My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region by. Alina Adams | Book Excerpt

Title: My Mother’s Smile: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region

Author: Alina Adams

Pages: 353

Publication Date: 11/21/22

Categories: Historical Fiction

With his dying breath, Lena’s father asks his family a cryptic question: “You couldn’t tell, could you?” After his passing, Lena stumbles upon the answer that changes her life forever.

As her revolutionary neighbor mysteriously disappears during Josef Stalin’s Great Terror purges, 18-year-old Regina suspects that she’s the Kremlin’s next target. Under cover of the night, she flees from her parents’ communal apartment in 1930s Moscow to the 20th century’s first Jewish state, Birobidzhan, on the border between Russia and China. Once there, Regina has to grapple with her preconceived notions of socialism and Judaism while asking herself the eternal question: What do we owe each other? How can we best help one another? While she contends with these queries and struggles to help Birobidzhan establish itself, love and war are on the horizon.

New York Times Bestselling author Alina Adams draws on her own experiences as a Jewish refugee from Odessa, USSR as she provides readers a rare glimpse into the world’s first Jewish Autonomous Region. My Mother’s Secret is rooted in detailed research about a little known chapter of Soviet and Jewish history while exploring universal themes of identity, love, loss, war, and parenthood. Readers can expect a whirlwind journey as Regina finds herself and her courage within one of the century’s most tumultuous eras.

Part One: 1935 – 1940

Chapter One

Moscow, USSR

She had her ticket. All that was necessary now was to get on the train.

Regina glanced furtively over her shoulder. Yaroslavsky Railway Station was as bustling as ever. Men in grey suits and ties, patched jackets, and caps with brims that flopped into their eyes jostled women wearing wool coats trimmed with rabbit fur, some with kerchiefs over their heads, others sporting more fashionable berets. All rushed to board trains for Vladivostok, Kirov, Tomsk, and a host of other Eastern destinations. No one had any reason to pay attention to an eighteen year old girl struggling to drag a scuffed leather bag she’d thrown together a few hours earlier, blindly tossing in random items in Regina’s haste to be gone before the black-booted militsioners returned for her. They might only want to ask her questions about people she knew, people who’d already been arrested. They might arrest and then release her… if she provided them with the answers they were seeking. Or they might put her on trial. The kind of trial where an innocent verdict wasn’t an option. If Regina were braver, she might have stuck around to find out. If Regina were braver, she might have stuck around to defend her friends, who she knew had done nothing wrong, same as her. If Regina were braver, she wouldn’t currently be at the train station, glancing furtively over her shoulder.

She had her ticket. What she didn’t have was permission to leave. Or settle elsewhere. Soviet citizens were the freest in the world. Maintaining this freedom necessitated their leaders knowing where each was at all times. This led to stability, the seedbed of liberty. There were over two dozen scheduled stops between Moscow and Regina’s destination in the Far East. At any of them, the conductor could demand to review her propiska. If she failed to provide one, he had every right to yank her off his train and deposit Regina in the care of local authorities. Who would promptly, likely under armed guard, return her to Moscow. Where Regina’s attempt to run would bury her into deeper trouble. The proper course of action for those who wished to relocate to Birobiddzhan, the newly formed Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR) between the Bira and Bidzhan rivers of the Russian-Chinese border, was to register a request with KOMZET, the Committee for the Settlement of Jewish Toilers on the Land. KOMZET would authorize the appropriate travel documents. They might also bring her name to the attention of the authorities. She couldn’t risk that. Not until everything blew over. Which it would have to, sooner or later. Regina hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t her fault she’d failed to realize until it was too late that those around her might have.

If only she could make it to Birobidzhan. Comrade Kaminsky, head of the village Soviet, would surely vouch for her loyalty to the state. They’d always had a good rapport whenever he’d visited Moscow. Regina had listened, enthralled, to his tales of Birobidzhan, its rich farmland, its plump livestock, the trees full of fruit and the rivers of fish. As Comrade Stalin had pronounced one month earlier, “For the first time in the history of the Jewish people, its burning desire for a homeland, for the achievement of its own national statehood, has been fulfilled.” It was one of the many reasons why all Soviet children, dressed in school uniforms of brown dresses with black pinafores for every day, white ones for special occasions for girls, or brown pants with white shirts for boys and crimson scarves for all began their day by reciting, “Thank you, Great Comrade Stalin, for my joyous childhood.”

KOMZET flourished under the oversight of Lazar Kaganovitch, Secretary of the Central Committee, Commissar of Communications, the most powerful Jew in the Soviet Union. “The nationality of the Jew is the nationality of the merchant,” he quoted Karl Marx when establishing the JAR. “Emancipation from huckstering and money will be the self- emancipation of our time.”

Regina had always intended to make her way there. She’d always intended to be part of the pioneer movement to build an independent, thriving, Jewish, socialist state, where Yiddish literature was taught in schools, Yiddish plays were performed in theaters, Yiddish newspapers educated the public, and Yiddish speakers could walk streets marked with Yiddish signs, safe from violent attacks. At the close of the Great October Revolution, Jews, like all worthy Soviet citizens, had been accorded their own plots of land to work. Unfortunately, the previous owners – kulaks Comrade Stalin needed to show the error of their ways a decade earlier – weren’t happy with the redistribution. Thus it was determined that, in the interest of keeping antisemitic violence to acceptable levels, the optimal course of action was to convince Jews living in the USSR and its surrounding territories to relocate to the furthest eastern point on the Trans-Siberian railroad, where they would be safe, out of the way, and no longer annoying their neighbors.

Regina had always intended to go. She didn’t need the posters paid for by ICOR, the American Association for Jewish Colonization in the Soviet Union; black and white lithographs promoting spending 50 kopeks on a lottery ticket to help “build a socialist Jewish Autonomous Region,” or garishly colored illustrations of workers with bulging muscles carrying sacks urging, “Let us give millions to settle poor Jews on the land and to attract them to industry.”

Regina had always intended to go. She simply hadn’t intended to go this soon. Or this hurriedly. She’d intended to finish University first. Regina was specifically studying agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, and medicine, human and veterinary, so that she could be of the most use once she arrived in her new home.

She never intended to be sneaking out of town, feeling, though it was the middle of the day, like a thief in the night, a scarf tossed over her head, chin pressed nearly into her chest, not making eye contact with anyone. Regina attempted to take as little space as possible, to shuffle her feet along the concrete station floor lest the clack of her high-heels attract attention.

