Holly

Great book!

A little slower and a bit less engaging than her first book, but this one is still a great read. Emotional and powerful.

This may just be my favorite Appies book. The relationship between Alec and Evie was great, but Alec with Juno and Alec the with twins takes the cake. Also, I may have teared up during the stadium scene with the Dream Team (no spoilers). 

Such a good, cozy read. 

Great book; could use some general editing

The story completely pulled me in. It's been a while since a book had me wanting to give my kids all access to the pantry and tech just so I could sit and read all day.

The book did have some editing issues. There were duplicate words, areas where the author probably started one way and moved another without removing the initial thought. There was one line I wasn't even quite sure what she was saying. It could get a little distracting.

That said, I can't wait to see what book 2 brings!!

Luke's character was overbearing. Just not a fan of how he went about things overall. Maybe it's just the short length of the book needing to move things along, but I just wasn't a fan. 

I've debated on what star review to give this book. While the story is excellent (although I felt it went a bit weak at the end), I've wrestled with it containing real life people in falsified situations. For some reason, it just sits a bit icky to make up a life about someone who actually lived that life. I think I would have felt better after reading it, had the author made up the character names entirely, then add her addendum at the end about Dr. Ho being the real-life inspiration for her story. I feel when someone reads a historical book about a real person, the fact and fiction tend to blur too much when creative liberty is taken to the extent it was in this book. Without getting into spoilers, one of the main characters wasn't even present in Vienna during the time the story takes place. I get it is labeled as fiction, but the use of real names just feels off to me. Make it fiction with fictional names, then share the inspiration for the story so there is no blurring.

TL:DR - Great story, but I wish she would have used false names if she is going to bend the true history as much as she did.

This book was fantastic. It's truly hard to put into words the emotions I felt reading this book. Seeing the world and the events that unfolded in the book through Starr's eyes gave way more insight into the issues, challenges, and fears no should ever have to face simply because of their skin color.

While I liked the overall story of resilience in each of the main characters, the book was hard to get through. Many times the content was disturbing.

A non-content issue I had was the way the author would switch between 1st and 3rd person, past and present tense. It was clunky and hard to get through at times - particularly Kate's chapters which seemed to change from present to past at times in the same chapter. I wish she had just written all the POVs in the same format.

**The book as often graphic and disturbing visualizations of rape, domestic violence, and miscarriage. Discretion is HIGHLY advised. 

I loved this book. It is a bit on the long side, but I didn't mind. The arguments between Cole and the narrator had me laughing out loud.