Wishing For Wednesday #19

This week I've only got one book that I'm excited for, sadly, it's been hard to find any this month, not going to lie!
So this weeks solitary pick is one that I found when I was checking out GoodReads for December releases for this list, really, I wasn't too sure at first glance, but once I read over the synopsis I was drawn to the book, we all know how much I love unique books, and this one certainly makes the cut!
Not to mention it well and truly fits with the season, don't you think? Perfect winter read!

Winter Falls

Alessia Jacobs is a typical sixteen-year-old, dying to get out of her small town of Twin Willows, Maine. Things look up when a new family comes to town, but when she falls for the hot, mysterious son, Jonah, her life turns upside down.

Weird visions of transforming into an otherworldly falcon are just the beginning. Soon she learns she’s part of the Benandanti, an ancient cult of warriors with the unique power to separate their souls from their bodies and take on the forms of magnificent animals.

Alessia never would’ve suspected it, but her boring town is the site of an epic struggle between the Benandanti and the Malandanti to control powerful magic in the surrounding forest.

As Alessia is drawn into the Benandanti’s mission, her relationship with Jonah intensifies. When her two worlds collide, Alessia’s forced to weigh choices a sixteen-year-old should never have to make. 

Winter Falls is out December 22nd, pre-order your copy here.
Add it to your GoodReads here. 

The Oversight

The Oversight
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher

The Oversight is a secret society, one that polices the supranaturals in our world, and monitors the line between the mundane and the magical. Once, it had hundreds of members. But during a battle with the French, the entirety of the Oversight who went to help....disappeared, never to be seen or  heard from again, but no-ones entirely sure if they're dead or not. Now all that's left is 5 members, enough to make the final hand and keep things in order, but not enough to do battle with the enemy that is revealing itself. As soon as the hand is down to four.....chaos will reign in London. Great Fire of London? Caused by the Oversight failing.

One night, a dodgy bloke brings a girl to the Oversights London Safe House, a girl that screams whenever she touches walls and other surfaces. Sara recognizes the girl as being just like her, a Glint, seeing glimpses of the past when touching certain surfaces, she thinks the girl will be their new recruit, their salvation, and the beginning of them building their ranks back up. But she's a trap.

There are those who want entrance to the house and all it's magical contents, including a device that can mark out the supranatural from the regular and would have tragic consequences if in the wrong hands. Witch Hunt type consequences. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want and bring down the Oversight.

The Oversight is threatened. The borders between worlds are breaking down. One member vanishes in to the mirrors after Lucy (the girl), to retrieve her and someones severed hand. The Oversight are being torn apart, murders are raging across the city, and the culprit isn't entirely human. The enemy is closing in for the final blow, but can The Oversight prevail?

Remember....when they fall....so do we.

Oh my God, as if I don't have enough favourite book series, Fletcher smacks me with another one! I LOVED this book, seriously loved it and it's genuinely joined the ranks of my favourite series, I'm so excited for the next book it's not even funny.

This book is mindblowingly unique, your imagination is going to get one hell of a workout. The world Fletcher has created is one that is so colourful and vivid that it pulls you in to it's very heart and the atmosphere soaks in to you as you read. The world building is astounding, it's London, but a London with a dark underside of Supranaturals and other various creatures. The world is described to you in detail, but not too much detail so that it's dragging down the pace. It's truly a magical world and a magical read.

This incredible world is inhabited by a cast of unique, intriguing individuals, each as colourful as the world they inhabit, each different from the other, and they will jump off the page at you. They're all well written, secondary characters can stand alone, and each has a different backstory, each as intriguing as the last. It's clear there's more to some characters than meets the eye, it's also clear some of the Oversight members have other dimensions and have backstories that you're itching to find out more about.

There's development in characters relationships as well as themselves. Mr. Sharp and Sara's relationship develops, even though Sharp isn't there for a majority of the book. Lucy infuriated me at first, with how she treated Sara and her actions and just ugh, but she developed and when you see her at the end, she does the right thing, returns Sara's hand, and takes her place in the Oversight. The characters grow and change throughout the story, and also by what new bits of information you're fed about them.

The Oversight has a fantastic fast pace, and flow. The plot is complex, intriguing, entertaining and engaging throughout, from the start until the end. There's different threads woven in, there's different POV's that always change at the right moment, and add to the story and the pace, each either pertains to the story, or appears to be another story that eventually winds its way back to the main story, and it's all woven in to a compelling plot. The narrative is truly engaging and entertaining. The Oversight is never boring, there's always something going on, and it's near on impossible to put down.

In The Oversight you never know what's going to happen next, there's so many twists and turns I honestly couldn't predict them. I mean in the boat scene, I was convinced they where done for, but nope. You think one things going to happen, you're convinced of it and then the opposite happens and you're constantly surprised. Characters that initially seem shady, then prove to be quite the opposite, and have surprises of their own and surprise connections.

I loved all the little ominous moments, like when you see Georgiana for the last time in the book and the narrative is all "she'll be led down a path and get her revenge on Charlie and Lucy" and you're like oooohhh. It's touches like that, that perfectly and subtly set up the next book, and the rest of the series, little hints of what's to come. If those don't add enough intrigue there's the whole mystery surrounding the members of The Oversight who vanished in to the mirrors never to be seen again. Where they betrayed? Are they dead? Where are they? That's a mystery I'm itching to solve, but I haven't quite worked out what happened, and I haven't worked out a theory yet. I'm hoping it'll be solved over the course of the books and I'm excited to solve it, even though I have a feeling it's going to be eked out. Although, I'm wondering if it has anything to do with Dee.....

Not only is The Oversight full of the unique, there's also plenty of rich history/lore/background to the world of the book and the world of The Oversight, we find out so much, but there's plenty more I want to know. I loved how we find out about The Oversight without info dumps, we get the information we need to know, when we need to know it to understand the story, and what we know gets added to over the course of the book.

While our cast of main characters are unique and original, we also have a wide cast of unique baddies, who are truly baddies. Each is different, some are magical, some are not, we find out a lot about each, but again, there's the space where we need to know more, and there's more to be found out over the next few books. When I say they're truly baddies, I mean they're the best kind of baddie, I don't want to give too much away, but they have the devious plans and the minions and the manipulation and they're truly a worthy adversary for our band of heroes. The magical ones are disgustingly bad and grubby and magical and just brilliant.

The narrative is delightfully broken up with these little intervals where we visit a character, who is revealed to be more than she first appears, and who has provided one more push of intrigue to pull you in to the series so you can't get out of it! I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her, and I'm excited to know who she is, what she is and what she's going to bring to the story. There's also little extracts written by a relation of Sara's I'm assuming her grandfather! Like I said, the next book is perfectly set up, it's the perfect ending, a resolution of sorts, with some threads left open, and new adventures started and some questions, but it doesn't have an evil cliffhanger that's going to make the wait more painful than usual!

This is exactly the kind of book I love, the historical, the magical, the mystery, it's just so yaaaaaasss!
It really reminded me of an adult version of The Mortal Instruments, without the demons obviously, and with the Supranaturals instead, and without the romance, there is a romance of sorts in The Oversight but it's not overbearing nor is it the main focus of the book, it's subtle.

The Oversight is a perfect blend of genres, with colourful characters in a colourful world, full of magic, truly bad baddies, mystery, and a complex plot that doesn't require notes to keep up with! There's plenty of rich information found out and left to be found out and a mystery that could be hovering around the story until the very end. I truly loved this book, I'm truly excited for the next book, to see what happens to our characters next, and I'm excited to find out more about the world that has been created, particularly the mirrors thing and the creepy Mr. Dee....so much YEEESS!

Whisper The Dead

Whisper The Dead
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: BUY
Source: Copy courtesy of the Author/Publisher
Check out my review of the previous book A Breath Of Frost.....here.

Cousins Gretchen, Penelope and Emma, since finding out they're witches, are now dealing with trying to master their powers, a feat that is proving...painful for Gretchen. Her power manifests as hundreds of voices talking at once and there's some rather unpleasant side effects of straining herself using it. Such is the burden of being a Whisperer. The incessant buzzing of the voices lets her know when any witches spell has gone wrong.

Since the events at the end of Breath Of Frost, the girls have each been assigned a Keeper to keep an eye on them (hardeharhar), Emma gets the joys of Virgil, Penelope gets the decent Ian and Gretchen....she gets Tobias who's face would probably crack in half if he smiled. Although when things take a turn for the menacing and very creepy, he's quite handy to have around, even if he isn't what he seems. You see, bodies have been dug up, warlock magic is being worked, and Sophie....she's escaped. Not to mention Emma is on a quest to release Ewan from the Underworld, a quest that goes downhill when Virgil takes her measure, and well.....it's too spoilery to continue. But there's mayhem shall we say.