She only looked up when it came time to hand her ticket to the conductor. She peered into his face, eyes open wide, lashes quivering, and offered her most dazzling smile – as well as a peek down her blouse. It was a maneuver she’d evolved during her early teens. It worked on male teachers wavering between a higher and lower grade on an exam. It worked on butchers to double-check if there was truly not a scrap of meat left for sale. It worked on boys who felt inspired to buy you a slice of Napolean cake. Regina could hope it worked on train conductors.

It did. He barely glanced at Regina’s ticket. He was too busy leering at her. And he never got around to asking for her travel documents.

The trip from Moscow to Birobidzhan took eight days. Regina passed every one sitting upright atop her barely cushioned seat, staring out the window, gritting her teeth to keep from clicking her fingernails, tapping her feet, or performing any other nervous tick which might betray her anxiety. Except whenever the conductor came by. Then, Regina lay on her side, face turned towards the seatback, knees tucked under, pretending to be asleep. It was the most stomach- churning portion of the journey. She could hear the conductor’s footsteps growing closer. Would this be the day he decided the hell with good manners and shook Regina awake to demand her travel documents? There was the moment he would pause above her, his breathing as audible as if he were puffing into her ear. Her impulse was to squinch her eyes tighter. She worried that wouldn’t look natural. Truly sleeping people weren’t tensed up. Truly sleeping people were blissfully relaxed. Regina attempted to imitate that state while her throat cramped, her lungs shriveled, and her intestines pinched each other mercilessly. For eight days, the conductor paused right above her. Then he moved on.

That wasn’t the worst part of pretending to be asleep, though. The worst part was how, the second Regina closed her eyes, her eyelids turned into a blank screen for the projection of her otherwise repressed panic. There were flickering images of her future, where she arrived in Birobidzhan to be judged wanting and unwanted. And there were images of her past. The nights of arguments and outbursts. The joking, the singing, the drinking, the planning. Comrade Berger. Comrade Kaminsky. Cecilia. They’d seemed so heroic, so united. So unaware of what was lurking on the outskirts of their grand dreams. Or maybe she’d been the one unaware. She’d been the fool. Mama and Papa had implied as much from the moment Regina first got herself entangled. They stopped implying, moving on to flat out saying it when Regina stood before them, begging for help. She’d trusted the wrong people. She’d listened to the wrong voices. She’d heeded the wrong advice. Regina vowed to never make such a mistake again.

If she ever got the chance.

Regina’s train pulled into Birobidzhan’s solitary station, Tikhonkaya, after one in the morning, the darkest possible hour. Regina suspected it would have appeared so even without the rain whipping her window. She was the only passenger disembarking. She felt like tiptoeing, as you would into a library. Or a funeral home.

One more sweep past the conductor, one more smile, one more loosened button, and she would be home free. None of her efforts proved necessary. At one in the morning, the conductor wasn’t faking sleep like Regina had for over a week. He was deeply in it.

While in Moscow Regina had curled into herself, trying to appear insignificant, here, she strove to make a robust first impression. To appear confident, strong, the sort of woman who’d be welcomed to join in building a socialist Jewish state, not deported home in disgrace, trailed by disparaging laughter like a foul stench.

So Regina forced herself to stride down the train steps and onto the platform. A woman who had nothing to fear. A woman who had nothing to hide.

Her attempt to appear confident – and guileless – proved superfluous. There was no one there to see it. Rain poured down in torrents, soaking Regina the instant she left the cover of her train. She couldn’t make out an awning or a station door to duck through. No attendant manned the ticket office. She’d disembarked on the left side of a wooden platform between two tracks. There was a second train across from her. Not a passenger one, but freight. A flash of lightning corrected Regina’s perception. Each car was filled to burst with people. Men? Women? Regina couldn’t tell. They were pressed against the walls, faces peering out the few barred windows. They reminded Regina of Uzbekh, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz people who’d been coming to Moscow to work and study ever since their republics became members of the USSR.

The idling train’s engine sputtered in preparation for pulling out. Which was when Regina caught sight of a second figure on the platform. A man was running alongside the departing train, holding a sack, reaching into it, pulling out a handful of something Regina couldn’t identify, and shoving it into the outstretched hands of those who’d managed to squeeze their arms through the window’s slats. As the train sped up, so did he, running so quickly he tripped at Regina’s feet, dropping his sack. She bent to help him retrieve the loaves of bread he’d fumbled. Not the kind she knew from Moscow, machine baked, uniform and soft, but misshapen lumps, coarse, heavy, soaked. He scrambled up, frantically continuing distribution as waiting hands whipped by at swifter and swifter speeds. Regina imitated his actions, lifting a grimy trio of loaves, standing on tip-toe to reach. The bread was ripped from her grip with such force that it knocked Regina down, back, and over her bag.

She thrust out her hands behind her, hoping to break her fall, feeling the splinters of the wooden railway floor dig into her palms as her teeth painfully smacked against each other. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up, first to her knees, then to her feet. Regina futilely dabbed at the front of her dress, as if a few swipes with dirty, bloodied hands would do any good against the streaks of mud, wondering why she was bothering, no one would see her.

By the time she looked up again, the man with the sack was gone.

Regina stood, soaked, on an abandoned railway platform. She’d expected the town of Amurzet to be there, the way all of Moscow’s nine stations were within city limits. You stepped off the platform, and there you were. Regina stopped off the platform in Birobidzhan, and she was ankle deep in a swampy, unplowed field, surrounded by mountains in the distance, and the outline of a dirt road that led into more darkness. Tree branches whipped in the wind. Waist-high grasses bent and curled. The road, Regina reasoned, had to lead… somewhere. If she followed it, she would eventually emerge… somewhere. If it wasn’t the settlement she was looking for, it would likely be some other, where she could solicit directions to her desired destination. Regina started walking. No, Regina started dragging; her feet through the mud, her face through the sheets of rain, her bag behind her, bumping into every rock, slipping into every cavity.

Her clothes clung to her skin, her feet slid in her shoes. Regina’s hair fell into her eyes and, after a half-dozen futile attempts, she quit trying to prevent it. She peered out into the world through a slit in her dripping bangs, which scratched her eyes like bugs crawling on her pupils. Regina stared ahead, willing herself to think only of her destination, ordering herself to ignore the voice in her head, the one reminding Regina she could turn around, retrace her sloshing steps, and catch the next train back to Moscow. What was waiting for her there might be worse, but at least it wasn’t the unknown. She was concentrating so hard on ignoring that voice, telling herself the danger in Moscow couldn’t possibly be less than the danger of a stroll in a light mist, it took several moments for her to comprehend the voice she was hearing – a male one – was coming not from inside her head, but from the side of the road.

Regina craned her neck, raising an arm to rub the back of her wrist across her face to clarify her vision. Through the torrent, she caught sight of a horse, its hooves digging a parallel gulley of mud Regina’s way. Presuming it wasn’t the animal she’d heard addressing her, Regina squinted, following the horse’s reins to the accompanying wagon, where legs, wrists, and a head peeked out from beneath a loose muslin covering to beckon Regina.

The man from the station had come back for her.

About the Author:

Alina Adams is the NYT best-selling author of soap-opera tie-ins, figure skating mysteries, and romance novels. She was born in Odessa, USSR and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1977. She combined research with family stories to write her first historical fiction, “The Nesting Dolls,” and for her November 15, 2022 release, “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region.” Read more at: www.AlinaAdams.com

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Author Website

The Hacienda by. Isabel Cañas | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Hacienda

Author: Isabel Cañas

Format: ebooks (borrowed)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 5/3/22

Publisher: Berkley

Categories: Gothic Horror, Historical Fiction, Forbidden Romance, Young Adult, Supernatural

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

Content Warning: abuse, gory scenes, cheating

I don’t read a lot of horror, but I really enjoy gothic horror type of stories so when I see it I try to get a copy to read it.

+ What I love about historical gothic fiction is the history facts I get in the story. This one takes place after the period of Mexico’s War of Independence which I know nothing about. I learned a lot just from this story alone about the casta system, the racial issues and socioeconomics of the hacienda owners, colonialism and religion – I mean they were threatening to bring people to the Inquisition which I knew happened a long, long time ago like in the 1300’s or something like that, but I didn’t know it was still happening in the 1800’s! A lot of eye opening information.

+ The gothic atmosphere around the hacienda was really creepy and chilling especially at night. You know something is wrong, the house is clearly haunted by some evil spirit but we don’t know why. There is a bit of a mystery about the first wife of Don Rodolfo Solórzano, and Beatriz being his second wife is the target of some entity or someone in the house.

+ There is haunts, there are scary hallucinations, there are gory bloody scenes and witchcraft. It made me even question if I should walk in the dark to the bathroom because I was reading late at night lol. That’s what I want in a horror/gothic story.

+ I liked Beatriz and found her to be really brave while dealing with a haunted house without any support and no husband by her side. Even though she was terrified night after night, she slept there – that would so NOT be me lol. I felt like she was so fed up with the spirit haunting her, I liked her fighting spirit.

~ There isn’t much scenes between Beatriz and her husband. He leaves right away to go somewhere after he drops her off at the hacienda. So her budding forbidden romance with Padre Andrés had lots of room to grow. I wasn’t into it though – and not because he was a priest – I get that it’s a forbidden love situation and what’s more forbidden than a priest and a married woman?! I understood his and his family’s reasoning to pushing him into priesthood but I did like them as friends. I didn’t quite feel the chemistry between them.

~ Like with most mysteries, it feels like a slow read, especially in the beginning when we don’t know much about the history of the house or Beatriz’ husband and his first wife. Once we get more information, it picks up. I did feel like I wish Padre Andrés had more witchcraft powers – he seemed so weak against the spirit at times. Maybe I was just expecting too much from him.

Why you should read it:

you like mysterious gothic, historical fiction with a bit of creep factor and lite horror
the time period and information we get about the state of Mexico after the War of Independence
thrills, chills and lush world-building

Why you might not want to read it:

not into horror
not into forbidden love between a priest and married woman
kinda slow at first

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one because it gave me scared to read at night haha – especially once night came to the hacienda! Some parts were a bit slow but once Beatriz and Padre Andrés set to exorcizing the house of the spirit, there is a bit of action. I enjoyed all the historical aspects of the book and found it an entertaining story. I look forward to reading more from this author.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Quotes From the Book:

Life has a way of taking the wind out of our dreams sometimes…”
Judy I. Lin, A Magic Steeped in Poison

Tea for me is home, is joy, is family.”
Judy I. Lin, A Magic Steeped in Poison

Human hands make mistakes, Ning, but they are the hands the gods gave us. We use them to make amends, to do good things.”
Judy I. Lin, A Magic Steeped in Poison

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by. Silvia Moreno-Garcia | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 7/19/22

Publisher: Del Rey

Categories: Coming of Age, Sci-Fi, Lite Horror, Historical Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Del Rey for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

Content Warning: Addiction, Abuse, Lite Horror Scenes, Colorism, Colonization, Prejudice

This is only the second book I’ve read from this author and though it is completely different from the first one I’ve read, the luscious, beautiful writing seems to be this author’s signature. So yes the author’s name was a big factor in making me request this book and also the gorgeous, colorful book cover attracted me as well. I’m only vaguely familiar with the classic The Island of Doctor Moreau but I get the gist of what the story is about.

I loved the setting of this story. It is set in the Yucatán peninsula and the author even delves into some history and strife occurring in the area in the 19th century between the Maya people and the Mexican people, and those of European descent. I found those parts very fascinating and made me want to learn more about it. It is a part of history I don’t know much about.

The characters are perfectly cast in this story. Doctor Moreau is creating hybrids of people – he thinks he can provide cheap labor by fusing human and animal genes together. These hybrids are supposed to benefit his benefactor, a very rich man by the name of Hernando Lizalde. Like anyone who think he can play at being God, Doctor Moreau has succeeded so far in his experiments except for the fact the hybrids are imperfect and die young. He is a slave to science. His daughter Carlota is gorgeous, sweet, obedient and afflicted with an illness but she loves the hybrids as if they are her own siblings because she’s grown up with them at Yaxaktun. All she wants is a happy, perfect life in Yaxaktun but she learns quickly that thoughts like that are but a dream. Montgomery is Moreau’s hired hand – he is troubled, running from his past by drinking it and gambling it away. Then there are Lupe and Cachito, two hybrids who have grown up with Carlota.

The writing is as gorgeous as ever and pulled me into the story so that I felt like I was at Yaxaktun. I could feel the humidity and imagine the lush surroundings. I could picture Carlota’s beauty. The mysteriousness and solitude of Yaxaktun lent the story an eerie feeling but one that didn’t creep me out too much – it just made me more curious about the hybrids. I was more creeped out and angry at Carlota’s father for all his ego and lies. I say lite horror because of the description of the science lab but this book was not scary or anything. I thought the real horror was how the hybrids were treated and created and the plight of the Maya people. The beginning was a little slow, but it is told like a mystery so I let it unfold and really enjoyed how the tension was built.

