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A review by now_booking
A Motherland's Daughter, A Fatherland's Son by Ellie Midwood
4.0
Wow.
This is a hard novel to categorize. It’s historical fiction and wartime fiction for sure, going deep into the atrocities that happen in war. But it’s also an epic love story with the kind of Deus Ex Machina coincidences you get in a romance novel. And of course it’s a coming of age story for two young soldiers during WWII, Werner and Kira.
I liked this novel a lot because it’s really well written- heartbreakingly, viscerally so. Both protagonists are incredibly strong characters, neither of them is perfect, both of them commit atrocities- in fact, at certain points in the novel, it’s almost a competition of who has bloodier hands, but no matter what, you never lose your sympathy for two young people caught up in a war not of their making and trying to survive.
I feel like the ending was a little too convenient and rushed and not as creative as the rest of the novel but overall this tale of star-crossed lovers was a really interesting historical depiction of the Soviet-German conflict during World War 2. This is not a novel that makes a specific judgment call on the Nazis or the communists as being bad or good. Obviously, there are references to the racist and fascist regime of Nazi Germany but this book doesn’t necessarily therefore make it that the soldiers of Nazi Germany were the villains of the novel. This is a novel that portrays how devastating war is even to those who volunteer to serve and protect their countries and how far removed these soldiers are from the ideologies and strategies they are made to fight for. This novel is also a cautionary tale against war and violent conflict. I recommend it highly.
This is a hard novel to categorize. It’s historical fiction and wartime fiction for sure, going deep into the atrocities that happen in war. But it’s also an epic love story with the kind of Deus Ex Machina coincidences you get in a romance novel. And of course it’s a coming of age story for two young soldiers during WWII, Werner and Kira.
I liked this novel a lot because it’s really well written- heartbreakingly, viscerally so. Both protagonists are incredibly strong characters, neither of them is perfect, both of them commit atrocities- in fact, at certain points in the novel, it’s almost a competition of who has bloodier hands, but no matter what, you never lose your sympathy for two young people caught up in a war not of their making and trying to survive.
I feel like the ending was a little too convenient and rushed and not as creative as the rest of the novel but overall this tale of star-crossed lovers was a really interesting historical depiction of the Soviet-German conflict during World War 2. This is not a novel that makes a specific judgment call on the Nazis or the communists as being bad or good. Obviously, there are references to the racist and fascist regime of Nazi Germany but this book doesn’t necessarily therefore make it that the soldiers of Nazi Germany were the villains of the novel. This is a novel that portrays how devastating war is even to those who volunteer to serve and protect their countries and how far removed these soldiers are from the ideologies and strategies they are made to fight for. This novel is also a cautionary tale against war and violent conflict. I recommend it highly.