Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Girl from the Channel Islands

Author: Jenny Lecoat

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: Jewish main character and side characters

Recommended For...: historical fiction fans, ya readers

Publication Date: February 22, 2021

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, racism, genocide, war, slight gore, sympathy to a German officer)

Publisher: Graydon House

Pages: 304

Synopsis: The year is 1940, and the world is torn apart by war. In June of that year, Hitler’s army captures the Channel Islands—the only part of Great Britain occupied by German forces. Abandoned by Mr. Churchill, forgotten by the Allies and cut off from all help, the Islands’ situation is increasingly desperate.

Hedy Bercu is a young Jewish girl who fled Vienna for the island of Jersey two years earlier during the Anschluss, only to find herself trapped by the Nazis once more—this time with no escape. Her only hope is to make herself invaluable to the Germans by working as a translator, hiding in plain sight with the help of her friends and community—and a sympathetic German officer. But as the war intensifies, rations dwindle and neighbors are increasingly suspicious of one another. Hedy’s life is in greater danger every day. It will take a definitive, daring act to save her from certain deportation to the concentration camps.

Review: For the most part I liked the book. I thought it did well to bring historical facts pertaining to the island to light and to show what happened in a country left to fend for itself after Germany took it over and it was forgotten by the rest of the world. I liked that the book stuck to linear events and the plot was really intriguing to me. I liked the character development and the world building as well.

However, I am a bit confused as to why there are two titles to this book on Goodreads and I didn’t really like how slow the book was. I also have a problem with the book having a sympathetic German character. While I believed that there were some German officers who thoughts twice about what they were doing, I don’t think it’s right in a story about a Jewish girl to have sympathy on a German officer. It sends a little bit of a racist message and gives the undertone of that their pain and suffering compares to a German officer of privilege having second thoughts.

Verdict: It was good and historical from what I could see and research, but it rubbed me the wrong way.