Why you should read it:

the beautiful writing
Carlota’s character arc – from obedient sweet girl, to a fighter
the historical information, deep issues about colonialism and the questions about playing God

Why you might not want to read it:

sci-fi/horror not your thing

My Thoughts:

This might have taken me a bit longer to get into but I am always drawn in by this author’s words. Her writing just flows so well and I like that the characters were imperfect and made me question their actions. The story unfolds slowly but I love how the tension builds until the end. I love how Carlota went from a docile young lady to one who faces the truth about her life and herself. I found the history aspects of the story quite fascinating and opened my eyes to some of the issues taking place in 19th century Mexico and it made me want to learn more. Will absolutely be reading more of this author’s work!

📚 ~ Yolanda

I Must Betray You by. Ruta Sepetys | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: I Must Betray You

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Format: hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 321

Publication Date: 2/1/22

Publisher: Penguin

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Communism, Romania

Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

Content Warning: Death, Violence, Torture

It’s 1989 and the Berlin Wall has come down (I remember watching that on TV), and all around Romania it seems that the Iron Curtain is coming down. As a young kid I only knew what I saw on TV but this book right here gives me an insider view that is really amazing. What I love about this author is her research – it is always so in depth. It’s one of the reasons I love adult historical fiction but as a young adult fiction, she really does such a fantastic job of capturing historical events through the eyes of young people.

Cristi or Cristian is just a 17 year old kid living in Romania. His whole community, the whole country in fact is under surveillance of the government. Say anything bad about their leader and the Securitae will come after them – just like how they were coming for Cristi’s grandfather who is very outspoken about their leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu. But the way Romania is under surveillance is the sad part – it is country men informing on one another – but they do it so they can survive the dire conditions in Romania. Can you imagine living somewhere with barely heat in freezing winters and not being to trust anyone around you? The outside world doesn’t know how they go to school six days a week, how everything they watch on tv is state run, or how they are barely surviving on scheduled rations. To get any good services or products in the community you have to barter with a pack of Kents cigarettes! And Cristi loves his grandfather, and he wants to do anything to help him out even if that means betraying someone. But Cristi finds out the truth about who is betraying who in his life.

I liked Cristi and glad he had the influence of his brave grandfather. I loved the hopeful message of first love with a girl at school Lilliana, even in such tough times. You can feel Cristi’s despair and frustration at the government and his yearning to do something impactful, even at the cost of his life. I think this story resonates so much because of current events happening between Ukraine and Russia.

The only issue I had was the ending part when the revolution started and then it ended – I thought it was too fast. The story is a build up to it with the distrust around Cristi, it’s a slow beginning but I’m glad we got a sense of how dire it was in Romania but I would have like more of the revolution part because it is so inspiring. The epilogue is fantastic as we learn about the secret files the Securitae kept on all the surveillance going on in Romania. It is truly astounding the lengths the government went through to keep people in line, keep people in fear and separated from the outside world.

As always with historical fiction we get a bit more extra information from the author in the notes. I always love seeing that in the author’s notes.

Why you should read it:

learn about Romania in 1989, know how they lived – it’s an important story
it’s inspiring and relates to current events
you love historical fiction and beautiful writing

Why you might not want to read it:

not into historical fiction

My Thoughts:

Ruta Sepetys is a must read author for me because I learn something every time I read one of her books. I was so young when this moment in time happened in Romania so to look back now and read it as an adult, it makes me realize that I missed a lot of information or was too young to understand what has happening thousands of miles away from me. It’s important to hear these stories and she does a great service by telling them with her beautiful writing.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Quotes from the Book:

Paradise: If communism is Paradise, why do we need barriers, walls, and laws to keep people from escaping?”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Mistrust is a form of terror. The regime pits us against one another”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

How could we expect others to feel our pain or hear our cries for help when all we could do was whisper ?”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

Your father’s hungry, Cristian, literally and figuratively. Ration cards in the 1980s? We had more food during World War II,” complained Bunu. “Do you see the lunacy of all this? They’ve got us brainwashed, standing in lines for hours, grateful for rotten beans. But what is the cost of self-worth?”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

The Red Palace by. June Hur | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Red Palace

Author: June Hur

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 1/22/22

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance

To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood…

Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, seventeen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father’s approval.

But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon’s closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher’s innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

In her hunt for the truth, she encounters Eojin, a young police inspector also searching for the killer. When evidence begins to point to the Crown Prince himself as the murderer, Hyeon and Eojin must work together to search the darkest corners of the palace to uncover the deadly secrets behind the bloodshed.

Content Warning: Death, Murder, Violence, Misogyny

Mystery is not the genre I reached for first but I heard so many good things about this book so when I saw it available on Overdrive online library, I had to borrow it.

I found this story intriguing and I was engaged throughout the whole book. I love the writing and how the story is written. It’s great story telling. Sometimes mysteries can bore me, but the pacing of this one is perfect. I had no clue who to suspect in the killings and that was a nice surprise!

Hyeon is a uinyeo which is like a nurse, or a medical woman, and there has been uinyeos being killed at the palace. There is talk about the Prince being a killer because he has an uncontrollable temper, so he remains the number one suspect until Hyeon investigates. And no she isn’t a detective and there are already people on the case, one young man in particular, Eojin, but she feels she owes it to find out who the real killer is to clear the name of her mentor.

I liked Hyeon’s determination and how Eojin how helpful she would be to the investigation. I thought Hyeon’s home life was sad with her mom basically neglecting her and her dad being so cruel. It’s part of the reason she was so deep into this investigation.

It’s a fantastic mystery that moves quickly, keeps you on your toes and there is the most innocent of all romances blossoming in the middle of it.

Why you should read it:

you love mystery
Korean historical fiction
sweet romance

Why you might not want to read it:

you are not into historical fiction/mysteries

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one a lot and the writing is so good that I have the urge to read all of this author’s previous work. The fact that it didn’t lose my attention, especially when I’m not a big reader of mysteries, is because the writing is so great. I was engaged in the story, wasn’t sure who the killer was and adored the sweet romance story that was taking place in the story as well. Overall, a great book!

📚 ~ Yolanda

Quotes from the Book:

“He moved my hand into his, and as our fingers intertwined, it occurred to me that love wasn’t all that I’d feared it to be. I had imagined that it was a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path. Instead, it felt as ordinary and extraordinary as waking up to a new day.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“That was my life’s goal, to never err. My life had been a mistake—born a girl, and on the wrong side of wedlock. I had no room to make more errors.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

“I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most.”
― June Hur, The Red Palace

BLOG TOUR} A Lullaby for Witches by. Hester Fox | ARC Review

Welcome to the the blog tour for A Lullaby for Witches by. Hester Fox!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: A Lullaby for Witches

Author: Hester Fox

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 2/01/22

Publisher: Graydon House

Categories: Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magic, Romance, Paranormal

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Graydon House for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Augusta Podos has just landed her dream job, working in collections at a local museum, Harlowe House, located in the charming seaside town of Tynemouth, Massachussetts. Determined to tell the stories of the local community, she throws herself into her work–and finds an oblique mention of a mysterious woman, Margaret, who may have been part of the Harlowe family, but is reduced to a footnote. Fascinated by this strange omission, Augusta becomes obsessed with discovering who Margaret was, what happened to her, and why her family scrubbed her from historical records. But as she does, strange incidents begin plaguing Harlowe House and Augusta herself. Are they connected with Margaret, and what do they mean?

