the novel attempted to be more humorous, such as the sitelinkP, G. Wodehouse it frequently mentions, it might have been a great success, However, in reality the characters aren't very deep, the insinuations too mature for a young audience, and the love at first sight to immature for an old audience.
Some potential but not enough to make me do any more than shake my head, After reading a few chapters, I told the sitelinkchef de cuisine that I loved new vocabulary words so much that if I had to choose between her and them, it would be difficult.
I mean of course in the end I'd choose her, but no new vocabulary words for the rest of my life Horrors,
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, Actual rating.
Not a bad read, but not a great read either, The writing is light and humorous, the characters starting out quiet interesting and very quickly turning to ridiculous, Although, I do understand that this is a playful book centered purely around ridiculous drama, so it makes sense,
As with most period dramas written, filmed, etc, the love stories are equally as ridiculous as the characters, There's an overwhelming amount of instalove in this book and, honestly, .
I refuse to believe anyone actually loved anyone and instead just suffered from a case of infatuation,
There's such a serious backdrop the backdrop being Nazi Germany that I had expected at least some politics and emotions dealing with it, but it actually rests in the background, barely ever mentioned outside of "yes, this is happening, and it makes me feel guilty for feeling so happy" and then off Hannah goes, happily forgetting all about it all over again.
Warnings: antiSemitism, parental abuse
The preWII setting for a romcom already seems surprising enough, so I'll preface this by saying there is no Nazi romance, thank god.
However, we have a fascist's daughter, Anna, and a Jewish girl Hannah whose identities get mixed up when they arrive at the Starkers, and pursue a romance with the same guy, Teddy, heir to the estate.
For further misunderstanding, the two romances happen under the cover of night and Anna is actually romancing another guy thinking it to be Teddy, What I am saying is that, basically, the whole plot rests on misunderstanding and people not clarifying things, And normally, I am not a fan of misunderstandings as a plot devices mistaken identities are fine, but there needs to be a logical reason for it to happen.
And misunderstandings, if done right, can deliver brilliant comedy, However, this book was neither of them,
My main point of annoyance with the plot is that there is a big hole in the form of voices, It is made clear plenty of times how Anna has a shrill voice that she modulates to sound more cultured, and Hannah has an opera singer's contralto, Even with the different languages in which he communicates with them, it seems impossible that Teddy couldn't differentiate between their voices, Similarly, Anna not noticing which is a big joke, considering she is so hypervigilant about people's reactions Teddy's voice in the dark of the hothouse is another impossibility.
And that is what the romance rests on to progress the rest of the household mistaking the girls and treating them as one another could be understood because they either didn't have contact with both girls or they didn't know the whole story.
But I couldn't abide by such a huge plothole that isn't corrected or explained away at the end,
About the characters Hannah is a freethinking but naive girl, who didn't expect much from her relations, so she accepts her position as servant without much question and goes along with what she thinks is the Lady Piripip's wish to humiliate her also why not defy her at every point, as would be within her character plot convenience, that's why.
I thought she was a selfsufficient and smart female lead, but love makes her foolish, Anna, on the other hand, is a schemer who is utterly without remorse, and who had no qualms about letting Hannah hang for her crimes, so I was already hating her so much.
Even until the end, she maintains her selfcentered and selfish attitude, and the bond between the girls wasn't developed enough to let her forgive Anna so easily, even though throughout the book both Hannah and Teddy are shocked by how ignorantly bigoted she is being.
Despite these problems, though, the book had its good moments, It talks about the atmosphere of hate and the persecution of the Jewish people, even in what is supposed to be a comedy, I say 'supposed to be a comedy' because while this does have some good jokes borne of misunderstanding, they are mildly amusing, and not like comedic entertainment, Hannah's POV doesn't gloss over her very real fears of her parents, her anxiety over the fate of her country, and the simple loss of their culture to a movement of hate.
Additionally, the book also acknowledges queer characters, like Hannah's friend, and the Duke of Kent, even though I feel they could do with a bit less sexualization, The language, while expressive and dramatic, calls more to mind the Victorian era than thes, and the writing keeps a good pace, even if the novel as a whole feels a bit stretched out.
Overall, an okay read, but I woudn't say it a laugh out loud comedy,
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from HMH Books for Young Readers, via Netgalley, .Stars.
This is a story of two women Anna and Hannah, Anna was born a Grocer's daughter, Her father is a Nazi sympathizer and he sends her to Starkers to work as a maid and spy for the Nazis,
Hannah is a half Jewish girl living in Germany, She has distant relatives in England at Starkers and it sent the there for her own safety,
Both girls arrive at the same time and there's a mix up, Hannah is assumed to be Anna, the maid, and Anna is assumed to be Hannah, the distant relative, Both girls believe they are where they belong so neither one says anything,
It's a cute story with some very funny parts and some very serious parts, I'm not sure I would be quite as forgiving as Hannah was but everything works out in the end, Love by the Morning Star is another book I picked up from my local library, Just saw it and loved the synopsis, I thought this book was supposed to be very hilarious despite being set in a very terrible time postWorld War I, postGreat Depression, preWorld War II,
The dialect of Love by the Morning Star is totally weird, I don't know if they speak like that then, but hey, . . I got used to it, I got used to it, At about the halfway point of the book, So yes, I was considering to quit because it was weird to read, And also, the beginning was just, . . odd. I don't know how I got into it, but I did, Somehow.
