A review by oneanjana
From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

4.0

“Sand and ash. The ingredients of glass. Such beauty created from nothing. It had been something Babbo had marveled about and something she’d never understood. From sand and ash, rebirth. From sand and ash, new life. With every song and with every prayer, with every small rebellion, Eva felt reborn, renewed, and she vowed to press on. She vowed to push back, to make glass from the ashes, and that courage was a victory in itself.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Another heartwarming and heartbreaking book by Amy Harmon! Like always, I love her writing style, lovable characters, the not-too-much-but-super-sweet kind of romance and smooth storytelling.

This book is set in WWII but focuses about Jews in Italy, which is often forgotten when talking about WWII. It tells a story about Eva and Angelo, they raised together and bond like own family, but they have different religions. Eva is a Jew, whereas Angelo was raised to be a priest. When the Jews’ life in Italy began to be difficult because of the Racial Laws for Jews, they fled to Rome and fought the Germans in their own way.

Compared to other Amy Harmon books I've read, I think this book has a much slower pace. I was even considering to DNF. It gets better only after they move to Rome, which was about 50% in the progress. So, please be patient if perhaps you also feel the story is not progressing. One more thing that bothers me was that the ending is quite unrealistic and predictable. However, as usual, the ending is very heartwarming and touching.

As well as my adoration for Amy Harmon's writing style, I also always love reading her Author's Notes. From there, I know that she always does in-depth research for every story, and even some characters were actually real people. I highly recommend if you want to read historical fiction books about WWII set in Italy.