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laurenbookishtwins's review
2.0
Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Edelweiss for review purposes.
WAIT FOR ME is a well-researched and well-written, albeit problematic, romance & historical fiction. It features a romance between a German POW and a Scottish farm-girl. When Paul Vogel, a conscripted German Nazi soldier, is sent to a Scottish farm as a POW, Lorna is disgusted to have an enemy soldier on her family farm, yet she soon falls in love with him. Whilst I do admit that I found their romance sweet (if you can forget about the links with Nazism), I wish that Leech had put across a less sympathetic view towards Nazi soldiers and featured a much more condemnation of Nazism but found this lacking (just a slight mention that Paul disagreed with the party and was conscripted). Instead it felt like a romanticisation of a brutal and inhumane part of history. It mentioned very little about Nazi crimes and instead focused more on the actions of the Allies towards German soldiers. Even going as far as vilifying Lorna's brother, portraying him as angry, abusive and controlling in comparison to Paul.
Outside of the romance, there is very little in the way of plot and characterization. Paul, admittedly, is a nice person. But there's the problem. He's still a Nazi, but Leech makes every effort to humanize him and romanticise his and Lorna's relationship. It's a well-researched book, and the romance is sweet because Paul is genuinely a nice person. But the book itself doesn't condemn Nazism nearly enough for the time period it takes place in.
WAIT FOR ME is a well-researched and well-written, albeit problematic, romance & historical fiction. It features a romance between a German POW and a Scottish farm-girl. When Paul Vogel, a conscripted German Nazi soldier, is sent to a Scottish farm as a POW, Lorna is disgusted to have an enemy soldier on her family farm, yet she soon falls in love with him. Whilst I do admit that I found their romance sweet (if you can forget about the links with Nazism), I wish that Leech had put across a less sympathetic view towards Nazi soldiers and featured a much more condemnation of Nazism but found this lacking (just a slight mention that Paul disagreed with the party and was conscripted). Instead it felt like a romanticisation of a brutal and inhumane part of history. It mentioned very little about Nazi crimes and instead focused more on the actions of the Allies towards German soldiers. Even going as far as vilifying Lorna's brother, portraying him as angry, abusive and controlling in comparison to Paul.
Outside of the romance, there is very little in the way of plot and characterization. Paul, admittedly, is a nice person. But there's the problem. He's still a Nazi, but Leech makes every effort to humanize him and romanticise his and Lorna's relationship. It's a well-researched book, and the romance is sweet because Paul is genuinely a nice person. But the book itself doesn't condemn Nazism nearly enough for the time period it takes place in.
syl_val15's review against another edition
4.0
4,5/5 Stars!
Back in the early beginning of 2017 I came across to this book 'Wait for Me', the title earned my interest and so I read the plot, immideatly fell in love with it for many reasons.
1) A novel which is historical/fiction during WWII (personal favourite).
2) Forbidden love.
3) Tragedy, romance and family bonds.
The year 1945 in Scotland, WWII, explosions and danger almost everywhere, families being taken away from each other, maybe dead, maybe lost or maybe kidnapped, never being able to feel completly safe.
The story begins with the main protagonist named Lorna, a 17 year old school girl who lives in a farm along with her father, a part-time cook/maid, and a city girl who's a couple of years older than her and came all the way from London (As long as I could remember). Lorna has two older brothers who are deployed in the war. Suddenly the local POV camp sends them a German soldier called Paul to work in their farm. Lorna's world is about to change forever.
Despite being from enemy countries Lorna & Paul's love story was so sweet and pure, that I couldn't get enough of it . It wasn't just about high school cliché love story like we see in the most ya genre.
I loved this book, its was a complete delight. The setting was vividly written, the characters were builded up fantasticly and the family bonding was incredible and sometimes bittersweet.
Overal I liked this book very much, looking forward for the author's next novels.
4,5/5 Stars.
Back in the early beginning of 2017 I came across to this book 'Wait for Me', the title earned my interest and so I read the plot, immideatly fell in love with it for many reasons.
1) A novel which is historical/fiction during WWII (personal favourite).
2) Forbidden love.
3) Tragedy, romance and family bonds.
The year 1945 in Scotland, WWII, explosions and danger almost everywhere, families being taken away from each other, maybe dead, maybe lost or maybe kidnapped, never being able to feel completly safe.
