dapperreads's Reviews (1.29k)

A spy thriller set in Hollywood during the Great Depression/Nazi era? Yes please. This was right up my alley. It features a badass FMC - single mother, spy…I mean what more could I ask for?!

Well as it turns out it isn’t what MORE I needed but instead what I needed LESS of. And that would be religious overtones. I get it. It’s Christians vs Jewish peoples so there will be religious tones, but this was excessive. I don’t need the “well god gives us choices and sometimes we make the wrong ones” speech in a book like this for it to still resonate. Instead, the overtly religious nature of this book ruined it for me. I was not prepared for it to be as heavily religious as it was. Considering I read a lot in this general category, this is the first time this issue has really struck me. 

Maybe religion (specifically Christianity) is a trigger for me, but I definitely enjoyed this less and less each time it got overly religious. It’s also pretty slow build and like many historical fiction books, doesn’t seem to go anywhere but it isn’t stagnant either. It’s a story of a mother doing what she needs to do to provide for and protect her family during a time of struggle in the world. If you can handle the religious nature of it, it’s a solid read. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the audio copy. 

For the longest time this book felt like it was everywhere all at once. It has many different storylines that intersect in the long run but for awhile they felt pretty random. 

Once they intersect fully, it really starts to unfold and get good. It’s pretty intense and crazy. It’s intriguing to see how everything goes together and wraps up in the end. 

The multiple narrators helped keep the different stories and POVs separate, which I definitely appreciate. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook!

This book has its moments. It had plenty of parts that drag on but for the most part it’s fast paced. The audio features a full cast of narrators which I am absolutely here for!

This was not what I was expecting but it still delivered. When I saw it was a book about going back to their past, I took that literally and expected some kind of time travel type thing. It’s definitely metaphorical but still just as enjoyable had it been literal. 

The first 30% of this was absolutely awful. It’s was so slow and I was debating if it was even the book I thought it was. Then we got into the culty stuff and it was better but still just not great. Slow paced, random and all over the place and just overall not what I was expecting. I will say it had the Stephen King vibes - but in the way that there was unnecessary bits that didn’t add to the story in any way other than word count. 

Historically, I am not a fan of Kristin Hannah but this book was excellent! I absolutely loved the story of the Nightingale - it’s was very well done.