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A review by lacyk_reads
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.
I didn't expect to be so pulled into this story but at some point (halfway through or so) I couldn't stop thinking about it and reading it. I fell for Eva. Her character development was really good. I didn't feel as strongly about Angelo but I didn't dislike him. I think the biggest issue there was the religious aspect. I can't relate to that, but it is impossible to hold that against Angelo. He did what he felt he had to do.
The biggest takeaway from this "historical romance" is the historical part. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know and didn't really have an idea of the atrocities Italians faced at the hands of the Nazis. Surely, many of the crimes against Jews and sympathizers, including Catholic nuns and priests, mentioned really took place. And worse. This book did well at building on the historical events and how they impacted the characters and the characters' peer groups.
The last quarter of the book or so was extremely ... unbelievable. But I liked that. Mostly, because that's what came out of WWII, right? People who made it through, despite unbelievably impossible odds. The stories of each survivor from this terrible war were told despite the narrow chances they had at living through it. But they did. They lived to tell their stories. And we listen to learn from them so that this awful thing never happens again.
I didn't expect to be so pulled into this story but at some point (halfway through or so) I couldn't stop thinking about it and reading it. I fell for Eva. Her character development was really good. I didn't feel as strongly about Angelo but I didn't dislike him. I think the biggest issue there was the religious aspect. I can't relate to that, but it is impossible to hold that against Angelo. He did what he felt he had to do.
The biggest takeaway from this "historical romance" is the historical part. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know and didn't really have an idea of the atrocities Italians faced at the hands of the Nazis. Surely, many of the crimes against Jews and sympathizers, including Catholic nuns and priests, mentioned really took place. And worse. This book did well at building on the historical events and how they impacted the characters and the characters' peer groups.
The last quarter of the book or so was extremely ... unbelievable. But I liked that. Mostly, because that's what came out of WWII, right? People who made it through, despite unbelievably impossible odds. The stories of each survivor from this terrible war were told despite the narrow chances they had at living through it. But they did. They lived to tell their stories. And we listen to learn from them so that this awful thing never happens again.