Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Koodinimi Alice

Overall a great WWI & WWII historical fiction pick. I was really impressed/shocked by the accuracy of a lot of the info in the book and I love how the author takes the time to inform the reader or the real people the book was based on.

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susannahnah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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stabilesero's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

I absolutely loved this book. The trio of Charlie, Eve and Finn; all of their flaws and developments were just captivating.
I loved the duo perspectives of both Eve and Charlie, it added a depth to the book and I loved to see their contrasts and similarities. It loses 0.25 of a rating purely because I feel like Charlie's perspective has nothing on Eve's, but it was nonetheless relevant to Eve's present story.
There were spicy moments, and swearing, which I found didn't take away from the plot or characters and I feel that reviews that claim they do, don't give Quinn enough credit for how they were used to show the development of character or who the characters were.
I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading more of Quinn's works because of this book!

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thebranchlibrary_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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savage_book_review's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

This one was recommended to me ages ago by someone at work (so long ago, in fact, I can't actually remember who it was!). It tell the intertwined stories of Charlie, an American society girl in 1947, and Eve, a bitter drunkard. But she wasn't always this way. Charlie is trying to find her cousin, missing since the war, and Eve's past service during WW1 might just hold the key to finding her.

Firstly I would say this reads like a very well researched, deeply respectful retelling of a little known story. While our main characters are fictional, the supporting cast is comprised of real women who undertook unbelievably dangerous roles during the occupation of France between 1914 and 1918. It has definitely made me want to read more on the subject (yay for the recommendations at the back of the book!) to establish the line between fact and fiction. But I suspect even the fictional plot line is very plausible.

This book does do time jumps and perspective swaps; the chapters alternate between Charlie in 1947 (written in the first person) and Eve in 1915/16 (written in the third person). While you do need to keep your wits about you a little, these changes don't actually have that much of an effect on the overall flow of the piece - I only 'noticed' it once. It's eminently readable!

There's a nice little bit of romance tagged on for good measure. It's not integral to the overall plot (I think you could take the relationship out all together and it wouldn't have a huge impact), but equally it's just another nice little subplot that gives the warm-fuzzies after some of the darker scenes. It fits well and doesn't feel overly forced, although as usual for books people seem to fall very quickly!

While there aren't any huge plot twists or major reveals, the mystery does keep you reading; the structure drip feeds information about Eve's life (which is the more interesting thread), but each time leaves you wanting more. That's not to say Charlie's part of the story isn't interesting, but that is more of the vehicle through which we get this amazing fictionalised version of history.

The only reason I haven't given this book 5 stars is because it's not sparked a visceral response in me. I like it, and would definitely recommend/read again, but there's nothing in me screaming that I must go and buy this book asap. I'll pick it up when I see it for a good price.

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local_hat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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