation for thousands upon thousands and as unpleasant as it can be, it's important to hear these stories. I did like that even though Hanna and Tilde were the two POVs, we got to see Klara from both sides and she became a full character through them. We even learn what became of her in the epilogue. If I came across this author again, I would definitely read another of her books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
emotional
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Thank you to Edelweiss, William Morrow Paperbacks, & HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.
BRINGBORROW BYPASS
I've said it before and I'll say it (yet) again - I love how many stories and point of views have yet to be explored in historical fiction. With as much historical fiction as I've read, this book stood out to me for a number of reasons (a lot of which I can't really get into it without spoiling some major plot points, unfortunately).
Suffice it to say that this was a nuanced (albeit frustratingly - maddeningly - despicable) take on how regular citizens coped underneath the Nazi regime; both in making the best of their situations and doing small things to help others. I really enjoyed the characterizations of all the main characters, and liked how the novel was set up - with two alternating viewpoints, that of Hanna and Tilde, and then Klara, the girl that connected them both but had no POV dedicated to her.
I think this would be a really good book club pick, providing lots of topics to discuss - some definitely harder than others.
Would absolutely recommend this novel to those looking for more books in the WWII Historical Fiction genre!
BRING
I've said it before and I'll say it (yet) again - I love how many stories and point of views have yet to be explored in historical fiction. With as much historical fiction as I've read, this book stood out to me for a number of reasons (a lot of which I can't really get into it without spoiling some major plot points, unfortunately).
Suffice it to say that this was a nuanced (albeit frustratingly - maddeningly - despicable) take on how regular citizens coped underneath the Nazi regime; both in making the best of their situations and doing small things to help others. I really enjoyed the characterizations of all the main characters, and liked how the novel was set up - with two alternating viewpoints, that of Hanna and Tilde, and then Klara, the girl that connected them both but had no POV dedicated to her.
I think this would be a really good book club pick, providing lots of topics to discuss - some definitely harder than others.
Would absolutely recommend this novel to those looking for more books in the WWII Historical Fiction genre!
Content Warnings
Antisemitism, Mentions of Concentration Camps, Description of Kristallnacht (directly impacting MC), Rape, Spousal Rape, Forced Marriage, Parental Abandonment
I was over half way through the book and we had yet to meet ‘Rachel’, one of the two main characters outlined in the description. Additionally, the school for brides that is in the title of the book hasn’t been mentioned yet. Either get a new title or bring in the school MUCH earlier in the plot.