A review by librerika
Stateless by Elizabeth Wein

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a tough one to rate, because as a YA murder mystery, it was a pretty fun read, but as historical fiction, it had some questionable representation, the biggest of which being the redemption arc of the literal Nazi who goes from being a proud Nazi to beloved by all because he helped save his look-alike from another Nazi... Like it's great that he saved someone who didn't deserve to be killed, but it seemed like that somehow made everyone forgive and trust him, even his Jewish competitor, despite the fact that he, again, was a proud Nazi, and did not ever indicate that he felt anything but supportive of the Nazi regimes antisemitism or that he was even starting to question Nazi politics. It really just seemed like he wanted to help protect someone from an unhinged and murderous man who also happened to be a Nazi, even if that meant giving up his own position in the Nazi military, which, sure I suppose that was a good thing of him to do, but I don't see how that serves as an at all complete redemption arc for a Nazi, and I don't see how that magically made his Jewish competitor decide he was suddenly cool giving interviews with him.