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A review by spaceonthebookcase
Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn
4.0
The author of the book reached out to me about reviewing the book so even though my copy came via NetGalley, these thoughts are my own.
Cradles of the Reich is a middle of the road book for me and here is why:
What I thought author, Jennifer Coburn, did really well was bring to light a lesser know Nazi program called The Lebensborn Program. In short, this program identified "racially valuable" German women and paired them with "racially valued" German men to produce a "superior race" that was free from defects. What can I say? The Nazis really were crazy. Being the subject of the book, makes this book a valuable addition to the WWII Historical Fiction world. I had some basic background knowledge of the book and because Cradles of the Reich went into more details I struggled to put it down.
Coburn tells the story of three German girls/women and their experiences within the Lebensborn Program. The author does a stellar job at making the reader feel outraged at the pro-Nazi speak and the clear insanity of it all, but in an effort to tell the story from three main characters some character development is lost along the way and the ending comes very abruptly.
In terms of Hildie, I didn't get any closure for her as a character.
Irma, whom I found insufferable at the beginning has a change of heart by the end but I couldn't quite figure out where that happens---I would have liked to see her character fleshed out a bit more and read a more impactful reason for her shift in headspace. Her change was dramatic but I couldn't figure out why she changed.
And I'm going to need another novel about Gundi.
Overall I think it's a great addition to shelf so 3.5/5 rounded up to 4.
Cradles of the Reich is a middle of the road book for me and here is why:
What I thought author, Jennifer Coburn, did really well was bring to light a lesser know Nazi program called The Lebensborn Program. In short, this program identified "racially valuable" German women and paired them with "racially valued" German men to produce a "superior race" that was free from defects. What can I say? The Nazis really were crazy. Being the subject of the book, makes this book a valuable addition to the WWII Historical Fiction world. I had some basic background knowledge of the book and because Cradles of the Reich went into more details I struggled to put it down.
Coburn tells the story of three German girls/women and their experiences within the Lebensborn Program. The author does a stellar job at making the reader feel outraged at the pro-Nazi speak and the clear insanity of it all, but in an effort to tell the story from three main characters some character development is lost along the way and the ending comes very abruptly.
In terms of Hildie, I didn't get any closure for her as a character.
Irma, whom I found insufferable at the beginning has a change of heart by the end but I couldn't quite figure out where that happens---I would have liked to see her character fleshed out a bit more and read a more impactful reason for her shift in headspace. Her change was dramatic but I couldn't figure out why she changed.
And I'm going to need another novel about Gundi.
Overall I think it's a great addition to shelf so 3.5/5 rounded up to 4.