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kojicic's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
While I usually enjoy historical fiction from this time period, I struggled to find these characters believable and three dimensional. It doesn't help that the protagonist (an American living in France, countries that lost less than 1% and 2% of their populations during World war II) openly criticized Eastern European countries like Poland for their war efforts when in fact they participated far more as a military and lost one in five of its citizens during the war. But sure, keep complaining about how you don't have nice soap during occupation. Stuff like that made it hard to care about Nanée. Kate Quinn and Kristin Hannah do it better.
biesterba's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-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? No
3.5
beegereads's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
hitechredneck's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
mangoway's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this book, but like when there's a gun in the first, having a person do fabulous flying in the first scene and not go near the air again til the very end of the book was a little distracting.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
This was a moving WWII tale about an American heiress going above and beyond during the wartime in France to help the resistance. I loved that she was a pilot and was trying to help a German Jewish refugee and his daughter to find safety. One of the more original WWII espionage stories I've read, perfect for fans of books like Code name Helene or the Black swan of Paris.
picklespost's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t know this going into the book but the Marigold Lodge in Michigan is brought up and I wish they would have talked more about that history. But I guess it’s something I’ll have to dive into on my own.
reneesmith's review
5.0
Lyrical writing. Equal turns touching & riveting. A story of courageous people inspired by their real-life counterparts. My favorite part--the beautiful father/daughter relationship. So glad I chose this as my audiobook for commuting back & forth to school this week!
autumnous17's review against another edition
1.0
What did I just read?? Had I not been buddy reading this with a friend, I would have set it aside 135 pages in. Historical fiction is my FAVORITE genre, and maybe I’ve been spoiled with AMAZING books such as The Rose Code, The Alice Network, The Nightingale, Beneath the Scarlet Sky, among many others. I thought this was a debut novel after reading it, but flipped to the book jacket and saw it was her 7th. How?!?!
This book was disjointed, lacked any depth, repeatedly reminded you about mundane facts that don’t add to the story, goes from building the suspense of an event to suddenly having escaped the event with absolutely no detail between, and the “love” between Edouard and Nanee was so confusing and forced.
Luki was cute, but her kangaroo’s name??? Ugh. My friend and I had to contact each other because we both thought we missed something after her dad called it one name (and repeatedly said it) but she called it something else. I know, silly thing to get stuck on, but it’s one non-spoiler example of many larger inconsistencies in the book.
I feel like the editor told the author some things were unclear so she made the stupidest things clear (like repeating she had an American passport or had safety pinned Joey to the pouch), but dropped the ball on HUGE action events. It was almost like she built it up so much, but lost the momentum on how to resolve the conflict so the scene would jump to the resolution. It was frustrating.
Also, her Postmistress position took up like 20 of the 400 pages. She didn’t seem to play a big part in that role at all. She also left Paris in the beginning, so I don’t get the title.
The book opened with her as a pilot, so I thought cool, she’ll use that skill to help rescue refugees, but then she didn’t fly the rest of the book at all. Why mention or start the book with her as a pilot?? Also, the dog’s role was weird. Dagobert the dog would randomly bark at the name Hitler. Untrained apparently. Umm… ok. I love my dogs and some stories they play a huge role and capture my heart, but this dog was just awkwardly thrown in. The artists and Surrealist comments were also awkwardly thrown in and didn’t add anything to the story.
And the ending???!!! *bangs head against wall* Why?!!! So unbelievable. I wasted too much time of this novel. Had it been a debut I would’ve given it a 2.5 star rounded to 3. But a 7th published novel? No grace here. Sorry. The cover is beautiful though.
This book was disjointed, lacked any depth, repeatedly reminded you about mundane facts that don’t add to the story, goes from building the suspense of an event to suddenly having escaped the event with absolutely no detail between, and the “love” between Edouard and Nanee was so confusing and forced.
Luki was cute, but her kangaroo’s name??? Ugh. My friend and I had to contact each other because we both thought we missed something after her dad called it one name (and repeatedly said it) but she called it something else. I know, silly thing to get stuck on, but it’s one non-spoiler example of many larger inconsistencies in the book.
I feel like the editor told the author some things were unclear so she made the stupidest things clear (like repeating she had an American passport or had safety pinned Joey to the pouch), but dropped the ball on HUGE action events. It was almost like she built it up so much, but lost the momentum on how to resolve the conflict so the scene would jump to the resolution. It was frustrating.
Also, her Postmistress position took up like 20 of the 400 pages. She didn’t seem to play a big part in that role at all. She also left Paris in the beginning, so I don’t get the title.
The book opened with her as a pilot, so I thought cool, she’ll use that skill to help rescue refugees, but then she didn’t fly the rest of the book at all. Why mention or start the book with her as a pilot?? Also, the dog’s role was weird. Dagobert the dog would randomly bark at the name Hitler. Untrained apparently. Umm… ok. I love my dogs and some stories they play a huge role and capture my heart, but this dog was just awkwardly thrown in. The artists and Surrealist comments were also awkwardly thrown in and didn’t add anything to the story.
And the ending???!!! *bangs head against wall* Why?!!! So unbelievable. I wasted too much time of this novel. Had it been a debut I would’ve given it a 2.5 star rounded to 3. But a 7th published novel? No grace here. Sorry. The cover is beautiful though.