Tynemouth, 1872. Margaret Harlowe is the beautiful daughter of a wealthy shipping family, and she should have many prospects–but her fascination with herbs and spellwork has made her a pariah, with whispers of “witch” dogging her steps. Increasingly drawn to the darker, forbidden practices of her craft, Margaret finds herself caught up with a local man, Jack Pryce, and the temptation of these darker ways threatens to pull her under completely.

As the incidents in the present day escalate, Augusta finds herself drawn more and more deeply into Margaret’s world, and a shocking revelation sheds further light on Margaret and Augusta’s shared past. And as Margaret’s sinister purpose becomes clear, Augusta must uncover the secret of Margaret’s fate–before the woman who calls to her across the centuries claims Augusta’s own life.

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Implied Eating Disorder

This story is told between two perspectives: Augusta – in present day and Margaret – who lives in 18th century, Massachusettes. I did like the dual story perspective as it eventually culminated later in the story to when Augusta and Margaret merge.

I found Augusta’s job fascinating as a curator of Harlowe House, a historic home in Tynemouth, Massachusettes. She goes on a quest to find out about a girl, Margaret, who seems to be lacking any record of living in Harlowe House. I did like the mystery and learning about Margaret. Augusta is dealing with some issues like with her boyfriend, the lack of knowledge of her father and what looks like an eating disorder. As a character, I didn’t feel like I connected to Augusta very much although I liked her passion for her work.

Margaret is labeled a witch because people in the community come to her for help. She meets a local boy in town and has a wild affair with him but he has a secret that breaks her heart. There are other secrets to uncover about Margaret but I thought it was interesting how she is tied to the Salem Witches.

The romance was okay, I wasn’t that invested in it. Now the paranormal aspect of the story was interesting. Margaret’s ghost has an ulterior motive for trying to contact Augusta and it did keep me reading the story even though I lacked connection to the characters. Also I wanted more witchcraft, not just the mention of spells found in a book.

Why you should read it:

historical/contemporary paranormal story – a little bit of everything
Margaret’s history was compelling

Why you might not want to read it:

romance fell flat- even though this isn’t a romance novel, there is some romance, but it was okay
lack connection to the characters
I wanted more witchcraft

My Thoughts:

This was an interesting read and not what I expected. I found Margaret’s story very fascinating but Augusta’s was just flat, including her romance story. For a story about witches, it didn’t have that much witchcraft in the story at all, but I did enjoy the historical fiction parts of the story. This one was just an okay read for me.

📚 ~ Yolanda

About the Author:

Hester Fox is a full-time writer and mother, with a background in museum work and historical archaeology. A native New-Englander, she now lives in rural Virginia with her husband and their son.

Author Website

Twitter: @HesterBFox | Instagram: @hesterbfox | Goodreads

Anatomy: A Love Story by. Dana Schwartz | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Anatomy: A Love Story

Author: Dana Schwartz

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 1/18/22

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Gothic, Mystery, Romance, Historical Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A gothic tale full of mystery and romance about a willful female surgeon, a resurrection man who sells bodies for a living, and the buried secrets they must uncover together.

Edinburgh, 1817.

Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.

Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.

When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, the university will allow her to enroll. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books – she’ll need bodies to study, corpses to dissect.

Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living, then.

But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets. Hazel and Jack work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.

I was totally surprised about this book. When I was asked to review it, I was first drawn to the cover. Look at that cover, it is outstanding! The synopsis sounded intriguing with the a young woman trying to become a surgeon in a time when women were not allowed to practice medicine, let alone become a surgeon!

Hazel is a wonderful main character. As a lady she is expected to marry well and keep her future husband happy but the thought doesn’t bring her joy at all. She wants to become a surgeon but how? I love her fortitude and persistence to pursue her dream of being a surgeon even when many challenges were thrown her way. I loved the scenes of Hazel practicing medicine for those who couldn’t afford to pay for good medical service. Reading this story reminded me of when once upon a time I thought I was going to be in the medical field.

Now Jack is a fun character because he is not a nobleman, he is a stagehand and a part time resurrection man – meaning he digs up dead bodies on the side and sells them to doctors. It’s a high risk job and if caught Jack can be hung for grave robbing. He befriends Hazel when she needs dead bodies to study and practice surgery on to pass her medical exam. I love their interactions together.

There is a sweet romance budding between Hazel and Jack even though she is betrothed to her cousin. It’s a heartbreaking romance too because their stations in life really don’t allow them to be together.

The story isn’t just about Hazel wanting to become a surgeon, there is a mystery going on in Edinburgh. There is an illness going around called the Roman fever and also something else is happening where people, mostly the poor, are going missing or coming back with a missing limb. It reminds me of the story of Jack the Ripper, obviously it’s not the same story but the chilling vibes are the same.

Content Warnings: gore, dissecting bodies/animals, bullying, misogyny

Though the ending was definitely a plot twist and fascinating, I don’t know that it totally worked for me. It worked when it came to the romance part but it still left me a bittersweet feeling. But it’s an interesting twist to the mystery of the people with missing limbs or people dying not from the Roman fever – it did seem a bit farfetched but I went with it for the sake of the romance.

Just being reminded of how the field of medicine didn’t allow women to study or how they had to dig up bodies in order to study them is so amazing to me. It’s awesome to see how far we have come in the field of medicine and yay to women who broke through such a male dominated field.

Why you should read it:

history of medicine fascinates you and you aren’t squeamish about dissecting bodies
a sweet romance
good mystery
woman empowerment

Why you might not want to read it:

gory
farfetched ending

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this story. I didn’t realize how much I missed reading books about the history of medicine, even if this one is a historical fiction, I was still inspired by Hazel’s ambition to become a female surgeon. I adored the romance between Hazel and Jack but it isn’t exactly happily ever after for them. The ending is just something I went with even though it seems a little bit out there but it’s a fun book to escape into if you are into gothic settings with mystery and romance.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Luck of the Titanic by. Stacey Lee | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Luck of the Titanic

Author: Stacey Lee

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 5/4/21

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Categories: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Family

Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise, though, she’s turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese people aren’t allowed into America.

