Review: Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

Cruel Beauty
by Anne Blankman

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance
Release Date: April 22, 2014
Publisher: Balzer+Bray

Source: ARC received from the publisher
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Author's Blog

SYNOPSIS

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, 
In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

 And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

 As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she's ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.

REVIEW

I wasn’t really into books set during the world war. I used to avoid them. A lot. But then I read The Book Thief, and I thought it wasn’t really that bad at all, so when I saw Prisoner of Night and Fog, I instantly requested for a copy of it. My request got accepted and I was sent an ARC. I was so excited to start reading it, and now, I’m glad it’s over. I’m not saying this book is bad. It’s not. It’s just boring.

Set during the World War II, Gretchen Müller grew up without a father under her Uncle Dolf’s care. Being kept away from the secrets of the National Socialist Party, she have always thought that her father died willingly as a martyr until she meets Daniel Cohen, a young Jewish reporter. Not only does she start questioning her father’s death, but also her loyalty towards her Uncle Dolf.

My biggest disappointment in this book was its mystery.  I was really expecting for it to hold my interested, but it didn’t. I could hardly care about what happened to Gretchen’s dad. Also, it was quite easy to solve once I was in the middle of the book. By the time Gretchen found out who killed his father, I already knew who did it.

The romance between Gretchen and Daniel also didn’t work out for me. I didn’t feel the transition from friends to lovers. Instead, I felt like things went too fast—they started out as friends, and then I flipped a page and the next thing I know they have this romantic feelings for each other.  

I also had a problem with the writing-style. While others might find the descriptive writing interesting, I found it to be really boring. All I can is too much information.

Of course, this book does have its own redeeming points. The characters are really well written. You can see that the author putted a lot of effort in creating them, especially in creating Uncle Dolf's character. Even though I didn’t like the relationship between Gretchen and Daniel, I did like their characters. We have Gretchen who started out as a naïve girl who believes whatever her uncle Dolf says to this brave girl who’s no longer clueless, and Daniel who’s a sweet and caring Jew. There’s also Uncle Dolf, a.k.a. Adolf Hitler. I know nothing about him besides the usual, but I can tell that the author did her research about him.

To summarize, I didn’t really like the story as much as the characters. I found the story to be really boring, and the writing didn’t help at all. If you’re a fan of historical fictions, then you might want to try read this one, but if you’re not a fan like me, then you might want to skip this one.

RATING