madisonpmckay's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
There are flaws in the gramma as other reviewers have mentioned… As far as a story lines goes however, I absolutely loved this book! For many reasons, the characters and their journeys of life and love, even work life balance, it was the imagery of the settings and the in-depth connection with the era (two different story lines set decades apart but entwined). It was a side of the war I had next to no knowledge about - I have done research since and it’s comforting to know how much research went into the story to make it truly the master piece it is, along with everything else. A must if you love love, heartbreak and journeys set and defined by odds for and against, great battles of freedom fought by independent strong female characters.
larabobara's review
3.0
Read for my church book club - would give it 3.5 if I could. Found it highly enjoyable, but not quite 4 stars.
storytimewithlily's review
5.0
Okay guys!
Omg ahh!
I don't even know where to begin with this.
Cons: had grammar mistakes quite a bit that sometimes took me out of the story
Pros: literally everything else. The relationships were yummy, the conflict and drama just so intense and the writing was beautiful. Kind of makes me wish I was Chinese or at least new how to make Chinese food.
The twist I kind of saw coming but also totally didn't which is kinda the best kind of twist.
And I just ahhhhh!
Askjnsdjdnkjbedwekcn!
Omg ahh!
I don't even know where to begin with this.
Cons: had grammar mistakes quite a bit that sometimes took me out of the story
Pros: literally everything else. The relationships were yummy, the conflict and drama just so intense and the writing was beautiful. Kind of makes me wish I was Chinese or at least new how to make Chinese food.
The twist I kind of saw coming but also totally didn't which is kinda the best kind of twist.
And I just ahhhhh!
Askjnsdjdnkjbedwekcn!
kathryn08's review
3.0
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for the ARC copy of this that was sent to me.
Unfortunately I struggled with this one. It took me almost a month to read - I picked it up, put it down, and reluctantly picked it back up again.
I’m not really sure what the problem was - the story was written in 2 periods, the WWII period and present day, going back to look at what happened to the grandmother of the present day period during the war period when she was a young woman. I normally like those dual timeline stories, but it didn’t work for me this time.
I’m not sure whether it was perhaps because I found it hard to get a handle on some of the characters and maybe found it difficult to relate to them. The grandmother character, Romy, was Austrian, moved to Shanghai as a refugee and then moved to Australia as a refugee again after the war but had adopted a lot of Asian customs and traditions during her time in Shanghai. But this confused me a little initially - I had to keep reminding myself what nationality she was and then had to work out why she was using Asian medicine, food etc when she was Austrian!
I’m still glad I persevered and read it, because it did improve toward the end, but it was hard work to get there. But perhaps it was just a case of wrong book, wrong time for me!
Unfortunately I struggled with this one. It took me almost a month to read - I picked it up, put it down, and reluctantly picked it back up again.
I’m not really sure what the problem was - the story was written in 2 periods, the WWII period and present day, going back to look at what happened to the grandmother of the present day period during the war period when she was a young woman. I normally like those dual timeline stories, but it didn’t work for me this time.
I’m not sure whether it was perhaps because I found it hard to get a handle on some of the characters and maybe found it difficult to relate to them. The grandmother character, Romy, was Austrian, moved to Shanghai as a refugee and then moved to Australia as a refugee again after the war but had adopted a lot of Asian customs and traditions during her time in Shanghai. But this confused me a little initially - I had to keep reminding myself what nationality she was and then had to work out why she was using Asian medicine, food etc when she was Austrian!
I’m still glad I persevered and read it, because it did improve toward the end, but it was hard work to get there. But perhaps it was just a case of wrong book, wrong time for me!
kali's review
5.0
I finished this at 4am. It was definitely a 'one more chapter' book for me. Loved the unique angle on a WW2 story, and that the author didn't flinch from showing us its brutality.
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