But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there’s not much a trained acrobat like Val can’t overcome when she puts her mind to it.

As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val’s dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.

Stacey Lee knows how to write young adult historical fiction where we care about the characters. I especially love that she writes about Asian characters because I am always learning something new! I was a sophomore in college when Titanic, the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio came out and I watched it three times in the theater and countless times after on tv. It is ingrained in me. But Luck of the Titanic tells the tale loosely based on the fact that there were Chinese men and women on board the Titanic. That was news to me so I went into this book very interested.

Valora is half English/half Chinese and is looking for her twin brother. She hitches a plan to get onto the Titanic and does find her brother. The reunion between them is great and this is how we meet the other Chinese men on board and what a cast of characters they are. They grew on me as we learned some of their back stories. The story also mentions The Chinese Exclusion Act which I knew nothing about or if I did learn that in history class decades ago, I have forgotten. But this law didn’t allow Chinese immigrants into the USA for a long time, even though they found other ways to go around it. We get a taste of the discrimination and racism directed towards the Chinese from both the upper class and lower class passengers.

Valora and Jamie’s relationship is the main focus of the story as she tries to persuade him to go to America with him. They have been apart for a long time and with their parents both gone, they only have one another. Valora gets to know Jamie’s friends and they become their own chosen family. Of course they are on the Titanic though…and we know the Titanic means tragedy. So if you are looking for a happy ending, this book is not it.

The whole cast of characters were great and it’s the Titanic so there were all kinds of people on this huge ship. I think we got a glimpse of it in this book.

This was a very fast read, even as it starts slow, you know it’s building to a tragic end with the Titanic about to sink. In the span of time Valora, Jamie and their friends spend on the Titanic they become a family, Valora even experiences the beginnings of what could be love, the twins are united and even perform acrobats like they did as kids – they have a time on the Titanic before tragedy strikes.

Triggers: racism, death

The Titanic movie is ingrained in me so there were times, it reminded me of the movie! Valora getting on the ship by any means like Jack did, Jamie falling for an upper class passenger like how Jack and Rose fell for one another.

It’s a slow beginning with Valora finding Jamie and then Valora trying to convince Jamie to join the circus and move to America with her. I was waiting for the Titanic to hit ice halfway through the book because that is the exciting and tragic parts of any Titanic story but it comes more towards the end. So the ending felt rushed.

It’s a sad ending, bittersweet – there were some happy endings so that’s a good thing, but overall the whole tragedy of the Titanic is sad.

Why you should read it:

The story honoring the 8 Chinese onboard the Titanic is important
you learn a lot
it’s a lovely yet tragic story about family

Why you might not want to read it:

slow beginning, Titanic doesn’t hit ice until way late in the book
sad ending – the whole Titanic tragedy is sad

My Thoughts:

I ended up reading this book very quickly despite the slow beginning. I think because I know the Titanic story through the movie, I was waiting for the action and the moment the ship started to sink. In the book it doesn’t come until later so I was racing through just to get to it. Though slow, the story about Valora and Jamie is a beautifully sad one about family. When Valora befriends his crew, then the story also becomes one about chosen family. This one is tragic, but beautifully written and we learn more about what the Chinese went through in the past. Stacey Lee is a great storyteller and I look forward to her next book.

📚~ Yolanda

BLOG TOUR} Radar Girls by. Sara Ackerman | ARC Review

Welcome to the blog tour for Radar Girls by. Sara Ackerman!

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Title: Radar Girls

Author: Sara Ackerman

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 7/27/21

Publisher: MIRA

Categories: WWII, Historical Fiction, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to MIRA for giving me a chance to read this eARC for an honest review!

WWII historical fiction inspired by the real women of the Women’s Air Raid Defense, RADAR GIRLS follows one unlikely recruit as she trains and serves in secrecy as a radar plotter on Hawaii. A tale of resilience and sisterhood, it sees the battles of the Pacific through the eyes of these pioneering women, and will appeal to fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff.

An extraordinary story inspired by the real Women’s Air Raid Defense, where an unlikely recruit and her sisters-in-arms forge their place in WWII history.

Daisy Wilder prefers the company of horses to people, bare feet and saltwater to high heels and society parties. Then, in the dizzying aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Daisy enlists in a top-secret program, replacing male soldiers in a war zone for the first time. Under fear of imminent invasion, the WARDs guide pilots into blacked-out air strips and track unidentified planes across Pacific skies.

But not everyone thinks the women are up to the job, and the new recruits must rise above their differences and work side-by-side despite the resistance and heartache they meet along the way. With America’s future on the line, Daisy is determined to prove herself worthy. And with the man she’s falling in love with out on the front lines, she cannot fail. From radar towers on remote mountaintops to flooded bomb shelters, she’ll need her new team when the stakes are highest. Because the most important battles are fought—and won—together.

This inspiring and uplifting tale of pioneering, unsung heroines vividly transports the reader to wartime Hawaii, where one woman’s call to duty leads her to find courage, strength and sisterhood.

I was drawn to this book because it is set in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu (where I live) during World War II. The author did such a wonderful job with describing my island of Oahu.
The author got the Hawaiian words right, and I appreciated that. Even though I live here, I didn’t know about the women recruited to form the Women’s Air Raid Defense. The crazy thing is that I grew up 5 minutes from Fort Shafter where the story is set, which is pretty cool. It was nice to see Hawaii represented accurately.
I loved learning alongside Daisy and her friends about Radar. I found these women to be motivated, smart, and capable.
Daisy is our main character and she’s a strong young lady without any real family on the island. She befriends some of the other women who are recruited to WARD and they form a tight-knit grip trying to figure out men, love, life on base, and learning everything they need to to help in the war effort. I liked the woman power especially because this was set in the 1940’s when women were expected to be at home cooking, cleaning and making babies. I liked learning of these women helping the military which is a male dominant world.

Triggers: sexual assault, grief, war
I felt like Daisy’s background and the drama connected to her (a missing horse) didn’t seem to flow well into the story about her being part of WARD. I found those aspects of the story much more interesting and wanted to know more about her life as part of the program.
There is a light romance taking place in the story but I wasn’t very invested in it.

