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leahegood 's review for:
I'll Tell You No Lies
by Amanda McCrina
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Summary
Have you ever wondered what life looked like after WWII ended?
For eighteen year old airforce brat, Shelby, the war is a childhood memory that shaped her father into the man he is.
For twenty-two year old Ukrainian and Soviet defector, Maksym, the war still invades his dreams every night and it's consequences plague his every waking moment.
When coincidence (or is it something else) pushes the two together, trust might be the only humane choice ... or it might be the stupidest decision they could make.
My Thoughts
If I didn't have other responsibilities, I would have read this book in one sitting. As it is, I read it in one day. Amanda McCrina is, without a doubt, my newest auto-buy author. And why do I like her books so much?
She writes interpersonal dynamics with so much authenticity.
Her characters are inately empathetic, but they resist trusting people like it might kill them (because that's the reality of the world they live in), and the tension between those two things is *chef's kiss*.
Her stories are gritty and real. She paints in shades of gray, showing the personal and moral decisions people in impossible situations must grapple with without making the ultimate choice seem inevitable ... because it wasn't.
I could go on.
This particular book was a little less gritty than her others. Less violence. Less cursing. Fewer guns and more emotion. It felt a little more typically YA. But it still sucked me in and left my brain exploding when the pieces of the story I thought I was piecing together shattered apart ... and then came back together in a way that still made sense.
I also adored cameo appearances from characters in her other stories.
If you're going to give her books a try (please do so I can talk to you about them), I recommend starting with The Silent Unseen.
Content
Romance: Some very, VERY mild levels of attraction. One descriptive french kiss (+ a brief memory of said kiss) and minor cuddling. This is present throughout the story but also not a focal point of the narrative.
Language: Some swearing, mostly in German, but some in English.
Violence: Nothing graphic. Severe injuries from barbed wire described non-graphically. Scars from past injuries are present. Previous, severe war trauma is mentioned and remembered but no details are given.
Religion: One passing reference to God (that I can remember)
Have you ever wondered what life looked like after WWII ended?
For eighteen year old airforce brat, Shelby, the war is a childhood memory that shaped her father into the man he is.
For twenty-two year old Ukrainian and Soviet defector, Maksym, the war still invades his dreams every night and it's consequences plague his every waking moment.
When coincidence (or is it something else) pushes the two together, trust might be the only humane choice ... or it might be the stupidest decision they could make.
My Thoughts
If I didn't have other responsibilities, I would have read this book in one sitting. As it is, I read it in one day. Amanda McCrina is, without a doubt, my newest auto-buy author. And why do I like her books so much?
She writes interpersonal dynamics with so much authenticity.
Her characters are inately empathetic, but they resist trusting people like it might kill them (because that's the reality of the world they live in), and the tension between those two things is *chef's kiss*.
Her stories are gritty and real. She paints in shades of gray, showing the personal and moral decisions people in impossible situations must grapple with without making the ultimate choice seem inevitable ... because it wasn't.
I could go on.
This particular book was a little less gritty than her others. Less violence. Less cursing. Fewer guns and more emotion. It felt a little more typically YA. But it still sucked me in and left my brain exploding when the pieces of the story I thought I was piecing together shattered apart ... and then came back together in a way that still made sense.
I also adored cameo appearances from characters in her other stories.
If you're going to give her books a try (please do so I can talk to you about them), I recommend starting with The Silent Unseen.
Content
Romance: Some very, VERY mild levels of attraction. One descriptive french kiss (+ a brief memory of said kiss) and minor cuddling. This is present throughout the story but also not a focal point of the narrative.
Language: Some swearing, mostly in German, but some in English.
Violence: Nothing graphic. Severe injuries from barbed wire described non-graphically. Scars from past injuries are present. Previous, severe war trauma is mentioned and remembered but no details are given.
Religion: One passing reference to God (that I can remember)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Xenophobia