Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Alice Network

“Women who couldn’t be beaten.”

This book is a true woman-power book spanning two wars. The ladies of this book were truly remarkable, especially learning that the WWI spy “Lilli” was a true war heroine and many of her stories were historically accurate.

This book can get very dark, especially describing Eve’s time as a spy during the war and during prison. However, it added a layer of authenticity. The author’s ability to relay the horror of what was happening in this setting was incredible. It was palpable.

It felt like multiple books in one book reading the lifetime of Eve and journey of Charlie, yet I never got bored or felt the book dragged. Everything felt necessary.

This is definitely a book that will stay with me. The character of Eve was fascinating and memorable. Her journey with grief, self acceptance, and guilt gives a lot to reflect about. Charlie’s story of self acceptance, self forgiveness, and her taking control of her own life despite stigma and scorn is aspirational.

Content Warnings

sabrina_d_arcy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cadybooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

Loved it, but it was too long. Hear me out.

This book is told from two perspectives in alternating chapter.
In 1915, we follow Eve, who is trained as a spy and sent to Lille in German occupied France to gather and pass on information to the Alice Network, a network of British and French spies during WWI.
In 1947 Charlie, a pregnant college student from the US, is searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in France during WWII. She hires Eve to help with her search, and their stories intertwine more than expected.

When I say, the book was too long, I mostly mean the first half. Charlie's story, especially compared to Eve's, feels really underdeveloped in the beginning. I like that we get to know the characters slowly and in a natural way during their travels together, and the payoff is really great in the end. But it was still hard to stay invested in Charlie's parts for at least the first 200-300 pages, because nothing actually happens.

The rest of the book is just fantastic. The character work is amazing, so many strong female characters. I literally felt the tension during all the spy business scenes. Reading the author's note at the end, which explains which characters, events and details were real, made me realize how great their portrayal was in the book as well. Facts and fiction fit perfectly together.

I liked how all kinds of aspects of women's lives during the wars/post-war are shown, the relationships between the characters, the focus on their mental state. I also think it was great to have a protagonist with a speech disorder who uses this weakness and turns it into a strength. But there are several scenes that were hard to read. Kate Quinn does not shy away from detailed descriptions of gruesome and bloody scenes. So yeah, definitely check out trigger/content warnings.

Lastly, one of the things that is really hard to pull off is a satisfying showdown/ending. And I think it was done masterfully here. A lot of times the showdowns in books are either too abrupt or too slow for me. This one is perfectly timed. I love the setting, the characters involved, the emotions, the dialogues, the action, the execution and resolution. All the little details come together nicely.
And after the showdown we get an ending that's neither too short, nor too long. I'm really impressed.

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