3.5

I had very mixed feelings about this book. It’s told in alternating perspectives, which usually don’t bother me, but it just didn’t work for me here.

Alina’s story in incredibly interesting and heartbreaking. She tells how she grew up in Poland during the war, and how things went from seemingly okay to downright terrible. She goes from being naive about what’s happening around her, to being right in the middle of everything and truly seeing the horror of war. Her story was much more compelling, and the cast of characters were much more likable. I almost the book had just been about her.

Alice’s story was almost completely opposite in terms of how I felt. I didn’t care for Alice one bit. She made her perspective so difficult to read. There were a couple of times I ended up skimming her parts because I couldn’t stand her. Nothing even remotely interesting happens in her story until almost 60% into the book. Until then, it’s an endless monologue of how much her life sucks and how shitty her husband is and a bunch of other ‘woe is me’ crap. I couldn’t drum up any sympathy for her. Her son has a meltdown in a grocery store and destroys hundreds of dollars worth of products, and when anyone approaches her to try and help, all she can do is bitch about it. When her husband makes dinner for the family, all she can do is bitch about the dishes. But she won’t actually bitch out loud. It’s all inner monologue. So instead of being an adult and talking about what’s bothering her, she just treats her husband like crap. Her mother wasn’t much better, and Pascale came off incredibly snobby and superior. The only really likable character in her parts was Babcia, and she couldn’t even speak.

I felt like the resolution to the mystery was a little too neat and tidy as well. It took so long for Alice to get to Poland, and then things were straightened out fairly quickly and easily. It would have been much better if the author had taken some of Alice’s bitching time and used it towards the mystery part.

This was a decent entry into the WWII genre, but it was by no means extraordinary or unique.

I received a copy of this book via
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

This was a very good read concerning the internment camps of WWII. It’s a subject that I haven’t read much on, but lately have been getting the opportunity to.

I really enjoyed Evalina’s character. She was fiery, and wasn’t about to put up with people’s racist and bigoted views. She believed in something, and wasn’t going to let anything stop her from containing to believe in it and try to change other people’s minds. You could feel her struggle and conflict as she tried to deal with people who supported the government’s actions, and who hated the Japanese over the events at Pearl Harbor. Her whole character was very well done, and was easy to connect with.

Taichi was a great character as well. He was also easy to connect with; you could understand his frustrations about being moved from his home into a camp, and his struggles with loving Evalina but not wanting to put her through the misery of it all.

My only real conflict with this book was the style of how major events were portrayed. There were several times when something was about to happen, and then the story would move to the other characters perspective on a totally different event, and you would learn what happened with the event later. It was a little frustrating because it felt like some things were glossed over. You still know what happens; I just felt like it would have flowed a little better if events had just been played out at once instead of skipping past it. The end also felt a little rushed. I would have liked a little more information on what happened to Taichi after his release from Manzanar. There are events that are alluded to, but the book skips ahead several years into the future without much explanation. 

Besides those two points, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in WWII fiction.

3.5

This was yet another book about a part of WWII that I didn’t know a lot about. Most books focus on Germany, America, and France, but this one took place in Russia and dealt with female fighter pilots during the war. I was intrigues to read something new and get new insight on the war.

While the story itself was interesting, I felt rather disconnected from it. There was a lot of stuff that was talked about but never really explained. I knew Russia was involved in the war, but their part isn’t discussed as much. The book, however, feels like it’s written as if the reader knows what Russia’s part in everything was. There were also several terms talked about that I didn’t really understand, such as Roza talking about hiding her last name and a family member being an unperson. It’s never explained completely and may leave readers feeling confuse. 

Aelya was a decent main character. She had a clear voice talking about her frustrations and excitement with flying. However, I don’t feel like she had much growth throughout the novel. At the beginning she was trying to fit in and fly well and had frustrations, but by the end she was angry and still had frustrations and was picking fights with the other pilots. Part of that can be explained by the war setting, but I still felt like by the end of the novel she should have gotten over petty difference with the other pilots. 

There were also a LOT of characters. Not only that, many of the characters also had nicknames, so it was really hard at times to keep track of who was who. And then there were names getting thrown around of people who hadn’t been in the book at all, but were written as if you should have a connection to them. At one point Aelya mentions two pilots by name who were missing that hadn’t been mentioned before. And while she’s upset over the incident, it’s hard for the reader to make an emotional connection. There’s simply too many people to keep track of, and throwing out random names of more people that haven’t been introduced makes it confusing and cluttered.

The petty fights between the pilots also detracted from the story. Yes, there will be issues between people, but it seemed like there were so many. Characters were constantly fighting and bullying each other. The female pilots fought with each other and played cruel jokes. The men picked on the female pilots and harassed them. The men also fought with each other, trying to see who was king of the hill. It got to be a little much, especially because the book itself is about a war. But instead of talking about the war, it focused instead on fighting within ranks.

The book did have a lot of positives though. I did enjoy reading about a book set in Russia and dealing with Russia’s part in the war. I also enjoyed the fact that it was about female fighter pilots, which is a subject that hasn’t been covered much. The air battles were well written, as were the parts talking about base and the planes.

This is a good debut, and I’m interested to see where the story goes in the sequel, and also how the author will improve and grow.

4.5 stars

I was totally captivated by this book. The descriptions were beautiful and the way music was incorporated was so well done you could almost hear music playing while you read. I think incorporating The Pied Piper was a great idea and it worked out really well. It was definitely a perfect Christmas read. I haven’t seen The Nutcracker ballet in ages, but reading this makes me want to see it again.

All the characters were very well written. I loved how Nikolai decided to prove himself worthy of being emperor instead of just demanding it. Also, his little snarky bits were pretty funny, especially with Mother Svetlana. And the part with the nuns and the guns? Hilarious. Clara was a good main character. She gets pulled into a world that isn’t her own, and at first all she wants is to go home, but after hearing and seeing everything that’s happened, she begins to realize how much more important it is to stay and help make everything right. I’m really glad the author showed us Erik’s past, so that we could understand his motivations. I think it really helps a story when you can understand the villains motivations, instead of just having a villain with no explanation. All the other side characters were written really well, and the ending was satisfying and cute.

Also, the cover of this book is beautiful, and I loved how they used part of it for the chapter headings. This was a wonderful retelling and a perfect holiday book.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.