Really, I was on the brink of abandoning this book in the beginning,
But it gets better, There aren't very many funny parts, but I do love the case of mistaken identity, It proves that there are much, much to snicker at, Oh, yes. Snicker. There is definitely some parts, and then I go, . . what the HECK is going on Anna and Hannah fall in love with the "handsome heir of the estate, " But do they It is the big question of the entire book,
And remember. Mistaken identity.
Anna, who is not the heroine, But she is sort of complicated, Like most people. She is a German spy in the simplest terms, and she awaits orders from the Nazi Party, In the meantime, she accidently gets to pretend to be a real girl named Hannah instead of being a kitchen maid, And yes, it gets really interesting,
Hannah, who is the heroine, From the beginning to the end, Anna is a big "Maybe she is or isn't, ". Think of her as Jewish and like Anne from Anne of Green Gables, And that is Anne with E, mind you, I think I like Anna more than her yes, Anna, the German spy, Hannah is a bit strange. She is indeed interesting, but she doesn't seem to have a particular strong motive like Anna who is pretty much after a rich husband, Yes, Hannah has a motive, but she doesn't think about it constantly, Neither is wrong or right, It is just a comparison.
So think Anna as more aggressive, Hannah, passive.
I have to say that the ending is the best part, Can't say much without ruining it, but I do like how everyone gets a Happy Ending,
Overall, Love by the Morning Star is worth a second look, You can definitely go beyond the first page, It is perhaps the halfway point when things truly get interesting, So I recommend Love by the Morning Star when one has time to read, Otherwise, don't.
Rating: Four out of Five
ofpaperandwords, blogspot. com For a full and edited review go to: sitelink Blame it on the Book
I was a little wary before starting this book.
I loved the cover and the title but the synopsis seemed a bit dry and confusing, It was definitely neither of those things, It was full of sassy quips and a whole lot of chaos, I dont think I had any idea how crazy things could get,
Anna who is not the heroine wants very much to be a lady, think of an obsessive Eliza Doolittle from My fair Lady, She has fixed her face, hair, speech and even used rubber bands to fix her teeth, to show that she has class, All she needs now is a good marriage to cement herself as a lady, which is exactly what she thinks when she gets sent to Lord Liprips Manor on a mission and gets mistaken for a new lady in the house.
Hanna Who is our Heroine has to flee Germany as the Nazis keep getting worse and worse, Her parents send her to her estranged family in England, because she was a Jew and not a lady, she knew he aunt would disprove, She had no idea that they would completely ignore her and treat her as a kitchen maid,
Now I should clarify that even though this was hard to read, its only because it would randomly change point of views and you had to catch up.
But the actual story line is pretty easy to follow, I had so much fun reading about how Cocky Anna was and how Feisty Hanna acted,
The only guy we really talk about is Teddy, both girls are in love with Teddy, or so they think, Meanwhile Teddy is positive hes in love with one of them, Teddy did get on my nerves for a while, after all how hard could it possibly to just ask someone or talk to her, Anna was another one who was increasingly frustrating, She never doubted her looks
“She knew she was beautiful if a little frightening, but that was a part of her beauty and if she ever forgot it she had only to stroll down the street and
learn it again from all the admiring stares she received.
”
She also wasn't the smartest
“Once Anna said that poor people should not be pitied because they evidently chose to be poor.
”
Now Hanna I adored, she was smart and sassy at the same time, Even though she had an awful past and was going through a hard time, not knowing her parents were alive or not and thinking that her family was ignoring her.
“There is always a light in the darkness, Hanna thought, However small, it is always there, and it makes the darkness disappear, ”
Teddy was her light and theyre relationship was adorable, How they met and how they got know each other was my favorite thing about this book,
Overall this was such a fun read, it was adorable and funny and when all the walls come crashing down, youll be entertained,
Thank You Netgalley Changed this rating because at the time when I first rated it I thought the idea for the plot they had was worth at least to bump it tobut when I see this book I just remember how the whole thing was so fcken stupid.
Maybe the plot would have worked but it didn't here, This book was just so irritating and being one that hates to leave unfinished books, and it was a library book, I forced myself to read through the stupidity of it.
Here is an example: There are two main female characters who when they arrived at this home they mix up their identities because of how similar their names sound Anna and Hanna.
The girls don't even bother to correct it but I can forgive that since that was the way the story would have to play out BUT towards the end spoiler one of them gets pregnant with the gardener who she met in the yard in a small cabin THINKING it was the son of the family where she was staying.
And then the other girl is going to meet the ACTUAL son in the backyard too by a tree and they talk but he NEVER sees her but hears her voice and ALL THIS TIME HE thinks its the OTHER girl not the servant girl the one hiding in the tree and when there is this dance were the rich dance with the help the son is going to make an announcement he is going to marry Hanna who really is Anna but when he holds her hand he doesn't see that scar in her hand, the one his seen all this time when his been holding her hand talking to her he really has been talking to the real Hanna who people have confused with Anna.
Ughhhh. How do you get pregnant by one man and think its another I mean sure it was dark but still! And how do you get TWO different voices confused Maybe they had similar voices BUT still there MUST be a difference and he talked to BOTH daily that he SHOULD have noticed and known they were TWO different women.
I would give it a zero if I could, I liked the idea of the story but it just wasn't well played out in this book without just being irritating and plain stupid,
Ok I'm done . . feels good to let that out, I'm not saying ALL YA books are this bad but yeah, this is why I stay away from YA/romantic books, .
Seize Love By The Morning Star Author Laura L. Sullivan Distributed As Interactive EBook
Laura L. Sullivan