Dear Mrs. Bird | AJ Pearce

Title: Dear Mrs. Bird

Author: AJ Pearce

Length: 281 pages

Publication date: July 3, 2018

Genre: Adult historical fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

London 1940, bombs are falling. Emmy Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent seem suddenly achievable. But the job turns out to be typist to the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down. Mrs Bird is very clear: Any letters containing Unpleasantness—must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant letters from women who are lonely, may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men and found themselves in trouble, or who can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write letters back to the women of all ages who have spilled out their troubles. Prepare to fall head over heels with Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are spirited and gutsy, even in the face of events that bring a terrible blow. As the bombs continue to fall, the irrepressible Emmy keeps writing, and readers are transformed by AJ Pearce’s hilarious, heartwarming, and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.

I am such a sucker for WWII fiction, and I absolutely loved Dear Mrs. Bird! The writing was excellent for a debut novel. The premise totally drew me in: I loved seeing a story set from a perspective of every day life. These people were being bombed at night and going to work the next morning. They still had to pay rent and get food, and they wanted to go dancing on Friday nights to take make their lives feel normal again. I loved the characters and how they related to each other. I'm already itching to read this book again. I highly recommend the audiobook as well - it's narrated by Anna Popplewell, who played Susan in the Narnia movies! I very much recommend this for fans of historical fiction.

Between Shades of Gray || Ruta Septeys

Title: Between Shades of Gray

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Length: 344 pages

Publication date: March 22, 2011

Genre: YA historical fiction

Rating: 5/5

When I finished reading Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, I made a comment to my husband that my heart was not okay. He asked why I felt like that, and I had to think about it for a moment. I think it's because the effect this story had on me reaches farther than just a fictional story.

I find myself constantly reaching for stories set in WWII, and most of them take place in Nazi Germany. This one was a first for me. This book is from the point of view from Lina, a 15 year old girl living in Lithuania in 1941, which is when Stalin was in power of the Soviet Union. Lina's family ends up getting deported for "crimes" against the Union, and they are put on trains headed to labour camps in Siberia. This is a story of their survival amidst the most deplorable and loathsome conditions, and them holding on to hope of being able to go home soon.

Sometimes I try to figure out why I like to read these kinds of stories so often. Of course, they are based on real life occurrences, and to read about the evil ways these people were treated makes me sick. It breaks my heart to think about how people are able to convince themselves that certain groups are not even human anymore and treat them worse than animals. (Reminds me of our society's attitude toward abortion, but this isn't about that.) It's just horrible to think about, and yet to see how Lina's family and their group of people banded together was so incredibly beautiful. In the midst of inhuman conditions, they showed each other such kindness. They banded together and became a fortress among themselves, and it was so beautiful.

This book was incredible, just incredible, and I want everyone to read it now. I could go on and on, but I want to you experience it for yourself. I borrowed this from this library and I'm going to be buying a copy for myself, this is something I can see myself reading again and again.

At the Water's Edge || Sara Gruen

Title: At the Water's Edge

Author: Sara Gruen

Length: 348 pages

Publication date: January 1, 2015

Genre: Adult historical fiction

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Madeline Hyde, a young socialite from Phiadelphia, reluctantly follows her husband and their best friend to the tiny village of Drumnadrochit in search of a mythical monster - at the same time that a very real monster, Hitler, wages war against the Allied Forces. What Maddie discovers - about the larger world and about herself - through the unlikely friendships she develops with the villagers, opens her eyes not only to the dark forces that exist around her but to the beauty and surprising possibilities. (summary from Netgalley)

I am a sucker for fiction set in WWII, so this sounded like it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it didn't really do the trick for me. For the majority of the book, it felt like nothing was happening. It felt like the author didn't know what kind of book she wanted to write, so she mixed a few different books together, which made things feel disconnected at times. The characters felt flat for me for most of the book as well. The last third of the book vastly improved, and I actually started to care about what was going on, but it couldn't redeem the rest of the reading experience that much. I've never read anything else by Sara Gruen, but if you like her previous books, you might like this one as well. Overall, I would give this a pass. There are a lot of great books out there more worth your time.


I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.