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mozbolt's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredible historical fiction ya novel! I have mad respect for authors who commit time and effort to historical research and accuracy, but also manage to concoct a whopper of a plot! I adored Hanneke's resilience and loyalty... her character was intreguing to me in many ways, mostly because she started out as a survivalist and ended the novel an activist. Also, even though romance was present in the novel, it showed up as flashbacks - the relationships in this book were mainly friendships, which were portrayed realistically and dynamically. I especially appreciated the author's depiction of Hanneke and Elsbeth's loss of friendship. I loved the atmosphere of the book, as it helped me envision WWII in Amsterdam through the eyes of a pragmatist who is simply aiming for the best possible outcome in the realms of rationality. I would recommend 8-12 English teachers bring this into their classrooms for a reading workshop; I'm definitely going to try to implement this at some point!
madison_gleason's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️ I don’t have any real strong feelings. I liked the story and the way that it concluded.
burningupasun's review against another edition
4.0
Setting/World Building: 4/5
Main Character: 4/5
Other Characters: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Diversity: 3/5 (Background Jewish characters, with one unexpected gay character.)
Triggering/Issues: 4/5 (Holocaust mentions, death, etc)
AVERAGED TOTAL: 3.71 out of 5, rounded to 4 for Goodreads.
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"Here is a thing about my grief. It's like a very messy room in a house where the electricity had gone out. My grief over Bas is the darkness. It's the thing that's most immediately wrong in the house. It's the thing you notice straight off. It covers everything else up. But if you could turn the lights back on, you would see there are lots of other things still wrong in the room. The dishes are dirty. There is mold in the sink. The rug is askew. Elsbeth is my askew rug. Elsbeth is my messy room. Elsbeth is the grief I would allow myself to feel, if my emotions weren't so covered in darkness.
Girl in the Blue Coat is historical YA fiction which takes place during the Holocaust. This book however is not from the perspective of a Jewish character, but rather that of Hanneke, a Dutch girl from Holland. Mourning the loss of both a boyfriend (killed trying to defend their country) and a best friend (lost for other reasons that I won't spoil), Girl in the Blue Coat is really a story about a girl struggling with grief and finding herself as a person amidst this war. We follow Hanneke as she tries to find a missing Jewish girl, Mirjam, and really grows in the process to shed her somewhat selfish personality.
As someone who grew up hearing about the Holocaust more from the Jewish perspective, it's always interesting to me to read books from different perspectives, i.e., from different cultures who were also under attack or affected by the Nazis. This book was definitely informative when it came to a historical perspective; I hadn't realized that Holland had originally been pointedly neutral and assured safety by Hitler, only for him to (of course) go back on his word and invade them.
On the one hand, I do think it is important to see the Holocaust from multiple perspectives; it's important to remember that though they suffered the most torment, Jewish people were not the only ones who suffered at Hitler's hands. However at the same time, I did feel some level of discomfort in this book using the plight of the Jewish people as a sort of catalyst for Hanneke's growth. We do not really get to know any of the Jewish characters-- they, including the girl Hanneke is searching for, are really minor background characters whose lives fuel the plot. There is definitely a bit of an awkwardness in that, at least especially for me, but it didn't ruin the book.
Despite that, Hanneke was a very good, realistic character. She starts off very selfish, but in a believable way; she is, after all, just a teenager. Rather than being cruelly selfish, she seems to be more self-focused. Especially since the loss of her boyfriend, she has withdrawn in on herself, she focuses only on the day to day, keeping herself and her family safe. Through the hunt to find and safe this Jewish girl, however, she begins to come out of that self-contained shell. We see her growth in the lessening of her reluctance, and the way she gets more and more actively involved not just in looking for Mirjam, but in the resistance. The more she begins to change, the more we see her changing perspectives of the people around her, as she learns that they, too, aren't as simple as she first thought. The book also utilizes a lot of great parallels between Hanekke and Mirjam-- their female friendships, and their romantic relationships-- to help Hanneke learn and grow.
In the end I think this is very much a "coming of age" story, and a well-written one, despite the hint of discomfort with the use of the Jewish characters. It is very much about grief and loss, but also especially about friendship. How it can change you, how it can hurt you, and how it can also save you. I would have been happier with a little more depth to the other characters, especially the Jewish ones, but I think the somewhat narrow focus of the book worked as a good reflection of the main character herself.
All in all, I would definitely recommend picking it up.
Main Character: 4/5
Other Characters: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Diversity: 3/5 (Background Jewish characters, with one unexpected gay character.)
Triggering/Issues: 4/5 (Holocaust mentions, death, etc)
AVERAGED TOTAL: 3.71 out of 5, rounded to 4 for Goodreads.
"Here is a thing about my grief. It's like a very messy room in a house where the electricity had gone out. My grief over Bas is the darkness. It's the thing that's most immediately wrong in the house. It's the thing you notice straight off. It covers everything else up. But if you could turn the lights back on, you would see there are lots of other things still wrong in the room. The dishes are dirty. There is mold in the sink. The rug is askew. Elsbeth is my askew rug. Elsbeth is my messy room. Elsbeth is the grief I would allow myself to feel, if my emotions weren't so covered in darkness.
Girl in the Blue Coat is historical YA fiction which takes place during the Holocaust. This book however is not from the perspective of a Jewish character, but rather that of Hanneke, a Dutch girl from Holland. Mourning the loss of both a boyfriend (killed trying to defend their country) and a best friend (lost for other reasons that I won't spoil), Girl in the Blue Coat is really a story about a girl struggling with grief and finding herself as a person amidst this war. We follow Hanneke as she tries to find a missing Jewish girl, Mirjam, and really grows in the process to shed her somewhat selfish personality.
