A review by aejohnson85
The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

3.0

I was completely enthralled with the beginning of this novel! Sophie's story (living under German occupation in 1916-17) was utterly engaging. I thought Moyes did a fabulous job showing the hardships that the French people endured, as well as what could cause a person to be seen as a "collaborator". What Sophie was willing to do to keep her family safe and be reunited with her husband, made for a great read!

However, once Part 2 began, I felt the magic of the book dissipate. While Sophie's story and painting were a large part of the modern day story of Liv and Paul, I just found the story less entertaining....I wanted to know what happened to Sophie once the Germans had taken her away (which we has to wait far too long for in my opinion), and wasn't as interested in Liv fighting for the painting! There were too many coincidences with Liv's story, and I just couldn't buy into it as much - I just didn't like her character as much for some reason. However, I was very happy with the resolution of Sophie's story!

Overall, I did enjoy Moyes' style and plan to check out her other books as well!