Wednseday Books - Prisoner of Night and Fog
So this week I finished up Prisoner of Light and Fog and it was an adventure.
It follows the story of the fictitious Gretchen Muller, an almost-adopted niece of Hitler. In their city of Munich, it is a well-known story that her father, Klaus Muller, died saving the Fuhrer's life during a march to overtake the government. Her father jumped in front of the hail of bullets, saving Hitler's life, and because of that, he treats the Muller family well, helping her brother Reinhard rise through the ranks of the budding Nazi party and treating her like a special niece. However, she meets a Jewish reporter, Daniel Cohen, who has new facts about the night her father was killed, and they paint a very different picture of that night than the one everyone talks about. She then joins in an unlikely partnership with Daniel to find the truth about her father and the night he was murdered.
First off, I really enjoyed Gretchen's dedication to her education. When her mother tells her she has to quit school, she runs to the most important man she knows - Uncle Dolf - hoping he can hep her. And in the end, when she decides what she wants to do, you can just tell that she's going to make it. I love when female leads are dedicated to their education and becoming more than their circumstances.
Secondly, I don't know why I've never really read this side of the story before, but it was so interesting to me to read an account (albeit fictitious) of Hitler's personality when he was with his family and friends. How true was it? The author mentions in the afterword, Gretchen and her family are fictitious, so the interactions between them and Hitler are also figments of imagination. However, her research was significant, so it was most likely pretty accurate. In any case, it was slightly creepy but intriguing.
The romance between her and Daniel was really cute though. The author did a good job of contrasting that light, cute, fun romance with some dark, heavy ideas and circumstances. It is pre-WWII Munich, after all. If it weren't for the romance breaking up the heaviness, it would have been much harder to read.
Finally, this book made me downright upset. Every time Reinhard does anything to her, I was so dang mad. You're being abused! Get out of there! Reinhard isn't a brother! He's a torturer! I loved when she figured out Hitler for herself though. You're just like - yes! Get out of there! Be with Daniel forever! But, there is a second book in the series, so hopefully it's as good as this one. I'm on hold for it at the library so hopefully it comes in soon. I got super into this book, ask C. Every couple minutes I was either "NO!" or "Yessssss" or "WHAT THE FREAKING HECK." He enjoys my reactions to things.
So in conclusion - Good book, for YA historical fiction. It kept me interested until the very end. I'm really excited to get the second one in the series.
Next, I took a gander at If I Stay, which is apparently a movie also. Couple quick thoughts about this one. Fact 1, it was amazing they took an event that took at maximum 48 hours and made it last a whole book without making it suck or feel like it was going on forever. The flashbacks were timely and useful, with the exception of all the stuff about their parents' former bandmates, which was kind of boring and I could have done without. Fact 2, the type was really big, almost distractingly so. Fact 3, in the end, even though there was a little bit of gore, it was still a fun, fast read. Perfect for a night at home when you want to feel cool (Wow, finished a book in one night! Never mind it's size 24 font...)
-K
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| Thanks, Goodreads... |
First off, I really enjoyed Gretchen's dedication to her education. When her mother tells her she has to quit school, she runs to the most important man she knows - Uncle Dolf - hoping he can hep her. And in the end, when she decides what she wants to do, you can just tell that she's going to make it. I love when female leads are dedicated to their education and becoming more than their circumstances.
Secondly, I don't know why I've never really read this side of the story before, but it was so interesting to me to read an account (albeit fictitious) of Hitler's personality when he was with his family and friends. How true was it? The author mentions in the afterword, Gretchen and her family are fictitious, so the interactions between them and Hitler are also figments of imagination. However, her research was significant, so it was most likely pretty accurate. In any case, it was slightly creepy but intriguing.
The romance between her and Daniel was really cute though. The author did a good job of contrasting that light, cute, fun romance with some dark, heavy ideas and circumstances. It is pre-WWII Munich, after all. If it weren't for the romance breaking up the heaviness, it would have been much harder to read.
Finally, this book made me downright upset. Every time Reinhard does anything to her, I was so dang mad. You're being abused! Get out of there! Reinhard isn't a brother! He's a torturer! I loved when she figured out Hitler for herself though. You're just like - yes! Get out of there! Be with Daniel forever! But, there is a second book in the series, so hopefully it's as good as this one. I'm on hold for it at the library so hopefully it comes in soon. I got super into this book, ask C. Every couple minutes I was either "NO!" or "Yessssss" or "WHAT THE FREAKING HECK." He enjoys my reactions to things.
So in conclusion - Good book, for YA historical fiction. It kept me interested until the very end. I'm really excited to get the second one in the series.
Next, I took a gander at If I Stay, which is apparently a movie also. Couple quick thoughts about this one. Fact 1, it was amazing they took an event that took at maximum 48 hours and made it last a whole book without making it suck or feel like it was going on forever. The flashbacks were timely and useful, with the exception of all the stuff about their parents' former bandmates, which was kind of boring and I could have done without. Fact 2, the type was really big, almost distractingly so. Fact 3, in the end, even though there was a little bit of gore, it was still a fun, fast read. Perfect for a night at home when you want to feel cool (Wow, finished a book in one night! Never mind it's size 24 font...)
-K
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