Reviews

The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham

jaded618's review against another edition

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3.0

This novel was an interesting read as it focused on a reporter being in Berlin the year leading up to the start of the war. As you are reading, you can see the tone of the book changing and getting darker and more intense as things progress.
Georgie Young is a reporter of of London, who due to her prior work and her fluency in German, has earned the post as a foreign correspondence in Berlin to follow and report on Hitler's rise and the changes in Germany. As a reporter, she expects to find stories to cover, but the stories she finds she isn't ready for. As the country moves towards war and Jewish people are being mistreated and taken away, she makes the effort to save a family close to her. In doing so, puts herself and others in the path of destruction.
I enjoyed reading this book. Georgie was a strong and likeable female lead and her story was interesting. I only rated 3 Stars because I felt there were alot of little stories unraveling in the background that seemed to become important and fade away so quickly.
The ending was tied together well with the rest of the story and it provided closure on many things brought up while reading.
Thank you Netgalley and Avon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

mollyjean32's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

karaklos's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars. I liked the premise of The Berlin Girl. A young woman reporter named Georgie is sent to Berlin to report on the changing atmosphere the year before the start of WWII. The reporters know how dangerous Hitler is and must write their stories in a way won’t get them in trouble with the “Ministry of Propaganda” in Germany.

Georgie becomes a part of the press family and together they seek out stories to expose the danger lurking in Germany. She befriends a Jewish family and does everything she can to help them.

There are a lot of interesting stories in this book including the disappearance of a reporter, the burning of Jewish businesses, and sending children away to England. I wish more time had been spent on these stories instead of the day to day meetings at the bar. While Gracie’s character was developed well, I wanted to know more about the Jewish family. The book was a little slow and the ending had Gracie turning into a bit of a silly superhero.

I liked the newspaper clippings at the end but didn’t understand why Gracie was allowed to do her postcard series without getting in trouble with the Germans.

njohnson246's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Not bad, but a bit slow. I liked the perspective of a reporter before the war, but I just found the story a little dry. The end does pick up a bit though! 

lee_tee_bee's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

agustinap's review against another edition

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3.0

As a historical fiction fan, I have read many books about WWII. This one was refreshing in the sense that the characters were all journalists reporting from Berlin. It was interesting to see their frustration at seeing what was happening around them yet their HQs were not publishing much without photographs and nothing was been done to stop the Reich. I really enjoyed the snippets of their articles after they leave Berlin. That was a really nice touch!

cstange17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

landawg78's review against another edition

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4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a slow start but was well worth persevering through!

onewell's review against another edition

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4.0

Okay been loving some historical fiction lately. Has to be 1900 or later but I’ve been way more into it than I used to be. This was good! 3.5 rounded up. Follows a news correspondent working in Berlin in 1938/1939 during hitlers final months before he began invading countries. I feel like I’ve read a good bit abt ww2 in the thick of it but it was interesting reading more about the lead up. Nothing crazy about the story or writing but I really enjoyed it

_mylittlebookshelf's review against another edition

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4.0

Georgie is an up and coming reporter who is sent to Berlin to report on recent events in Nazi Germany. She is sent there with Max Spender and the two meet various other foreign press along the way. She is soon wooed by an SS soldier but soon realises that he is simply using her as a ‘trophy’ to parade amongst his comrades. The story focuses on the lead up to the war, with the awful treatment of the Jewish community as seen with Sara and her husband. It also looked at the treatment of the press and how foreign press especially were censored by the German Reich.

This was another expertly crafted book by Robotham and although it took me slightly longer to get into than ‘A Woman of War’ I still found it an emotional and powerful read!

I’d like to thank @netgalley and @hqstories for my #gifted ARC! The book is out on the 29th October!