Reviews

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

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bookswithmissy's review

5.0

This is an incredible Cold War historical fiction book. This book follows our main character Luisa, she was moved to the United States from Germany by her grandparents at the age of 4. She was told her parents died in a car accident and they moved to the US so her grandfather could find more work.
This book really read more like a spy thriller than a historical fiction.

In 1989 Luisa is working as a CIA codebreaker. A discovery at work leads her to discover that her father is alive. She finds coded letters written by her father to her grandfather detailing life in East Berlin, behind the wall. She also learns that her father is in an East Berlin jail and she is determined to get him out of prison.

This book is told in dual timeline and dual POV (Luisa and her father's). It spans from the day the wall went up until the wall comes down in 1989. It really reads more like a spy thriller than a historical fiction book. The last 100 pages made it impossible to put this book down, I just had to find out if Luisa would get her father out. I liked the evolution of Luisa's father throughout the book, when the book begins he is all for the East German government, he believes in their vision. As the book continues and through his letters you can see his world view changing. He begins working for change in East Berlin, he doesn't want to leave his home, he wants to make his home better. And I really loved that. I think Luisa was incredibly brave, if not a little naive, in her efforts to get her father out of jail.

I learned so much reading this book, I did not know that the wall went up overnight. The people of East Berlin went to bed on a Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning to the wall in place. I didn't realize how the citizens were monitored and how you really couldn't trust anyone because you never knew who was a snitch. I can't imagine living my life like that.

This book was a @bookfriendsbookclub pick for March and we were able to have a great discussion about this book and then a chat with the author last night. I loved hearing from Katherine about her writing process and all of the things she learned while researching this book.

jaclun22's review

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adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

sarah_reading_party's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely adored Katherine Reay's newest novel, The Berlin Letters! This book was gripping, engaging, and so well written. Told in dual timelines, this is the story of a father and a daughter, and a family as a whole, whose lives are transformed by the Cold War. The author must have spent a ridiculous amount of time researching this novel - the level of details given to life in East Germany in the 1960s-1980s, as well as life in the States in 1989. it was heartbreaking reading about how families were torn apart thanks to the Berlin Wall...and with the wall coming down during my lifetime (I was 4!), it is amazing how much things have changed. I really liked Luisa as a character - she was so driven, so committed to her family, so smart. What a strong woman and you couldn't help but root for her. My only complaint (even though I LOVED this book) was that everything tied up so nicely and her career path just happened to put her in a place where she could engage in a dramatic conclusion. But what is a novel without some coincidences. :)

Highly recommend this book!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

abookwormwithwine's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was really excited to read The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay and I'm glad I did! Besides the family aspect and the lengths our FMC Luisa would go to save her father, I loved that this revolved around the Cold War, the Berlin Wall coming down, and code-breaking. These are things I have not read a lot about, and this is the first book I have read revolving around the wall. I really appreciated the author’s note as well, and it is definitely a must-read that was thankfully included in the audiobook. Many moments had me on the edge of my seat, and this was both a heartbreaking and inspiring piece of historical fiction.

Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon & P. J. Ochlan narrate the audiobook and they all made the story come alive in equal measure. I was already a fan of Maarleveld and she along with the other two narrators fit their respective parts perfectly. The Berlin Letters is thoroughly engrossing no matter what format you decide to read it in, and I loved the air of mystery plus the ‘will she or won’t she’ that ensues. The only thing I didn’t love was the chapter from Luisa’s father near the end that repeated the exact same thing we had already experienced in her chapter right before. Besides that, this was an outstanding novel that will stick with me for some time, and I will definitely have to read this author again.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.