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Hazel (2934 KP) rated A Child for the Reich in Books

Dec 4, 2022

A Child for the Reich

Andie Newton | 2022 | History & Politics

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Inspired by a true story, this book is absolutely gripping and full of tension, heartbreak and the story of one woman's quest to find and rescue her daughter from the Nazi's Lebensborn programme.

Anna Dankova and her family live in Nazi-occupied Prague. Her husband and brother-in-law have joined the Czech Resistance leaving them to try and raise their children with the ever present danger of the Nazi soldiers, the Gestapo and the much feared Brown Sisters; female nurses who were dedicated to the Nazi cause. They worked for the Nazi Welfare Organization and searched through villages and towns for Aryan-looking children.

Anna and her sister's children are blonde-haired and blue-eyed and their fears are only too real but they are powerless against the might of the Nazi regime and one day, Anna's daughter, Ema is literally ripped from her arms in broad daylight leaving Anna, understandably, distraught and determined to get her back whatever the risks before she is lost forever.

Anna uses all her skills, courage and guile to find her daughter, infiltrate the children's home where she has been placed to be indoctrinated into the German way and to figure out a way to get her out of there whilst under the ever present threat of exposure and certain death.

This is a story full of tension and heartbreak and one mother's determination to find her daughter no matter what and it was absolutely gripping and I have no hesitation recommending it to those of you who 'enjoy' reading historical fiction based on true stories and events.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of A Child for the Reich.

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Lindsay (1812 KP) rated An Amish Family Christmas: Heart of Christmas\A Plain Holiday in Books

Feb 15, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)

I enjoyed both stories in this book. They are quite sweet and it will put you in the holiday spirit. Can Susannah forgive her former love Toby Unger? Toby has two little children who are new students for Susannah. Susannah will need to help her new to students that needs some help with them being a little trouble but will it work? Will they find the love before Christmas? Toby two little children are having a little trouble adjusting to their new surrounding. The handsome Amish man needs desperately needs some help with his two children. Susannah had gotten a broken heart ten years ago when Toby left. Can Susannah find the forgiven him? Will they find they are a true match for each other before Christmas? You can find out by reading the book called "Heart of Christmas" by Marta Perry.

Sally Yoder left her community during her teen years. Her heart is back at home and she believes that her young man named Ben Lapp will not love a bold woman like her. There are some surprises in the book. Sally and her charges are to spend time with their grandmother. The children and Sally are going to experience what an Amish Christmas is. Sally and Ben and the children are going on a sleigh ride to pick out a tree and visit the children Great Grandmother. They get stranded in a snowstorm. Will Sally and Ben find Love? Will the children learn that they can have fun with a plain holiday with no modern electronics? You can read about this story in the book called "A Plain Holiday" by Patricia Davids. You could read both these stories in the book called "An Amish Family Christmas" by Martha Perry and Patricia Davids.

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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Glass (2019) in Movies

Jan 22, 2019 (Updated Jan 22, 2019)

Glass (2019)

2019 | Drama, Thriller

7.0

(72 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

A huge disappointment

This is one of the films I've been dying to see ever since it was announced, and I'm afraid to say it was a massive disappointment after the brilliant Split.

There is such a thing as overkill in sequels, and sadly Glass is full of it. It starts off fairly well, but then dips into sheer boredom as soon as they enter the psychiatric hospital. It does pick up when Mr Glass finally emerges towards the end, but sadly by then most of the damage is done. I hated that they went down the cliched predictable and overused mechanism of a psychiatrist trying to disprove something that everyone else knows is true. Admittedly without saying too much this does at least tie into the ending & it does make sense, but sitting through an hour of dull scenes before we finally get to the fun parts had me nearly falling asleep.

The ending and twists themselves were for the most part predictable and a little bit silly and over the top. Although in a way the final ending was rather fitting. Some of the cinematography was terrible, there were some very bad camera angles and some awful scenes that looked like they'd been shot by a go pro. James McAvoy excels in every scene he's in as expected, it's just a shame that even he couldn't turn this around. The rest of the cast were pretty unremarkable although it was nice to see the original son back from Unbreakable.

I'm very much a less is more kind of person when it comes to stories and films, and sadly Glass tries to elaborate on stories from Unbreakable and Split that didn't need enhancing in the first place.

Kudos

Erika (17789 KP) Jan 23, 2019

I thought Sara Paulson's character was irritating, especially at the end. Your last sentence is true, it was a film that didn't actually need to be made. I would have preferred a straight-up sequel to Split. There's never too much James McAvoy.
I was super hyped for this film (as everyone probably knows), but I did read a trusted reviewer on a blog that mentioned to expect the film to go completely opposite of what you thought was going to happen.

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