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alexareynolds's review against another edition
4.0
Strong female characters with a storyline that is dramatic & historical.
ericapetie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
3skeinneen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was my first read by this author, a recommendation from a friend. The book started slow for me but definitely picked up mid-way. However, like other reviews I felt Charlie’s storyline was flat and not as enjoyable as Eve’s. I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this book, like how the spy network operated and what life was like in occupied France. Also, that Louise de Bettignies was a real heroine and this book paid tribute to her. Definitely a bit too long, but a good read!
hephzi13's review against another edition
I could not get I to the story line. I kept trying but the book did not captivate me how I had hoped.
vvijayanti's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
annamk1704's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
manderleydays's review against another edition
4.0
[Actual Rating – 4.2/5, Spoiler Free Review]
I finished this book thinking about how it absolutely blew me away. However, when I think about what I learned from this book – nothing specific really came up. As a standalone work of fiction (and somewhat non-fiction), I thought it was a really good book. But in comparison to the whole genre of WWI-WWII fiction, it pales in comparison to other works.
War always is about loss, grief, and pain. And I felt each of those deliberately and deeply as I read this book – Eve's story was touching, but nonetheless grotesque. Chills came down my spine as I sit here trying to recollect all the things that had happened to her. As a woman who prides herself on being quite tenacious and resilient, there were so many moments in which I thought to myself, "Wow, I could never ever do this." You know what they say, in war, you become who you truly are. And I am definitely not a woman of Louise de Bettignies' calibre. Though to stand out in this category of historical fiction, there needed to be more than just grief, more than just loss, or pain.
When it comes to wartime fiction I oftentimes find myself searching for glints of humanity – honestly I ended up being rather relieved that Charlie's story was set post-WWII, because I don't think I could have sat there and jumped back and forth between one war and the other. This was a brilliant novel and an engaging read, but I found it to be quite lacking in the humanity slash morality aspect, hence I cannot say that this book was an all rounder, five out of five stars read for me.
One thing that I found Kate Quinn did extremely well, was her ability to seamlessly thread in fictional narratives into existing, non-fictional ones. I have never read a WWI-WWII novel that did this as well as The Alice Network did, and I think the Author's note further solidifies how much time and effort went into the research and writing. Without this book, I'm sure many of us would have never known the names Louise de Bettignies and Charlotte Lameron. And these amazing women deserve more than their medals of honour or the occasional mention in some history book. They deserve to be remembered – and the fact that another woman has continued to spread their legacy, albeit through a work of fiction, is just inspiring and touching to me. I LOVED this book. So much. This was the first wartime fiction novel I completed in a very long time, and every single second spent going through it had been absolutely worth it.
I finished this book thinking about how it absolutely blew me away. However, when I think about what I learned from this book – nothing specific really came up. As a standalone work of fiction (and somewhat non-fiction), I thought it was a really good book. But in comparison to the whole genre of WWI-WWII fiction, it pales in comparison to other works.
War always is about loss, grief, and pain. And I felt each of those deliberately and deeply as I read this book – Eve's story was touching, but nonetheless grotesque. Chills came down my spine as I sit here trying to recollect all the things that had happened to her. As a woman who prides herself on being quite tenacious and resilient, there were so many moments in which I thought to myself, "Wow, I could never ever do this." You know what they say, in war, you become who you truly are. And I am definitely not a woman of Louise de Bettignies' calibre. Though to stand out in this category of historical fiction, there needed to be more than just grief, more than just loss, or pain.
When it comes to wartime fiction I oftentimes find myself searching for glints of humanity – honestly I ended up being rather relieved that Charlie's story was set post-WWII, because I don't think I could have sat there and jumped back and forth between one war and the other. This was a brilliant novel and an engaging read, but I found it to be quite lacking in the humanity slash morality aspect, hence I cannot say that this book was an all rounder, five out of five stars read for me.
One thing that I found Kate Quinn did extremely well, was her ability to seamlessly thread in fictional narratives into existing, non-fictional ones. I have never read a WWI-WWII novel that did this as well as The Alice Network did, and I think the Author's note further solidifies how much time and effort went into the research and writing. Without this book, I'm sure many of us would have never known the names Louise de Bettignies and Charlotte Lameron. And these amazing women deserve more than their medals of honour or the occasional mention in some history book. They deserve to be remembered – and the fact that another woman has continued to spread their legacy, albeit through a work of fiction, is just inspiring and touching to me. I LOVED this book. So much. This was the first wartime fiction novel I completed in a very long time, and every single second spent going through it had been absolutely worth it.