Gretchen must master her power to help fight against the evil menacing Mayfair, as well as the help of Penelope, Emma, everyone's favourite Madcap Moira, her little gargoyle Pip, and the ever icy and always irresistible Tobias Lawless. No-one is who they seem, someone has changed allegiances, things get tragic and the Greymalkin Sisters will rise again....or will they?

No. So much no. No. No. No. I finished this at like 4am, okay and I'm typing this at nearly 6pm. It still hasn't sunk in. Tragic? TRAGIC?! Absolutely heartbreaking and UGH. No. I can't even. How could you Alyxandra?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US!? *ugly sobbing*

This installment is....well....it's a lot more emotional, obviously, than the first, and the stakes are definitely raised. Virgil, it has to be said, is a total dick, I knew it in the first book, but in this one I mean....can someone just.....I don't know...get rid of him? Somehow? Because seriously. SUCH a douche. So much hate for him. So much. I also had a lot of negative feelings towards the Order in this book, they where more present than in the previous book, you saw more of them, and what you did see just made  you wonder why the witches don't just rise up and take them out, because if I was treated like how the Order treats them....I would be like raaargghhh *hits with magic* etc. They caused some rage, but injustice always makes me grrrrr.

Although from an actor-y, I Have To Find The POV Of Every Character, you can see why people go against them and to be honest, the fine line the girls walk between obeying them and still helping them even though they treat them like crap after saving them, and just.....letting them get wiped out by Sophie to be honest. Or going full Warlock and getting rid of them themselves.

The only good thing about the douchey Order being all kidnappery and just ugh, is that Aunt Bethany went totally badass. I mean....seriously, I love her even more because she just took none of their shit, and I so loved seeing more of her character and a slightly deeper glimpse of her. More please! Not to mention Theodora being all "WHERE THE HELL IS MY DAUGHTER". So badass. I'm waiting for Gretchen's mum to finally snap and join in.

Emma and Cormac are still my favourite, the bit at the end! THE QUESTION HE ASKED! I can't even. So much cute and all the warm and fuzzies. I had the same thing with Drake Chronicles, Lucy and Nick are still my favourite, the other couples are cute, but the first couple is usually the one I like best. I just love Cormac being all....Cormac haha. I'm feeling like Emma is walking a very fine line between Warlock magic at this stage, but I'm not entirely sure? I'm intrigued to see what's going to happen to her and her father when she brings him back, because the Order won't be happy, I'm also excited to see the Cormac and Emma thing play out in Society....it's going to be interesting. And don't worry Emma fans, while the majority of the book is from Gretchen's hilarious POV, with a few POV's from Tobias, we also get lots of Emma as well as Penelope and Moira! Emma is just as feisty as ever, it has to be said! I loved Gretchen and her disdain for the rules of Society, I mean, if I was her, I'd be acting like her too! She wants to fight and defend herself and I loved that about her so much in this installment!

I really, really am liking Daphne. I hated her in the first book, but this time round....you see more of the girl under the bitchy exterior and you see she's a lot more....vulnerable? Fragile? Than she leads you to believe with her hard facade. I really liked seeing the real Daphne, as it where, and I liked her being a total magical badass, and helping even though she was told no and wanting to fight as well, and man I loved her and Gretchen getting on! I need to see loooaaddss more of it in the next installment and I'm hoping Daphne is gonna team up with Gretchen to save everyone's asses!

Guess who's back....back again.....shady's back.....tell a friend......
Oh yes. Remember psycho Sophie? She's back. She's as shady as ever, and she's still crazy. She's also got a friend. It turns out her plan goes a lot deeper than we originally thought from the previous book, like I was totally unsuspecting. In this book, I pretty much didn't know what some things meant, or realize they where clues, or even realized what was happening...until the big thing happened and I was like...OH. And all the pieces fit together, not just with Sophie and her evil master plan, but with Virgil and his cord.

I really thought I knew the direction this series was going in, you know, a book for each cousin with their love story and some mystery, danger and magic, with all of it being wrapped up at the end but still leaving you wanting more; But I did not see this horrendous cliffhanger coming, like how am I supposed to function in the wait for the next book. I mean.....shit got real. Really real. Things have been set up for the next book, and it's all high stakes and immense danger. So I need the next book NOW. This book is definitely filed under the books that make you scream and want to throw it, or ya know....flat out throw it, right before you pick it back up and re-read it!

I mean...after Drake Chronicles, I shouldn't have let myself be lulled in to a false sense of security, I should have been on guard but NOPE!

Whisper The Dead is a fantastic sequel to a unique and truly enchanting series. Fast paced, full of action, humour, magic, mystery, twists and turns in a complex plot that you will not see coming, things are being set up all the time with subtle clues, and even if you pick up on them....you don't realize what they mean until it's right in front of your face! The board has been set for another explosive installment, and said complex plot has ratcheted up the tension, danger, stakes and general seriousness despite the moments of laugh out loud humour. The characters we love so much each get their own say, as we see different points of view, each change in POV perfectly timed, and in this installment we get a better understanding of Gretchen as she meets her perfect match.

The vivid world of The Lovegrove Legacy will suck you back in and you'll happily spend hours lost in the web of a plot where nothing is what it seems. The rules of Society and the rules of the Order are about to blown apart and things are going to change. This is one of my favourite series, and I cannot tell you properly how unique, and generally awesome this series, and this installment is. I mean....I've never read anything like it and I'm so excited to see how things are going to grow and change in the next installment to expand on what happened in this one!

The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy!
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher

Irene is a Librarian. But not just any Librarian, she's a spy or secret agent of sorts for the mysterious Library, she retrieves certain books, books that are unique to that particular reality and thus need to be preserved, then takes them back to the Library to keep them safe and gathers knowledge. You see, there are many different realities, all varying in whether they're magic dominant, or have no magic and so on, the Library itself is out of time and reality, and each reality is vastly different from the others, and each has vastly different literature, or books that are the same as other realities but slightly different.

After returning from a mission to retrieve a book about necromancy from an all boys boarding school, Irene is looking forward to having some spare time to do her own research, but as soon as she returns her superior sends her an assistant, and packs her off on a mission that's highly secret, and is in one of the most dangerous realities.....a chaos infected reality, meaning that the laws of nature are bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to roam free. Irene and Kai have been sent to retrieve a very different copy of Grimm's Tales, one that has a rather....Library specific extra story. Except....they're not the only ones after this book.

It's already been stolen by an infamous cat burglar, then there's the Fae who's after the book for unknown reasons, a secret society who send their mechanical creatures after them, and then there's the one Librarian who turned traitor to the Library....often thought of as a legend in the library, he's very real and very dangerous and he cannot, under any circumstances get the book. Soon she's up to her eyebrows in danger, clues and secrets. One secret is being hidden from her by her own assistant. He is not what he seems, but she has far bigger things to worry about. The supernatural are everywhere, people aren't who they seem, another agent of the Library is trying to steal her mission, can Irene and Kai, with the help of a Great Detective, complete their mission?

Holy WOW, this is quite possibly my favourite new book of the year! Seriously, it's kicking off an an amazingly unique series, and I just well and truly loved it! So you'd better buckle up, because this is going to be rambling and gushing and hopefully as spoiler free as possible!

So being the lover of books I am, there was no way I wasn't going to read The Invisible Library, and I was  lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of the book to read, and I got stuck in as fast as possible, I bumped it up my TBR pile and now my life is bereft because I was so sad and reluctant to leave the world, and I just really want to be a Librarian of the Library because it's so awesome!

"You can expect to find vampires. Werewolves. Fictional creations that go bump in the night. You might also find their technology working in unexpected ways."

That's the book. That.Is.The.Book. In the book. That's a legit quote from the book, that describes the book pretty accurately, just without the Zeppelins, Fae, mechanical creatures, and various other incredibly cool tidbits. I'm loathe to describe this as steampunk, I mean there where the mechanical creatures, but they had the regular kind of carriages, so I'm not sure if it can be classed as steampunk or not?

This book was simply fantastic, it's so incredibly unique and the world building was amazing. You can picture the Library so vividly as well as the alternate the book is set in, there was the right amount of detail to create the atmosphere to both places, as well as transporting you straight to the world, and as I said, I was loathe to leave it, it was such a fantastically created and written world, and so unlike anything I have read before, I enjoyed being totally immersed in the world.

The characters are well written with lots of depth and dimensions, I couldn't guess who Kai really was, but I knew there was more to him than met the eye, and I strongly suspect there is more to her as well, particularly her mother shall we say? I also have a strong suspicion of who her mother really is and yeah. I have a huge theory thanks to the reveal at the end and I'm probably wrong but still! But yes, all of the characters jump off the page and come to life, each is full of depth, each is colourful and different to the others, from Bradamant, to Vale to Silver, both villains and the good guys.

I loved Irene, she was easy to connect with and had an amusing and engaging narrative, she was easy to feel for, especially when there's obvious bits where it's a possibility that there is more to the Library than she has been told or lead to believe, something perhaps sinister, and she just doesn't want to believe it. I loved the little bit about how she loves great literary detectives like Sherlock Holmes, and her reaction to getting to work with one! It was a nice little touch because I'm sure most readers have something similar, like they'd love to meet a certain character or a person similar to the character, you know? She was fantastic. She was badass, but not the fighting/kicking ass kind the kind that's intelligent and comes up with these plans to save everyone. I'm excited to see more of her, and more of the world of the alternate and see what happens with her and Kai, not to mention seeing what trouble she can get in to with Vale because I'm sure Silver will cause problems.

The entire premise of the book is unique, the Library being out of space and time, the alternates, the chaos contaminated business, not to mention the Language that the Librarians use, that works a kind of magic, shall we say. This book is full of all things unique and is unlike anything you will ever read. It kind of reminds me of that episode of Doctor Who with the Library in space, or of a Doctor Who episode in general! I'm not even sure what genre to put this in!? Sci-Fi? Fantasy? Steampunk (sort of)? Everyone knows I love unique books and I seriously can't get over this one, I loved every minute of it, I was enchanted the whole way through, and had this feeling that's kind of hard to describe, I mean, every time there was something utterly fantastical and unique I had a huge idiotic grin on my face, and was all "oh my god COOOOLL!"

The plot was complex, there where multiple factions after the book, so you where trying to work out what was so special about it, as well as working out why the other factions wanted it, there where threads woven in from everywhere, there's clearly some sort of political thing going on with the elder Librarians, maybe some of them are dodgy, then there's the whole thing with the traitor Librarian and what he is and what was revealed about him and my theory for it and there was soooo much going on, and so much crammed in to the book that there was seriously never nothing going on, and it was all written in with the right threads to intrigue you, but set up the next book, and leave with you questions that you're eager to have answered. It was also very easy to read, the pace and flow had you rocketing through it, and the language was easy to understand and like I said, there was no excess of information bogging down the narrative.

The Invisible Library is literally all go from the beginning when she's on a mission, you learn about the Library as we go through it and she returns, and from then on the book is packed with action and mayhem. There's never a dull moment and there's plenty of humour in the book that'll have you snorting if not outright laughing, the book has humour, action, adventure, supernatural creatures, machine creatures, a kind of quest like vibe, at least in my opinion, and a luscious backdrop with the alternate, I mean there's a nice little romp through the museum! It's impossible to put down, and you'll be sad to leave the world and characters behind, while burning with theories and the need to know what's going to happen next! It's certainly going to be interesting to find out and see where this goes next, and I'm fairly certain this will be going on my Favourite Series list!

Utterly fantastic, I honestly can't find words to gush about this book enough, seriously, just read it. It's brilliantly done and unlike anything you have ever read before!

Wishing For Wednesday #18

This week on my most excited for list type thing, I have another two I think you guys will love!
So, I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, and so you can imagine my excitement for his version of Hansel and Gretel! I'm well aware a load of you guys love his work too, so feast your eyes!
Next up is a nice little gem I stumbled across, to be honest, I pretty much have one that I've stumbled across each week, I don't know why I bother pointing it out! Anyways, I stumbled across it and when I saw the "Game of Thrones meets Grimms fairy tales" I knew I couldn't resist, to be honest that sold it to me pretty much straight away, let alone the rest of the synopsis!

Hansel And Gretel

The enduring story of the children, the breadcrumb trail and the gingerbread house is brought to life by master storyteller, Neil Gaiman. Who better to retell the Brothers Grimm's greatest, and perhaps darkest, fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel? Coupled with breathtakingly haunting illustrations from Lorenzo Mattotti, you will be enticed into the world and into the woods . . . so beware.

Hansel And Gretel is out December 11th, pre-order your copy here. 

Add it to your GoodReads here. 

Princess Of Thorns

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Princess Of Thorns is out now! Buy your copy here. 

Add it to your GoodReads here. 

A Week In Paris

A Week In Paris
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher

1961: Born on the day that WW2 broke out, 21-year-old Fay Knox cannot remember her early childhood in London, before she moved to a Norfolk village with her mother, Kitty. Though she has seen a photograph of her father, she does not recall him either. He died, she was told, in an air raid, and their house destroyed along with all their possessions. Why then, on a visit to Paris on tour with her orchestra, does a strange series of events suggest that she spent the war there instead? There is only one clue to follow, an address on the luggage label of an old canvas satchel. But will the truth hurt or heal?

1937: Eugene Knox, a young American doctor, catches sight of 19-year-old Kitty Travers on the day she arrives in Paris, and cannot get her out of his mind. She has come to study the piano at the famed Conservatoire, and lodges at a convent near Notre Dame. Eugene and Kitty will fall in love, marry and have a daughter, but France's humiliating defeat by Germany is not far behind, and the little family must suffer life under Nazi occupation. Some Parisians keep their heads down and survive, others collaborate with the enemy while others resist. The different actions of Eugene, Kitty and their friends will have devastating consequences that echo down the generations.

So, I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it's safe to say this gave me so much more than what I was expecting, I was expecting solid romance all the way through and I don't know what else, while there is romance, it's not the main part of the story, although it has to be noted, I thought both where kind of similar. 

We switch from time to time, as the story of Fay's mother Kitty is told, and the time hops where perfectly placed and very well done, as a secondary character is telling the story, she will lead in to it and then boom, it's Kitty's pov in her time with what's happening. I must say, it was very well depicted, I've not had the fortune of going to Paris yet, but I feel like I've been there, admittedly to an out of date Paris, but still. I also didn't know all that much about France in WW2, I learned mostly about England and Germany, so I was fascinated to see what kind of things went on in France, with the persecution of the Jews stretching to there and so on. There was such a lot of historical information, and it was all relayed perfectly, capturing your interest but not bogging down the narrative. 

Admittedly, I started reading this and was intrigued, but felt like it hit a bit of a slow patch, to be honest I kind of felt like all of Fay's  pov was a bit slow for me, it didn't capture my attention much as Kitty's parts of the story. Kitt's narrative was fast paced, and just totally fascinated me and gripped my attention and I couldn't stop reading, Fay's pov was a bit meh for me, but that could be because I didn't like Fay that much. 

Out of the two lead females, I much preferred Kitty, she was fairly realistic to me, and she sprung to life in my minds eye, all her reactions where ones that I feel any person would have, and I felt quite a connection to her. Fay however, I did not like at all, she doesn't really take her mothers feelings in to consideration, and it really annoyed me how she'd keep whining on about her mother and how angry she was with her and this and that, and delving in to everything and thinking badly of her mother, because to be honest, if you'd been Kitty, you wouldn't bloody well want to talk about it either would you? Especially to the child who caused your husbands death! It wasn't her fault, she was only a child, although it is a scene I'm fairly sure I've read or seen somewhere before, but still, she can't seem to grasp how her mother would feel about everything that had happened and what talking about it would have been like. 

So yeah, I didn't like Fay at all, so I couldn't really connect with her, to be honest I skim read all of her parts, I would have skipped them entirely, but I was intrigued by the conflict going on at the time, as I wasn't aware of much of it. 

I don't really have much to say about Fay and her parts of the story, but Kitty's parts? You could feel the tension and the uncertainty and the fear from the streets of occupied and pre-occupied Paris oozing off the page. I could picture all of those parts as if I was watching a movie in my head. I had not read from this view point before so like I said, I was fascinated. While there was a lot of danger about, creating the atmosphere I previously mentioned, it was also full of little moments that warm the heart, when you see certain certain characters/people willing to risk their lives to help others, Jews, English citizens, Americans, English soldiers brought to the hospital and needing to escape before the Germans get them and so on. It shows how not all of humanity where bad at that time period, and bravery wasn't just on the battlefield.

The plot was complex, there was a lot going on, I felt like it was kind of unnecessary at some points because in all fairness, she could have just asked her mother, at that point she was willing to tell her. And when it got to the big reveal, what I'm assuming is the big secret, I was kind of disappointed, I was a bit "oh is that it", don't get me wrong, it was serious, but I guess I was expecting something else, or something even huger, to harbour feelings like Kitty does. Although I did actually guess what had actually happened to her father, Fay's part in it was a surprise but I was a bit "hmmmm I have deja'd this vou". 

I also kind of felt like the whole train and orphanage thing was unnecessary, like oh another bad thing that happened that strings the plot out and provides Kitty with a reason to dislike Natalie. I should also note I think character development was sacrificed for other things in the book. I would have quite liked to see more of Serge as well, as his was an interesting story. 

So, this is a bit mixed for me, it was a nice surprise because there was more to it than I thought and had assumed, but Kitty was the character of the two that engaged me and kept me reading, Fay's sections for me where skim read to get to the next exciting thing that's going on in Kitty's life. So this book has its good and its bad basically, but I still think it's worth a read, because the history is fascinating.