This was an interesting setup, being a sequence of 3 novellas by the different authors. I enjoyed the continuation of the family of Alnwicks along with the women who joined them, although each novella was a very short introduction to each generation and had to wrap up quickly.

I thought the concept of war wounds in one form or another - judgment as a survivor compared to those who didn’t, physical disfigurement, and PTSD was a great concept to highlight and explore, as well as bringing cohesion to each section. I thought it was well explored in each story.

The 1st by Amie Runyan had terrific tension and intrigue, and I had a hard time putting it down, following along with Beatrice. Jane’s situation did seemed rushed, however, and the references to Thomas I felt like I was missing something by the end after all the allusions to him.

The 2nd novella by J’Nell Ciesielski was my favorite - I felt like I connected the best with the characters and it had phenomenal character development, as well as making you invested in both Tobias and Elena.

The 3rd by Rachel McMillan I struggled with a little. I kept getting confused with the ambiguity of the storyline or the character’s interactions. Maybe it was just because it was a packed in shorter story but it lost me a bit a number of times and I just had a hard time getting invested or following it. Part of me also struggled with how an Allied soldier would have been able to correspond in Axis Austria as well by itself or at least without endangering Brigitte’s family.

Overall I enjoyed it and the continuity over time. Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of the book. All opinions are mine.