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kate_brauning's review
5.0
LOVED this one. Such compelling characters, and oh my god the romance. The tension kept me glued to the page. This is fantasy and historical fiction like you haven't seen before.
burrowsi1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
ellakostka's review against another edition
4.0
★★★★☆ 3.5/5
thank you to penguinteen and netgallery for the arc!
i absolutely love the idea of this book but unfortunately i feel like the execution fell short. the book strays very little from the blurb; it’s literally just 400 pages of a bunch of people running around killing nazis with little plot or explanation of why exactly there is a giant shadow realm and it’s relevance. where did it come from? why does it exist? how long has it existed? why has nobody discovered it before? i had SO many questions and none of them were answered. once you accept the fact that you’re inevitably going to be confused, this book is a whole lot of fun. the characters, even the side ones, where all well developed. the relationships, apart from maybe one, were also well developed. it took a while to get into, but it was definitely worth the wait.
thank you to penguinteen and netgallery for the arc!
i absolutely love the idea of this book but unfortunately i feel like the execution fell short. the book strays very little from the blurb; it’s literally just 400 pages of a bunch of people running around killing nazis with little plot or explanation of why exactly there is a giant shadow realm and it’s relevance. where did it come from? why does it exist? how long has it existed? why has nobody discovered it before? i had SO many questions and none of them were answered. once you accept the fact that you’re inevitably going to be confused, this book is a whole lot of fun. the characters, even the side ones, where all well developed. the relationships, apart from maybe one, were also well developed. it took a while to get into, but it was definitely worth the wait.
yellow_ylugbug's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Antisemitism, and War
cravebooks's review against another edition
4.0
This kind of book is not one that I usually pick up, but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read it. Smith added an extra layer of evil to the Nazis in a way that reminded me of Captain America: The First Avenger. Smith also mastered the found family trope, and found a way to bring together a very unlikely group of people together in order to find a way to help save the world. Smith's storytelling had me hooked and I really appreciated the way that she paid special attention to each of the characters to give them their own arc throughout the story, and enough background information so that the reader could easily connect with them. I wish we had heard more from Evangeline's perspective though, she added a very refreshing take on the story. I truly loved Smith's characters and the relationships they developed along the way.
emilybenitez's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
vardaman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
novel_sarahndipity's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Penguin Teen for an e-arc of this book.
Okay, this is one of the heavier books I've read, especially in awhile. It's very much a fantasy-sci-fi-historical fiction. It's set during World War II, and thus is filled with murder, torture, death and everything that surrounds World War II.
The cast of characters were easily my favorite part. It was extremely diverse. Including, and I'm probably forgetting at least one. BUT. 4 queer characters, a Black character, characters from Germany, the US, France, Algeria. There were a few Jewish characters obviously. There's mental health representation leaking out of this book, as it should be with everything going on it it. And I loved how all of these different aspects were handled. Lindsay Smith also went on in her acknowledgments about how she got so many people AND places to beta and sensitivity read for her.
The conversations had in this book were so incredibly important, and are important any time a place or group of people are slighted or harmed. Who's fight is it? What's the difference between action and complacency.
At times I did feel like the story and plot were a bit disjointed. The science wasn't always explained very well. And there was a strange mesh of fantasy and sci-fi that got a bit messy. Linsday Smith also throws you right into the book, the first chapters are super fast paced and the rest of the book really does keep up the pace very well. Everything is complex but it's also a quick read. I love fast paced books, but I do think that it would have helped if it slowed down just a bit so things could had been explained to us a little bit better and more clearly.
I don't read a lot of historical fiction but I had A LOT of fun with this book.
Okay, this is one of the heavier books I've read, especially in awhile. It's very much a fantasy-sci-fi-historical fiction. It's set during World War II, and thus is filled with murder, torture, death and everything that surrounds World War II.
The cast of characters were easily my favorite part. It was extremely diverse. Including, and I'm probably forgetting at least one. BUT. 4 queer characters, a Black character, characters from Germany, the US, France, Algeria. There were a few Jewish characters obviously. There's mental health representation leaking out of this book, as it should be with everything going on it it. And I loved how all of these different aspects were handled. Lindsay Smith also went on in her acknowledgments about how she got so many people AND places to beta and sensitivity read for her.
The conversations had in this book were so incredibly important, and are important any time a place or group of people are slighted or harmed. Who's fight is it? What's the difference between action and complacency.
At times I did feel like the story and plot were a bit disjointed. The science wasn't always explained very well. And there was a strange mesh of fantasy and sci-fi that got a bit messy. Linsday Smith also throws you right into the book, the first chapters are super fast paced and the rest of the book really does keep up the pace very well. Everything is complex but it's also a quick read. I love fast paced books, but I do think that it would have helped if it slowed down just a bit so things could had been explained to us a little bit better and more clearly.
I don't read a lot of historical fiction but I had A LOT of fun with this book.
alyssa_simard's review against another edition
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? No
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, and Xenophobia