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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked the overall theme of the book, the title choice made sense at the end. Authors note is informative to read, don’t skip it.
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
David Baldacci has another standalone novel (great for people who don’t like to get invested in series). This one takes place in 1944 London, in the midst of World War Two. It featured three main characters: Charlie, an almost-14-year-old from the bombed-out East End, living with his grandmother in very dire conditions; Molly, a 15-year-old whose well-to-do family sent her out of London five years earlier, but who has now returned to find London and her family very much changed; and Ignatius Oliver, a widower who runs a bookshop. Through various circumstances, they meet and over the course of the book become like family, amid the horrors of wartime bombing.
I don’t read a lot of World War Two books these days, but since it was David Baldacci, I gave it a whirl, and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed all three main characters and empathized with what they had and were going through. I thought the ending was wrapped up a bit too nicely, but that’s a minor quibble.
I had access to both the print/ebook version and the audio version, and when that happens, I normally bounce back and forth between the two, depending on circumstances. However, in this instance, the audiobook was so wonderful that I basically listened to the entire book. There’s a full-cast consisting of Stewart Crank, Alexandra Boulton, John Lee, Nicola F. Delgado, Matthew Lloyd Davies, and Joe Pitts. I have no idea who voiced which characters, but they all combined to bring the story to life beautifully. Baldacci reads an interesting Author’s Note at the end of the audiobook, which is something I always enjoy. Because of the quality of the audiobook, I rated this a bit higher than I might have otherwise.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book and to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Medical content, Classism
Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality
This was such a great story. I loved the three characters and how they all came together. There is so much that each one of them goes through and I love how it shows that it takes one person to be kind and it can change your life. This is a World War 2 story and it is in London. You get to see how three people from different backgrounds all go through it together. Overall a great book I highly recommend it.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thoroughly enjoyed the audio production of this book! Superb voice acting which really helped transport me in to the story.
The story itself was perhaps a touch unbelievable, especially in regards to Oliver’s suspicious behaviour (which I predicted in advance) and the latter part might have benefited from being a little more brief, but I still throughly enjoyed my time with this audiobook. The setting was captured in amazing detail and the strong characters were beautifully written. The circumstances they found themselves in had a totally believable bittersweet feel to it.
Now I just need to stop going down Wikipedia rabbit holes reading more of the history of the time!
The story itself was perhaps a touch unbelievable, especially in regards to Oliver’s suspicious behaviour (which I predicted in advance) and the latter part might have benefited from being a little more brief, but I still throughly enjoyed my time with this audiobook. The setting was captured in amazing detail and the strong characters were beautifully written. The circumstances they found themselves in had a totally believable bittersweet feel to it.
Now I just need to stop going down Wikipedia rabbit holes reading more of the history of the time!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
I liked how this book explores a different take on WWII historical fiction. The found family in a war-torn world angle drew me in and it was full of shocking twists—suicide, espionage, mental health struggles, and betrayal. The themes were very powerful, but I still felt the plot sometimes lost focus. After loving A Calamity of Souls, this one didn’t speak to me as much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated