Interesting historical fiction about Italy during WWII, but it didn't sweep me away.
There were several things that I liked when reading this story and overall it was a good read that kept my attention. But the things is... I didn't love it. There was just a disconnect for me. But I do believe that others might enjoy it more than I did.
👍 What I Liked 👍
Different experiences: The two main characters, Isabella and Livia, come from very different backgrounds and live very different lives. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of their lives, how different their experiences were. Isabella is an actress who moves in very important (fascist and nazi) society. Livia is a college student who joins the rebellion to work against the fascists. Learning of their lives side by side, and even seeing how they also became entwined for a while, was interesting.
Livia: There is no doubt in my mind that Livia was by far my favourite character. I loved how she acted on her own, how in control she was of her life and her destiny but I especially liked how she always tried to help and care for others. She was truly a strong, capable girl!
👎 What I Disliked 👎
Pace: The pace of this book was all off for me. Especially the beginning was really slow and it took awhile for the story to really get going. In my opinion, the 'fault' lay in the dual storylines. Rix took too long building the universe and the backgrounds of these two women before she finally got to the actual story. It hurt the overall story in my opinion.
Isabella: While I loved Livia, Isabella was her exact opposite and it made me dislike her more and more as the story went on. Where Livia was independent, Isabella was incredibly dependent. She has an almost childlike dependency as well as a singleminded focus all throughout the book. She pretty much became a walking, talking repetition of herself. I don't believe she ever really made a single decision for herself. Of course I understand that this served to further the gap between Livia and Isabella, but I just didn't like her at all...
Ending: While the beginning was too slow and took too long to get going, the ending was annoyingly rushed and anti-climactic.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review