As someone who grew up hearing about the Holocaust more from the Jewish perspective, it's always interesting to me to read books from different perspectives, i.e., from different cultures who were also under attack or affected by the Nazis. This book was definitely informative when it came to a historical perspective; I hadn't realized that Holland had originally been pointedly neutral and assured safety by Hitler, only for him to (of course) go back on his word and invade them.
On the one hand, I do think it is important to see the Holocaust from multiple perspectives; it's important to remember that though they suffered the most torment, Jewish people were not the only ones who suffered at Hitler's hands. However at the same time, I did feel some level of discomfort in this book using the plight of the Jewish people as a sort of catalyst for Hanneke's growth. We do not really get to know any of the Jewish characters-- they, including the girl Hanneke is searching for, are really minor background characters whose lives fuel the plot. There is definitely a bit of an awkwardness in that, at least especially for me, but it didn't ruin the book.
Despite that, Hanneke was a very good, realistic character. She starts off very selfish, but in a believable way; she is, after all, just a teenager. Rather than being cruelly selfish, she seems to be more self-focused. Especially since the loss of her boyfriend, she has withdrawn in on herself, she focuses only on the day to day, keeping herself and her family safe. Through the hunt to find and safe this Jewish girl, however, she begins to come out of that self-contained shell. We see her growth in the lessening of her reluctance, and the way she gets more and more actively involved not just in looking for Mirjam, but in the resistance. The more she begins to change, the more we see her changing perspectives of the people around her, as she learns that they, too, aren't as simple as she first thought. The book also utilizes a lot of great parallels between Hanekke and Mirjam-- their female friendships, and their romantic relationships-- to help Hanneke learn and grow.
In the end I think this is very much a "coming of age" story, and a well-written one, despite the hint of discomfort with the use of the Jewish characters. It is very much about grief and loss, but also especially about friendship. How it can change you, how it can hurt you, and how it can also save you. I would have been happier with a little more depth to the other characters, especially the Jewish ones, but I think the somewhat narrow focus of the book worked as a good reflection of the main character herself.
All in all, I would definitely recommend picking it up.
krystal_lacelle's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Total page turner, captivating in a heartbreaking, worried the whole time kind of way. I also loved the notes in the back about historical accuracy. I think the author did an incredible job conveying a fictional story around very true and devastating events.
That’s being said, the ending was super rushed and a bit confusing. I had to keep re reading parts to make sure I had it straight. Also the main character was pretty unlikable and I kept wondering how old this person was because she acted like a selfish teenager most of the time.
That being said, if you enjoy historical fiction this one is a must read!
That’s being said, the ending was super rushed and a bit confusing. I had to keep re reading parts to make sure I had it straight. Also the main character was pretty unlikable and I kept wondering how old this person was because she acted like a selfish teenager most of the time.
That being said, if you enjoy historical fiction this one is a must read!
hannahbellz's review against another edition
3.0
Fairly engaging historical fiction, though not the best book ever. It's about Hanneke, a girl living in Amsterdam during World War II, who sells black market goods and one day is tasked with finding a Jewish girl one of her customers was hiding who disappeared. Her search leads her deeper and deeper into the underground resistance movement.
I feel like towards the end the story crossed the line from "intricately plotted" to "needlessly confusing." I was feeling bad about my reading comprehension until I read some other reviews and realized that at least I'm not the only one who found some parts of the plot slightly hard to understand. I also feel like some of the odd twists near the end detracted from the story.
I feel like towards the end the story crossed the line from "intricately plotted" to "needlessly confusing." I was feeling bad about my reading comprehension until I read some other reviews and realized that at least I'm not the only one who found some parts of the plot slightly hard to understand. I also feel like some of the odd twists near the end detracted from the story.
mizzlroy's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book and didn't want to put it down. I always like hearing new take on WWII and the Nazi regime. This is heartfelt and well written. I will be adding it to my middle school library.
shannontay's review against another edition
4.0
My high school daughter recommended I read this after the author visited her school. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story
zipzoopzoe's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bsmith27's review against another edition
3.0
A great novel about a girl, Hanneke, living in Amsterdam during second world war. The girl deals in the black market but that is all. She is mourning her dead boyfriend who died fighting the germans. She comes across a woman who's looking for a Jew that she had been hiding but has "lost." it's quite a mystery how the girl managed to get out of the house. and then of course they're the worry of what happened to her afterwards. this is a girl who is wearing a bright blue coat hence the name of the book. The main character, Hanneke, goes through her day and discovers that there is quite a resistance around her. Her eyes are open to this resistance and she begins to dabble in helping. Mostly she just wants to find the missing Jew named Miriam. Shins up uncovering a lot about Miriam's life. she herself is a bit of a sad character because she doesn't want to take too many risks. However the ending is a bit of a unbelievable event. Turns out the girl heard a former classmate come into the house because he was a delivery man. She then convinced him to sneak her out. Only the girl in the house wasn't Miriam it was her best friend. Her best friend is not a Jew and was angry at Miriam because a boy liked Miriam better. So this girl turned in Miriam and her family who was hiding in a furniture factory. The German police came in and shot everyone except for Miriam. This girl then ran into her in the streets and decided to switch places with her giving her all of her papers. Miriam fled to a small town on the outskirts of the city in pretended to be her. The girl posing as Miriam is rounded up. She is about to be sent on a transport when Hanneke and her resistance friends try to save her only she refused and is shot. The ending shows Miriam living in the small town posing as her non jewish friend. The end left a bit to be desired and showed how it was a fictional story.