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b00kishnurse's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
estimpert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, War, and Deportation
stephmcoakley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
heyyyyitskatelyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Genocide
jvsaucceda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Deportation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
ashdawn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The book was very similar to looking at a pointillism painting. From a distance, it's actually a good story overall. It shares some of the women's work in war resistance and was enjoyable to read. The ending especially was heartbreaking but fantastic. There are much better historical fiction books with more accuracy though.
Also like a pointillism though, when looking at it closer though, details blur to oblivion, and that was part of what really bothered me about this one. Things like:
- Creating a fictional town to set the story in. Yes, it's historical fiction, so details can be made up, but it would have been so much more inspiring and interesting to have it take place during/in real bits of WW2.
- Not all of the characters get aged correctly. There are several scenes where a time frame has been mentioned, but a younger character is still the same age they were in a scene that was timeline wise 3ish years prior to current. This is especially problematic when one of them becomes a major plot point *because* of his age at the time of events.
- Struggles with scenery/time of year. Not only do some of the characters themselves not age, the landscape also struggles to fit into correct timelines. There were some scenes for example, that apples (fall), cucumbers (summer), and snow on the ground in Pairs (winter) were all happening at the same time. In the same vein, another scene made sure to note that there was knee-deep snow, yet a bike was able to be easily stolen, *ridden through the snow*, and not leave tracks.
- Character motivations sometimes made sense, but were sometimes just incredibly dumb choices.
- What happened with the Friedmans? Kinda should have been a *Major plot point* to hiding them, and we just....never hear anything else about hiding them, their survival, close calls, moving them somewhere else. Nothing.
Also, like most of the books I've read by this author, make sure to look up trigger warnings before reading. On top of everything you would expect from a book set in Nazi occupied France during WW2, there are also miscarriages, grief, a very large prejudice against refugees, etc (which seems like a common theme to this author).
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Antisemitism, Abandonment, War, and Deportation
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Grief
steenmies's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia
sariereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
baearles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, and Deportation
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
joanamatos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Sexual violence and Deportation
Minor: Alcoholism