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A review by squids_can_read
The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the ARC.
Katrine is bringing her mother home from the hospital after she fell from a step ladder. Soon she finds the offending step ladder in the door of the closet. There she finds a box. A box that holds the secrets to her mother's life in Germany. A life that she left behind. No Allina(Katrine's mother) reveals all the love and heartbreak that she experienced in Nazi Germany.
The characters in this book were amazing. Historical fiction is typically isn't my genre but I thought that the characters really just jumped off the page. That is with the exception of the chapters of the book where the book jumped into the future. They just seemed slightly pointless to me and actually spoiled the ending in a way(not in a concrete on-the-page way but I predicted the ending based on these chapters). Other than that, the characters were just really amazing. This book actually made me cry and I haven't had a book make me cry in a while.
On the other hand, I thought that the plot was interesting if a bit disjointed. There was a lot of historical build-up of the plot but then the actual payout seemed to be really speed through. One year takes 203 pages to get through at the beginning of the book then years are completely skipped over in the back half of the book. I just wanted the book to slow down a little bit and focus more on the plot than the romance. Especially with the long build-up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it was heartbreaking. I would have liked a little bit more plot but I think that if you even have the slightest interest in historical fiction, you should give this book a read.
Katrine is bringing her mother home from the hospital after she fell from a step ladder. Soon she finds the offending step ladder in the door of the closet. There she finds a box. A box that holds the secrets to her mother's life in Germany. A life that she left behind. No Allina(Katrine's mother) reveals all the love and heartbreak that she experienced in Nazi Germany.
The characters in this book were amazing. Historical fiction is typically isn't my genre but I thought that the characters really just jumped off the page. That is with the exception of the chapters of the book where the book jumped into the future. They just seemed slightly pointless to me and actually spoiled the ending in a way(not in a concrete on-the-page way but I predicted the ending based on these chapters). Other than that, the characters were just really amazing. This book actually made me cry and I haven't had a book make me cry in a while.
On the other hand, I thought that the plot was interesting if a bit disjointed. There was a lot of historical build-up of the plot but then the actual payout seemed to be really speed through. One year takes 203 pages to get through at the beginning of the book then years are completely skipped over in the back half of the book. I just wanted the book to slow down a little bit and focus more on the plot than the romance. Especially with the long build-up.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it was heartbreaking. I would have liked a little bit more plot but I think that if you even have the slightest interest in historical fiction, you should give this book a read.