A review by natcat
No Man's Land, by A.J. Fitzwater

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the historical setting, and thought it was well-drawn. New Zealand during WWII is not something I know anything about, and I liked the focus on Land Girls. I also liked the magic and thought it was very interesting; I loved the way the real world and the magical bits interacted. I also really liked the characters, and particularly Tea and Izzy's relationship. I love queerness in my historical fiction, and this book delivered perfectly on that front.

I wasn't entirely convinced by the big denouement of the book though. While I liked the emotional payoff of Tea and her brother's relationship,

Spoiler

the whole going and rescuing him literally from the middle of a firefight didn't work for me at all

. I think this book was much stronger in the quiet moments, in Tea working out who she was and could be, and it didn't need to reach for this big dramatic action sequence that it didn't achieve very well. The pacing was also kind of rough, and as a whole the book didn't quite come together in the way I wish it could have done.