The story begins with the main protagonist named Lorna, a 17 year old school girl who lives in a farm along with her father, a part-time cook/maid, and a city girl who's a couple of years older than her and came all the way from London (As long as I could remember). Lorna has two older brothers who are deployed in the war. Suddenly the local POV camp sends them a German soldier called Paul to work in their farm. Lorna's world is about to change forever.
Despite being from enemy countries Lorna & Paul's love story was so sweet and pure, that I couldn't get enough of it . It wasn't just about high school cliché love story like we see in the most ya genre.
I loved this book, its was a complete delight. The setting was vividly written, the characters were builded up fantasticly and the family bonding was incredible and sometimes bittersweet.
Overal I liked this book very much, looking forward for the author's next novels.
4,5/5 Stars.
brittanytbiggers's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
worldsunlikeourown's review
4.0
This was a really sweet book. Despite being set in such violent times, it focussed on ordinary people far away from the front lines, the sacrifices they had to make and how their lives were affected by it.
Lorna was a very strong character and Paul, while he could have used a little more character development, was just as good. The romance was well-written, but not overdone - fitting in well with the setting and events of the time period.
Definitely for fans of Salt to the Sea. A strong debut novel, good for light reading.
Lorna was a very strong character and Paul, while he could have used a little more character development, was just as good. The romance was well-written, but not overdone - fitting in well with the setting and events of the time period.
Definitely for fans of Salt to the Sea. A strong debut novel, good for light reading.
amyhungerford's review
4.0
Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
I'm not really sure what I was expecting with this one. It was cute enough and I found the premise interesting enough.
I'm not really sure what I was expecting with this one. It was cute enough and I found the premise interesting enough.
nubia_a's review
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Honestly, when I was starting to read this I didn't think I would finish it. The book was going VERY slow, but as I started to read it I became more interested and started to really enjoy it. (Disclaimer it took about till page 100 to get there though). So overall I think if you are willing to read a slower War romance, this book could possibly be for you.
akkkyyllzzzz's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
let me tell you i was cliffhanged otw to school that I had to run to my classroom to finish those last pages OH MY DAYS LET ME TELL YOU THAT ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTION THE WALK WAS LIKE 10 MILLION YEARS FROM SPACE IZJSKXHDNÀSIDB IM GONNA MISS THEM SO MUCH PLS 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 i might take into consideration german.. ABDBDBANDJDBZ'KDJDBZ IM SO
eulsie's review
3.0
I thought this book was OK. It was pretty basic and almost reminded me of Phantom of the Opera, just a LITTLE bit (really just because Paul’s face got burned off)... I thought the relationship between Paul and Lorna was very sweet but of course was very cliché since this is a contemporary romance book. I also feel like the book did not give much closure since we never found out what happened to Paul’s family. I also didn’t appreciate that the religious figures in this book were of course made out to be rude, small minded hypocrites. Not everyone during that time was like that.
I felt like the incident between Lorna and the American officer was just put there for the sake of the plot. I felt horrible for Lorna, but it feels the only reason that scene was in the book was so that Paul could find her crying and comfort her, for the sake of the romance. That makes me sad because that situation should never happen, but it does, and it didn’t really seem to effect Lorna like I thought it would.
Overall I would give this book a 3.25 out of five stars. I liked it but won’t reread it. I really enjoyed the history in the book and I thought the situations the characters were in were very realistic. If you’re looking for a cute historic read, go for this one. It’s pretty clean, cute, and wholesome, but definitely aiming for an older YA audience.
I felt like the incident between Lorna and the American officer was just put there for the sake of the plot. I felt horrible for Lorna, but it feels the only reason that scene was in the book was so that Paul could find her crying and comfort her, for the sake of the romance. That makes me sad because that situation should never happen, but it does, and it didn’t really seem to effect Lorna like I thought it would.
Overall I would give this book a 3.25 out of five stars. I liked it but won’t reread it. I really enjoyed the history in the book and I thought the situations the characters were in were very realistic. If you’re looking for a cute historic read, go for this one. It’s pretty clean, cute, and wholesome, but definitely aiming for an older YA audience.
alannar2422's review
5.0
Beautiful book I loved it so much. I watched a show similar to this called Land Girls which was starkling similar to this book but made me love it so much more. This gave me a better understanding of what they went through and how much everyone suffered. I was reminded of COVID-19 and I could relate to what some were speaking about in this book.
bookish_brenna's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? N/A
4.75