Days of Light
9.0
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Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. In the idyllic Sussex...
Historical fiction
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Lost History of Stars in Books
Jun 16, 2018
The main character, Lettie, who is a thirteen year old Dutch-Africkaner girl comes from a poor farming family. She endures the loss of her home with her mother and two younger siblings when the scorched earth policy employed by the British during the Boer War burns their farm and forces them to leave in a wagon. Their African maid, Bina, tries to stay with the family, but is given no choice by the soldiers but to return to her people.
Lettie and her family are sent to a concentration camp where the conditions are awful. Her father, older brother, uncles, and grandfather are sent to fight the British with guerrilla tactics. Lettie worries and wonders about Bina and her family. Often Lettie remembers the songs and wisdom Bina shared during her childhood and the history of stars that Grandpa shared with her at night under the sparkling sky.
The story is told from Lettie's point of view. The reader learns of her experience in the concentration camp. Lettie attempt to find the good in small moments. Her more treasured possession is her English dictionary, which she reads for comfort to pass time.
The story switches between the present and past. This allows the reader to understand life before the war and during the war. It give the reader background information to understand the family dynamics.
The Continent: The Continent Book 1
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"Have we really come so far, when a tour of the Continent is so desirable a thing? We've traded our...
science fiction fantasy young adult
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
7.7
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Adolf Hitler: My Part on His Downfall is volume One of Spike Milligan's outrageous, hilarious,...
When we Were Young and Brave
9.0
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Their motto was to be prepared, but nothing could prepare them for war. . . The New York Times...
historical literary women fiction
So Much Life Left Over
10.0
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A POWERFULLY EVOCATIVE AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED NOVEL FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF CORELLI'S MANDOLIN...
Historical Fiction First World War Family Saga
Merissa (13856 KP) rated Annie's Day in Books
Dec 9, 2025
The title is literally the story. Annie wakes up, and you go through the day with her as she gets lost in memories. It ends perfectly with her going to bed, and leaves a little extra to your imagination.
Annie is supported by her friends-Flo, Verna, and Iris. She also finds love along the way, although the path isn't smooth. You also see firsthand just how they felt about the various cover-ups, especially when it impacts them directly.
It is not an easy read as it tells, without glamourising, the horrors of war, specifically the war in the Pacific that doesn't get as much 'attention'. Told from Annie's perspective, you get to see what they had to deal with and just how much the nurses gave. I was surprised to read how nurses were given white feathers! That seems incredible to me, and such a slap in the face to them. While I enjoyed the writing style, it sometimes felt a little disjointed, and I would have to double-check something I'd read about a character or event. The Author's Note is definitely worth a read, and I dipped back to it more than once as the story progressed.
I would recommend this to any fan of historical novels, specifically World War II fiction.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 9, 2025
Janine O (2 KP) rated Fortune's Pawn in Books
Oct 18, 2017
I did not want that. I wanted a complex story with romantic themes set in space...and that's exactly what this book gave me.
Fortune's Pawn rocked. Devi Morris is a badass, power armor clad mercenary with a dream to join an elite merc unit...but she has to get some expedition references first. So what does she do? Chooses the one ship with the worst track record in the hopes it with fast track her ambitions to the top. While I wont put spoilers I will say she gets her wish...kinda. She finds romance...that gets VERY complicated, mystery, and tossed into what is bound to end in an interstellar war.
9/10, highly recommend.
Erika (17789 KP) rated The Huntress in Books
May 4, 2019
Alright, so, I don't consider books post WWI to be historical fiction, and I normally steer clear of WWII/aftermath fiction because bookstores and goodreads are inundated with hundreds of novels. But, I decided to pick up this book anyway.
Essentially, it's a Nazi hunt. There are three viewpoints from three different characters. As I mentioned, Nina was insufferable. Most of the reviews I read talked about their love of this character and the origin of the Night Witches (AKA female, Russian pilots). Ian was one of the other main characters, a former war correspondent who's a Nazi hunter, trying to find 'The Huntress', who murdered his brother. Then, there's Jordan, an American teenager whose father marries a mysterious German woman with a daughter.
I won't spoil the plot, but basically, you can work out the entire plot within the first few chapters. What kept me reading was the writing style, and every other character but Nina.
Planetfall
8.0
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Renata Ghali believed in Lee Suh-Mi’s vision of a world far beyond Earth, calling to humanity. A...
Science Fiction LGBT Mental Health Fiction