Radar Girls made me learn something new about World War II and appreciate the role of women in such a challenging time. It’s a story about Daisy and her friends, women who were recruited to help fly our boys home during the war. There were some parts of the story that didn’t engage my interest, like Daisy’s personal life problems. I did enjoy her camaraderie with her new friends though. If you love historical fiction, you will enjoy this one.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Book Excerpt~

The Bust

Their shack, as Daisy referred to the house, was nestled in a cluster of bent ironwood trees, all by its lonesome. Set back far from the beach to protect it from a direct blast of onshore winds, it still took a constant battering and the salty air and elements had done a fine job reclaiming it. Windowpanes had been blasted opaque, you could see through the back wall, and flowers had taken up residence in the gutters. The siding had gone from forest green to pale green to peeling gray, the roof turned to rust.

When he had first started working up at the ranch, Daisy’s father had somehow persuaded Mr. Montgomery to sell him the small parcel of beachfront property for the price of a bag of sand. Most likely because it was in no-man’s-land between Waialua and the ranch. And because her father had been the best horse trainer in Hawai’i and everyone knew it.

She flung open the front door and ran inside. “Mom?” she called.

All quiet. She tiptoed across the lauhala mat in the living room, avoiding the creaking floorboards. Her mother spent much of her life in one of two states—sleeping or staring out to sea. The bedroom door was cracked and a lump lay under the blankets, pillow over her head. There was no point in trying to wake her, so Daisy ran back outside, hopped on her bike and rode for the stables.

The air was ripe with burnt sugarcane and a scratchy feeling of dread. She bumped along a dirt road as fast as her old bike would carry her. That plume of black smoke above Schofield caused her heart to sink. So many Japanese planes could mean only one thing. An attack or invasion of some kind was happening. But the sky remained empty and she saw no signs of ships on the horizon.

By the time she reached the stables, she had worked out what to tell Mr. Silva—the only person at the ranch who was even close to being a friend—and beg that he help her find Moon. Whether or not he would risk his job was another story. Jobs were not easy to come by, especially on this side of the island. Daisy counted herself lucky to have one. When she rounded the corner by the entrance, she about fell over on her bike. Mr. Silva’s rusted truck was gone and in its place sat Mr. Montgomery’s shiny new Ford, motor running and door open.

As far as old Hal Montgomery was concerned, Daisy was mostly invisible. She had worked for him going on seven years now—since she was sixteen—but she was a girl and girls were fluffy, pretty things who wore fancy dresses and attended parties. Not short-haired, trouser-wearing, outdoorsy misfits. And certainly not horse trainers and skin divers. Nope, those jobs belonged to men. There was also the matter of her father’s death, but she preferred not to think about that.

Should she turn around and hightail it out of there before he caught sight of her? He’d find out eventually, and he would be livid. Daisy pulled her bike behind the toolshed and slipped around the back side of the stables, peering in through a cloudy window. The tension in the air from earlier had dissipated and the horses were all quiet. A tall form stood in front of the old horse—Ka‘ena—she was supposed to ride. It was hard to tell through the foggy pane, but the man looked too tall and too thin to be Hal Montgomery.

Horsefeathers! It was Walker, Montgomery’s son. A line of perspiration formed on the back of her neck and she had the strong urge to flee. Not that Daisy had had much interaction with Walker in recent years. He was aloof and intimidating and the kind of person who made her forget how to speak, but he loved Moon fiercely. Of that she was sure. Just then, he turned and started jogging toward the door. His face was in shadow but it felt like he was looking right at her. She froze. If she ducked away now, he would surely catch the movement. She did it anyway.

She had just made it to her bike when Walker tore out of the tack room with a wild look in his eye. He had a rifle hanging across his chest, and he was carrying two others. He stopped when he saw her. “Hey!” he said.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Montgomery.”

He wore his flight suit, which was only halfway buttoned, like he’d been interrupted either trying to get in it or trying to get out of it. His face was flushed and lined with sweat. “Don’t you know we’ve been attacked? You ought to head for cover, somewhere inland.”

He was visibly shaken.

“I saw the planes. What do you know?” she said.

“Wheeler and Schofield are all shot up, and they did a number on Pearl. Battleships down, bay on fire. God knows how many dead.” His gaze dropped to her body for a moment and she felt her skin burn. There had been no time to change or even think about changing, and she was still in her half-wet swimsuit, hair probably sticking out in eleven directions. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I was worried about the horses,” she said.

“That makes two of us. And goddamn Moon is not in his stall. You know anything about that?”

Taking Moon had been about the dumbest thing she could have done. But at the time, it seemed a perfectly sane idea. The kind of thinking that got her into plenty of trouble over the years. Why hadn’t she learned? She looked at the coconut tree just past him as she spoke. “I have no idea. Perhaps Mr. Silva has him?”

“Mr. Silva went to town last night to see his sister,” he said.

She forced herself to look at him, feeling like she had the word guilty inked onto her forehead. “Looks like you have somewhere to be. You go on, I’ll find Moon. I promise.”

Her next order of business would be scouring the coast and finding that horse before Walker returned. There would be no sleeping until Moon was safely back at the stables.

“I sure hope so. That horse is mighty important to me,” he said.

Tell him!

She was about to come clean, when he moved around her, hopped in the car and slammed the door. He leaned out the window and said, “Something tells me you know more than you’re letting on, Wilder.”

With that, he sped off, leaving her standing in a cloud of red dirt and sand.

In the stables, the horses knew the sound of her footsteps, or maybe they smelled the salt on her hair. A concert of nickers and snorts erupted in the stalls. Daisy went to the coatrack first, and slid on an oversize button-up that she kept there for chilly days. It smelled of hay.

“How is everyone?” she said, stopping at each one to rub their necks or kiss their noses. “Quite a morning, hasn’t it been?”

Peanut was pacing with nostrils flared, and she spent a few minutes stroking his long neck before moving on. Horses were her lifeblood. Feeding, grooming, riding, loving. She only wished that Mr. Montgomery would let her train them—officially, that was. Without being asked as a last resort by Mr. Silva when everyone else had tried. Lord knew she was better than the rest of the guys. When she got to Moon’s stall, all the blood rushed from her head. The door had been left open and two Japanese slippers hung from the knob. She had hidden them in the corner under some straw—apparently not well enough.

Damn.

Just then she heard another car pull up. The ranch truck. A couple of the ranch hands poured out, making a beeline to the stables. Mr. Montgomery followed on their heels with a machete in his hand and a gun on his hip. Daisy felt the skin tighten on the back of her neck. His ever-present limp seemed even more pronounced.

When he saw her, he said, “Where’s Silva?”

No mention that they were under attack.

“In town,” she answered.

“What about Walker?”

“Walker just left in a big hurry,” she answered.

One of the guys had his hunting dog with him. It was a big mutt that enjoyed staring down the horses and making them nervous, as if they needed to be any more nervous right now. Daisy wanted to tell him to get the dog out of there, but knew it would be pointless.

