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arianna21's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Miscarriage
emtees's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was not at all what I expected and I think that’s the fault of the way it is presented and marketed. Which is too bad, because I really loved it, but if you went in thinking you were getting what the blurb implied - a story about two teenage girls in difficult circumstances finding love despite the injustices around them - you might be disappointed. The War Outside seems like it should be a “love conquers even the worst times” type story when in fact it is something much more rare and, in my opinion, important - a story about how injustice and prejudice crush what could have been a love story.
Margot and Hanuko are teenagers living in a camp for suspected traitors and their families in Texas in the last year of World War II. Margot’s father attended a gathering at which Nazi sympathizers were present, though he claims he was only there to support a friend, while the mystery of what exactly Haruko’s father is accused of doing hangs over the story until the very end. Both men have been been allowed to bring their families to live at the camp, which is divided between German and Japanese-American prisoners. On the Japanese side, the adults try to maintain as much normalcy as possible, believing that only by cooperating with the authorities can they ensure their eventual freedom and the futures of their children, something that Haruko - seething with anger beneath the veneer of a pretty, popular, “normal” girl - resents. Haruko is frustrated with her father’s refusal to tell her whether he really is a traitor, with the heavily censored letters that they get from her soldier brother, stationed in Europe, and with the superficiality around her. Meanwhile, on the German side, studious, socially awkward Margot (who is heavily implied to be autistic) tries to keep working towards a future in college despite her mother’s difficult pregnancy and her father’s increasing sympathy towards the Nazis in their midst. The two are brought together by coincidence, but a friendship grows up quickly between them - though it is one that they are forced to keep under wraps, as neither of their families or communities trust those on the other side of the camp.
There is both friendship and attraction between Margot and Haruko - though only Margot really acknowledges the later, there are several highly charged moments between the girls - but from the outset the reader knows their story will not have a happy ending. The novel has a framing device in which Haruko and Margot are being interviewed about their experiences in the camp sometime in the future. In the very first chapter, Haruko assures us that she never loved Margot, though Margot in her turn says that she believes this is a lie. But the fact that there will be a betrayal between the girls that destroys their relationship hangs over the story even in its sweetest and most innocent moments, such as when the girls dream of the life they will have together after the war ends. The story is full of tension and dread, whether it comes from the growing trouble between the prisoners and their guards, the rumors that reach the camp of violence in other, similar camps, or the increasingly outspoken Nazi sympathizers who are drawing once loyal Americans who feel betrayed by their country towards their side. Against that background, Margot and Haruko’s relationship is fragile and breakable, and when it inevitably falls apart in hurt, betrayal and misunderstanding, it is clear that it couldn’t have gone any other way. No matter how much the girls cared about each other, the nature of the way they were imprisoned despite their innocence, the larger prejudices of their society, and a culture that was set up to encourage betrayal was too much for those feelings to overcome.
Hesse has clearly done a lot of research with The War Outside, as her commentary at the end of the book makes clear. She has taken a little-known piece of history - while most people know about the Japanese internment camps in the US during WWII, few know about the mixed-culture camps for suspected traitors - and fleshed it out through the stories of Margot and Haruko. While the book is mostly concerned with the individual experiences of two girls, Hesse manages to touch on a wide range of complex and sensitive subjects. The differences in the ways the girls experience the betrayal of their country - with Haruko, used to racism, taking it very differently than Margot, who was once accepted as close enough to a “real” American until the war began - the complex feelings they each have about the countries their parents came from, the nuances of how prejudice and injustice can drive people to become the very things they were accused of being but still don’t justify those actions - are all delicately handled. Both Haruko and Margot are complex and fascinating characters. Margot’s deep interiority, her retreat to numbers and books when life become stressful or complicated and her ability to act coldly and rationally to protect what she wants are very interesting, but it was Haruko, who hid so much behind a bland and pretty facade, who I found most interesting.
My one issue with the book was the way it ended. Though the betrayal that divided the girls felt appropriately abrupt - the whole point is how the circumstances of their lives cut off any chance at real lasting friendship or more between them - the ending still felt very rushed. The girls’ lives change drastically in the last few chapters, and we are left without really knowing what the future holds for either of them. Which would be fine - I can enjoy an ambiguous or open ending - but the problem was the framing device. Though we don’t know how far in the future it happens, we know at some point Margot and Haruko will be interviewed by a historian of some kind looking to document the story of the camp, so the fact that even with these interview excerpts we don’t find out much at all about what happened to the girls after the war ended feels artificial. The story also leaves their relationship up in the air, with the question of whether they will ever reunite and have the chance to settle their differences unanswered. The structure of the book makes this feel like an unnatural ending and I wish Hesse had given us just a bit more.
