A review by bookish20
The Wartime Book Club by Kate Thompson

challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My 6P review: Publication, Plot, People, Place, Prose/Pace, Praise 

Thoughts: Jersey 1943 and German soldiers pound the streets Heiling Hitler. Grace La Mottee, the librarian is ordered to destroy the verboten books of the regime but instead she hides them away. Bea Rose, her best friend, is also keeping secrets using her position as the postwoman to hide letters and warn others. The wartime book club is formed to offer a lifeline and escape from the occupation through reading. 

Based on true events the story is told through the eyes of Grace and Bea. It was a bit like the Book Thief by Markus Zusak and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, but for me, not quite as good. 

I loved how the chapter began with a note about a particular banned book. I never realised the silly reasons for banning some of them. Ridiculous. Who bans Bambi? 

Bea and Grace were beautiful characters and I rode their journey with them. I loved what they did and their never wavering friendship. 

I was really looking forward to reading about the book club and the power of books but I felt this was somewhat of a side story and I felt it wasn’t really fully explored or elaborated upon. 

I didn’t find it a page turner however I really did like the way it was written. The characters were wonderful and the sense of living on Jersey was amazing. I wish a map had been included. I also had to keep reminding myself that it was based on true events and real people. 

I really liked the inclusions at the back of the book, the reading list, the inspirational islanders, the photographs to name a few and highly recommend people reading this part of the book too. (I almost found it more interesting than the story itself) 

I would recommend this book to people who love reading about the events of World War II. It also had a really good book cover.