agustinap's review against another edition
3.0
First of all, thanks Mandy Robotham, Avon and NetGalley for my copy.
I would give this book 3 1/2 stars. I have read many books about World War II but never have I read one based in Italy, more specifically Venice. That was a very nice change and it also allowed me to see the impact the Fascism regime played along Hitler in WWII. I enjoyed her description of the city and her use of some Italian words every so often. Personally, I think Ms Robotham could have sprinkle even more Italian in her story.
It was a very nice, easy read. I love the ending. I would definitely recommend it to my historical fiction friends.
I would give this book 3 1/2 stars. I have read many books about World War II but never have I read one based in Italy, more specifically Venice. That was a very nice change and it also allowed me to see the impact the Fascism regime played along Hitler in WWII. I enjoyed her description of the city and her use of some Italian words every so often. Personally, I think Ms Robotham could have sprinkle even more Italian in her story.
It was a very nice, easy read. I love the ending. I would definitely recommend it to my historical fiction friends.
kaloughl's review against another edition
3.0
As a huge historical fiction fan, I was eager read this new work by Mandy Robotham and dive into Venetian history during WWII. It was a cute, succinct novel that satisfied a typical WWII historical fiction trope in a new place with a different version of the war (at least for me, I did not know that Germany occupied Venice as a headquarters).
The Stella storylines, a partisan spy who worked in the Reich Venetian office by day, wrote the anti-fascist newspaper by night, featured the most interesting characters and Stella's rises and falls during the German occupation of Venice did not disappoint. Honestly, her life exhausted me because it seemed she was constantly working: full days at the Reich office, a couple evenings at the hidden newspaper office, and the rest spent passing notes as a staffetta. Plus she had time to run secret missions back and forth from various islands, take care of her parents, and watch out for her younger brother who was also a partisan. My favorite parts of this novel was Stella's love of writing and her handy typewriter with the dropped "e". She had such passion, even if it was parsing together numerous facts into readable articles. Her love story released in chapters over the course of numerous newspaper editions became the talk of the town (again another thing she somehow found time for!) and her relationships with the men in the novel often were helped along by literary conversations and interactions.
However, what the Stella storyline excelled at - bringing this vibrantly brave woman to life - the Luisa storyline, Stella's modern day granddaughter, completely lacked. I felt that there was almost no need for a secondary timelines until about 23o pages in when Luisa finally makes her way to Venice to try to figure out the mystery behind the typewriter found in her mother's attic. Luisa's chapters were so short, we barely got to know her or her husband Jamie. We knew that Luisa had a difficult relationship with her mother and was hoping that discovering her grandmother's history would connect her to her family and Italian roots. When we finally unearthed Stella's story in the modern day chapters, Luisa's mother's bad relationship with Stella was kind of explained. It had to do with a boyfriend/baby thing alluding to a pregnancy (and perhaps abortion) and old fashioned values which, though aligns with the time, goes against the characterization of the Stella we just got to know. Also, Luisa's bad relationship with her mother was never truly explained, merely written off that the mother's fall out with Stella someone perpetrated throughout her raising of Luisa. Though there were some elements that could have really solidified the story if fleshed out more- Giulio and Paolo for one - the entire point of Luisa's perspective was to *shock* us at the end with the reveal which felt like lazy writing instead of clever planning.
All in all, this book was absolutely fine to read. It will most definitely fulfill any cravings for historical fiction or an easy read.
I won this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
The Stella storylines, a partisan spy who worked in the Reich Venetian office by day, wrote the anti-fascist newspaper by night, featured the most interesting characters and Stella's rises and falls during the German occupation of Venice did not disappoint. Honestly, her life exhausted me because it seemed she was constantly working: full days at the Reich office, a couple evenings at the hidden newspaper office, and the rest spent passing notes as a staffetta. Plus she had time to run secret missions back and forth from various islands, take care of her parents, and watch out for her younger brother who was also a partisan. My favorite parts of this novel was Stella's love of writing and her handy typewriter with the dropped "e". She had such passion, even if it was parsing together numerous facts into readable articles. Her love story released in chapters over the course of numerous newspaper editions became the talk of the town (again another thing she somehow found time for!) and her relationships with the men in the novel often were helped along by literary conversations and interactions.
However, what the Stella storyline excelled at - bringing this vibrantly brave woman to life - the Luisa storyline, Stella's modern day granddaughter, completely lacked. I felt that there was almost no need for a secondary timelines until about 23o pages in when Luisa finally makes her way to Venice to try to figure out the mystery behind the typewriter found in her mother's attic. Luisa's chapters were so short, we barely got to know her or her husband Jamie. We knew that Luisa had a difficult relationship with her mother and was hoping that discovering her grandmother's history would connect her to her family and Italian roots. When we finally unearthed Stella's story in the modern day chapters, Luisa's mother's bad relationship with Stella was kind of explained. It had to do with a boyfriend/baby thing alluding to a pregnancy (and perhaps abortion) and old fashioned values which, though aligns with the time, goes against the characterization of the Stella we just got to know. Also, Luisa's bad relationship with her mother was never truly explained, merely written off that the mother's fall out with Stella someone perpetrated throughout her raising of Luisa. Though there were some elements that could have really solidified the story if fleshed out more- Giulio and Paolo for one - the entire point of Luisa's perspective was to *shock* us at the end with the reveal which felt like lazy writing instead of clever planning.
All in all, this book was absolutely fine to read. It will most definitely fulfill any cravings for historical fiction or an easy read.
I won this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
sophieeeburt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
gailcarroll's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
chelsea_elyse's review against another edition
2.0
I love historical fiction, and especially WWII time period. I struggled to connect with any of the characters here and found myself skimming to just find something to connect to.
clt677's review against another edition
4.0
Great story! I will definitely be looking more into the Venetian Resistance. The book takes a couple twists and turns, tho even the twists I had figured out, still had other twists I didn't see coming.
I'm not sure the present day story needs to be told. I was really left very unsatisfied. And the rift between Stella and her daughter is unbelievable. With what Stella endured, there's no way that was the cause of it. If felt just kind of thrown in there because there needed to be a cause for some reason? Altho there being a rift seems unnecessary too. Again, added nothing to the story.
Luckily the present day chapters are short and only sprinkled throughout. The meat of the story is excellent, and you can tell the author did her research.
I'm not sure the present day story needs to be told. I was really left very unsatisfied. And the rift between Stella and her daughter is unbelievable. With what Stella endured, there's no way that was the cause of it. If felt just kind of thrown in there because there needed to be a cause for some reason? Altho there being a rift seems unnecessary too. Again, added nothing to the story.
Luckily the present day chapters are short and only sprinkled throughout. The meat of the story is excellent, and you can tell the author did her research.
lesleyo's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
linsinbox's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but it's certainly not the best in the genre. Like so many of them, it went between two timelines; the present and WW2. It had a couple of twists, however, I found they were predictable. That being said though, the characters were interesting for the most part and the story was fairly well told. I did find that I wasn't really engaged with the characters in the present, only the ones during WW2 and most of the book was devoted to them.
Overall, it's a pleasant read, but if you have read a lot of WW2 fiction, this one is just more of the same.
Overall, it's a pleasant read, but if you have read a lot of WW2 fiction, this one is just more of the same.