alexiskg 's review for:

Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

4.0

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This was a really compelling family story set against a historical period/conflict that I knew nothing about, with an interesting narrative device that satisfied my "flip-to-the-end" tendencies by letting me know in advance that both brother and sister were going to make it safely through at least 98% of the story, leaving me free to enjoy the drama and action as it came. The characters were well-developed, and I appreciated not having to LIKE them necessarily (I had never considered, for example, that bravery could be so *selfish* and destructive to others, as was always the case with Mama Manotti). I did feel like everything resolved too quickly, and like, left entire characters and plot points out? And not in a realistic way, but in a, "…okay then why did you include that in the first place" way.