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A review by fulltimefiction
The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
3.0
This wasn’t bad and I sort of get the high rating it. It’s just bad timing to read this book because I didn’t want to read more WWII books but my hold for the audio was up and had no other audiobooks to listen to.
The story is told in a dual timeline, something very trendy apparently nowadays in WWII books. One during the war in Poland and the other in the present day. And obviously, the two timelines will connect.
While I have to admit the WWII wasn't one I've previously read about, it didn't grab my attention. So we have a girl, Alina, who lives in Poland and is in love with Tomas since forever. They planned to marry then the war started. Her story, albeit no less sad, was tamer than the usual WWII books I've read. No, she's not forging papers nor involved with the resistance... she's just trying to survive day by day with her family. It was interesting in a way but I wasn't emotionally invested in her story.
I enjoyed the present day's plotline much more and I liked its characters. I'm becoming nowadays somewhat of a family drama fan thanks to the audiobooks I'm listening to and I suppose it was one of the main reasons why I found Kelly's perspective more complelling. I could see her inner struggle with her family especially since a stay-at-home mom, she had to quit her job to take care of her autistic son. The story got better when she decided to do something for herself for once and I found her relationship with her husband well developed.
As for the audiobook, I had a (minor?) issue with it. I am not sure if affected my enjoyment a lot but it's still worth mentioning. So we have a narrator for Alina and another for Kelly.
Alina's narrator read at a very slow pace. Her voice was also certainly not of a girl in her teens. It did not give me "historical/back in time” vibes it was aiming to convey (I suppose). It bored me instead.
Meanwhile, Kelly's narrator read at a much faster pace and her voice was fresh and full of life. I have to admit that made me look to her parts more than Alina's.
I usually speed up audiobooks, not a lot no more than 1.5x depending on the narration but here it was kind of tricky because having Alina's narrator read at a good pace meant that Kelly's was going too fast...
Otherwise, I liked the story of this book but it didn't leave anything with me hence why I rated it 3 and not 4 stars. I also do not think that I would've had a different opinion if I read at a different time because the WWII part didn't exactly tire me like in some recent cases. But it might have been the case.