“The hosses in the pasture need to be secured,” Mr. M said.

“Do you need my help?” she offered.

“Nah, you should get out of here. Get home. Fuckers blew up all our planes and now paratroopers are coming down in the pineapple fields. Ain’t no place for a woman right now.”

Daisy wanted to stay and help, but also wanted to get the hell away before he noticed that Moon was not here. “Yes, sir.”

He stopped and sized her up for a moment, his thick brows pinched. “You still got that shotgun of your old man’s?”

“I do.”

“Make sure it’s loaded.”

On her way home, Daisy passed through Japanese camp, hoping to get more information from Mr. Sasaki, who always knew the latest happenings. A long row of cottages lined the road, every rock and leaf in its place. The houses were painted barn red with crisp, white trim. On any given Sunday, there would have been gangs of kids roaming the area, but now the place was eerily empty.

“Hello?” she called, letting her bike fall into the naupaka hedge.

When she knocked and no one answered, she started pounding. A curtain pulled aside and a small face peered out at her and waved her away. Mrs. Sasaki. She was torn, but chose to leave them be. With the whispers of paranoia lately, all the local Japanese folks were bound to be nervous. She didn’t blame them.

This time when Daisy ran up to the shack, her mother was sitting on the porch drinking coffee from her chipped mug.

She was still in her nightgown, staring out beyond the ocean. When she was in this state, a person could have walked into their house and made off with all of their belongings and her mother would not even bat an eye.

Daisy sat down next to her. “Mom, the Japanese Army attacked Pearl Harbor and Wheeler and who knows where else.”

Her mother clenched her jaw slightly, took a sip of her coffee, then set it down on the mango stump next to her chair. “They said it would happen,” she said flatly.

“This is serious, mom. People are dead. Civilians, too. I don’t know how many, but the islands are in danger of being invaded and there are Japanese ships and planes all around. They’re telling us to stay inside.”

A look of worry came over her mom’s face. “You should go find a safer place to stay, away from the coast.”

“And leave you here?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

Her mom shrugged.

She knew Louise couldn’t help it, but a tiny part of Daisy was waiting for that day her mother would wake up and be the old Louise Wilder. The mother of red lipstick and coconut macaroons, of beach bonfires and salty hugs. The one who rode bikes with her daughter to school every day, singing with the birds along the way. The highs and lows had been there before, but now there were only lows and deeper lows.

After some time, her mother finally spoke. “Men, they do the dumbest things.”

“That may be true, but we’re at war. Does that mean anything to you?” Daisy said, her voice rising in frustration.

“Course it does, but what can we do?”

She had a point. Aside from hiding in the house or running away, what other options were there? Used to doing things, Daisy was desperate to help, but how? Their home was under attack and she felt as useful as a sack of dirt.

Louise leaned back. On days like these, she retreated so far into herself that she was unreachable. You could tell by looking in her eyes. Blank and bottomless. Mr. Silva always said that you could see the spirit in the eyes. Dull eyes, dull spirit. That Louise looked this way always made Daisy feel deeply alone. The onshore winds kicked up a notch and ruffled the surface of the ocean. She knew she should stay with her mom, but more than anything, she wanted to go in search of the horse. Moon meant more to her than just the job. She loved him something fierce.

Only one thing was clear: their lives would never be the same.

About the Author:

USA Today bestselling author Sara Ackerman was born and raised in Hawaii. She studied journalism and earned graduate degrees in psychology and Chinese medicine. She blames Hawaii for her addiction to writing, and sees no end to its untapped stories. When she’s not writing or teaching, you’ll find her in the mountains or in the ocean. She currently lives on the Big Island with her boyfriend and a houseful of bossy animals. Find out more about Sara and her books at http://www.ackermanbooks.com and follow her on Instagram @saraackermanbooks and on FB @ackermanbooks.

Find Her Here:

Author Website | Facebook: @ackermanbooks |Twitter: @AckermanBooks

Instagram: @saraackermanbooks | Pinterest

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by. Kristin Harmel | ARC Review

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Title: The Forest of Vanishing Stars

Author: Kristin Harmel

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 7/6/21

Publisher: Gallery Books

Categories: Historical Fiction, World War II, Holocaust, Survival

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Gallery Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.

Inspired by incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, and suffused with the journey-from-the-wilderness elements that made Where the Crawdads Sing a worldwide phenomenon, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel.

This reads like a fairytale, at least in the beginning when Yona is taken from her biological family to be raised in the woods. I almost thought I was reading a magical realism book instead of historical fiction but we get to that part soon enough.
Yona is a young woman raised without interacting with other people except for one person, her caretaker, Jerusza. Jerusza is an elderly woman who knows how to survive the forests in Europe. Jerusza is Jewish but also worldly about many cultures and religions and she teaches Yona about everything she can, but why? Jerusza has seen the future, is more in tuned with the mystical elements of the world, maybe because of her life in the forest, and knows what is coming with the German Nazis. So she prepares Yona for what is coming.
When Jewish people flee the ghettos the Nazis have trapped them, some try to flee into the forest and that is where Yona finds her purpose. She teaches these groups how to survive living in the forest. I found the focus of this story quite unique because of Yona, her disconnect from the world and then being introduced to the horrors of it when she finally interacts with people coming in the forest. I love how the forest gave them everything they needed at a time when Jewish people were losing everything: jobs, family, friends, homes, loved ones, dignity, their way of life.
There is a little romance in this story despite how awful the circumstances but I thought it was nice it didn’t become the sole focus of the story. Yona is learning how to interact with others and belong with a group. She is trying to find out who she is after being by herself for so long and there are some harsh life lessons to learn. Despite everything that happens I love that Yona is smart, strong, optimistic and practical.
I love the overall message of this story. It’s not only one of survival but identity too. It’s also a reminder of how cruel and ruthless hate could turn people against one another and the everlasting trauma the Holocaust had on families that survived. A reminder that generations of families were wiped out.

Triggers: violence, death, kidnapping

I think the premise of this story is very unique, it almost has a mystical feel to it with Jerusza but it is intertwined with in real historical events. If you read the Author’s Notes in the back, the history of the Bielski brothers making camp in the forest during WWII is as gripping as the fictional story the author gave us.

This is the first book I’ve read from Kristin Harmel and it is an epic story. I learned a lot, and was reminded once more what survival was like in World War II for so many people and how much was lost in a span of a few years. This story was heartbreaking, and yet still full of hope. It’s a great book for someone who loves reading history or World War II stories and want something with a unique perspective.

📚 ~ Yolanda