Scan barcode
speesh's review against another edition
3.0
Yes, it is a good concept and uncovers, for me anyway, an aspect of the early and middle days of World War II, until the Allied landings in Normandy, that I hadn't really thought a whole lot about. The danger from home-based, home-bred, English/British Nazi sympathisers. And not those in the Aristocracy either. I guess it could be allowed for that there were people, as now, who thought Hitler was on the right track, but to go so far as gather intelligence and attempt to ship that intelligence back to Berlin, I hadn't really considered it all that much. Yes, it is well written and plotted, but...it really should have been a lot better really. Stronger deeper characterisation, more tension, more of a feeling of dread that it could all go wrong and the war-effort on a knife-edge, especially when one of the friends from Berlin comes over. Especially that could have been handled better, made much more deadly. As it is, it all reads like a Wartime Romance novel, albeit one with a bit of an edge. I wouldn't say it was lacklustre, there is a sense of purpose, and the first half, where he plays us along - that is, if you don't read the back of book blurb - well done. Just a shame the marketing department at Penguin let him down rather and his hard, not quite revealing who is who and what strategy, is undone somewhat. He does however, I feel, get to the heart of the (excuse the pun) 'little Hitlers' that there were, who built their own self-importance up in wartime, by gathering 'intelligence,' and generally making themselves feel important to the only side that made them feel that way. The meetings in pubs, the passing of observations and the characterisations of these nobodies is the best thing in the book.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it very much, but I really can't see how it matches up to the praise I've seen written about it and the back of book blurb up top there. You should read it if you want a well-done period piece and a window onto an aspect of WWII in Britain that I don't think there has been written too much about. But don't go expecting a tense thriller.
Blog: Speesh Reads
Facebook: Speesh Reads
Pinterest: Speesh Reads
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it very much, but I really can't see how it matches up to the praise I've seen written about it and the back of book blurb up top there. You should read it if you want a well-done period piece and a window onto an aspect of WWII in Britain that I don't think there has been written too much about. But don't go expecting a tense thriller.
Blog: Speesh Reads
Facebook: Speesh Reads
Pinterest: Speesh Reads
paulinevb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
lefthandedbibliophile's review
4.0
I am a big fan of espionage thrillers esp those of the relatively bygone eras. There's something endearing? charming ? to read about the times of warfare, in fiction ie., when there was lack of cutting edge technology (as compared to recent times). (As an esrtwhile student of history i've always shied away from the academic history of warfare, I find it too dry and dull).
Based on a true incident during the second world war (that I am not aware of and need to check), Our friends in Berlin is a gripping, fast paced espionage thriller, which gives us a glimpse of the day-to-day lives of common Londoners, how lives would go on for people despite of the ongoing war, being subject to frequent bombings, air raids, strict rationing and ever present under currents and threats of conspiracies and spies. The story did have a fairly predictable plot, I still was not expecting the climax! thankfully this prevented the book from being totally predictable.
But! the vagaries of a reader, it is the cliched end that I would have definitely wanted for my protags, so deducting a star for not getting the ending that I wanted.
Based on a true incident during the second world war (that I am not aware of and need to check), Our friends in Berlin is a gripping, fast paced espionage thriller, which gives us a glimpse of the day-to-day lives of common Londoners, how lives would go on for people despite of the ongoing war, being subject to frequent bombings, air raids, strict rationing and ever present under currents and threats of conspiracies and spies. The story did have a fairly predictable plot, I still was not expecting the climax!
But! the vagaries of a reader, it is the cliched end that I would have definitely wanted for my protags, so deducting a star for not getting the ending that I wanted.
louisefbooks96's review
5.0
Amazing simply amazing read in a day captivated and thoroughly enjoyed would recommend to everyone I know - plot twists amazing never saw them coming at all
pgchuis's review
3.0
3.5* rounded down.
To be fair, this book is suffering from my having read it so soon after Kate Atkinson's "Transcription", which covers much of the same ground. It was a quick and easy read, and I enjoyed it, although parts of it stretched credulity. Could middle class people in southern England really afford to pay for the services of a marriage bureau by 1944?
The section set in 1935, which was suddenly inserted into the wartime narrative, felt longer than necessary. Then the narrative jumped from 1941 to 1944, during which time Jack had apparently kept his deception going (how? I wanted to know why Marita had apparently been content with the status quo for all these years). Amy was described both as having forgotten all about Jack and also as still having a bit of a thing for him. Jack's character never really came to life and Amy brought things to a head at the end by behaving in a totally stupid fashion. The final chapter confused me - what was its purpose(apart from Amy seeing Marita on the bus) ?
To be fair, this book is suffering from my having read it so soon after Kate Atkinson's "Transcription", which covers much of the same ground. It was a quick and easy read, and I enjoyed it, although parts of it stretched credulity. Could middle class people in southern England really afford to pay for the services of a marriage bureau by 1944?
The section set in 1935, which was suddenly inserted into the wartime narrative, felt longer than necessary. Then the narrative jumped from 1941 to 1944, during which time Jack had apparently kept his deception going (how? I wanted to know why Marita had apparently been content with the status quo for all these years). Amy was described both as having forgotten all about Jack and also as still having a bit of a thing for him. Jack's character never really came to life and Amy brought things to a head at the end by behaving in a totally stupid fashion. The final chapter confused me - what was its purpose
offmessage's review
5.0
Unexpectedly brilliant. Far more character led than I was expecting, but I found the underlying tension superbly gripping.
More...