An excellent story about the unfair and unjust WW2 internment of Japanese Canadians and also the horrific Japanese POW camps with the mental aftermath for returning soldiers. It was such a phenomenal depiction dealing with questions of faith and our relationship with God while dealing with intense heartache and difficulty, and of the struggle to forgive after incredible wrongs. But also how easy it is to thrive on anger an hatred and lump in whole groups of people in prejudice if we aren’t careful and choose love instead.

The only reason I didn’t rate it at 5 was that I didn’t care for the writing style - it was mostly in narrative form, with a much lesser amount in dialogue. I just always feel like that lends to being on the outside of the story rather than being invited in, and that part was a little disappointing to me.

4.5 ⭐️s rounded up. Loved the perspective of a woman who knows what she wants and is confident enough to run after it. It was a refreshing take on a romance. Also it was fun seeing the families from the first 2 books back again. The only detractor for me was that I wish it were longer.

Gosh this was such a good book on WW2. All based on true events and real characters, the book gave such a great insight in the 10 or so years in Germany leading up to war, as well as during. I’ve read so many WW2 books and only one or 2 have really given any context to the war and what led up to it in Germany. Plenty in other countries that were invaded but few that gave you a good understanding of “how we got here”, so to speak.

I also loved that this was about the resistance within Germany and focused on women and their friendship. I think this is also the first I’ve read on Germany’s resistance. There are so many books about the resistance in France, England, Poland, the SOE, etc, but to see from within how these amazing women and men fought for each other and their country in the worst parts of so much evil was inspiring. Very well written and wholly held my attention, in addition to loving the content.

Gosh this was such a gut wrenching book, but such an incredible story of selflessness and hope and the battle for forgiveness. Heartbreaking and yet beautiful in the way it described the war of bitterness and forgiveness, shame and love, grief and healing, and the ripple effect it has.

Really cute and heartwarming. I initially thought it was going to be weird having Marcellus’ sections but they ended up being my favorite. The audio probably made it even better.

Lots of really great insight and practical application. I liked the concept of associates and how that works versus the old “acquaintance” that seems so distanced. It was also super helpful to have the relationships explained as needing to be what’s good for you, not necessarily being a judgement on their character, and not adding new friendships when you’re in a bad place, since you need friendships for the place you need to be, not the place you need to leave.

Most of it was not super complicated or revelatory, but certainly laid out in a practical way that was easy to consider.

As a mom of a teen girl there were parts of this that were painful to read but as always with Colleen Hoover’s books, genuine, heartfelt, and so well written.

While thankfully my daughter isn’t like Clara, there are so many realties from her thought process and feelings that probably most teen girls think and feel. And how much misery in this story could have been avoided if Morgan had been honest with her. We so often think we are protecting our teen kids by hiding things from them but in the end they just feel so hurt by that.

Such an amazing story of what love and forgiveness can do to shame and fear. Loved it.

Beautifully written, I enjoyed the focus of Hawaii during WW2 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s not one I’ve read much on beyond Pearl Harbor itself. It had to be a very difficult thing to wade thru how populated by former Japanese the islands were. The internment of so many people from both Hawaii and the mainland US without enough valid investigation is heartbreaking.

I loved Lana and the care she gave to those around her, how she gave of herself when she recognized a need and injustice, and also how she grew herself in the process.

4.5 ⭐️s rounded up. I may be a sucker for anything with Kintsugi.

This wasn’t a fast moving, action filled or really mysterious book. But it was deep, thought provoking, painful and hopeful. May/Maeve wanted both to belong but settled for fitting in, hoped to make more of herself but gave so much of herself up in the process. The concept of valuing yourself and how hard that can be until someone else can show you they value you, or by their investment, gives you permission to do so - the decision to put the effort into that - was relatable and made you just hope and root for Maeve, feeling for her and all that was up against her.

I loved the friendship she had with Diana, which was flawed like any friendship, but built on mutual understanding and empathy. Loved the belonging and opportunity she had working for Mr Kessler, who took a chance on her, understanding discrimination and prejudice and seeing thru her facade, and the challenge and acceptance with Mr Winshaw. Ultimately the friendship and investment she received from both.

I also enjoyed the look at the class and ethnic divide that was going on in Boston in the 1930s. Both had so much prejudice in one breath but melted together in the next. That period of transition in history is so interesting.

The writing style was different with no chapters - I listened to the audiobook and I think that gave it extra value (I love listening to books narrated by Susan Bennett), but it was strange not having it broken up.