Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows, Mary Ann Shaffer

19 reviews

livelyghost's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It took me a while to get into this book because it’s written as a series of letters, but once I got more familiar with the pace it turned into a comforting piece. As a lady who loves eavesdropping, reading a series of personal letters was a fun treat. I frankly didn’t know the Channel Islands existed, much less that they were occupied by the Germans during World War Two. Hearing about what happening in fictional letters made it more personal and real. Juliet is very sunny and feels like your oldest, coolest friend. I would love to visit Guernsey to think about the history and these characters.

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rory1387's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? No

4.5

this was such a wholesome book :)
I read it in one day and here's my review:
There's this woman, Juliet. During World War II she wrote a column for the newspaper, which is now being published. A man from the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society contacts her, and she decides to write about said society. The other members contact her and it's very nice :)
sorry for using :) a lot but that's just my current mood.
also just so you know it's all letters and the occasional telegram

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abitofapoet's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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leithbookstagram's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“what we call cheek and Americans call can-do spirit”

I wanted to read this book after watching the movie, so snatched this book up when I saw it in a charity shop!

I almost stopped reading when I figured out, after 20 pages, that this book was completely written in just letters (minus one entry near the end - I won’t say what it is to save from spoilers). I didn’t know how I felt about reading this format and thought it would lead, quite frankly, to a crap narrative.

But I’m glad I read on.

This is a really lovely, heartwarming, short read. Yes, at times it was very emotional reading about the things these characters endured during Guernsey’s Occupation in WWII, but this story was actually really funny (in an old-fashioned comedy way) and lighthearted!

I really loved reading all the history (although I don’t know how accurate this is so don’t quote me on anything) and found myself continuing to read to find out more about Guernsey’s Occupation.

Even though I was reading this because I loved the movie so much, there were some big differences between the two. To be honest, it was quite hard in some parts of this book to realise that the story was the same. I loved the movie so much and wanted this to replicate it, but this book is completely different.

The movie, in my opinion, was very focused on the romance element. This book was not and, to be honest, I didn’t expect the relationship to happen (I won’t spoil it for you!). The romance happened right at the end and was rushed into a few pages, it felt like it was just chucked in at the end. I would have actually rather the romance didn’t happen and I got an epilogue about Kit!

I’m giving this book 5 stars because it has left me feeling absolutely lovely and this will definitely be a re-read at some point. I wasn’t that fond of the letter format at the beginning, but got used to it and it wasn’t hard to follow and understand what was happening.

Forgetting about the letter format and the rushed romance, I loved this book and story. It is absolutely beautiful and I want to read more!

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I went into this book not expecting much, I thought it would be just a pleasant and easy read to end the year and start a new one, but oh boy it was much more! I'm not the biggest fan of WW2 fiction but this book was a very pleasant surprise.

I really liked how the authors didn't shy away from and handled the heavy topics related to war, occupation and concentration camps. But, at the same time, the book was also very hopeful and filled with such lovely humour and funny situations.
I really loved the big cast of characters, with all their idiosyncrasies, they felt really well depicted and vivid on the page.

I appreciated the narrative choice of telling the story through letters/telegrams and the theme of "reading/loving books" that was an undercurrent throughout the story.

I'm not giving full marks because some plot points and situations felt a little bit too predictable or far-fetched/bizarre, although it made for a very heartwarming and feel-good story.

All in all, a lovely way to begin a new reading year!

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