So interesting the perspective on Coco Chanel during WW2, as well as the other espionage going on around Madrid, and the blurring of Naziism and Communism that started to happen. 

I learned quite a bit in this book I’ve never heard about which is always a huge win for me, and it was written in an interesting manner, keeping my attention and investing me into Maggie’s story. 

There were times that things felt unrealistic, like sometimes Maggie was not a completely convincing spy the whole time. And her exit from Madrid felt a little thrown together. But overall I really enjoyed the story. 

Also, not what I’d consider a real spoiler below, but semi, so warning if you don’t want any hint….

There is some content about a miscarriage, and from someone who’s had 2, I thought it was excellently written. The emotions, the physical toll, and the mental strain was perfect. Most of the time when a miscarriage is in a book it’s passed over quickly - either the emotions of it or even the physical difficulty. I appreciated the accuracy and relatable-ness the author gave. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Well that was… disturbing…and totally *not* what I was expecting when I picked up the book. 

The writing itself was ok, which is the only reason it’s not a 1⭐️, and the story progression also pretty good, where I initially got the villain wrong, then my second choice was right. But the content was not up my alley. Violent, psychotic and a bit graphic. The first half-ish wasn’t as bad but especially the last probably 25% just went way too deep and I would have DNF’d if I realized it earlier on. It went beyond your typical crime/murder mystery, even serial killer thriller, into mutilation and just extreme creepiness.  I’m not sure where the brain trust for something like this comes from but it was bizarre. 

Also, listening to the audio on it, the narrator was good for every character but the main character, Alex. He was supposed to be British but the narrator couldn’t pull off the accent. It would venture into a very slight Irish/Scottish lilt once in a great while, but normally it was just American. Yet there were a number of other American accents done just fine. It made Alex feel badly done. Either don’t do accents for anyone, or do them all well, but only picking and choosing was just awkward. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine. 

Liked the story, hated the writing style. I’m all for dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories but it was like walking in mud. I really, really dislike stream of consciousness writing.

The story itself was an interesting juxtaposition of male-dominated/female-subservient  and other times female dominant society. Very cult-ish and extreme. It had elements we’ve seen in the past with dictatorship environments where everyone is suspicious and paranoid for very good reason. Basically societies based in fear. All in all an interesting theory. 

I  wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the end “historical note” but it at least gave it a better end than I had thought I was left with when the book appeared to complete, which initially made me want to throw it across the room. 

But again, my low rating was mostly how much I hated the cadence and style of the book. 

I liked each of Violet’s and Daphne’s stories but they felt just that - each completely separate stories as if you were reading 2 books alternating. The dual timeline on this felt very disconnected. There just wasn’t enough tying them together it felt like.

Violet’s story of the ships sinking and all that was the most interesting since it was new and unique, although her story felt more sad because of how she closed herself off. 

3.5⭐️s rounded up. The writing was good and I felt for Liv, Tom and Finn, though Michael was by far my favorite. I thought the characters were described well and the emotions conveyed in a way that had you feeling what they were feeling. The concept of grief was well done and handled well.

I did, however, struggle with how I felt about the book as a whole with Liv and Finn’s relationship. It just felt so toxic to me, how neither of them wanted to give, but also neither of them refused to move forward or let the go. I just really disliked how the majority of their story went, so I’m still not really sure how I felt about the book as a whole. 

Ultimately it was really sad - redeemed by the end of it but just sad for so many reasons. I absolutely loved Michael’s character, tho. He was so well done and perfect in the story. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine. 

Great whodunnit mystery with some good thriller thrown in there. While it wasn’t super unpredictable, it still had me second guessing some of it. I was sort of hoping the ending was going to throw me for a loop and be completely unexpected, but I liked it nonetheless. 

Some of Stella’s character felt a little more like a cross between a cop and therapist rather than a lawyer but I liked the personal correlation she had with Rose while still feeling conflicted at times which made it feel more real. 

Overall, I liked the way the author laid things out, all the factors going into the puzzle of the story, as you tried to put the pieces together and decide what was true and what was not. I thought it was well written and pulled things in little by little in the plot. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

I liked the information in the story - I had not yet heard anything about Indonesia during WW2 under the Japanese occupation, only the Philippines and Malaysia - so I learned more of the lanscape of the country at the time and what the Dutch went thru. 

However, the book itself was very slow and felt repetitive at times, getting stuck in the minuscule happenings even when it was the same situation, but then jumping and glossing over the people themselves. You didn’t see any character development or growth, you just felt the overall obvious oppressiveness and depravity of their situation. Not much of how they handled it or what the felt besides despair or confusion or what was going thru their minds outside of missing family members. 

Good crime drama/mystery as the MC's unravel and investigate current crimes that tie back to the previous decade, and inner-police group rivalries and secrets. The book has a slow pace but it was well written and still had me interested pretty consistently. Even though it wasn't super unpredictable, the journey of the book held it's own well so you could still enjoy it while having your suspicions. 

I enjoyed learning the history of the 1930's Glasgow and the 1921 Ireland as the book explored the current landscape of Jimmy and McDaid in Glasgow but revisited past turmoil and atrocities with the Black and Tans in Ireland. So violent and sad, that period of time in Ireland. I thought the book did well at showing the humanity of the characters in such a volatile landscape.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of the book. All opinions are mine.  

Beautiful story about self-sacrificing love and redemption. It was emotional, endearing and hopeful. I loved how the story looked at an outlaw, or villain, and painted him into a real-life, relatable character that you ended up wanting to root for despite his past. It blended the original story of Butch Cassidy and the dichotomy that was underlying in history - villain, yes, massive flaws and bad choices, of course, but also with a compassionate and some Robin Hood-like behavior that made him more understandable. His emotion and Jane’s were very well conveyed and written. 

I loved how Amy was able to translate so well that often our choices and reasoning and love are more grey than black and white. Good and bad are often less clear than we want them to be and people are complicated. It made Noble/Butch feel relatable and genuine. It allows for redemption and forgiveness instead of judgement and vengeance. 

While a lot of the real Butch Cassidy remains a mystery, more and more sources are showing he likely didn’t die as one of the men in that shoot out, which allows for the what-ifs. In some ways, I wish the main chat in the book was a generic outlaw rather than a blending of fact and fiction so my brain didn’t keep warring with that, but the story Amy paints was beautiful nonetheless and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Really fun. There was a lot going on and a ton of characters to follow but I never got bored and enjoyed the drama