Margot and Hanuko are teenagers living in a camp for suspected traitors and their families in Texas in the last year of World War II. Margot’s father attended a gathering at which Nazi sympathizers were present, though he claims he was only there to support a friend, while the mystery of what exactly Haruko’s father is accused of doing hangs over the story until the very end. Both men have been been allowed to bring their families to live at the camp, which is divided between German and Japanese-American prisoners. On the Japanese side, the adults try to maintain as much normalcy as possible, believing that only by cooperating with the authorities can they ensure their eventual freedom and the futures of their children, something that Haruko - seething with anger beneath the veneer of a pretty, popular, “normal” girl - resents. Haruko is frustrated with her father’s refusal to tell her whether he really is a traitor, with the heavily censored letters that they get from her soldier brother, stationed in Europe, and with the superficiality around her. Meanwhile, on the German side, studious, socially awkward Margot (who is heavily implied to be autistic) tries to keep working towards a future in college despite her mother’s difficult pregnancy and her father’s increasing sympathy towards the Nazis in their midst. The two are brought together by coincidence, but a friendship grows up quickly between them - though it is one that they are forced to keep under wraps, as neither of their families or communities trust those on the other side of the camp.
There is both friendship and attraction between Margot and Haruko - though only Margot really acknowledges the later, there are several highly charged moments between the girls - but from the outset the reader knows their story will not have a happy ending. The novel has a framing device in which Haruko and Margot are being interviewed about their experiences in the camp sometime in the future. In the very first chapter, Haruko assures us that she never loved Margot, though Margot in her turn says that she believes this is a lie. But the fact that there will be a betrayal between the girls that destroys their relationship hangs over the story even in its sweetest and most innocent moments, such as when the girls dream of the life they will have together after the war ends. The story is full of tension and dread, whether it comes from the growing trouble between the prisoners and their guards, the rumors that reach the camp of violence in other, similar camps, or the increasingly outspoken Nazi sympathizers who are drawing once loyal Americans who feel betrayed by their country towards their side. Against that background, Margot and Haruko’s relationship is fragile and breakable, and when it inevitably falls apart in hurt, betrayal and misunderstanding, it is clear that it couldn’t have gone any other way. No matter how much the girls cared about each other, the nature of the way they were imprisoned despite their innocence, the larger prejudices of their society, and a culture that was set up to encourage betrayal was too much for those feelings to overcome.
Hesse has clearly done a lot of research with The War Outside, as her commentary at the end of the book makes clear. She has taken a little-known piece of history - while most people know about the Japanese internment camps in the US during WWII, few know about the mixed-culture camps for suspected traitors - and fleshed it out through the stories of Margot and Haruko. While the book is mostly concerned with the individual experiences of two girls, Hesse manages to touch on a wide range of complex and sensitive subjects. The differences in the ways the girls experience the betrayal of their country - with Haruko, used to racism, taking it very differently than Margot, who was once accepted as close enough to a “real” American until the war began - the complex feelings they each have about the countries their parents came from, the nuances of how prejudice and injustice can drive people to become the very things they were accused of being but still don’t justify those actions - are all delicately handled. Both Haruko and Margot are complex and fascinating characters. Margot’s deep interiority, her retreat to numbers and books when life become stressful or complicated and her ability to act coldly and rationally to protect what she wants are very interesting, but it was Haruko, who hid so much behind a bland and pretty facade, who I found most interesting.
My one issue with the book was the way it ended. Though the betrayal that divided the girls felt appropriately abrupt - the whole point is how the circumstances of their lives cut off any chance at real lasting friendship or more between them - the ending still felt very rushed. The girls’ lives change drastically in the last few chapters, and we are left without really knowing what the future holds for either of them. Which would be fine - I can enjoy an ambiguous or open ending - but the problem was the framing device. Though we don’t know how far in the future it happens, we know at some point Margot and Haruko will be interviewed by a historian of some kind looking to document the story of the camp, so the fact that even with these interview excerpts we don’t find out much at all about what happened to the girls after the war ended feels artificial. The story also leaves their relationship up in the air, with the question of whether they will ever reunite and have the chance to settle their differences unanswered. The structure of the book makes this feel like an unnatural ending and I wish Hesse had given us just a bit more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: War
The story takes place in a camp for German and Japanese Americans accused of betraying the US during WWII, and it is made clear that most of the main characters have been imprisoned unjustly due to racial prejudice. A minor character suffers from PTSD.danileah07's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child death and Racism
Minor: Miscarriage and War
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