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A review by gemmabean27
The Time in Between by María Dueñas
4.0
As a lover of historical fiction, I find that I too-often get tricked into reading nearly-identical WWI and WWII books. This is not one of those all-too-similar 20th century war novels. I learned a lot about the Spanish Civil War, and about both World Wars from a perspective that is often neglected. I like Sira as a main character a lot – she isn't one of the many heroes who dives head-first into danger without even stopping to think (which I always find incredibly unrealistic).
On principle, I like that the novel starts before WWI and spends half+ of the book just setting up Sira's life and character. However, it is a loooonggg book, and there isn't very much actual plot until halfway through.
The characters are interesting and nuanced, not the same characters that every war novel has. I do wish the romance had been a bit more developed, because I found that it wasn't incredibly convincing by the end. Sometimes I tire of first-person narrative/diary-voice, and that did happen a bit in this book, though less than I would have expected.
On principle, I like that the novel starts before WWI and spends half+ of the book just setting up Sira's life and character. However, it is a loooonggg book, and there isn't very much actual plot until halfway through.
The characters are interesting and nuanced, not the same characters that every war novel has. I do wish the romance had been a bit more developed, because I found that it wasn't incredibly convincing by the end. Sometimes I tire of first-person narrative/diary-voice, and that did happen a bit in this book, though less than I would have expected.