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gray5217's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
kjkbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this story. This is my first war civilians/evacuee story and it was a perfect place to start. I mainly reached for this as it is December and I wanted a christmassy story but I really got into it and was glad to see that there are more installments for Connie and Jessie’s life in evacuation. I found this book managed to tackle the experiences of children who landed in good and bad billet but still manage to leave us with hope for all children involved. I also liked how Peggy was included as I have to admit I forgot that pregnant women and the elderly were also eligible for evacuation so it was a nice reminder and helped give the twins in the story a touch of home while away.
mrose21's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this as part of the Christmas collection for M&B and I'm confused with how this is a M&B book... Its not their usual..
Its a 3 star because I'm just not that into it, it wasn't what I was looking for so giving it lower seems unfair but it isn't my sort of thing anyway so I can't give it higher either.
Its a 3 star because I'm just not that into it, it wasn't what I was looking for so giving it lower seems unfair but it isn't my sort of thing anyway so I can't give it higher either.
emmalb1984's review against another edition
4.0
Culture clashes, and adjusting to a new way of life as inner-city London children are evacuated to Harrogate during in 1939.
The characters are well created, and the descriptions of life on Jubilee Street in Bermondsey are atmospheric as the realities of life in war time set in. Similarly, the descriptions of Harrogate are engaging and well created, and you do get a feel for the setting, and can imagine the idea of being uprooted from everything you’ve ever known, and suddenly being placed in a completely different, rural environment. Connie and Jessie seem typical children of the era, and it is understandable that they would be worried and apprehensive about going to a strange place, although, they do have the bonus of their pregnant aunt going with them, so they are not totally removed from all they know.
As the book is set right at the start of the war, there are none of the usual London based wartime plots involving bombings and air raids, and instead the children are evacuated early on as a precaution due to the dockyards being a likely target.
The plot is engaging, although it did seem to take a while to really get going for my liking, as we find Connie, Jessie and their Aunt Peggy settling into life in Yorkshire, and, although there likely wound be difficulties with dialects, it did seem a bit over done on the fact that people were having conversations where they apparently had little or no idea of what the other person was talking about.
Obviously, Connie and Jessie are lucky in the fact they have Peggy around, and they are taken in by the kindly local vicar and his wife (although their son turns out the be the villain of the peace), however, the story does also refer to the fact that others weren’t so lucky, and didn’t have the best of times.
An easy going, enjoyable read, although, for me, it needed some more depth to the plot, or something to happen, and, personally, I wasn’t keen on the cover, as it presents it as a story about children, when in fact it is as much about Peggy and Barbara as it was about Connie and Jessie.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The characters are well created, and the descriptions of life on Jubilee Street in Bermondsey are atmospheric as the realities of life in war time set in. Similarly, the descriptions of Harrogate are engaging and well created, and you do get a feel for the setting, and can imagine the idea of being uprooted from everything you’ve ever known, and suddenly being placed in a completely different, rural environment. Connie and Jessie seem typical children of the era, and it is understandable that they would be worried and apprehensive about going to a strange place, although, they do have the bonus of their pregnant aunt going with them, so they are not totally removed from all they know.
As the book is set right at the start of the war, there are none of the usual London based wartime plots involving bombings and air raids, and instead the children are evacuated early on as a precaution due to the dockyards being a likely target.
The plot is engaging, although it did seem to take a while to really get going for my liking, as we find Connie, Jessie and their Aunt Peggy settling into life in Yorkshire, and, although there likely wound be difficulties with dialects, it did seem a bit over done on the fact that people were having conversations where they apparently had little or no idea of what the other person was talking about.
Obviously, Connie and Jessie are lucky in the fact they have Peggy around, and they are taken in by the kindly local vicar and his wife (although their son turns out the be the villain of the peace), however, the story does also refer to the fact that others weren’t so lucky, and didn’t have the best of times.
An easy going, enjoyable read, although, for me, it needed some more depth to the plot, or something to happen, and, personally, I wasn’t keen on the cover, as it presents it as a story about children, when in fact it is as much about Peggy and Barbara as it was about Connie and Jessie.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
mazza57's review against another edition
3.0
this is what it is a sweet story about evacuees inWW II nothing wrong with it nothing to mark it out above the rest
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