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4.57 AVERAGE
4.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
I couldn’t put this book down.
It was moving and inspiring how she kept moving forward. She put others before herself. The ending was bitter sweet, emotional, and devastating. A beautiful story.
It was moving and inspiring how she kept moving forward. She put others before herself. The ending was bitter sweet, emotional, and devastating. A beautiful story.
This is the second chance I’ve given this author and I think that’s enough for me, I fear our breakup is imminent. While slightly more compelling than “the Women”, I am stunned to see how highly rated this book was on here. Grab a baguette or a skinny cigarette and make sure your beret isn’t askew, and I’ll try to talk about where this book lost me.
The sisters are poorly written. At the beginning of the book Isabelle is fiery, outspoken, and courageous, and at the end of the book, literally nothing has changed about her. Vienne has a ~slightly~ better character arc, showing her growth from “keep your head down at all costs and do what they say” to saving children throughout the war, but it wasn’t shown in any kind of compelling way. She has some morally gray relationship with a Nazi officer who boards with her, which for me, I’m not interested in entertaining.
The setting felt exaggerated and poorly researched. I kept being pulled out of the story because of cliche french characters, and food, and lore. I think to write a historical fiction about such a significant part of history, taking creative liberties is a bit bold, and a bit disrespectful. The writing was just fine, but there were a number of discrepancies with the ages of the sisters, and how their family dynamic played out that simply weren’t edited correctly and it felt cheap.
The story was just okay. As I read more and more and take these reviews seriously, I am just not a romance girl. The romance I do enjoy consuming is hard fought, and takes books to build for me to find it believable. I am over finding books centered around female protagonists and have it intruded on by a man I simply don’t care about. Additionally, I really dislike how the author handles sensitive and tragic situations. I felt the same with The Women, and feel the same here. It’s cheap, played for shock, and overall have no value to the story. The author has not worked hard enough to show me why she wrote certain scenes the way she did and how it affects the world and characters she wrote.
The sisters are poorly written. At the beginning of the book Isabelle is fiery, outspoken, and courageous, and at the end of the book, literally nothing has changed about her. Vienne has a ~slightly~ better character arc, showing her growth from “keep your head down at all costs and do what they say” to saving children throughout the war, but it wasn’t shown in any kind of compelling way. She has some morally gray relationship with a Nazi officer who boards with her, which for me, I’m not interested in entertaining.
The setting felt exaggerated and poorly researched. I kept being pulled out of the story because of cliche french characters, and food, and lore. I think to write a historical fiction about such a significant part of history, taking creative liberties is a bit bold, and a bit disrespectful. The writing was just fine, but there were a number of discrepancies with the ages of the sisters, and how their family dynamic played out that simply weren’t edited correctly and it felt cheap.
The story was just okay. As I read more and more and take these reviews seriously, I am just not a romance girl. The romance I do enjoy consuming is hard fought, and takes books to build for me to find it believable. I am over finding books centered around female protagonists and have it intruded on by a man I simply don’t care about. Additionally, I really dislike how the author handles sensitive and tragic situations. I felt the same with The Women, and feel the same here. It’s cheap, played for shock, and overall have no value to the story. The author has not worked hard enough to show me why she wrote certain scenes the way she did and how it affects the world and characters she wrote.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book wrecked me in every way imaginable. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, the journey of two sisters through WW2 and the French Resistance using their very different but comparable strengths, and the consequences that follow, touched me to the core. I literally sobbed for the tragedy, loss, resilience and hope in a hopeless situation that comes with war. Definitely in my top five books that I’ve ever read.
very slow beginning and at times felt a little "young adult" ish, but had a surprisingly emotional ending and was a beautiful story of the strength of women in war and the love between sisters.
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced