I didn’t know about tasters until I came across this book. Now that I know about the profession, I still can’t really wrap my mind around the entire concept. Tasters in the Reich used to taste Hitler’s food for poison. They would detect the poison and avert the crisis or die for Hitler if they fail to detect the poison. This was supposed to be an honorable profession because it meant that the Taster was willing to die for Hitler. One thing that I am not certain about is why Tasters were female. The author does explain that tasting is a skill and some Tasters have a natural gift. I don’t know if women were most gifted in the profession than men.

The Taster in this story is Magda Ritter who is the narrator. In case you are wondering how she ended up in the profession, Magda didn’t know what she was signing up for until it was too late (not in a spoiler, it is in the blurb). She quickly learns that she has to adapt to her new profession where each meal could be her last one.

The author did a great job in creating the setting for the story. The different locations where Hitler stayed were so well portrayed that I could picture what life was like over there. The bunkers without enough air or light, the high walls with a lot of security, they all created an atmospheric setting. Life outside these locations was also well portrayed. I had an image of Berlin burning as the story progressed.

This book had memorable characters and I liked the fact that it tackled new aspects of WWWII that I haven’t encountered before such as the Tasters. In addition, the story is told from the POV of Germans who didn’t idolize Hitler which was an interesting angle. My only issue with the book is that I didn’t find myself as captivated by the narrative as much as I expected. It is not a book that I thought about when I wasn’t reading it. I have been thinking about this and I think my issue was the fact that the entire story line focused a lot on one major thing that the characters wanted to do. I felt like this slowed down the pace a bit. However, I still enjoyed discovering new things through the story and I liked the narrator. I also enjoyed seeing how the characters developed through the pages especially Magda.

4 stars

It is ironic that I never considered that there would have been women whose job it was to taste the food that was prepared for Hitler. Also, it was ironic that all of these tasters were women, not a man among them. Yet, these women were selected to offer up their lives for a man that many idolized.

Magda Ritter, a young German girl was chosen for the position of taster. She is brought into the very core of Hitler's various residences, Berghof, Wolf's Lair, The Fuehrer's bunker all to have the job she really does not want. However, Magda fears for her life, the life of her family and eventually the life of the man she loves. She is not a Party member, in fact she comes to hate Hitler and plots and dreams of a way to eliminate him. As the war continues and the end is at hand, Magda makes a decision that she has wanted to make for quite some time.

Supposedly, this story is loosely based on a true taster, a woman named Margot Woelk's who at the age of ninety-five told her story. The book is interesting but at times does really require large leaps of faith to believe the narrative. The war and its many problems inherent in the behavior of Hitler and those that followed his every word was a true testament to how evil one man can be especially when he molded the minds of an entire nation.

Thank you to V.S. Alexander, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book for an unbiased review.

Magda, the protagonist, is a simple woman that loves her family, she lives in Berlin and is not interested in politics neither is affiliated to the Nazi party. Circumstances forced her to work and survive. Like all German citizens she has a duty to perform, for her country, her family and the Führer. There was a lot of Nazi propaganda going on, most of them didn’t know about the concentration camps, there were rumors, but no way to prove it, therefore, it was easier to believe they weren’t real. The author noted this flawlessly.

Hitler is presented as a “caring” man for the people close and loyal to him, a grandfather figure in a way, but a monster nonetheless. Don’t be mistaken this is not a pro Hitler book, but the approach is in my opinion is pretty objective. People love to see Hitler as a spiteful and hateful man, the monster everyone talks about, and yes he was. But he was more than that, he didn't rise to power being a hateful figure, he was the opposite, he made people love him, gave them a purpose.

Magda, has no opinion, nor feelings towards the Führer, he was the leader and she ought to obey, she loathed her job and was afraid for her life. Everyone around her insisted that she must feel honored for her job as a taster of Hitler’s food. The Fürher life was in her hands.

As the book develops she realizes he is a monster and became obsessed with killing him. I feel in that regard, that the author got carried away, especially in the last part at the bunker. It’s a bit presumptuous they way he ended Hitler’s life. Regardless of that, I found the book a great read, I truly enjoyed. It was refreshing to read a book that presents the other side of history, that describes the suffering of the German people, all the deaths, the destruction, for example, how the Russians raped the women that got in their way. At the end of the book the author explains the liberties he took with the story, and I can only sympathize.

The book is also a love story, I’m not a fan of romance but it doesn’t feel forced, is a nice one. I recommend this book.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The Taster
by V.S. Alexander
Reviewed by Kay Stephen
January 12, 2018

In the novel The Taster, V.S. Alexander has built a story around the fact that Hitler had young ladies who tasted his foods prior to them being served to him to ensure that they were not laced with poisons.
Alexander has stayed true to the timeline and events of WWII, which serve as a background to the story. His main character, Magda, a young German woman finds herself in being in the position of doing what one must in order to survive the horrors of war. In her case, it means working as a taster for Hitler. Alexander does not shy away from incorporating the horrors that Hitler was responsible for into the story line, yet he does not dwell on them either. Magda has ample opportunity to witness Hitler's humanity, how he is a father figure for many in his inner circle and loves nothing better than a real life romance. Initially, Alexander's writing seems stilted as he describes the setting of Hitler's “castle” and attempts to define Magda's character but towards the end of the novel when Berlin is falling and Hitler is holed up in his bunker Alexander's writing comes alive. The reader is left gasping at the brutality of the invading Russians and heart broken when Hitler has his beloved dog put down prior to his own death. Overall this is an intriguing and well imagined story. There are some issues with the writing leaving this reviewer to double check if it had actually been a translation. The moral question it addresses for me, yet again, is “How could the German people have stood by and done nothing?”.

In an effort to keep herself safe, Magda Ritter applies to work for the Reich. She gets hired to be one of 15 tasters for Hitler, tasting for poison and making sure his food is safe to eat. The constantly possibilty of being poisoned terrifies her, but she does her job well. The closer she gets to Hitler's inner circle, the more disturbing things she discovers. She will have to decide what is more important.... going with her conscious and putting herself in danger, or keeping her head down and herself alive.
This book was a fascinating read, and from a perspective I had not thought of before. I could not put the book down. I highly recommend this book!

Loved this book. No matter how much I read in this genre, I love finding stories that are new and thought provoking. Excellent writing. Kept my interest from start to finish! Thank you!

Wonderful and informative read! I knew Hitler was paranoid about getting poisoned but I didn’t know he went to this extreme. This was well written and I couldn’t put it down!

I'd really like to give this book more than five stars! While it, admittedly, took a bit longer to get into than I would've preferred (and aren't we all glad that it's so cold this week, so that I kept pushing on?), it turned out to be one of the best books I read in 2017. The content is over my students' heads, but I will probably adapt some of the ideas from it when we get to our WWII studies....that not everyone was behind him, including those who worked most closely beside him; the fact that there were jobs such as a Taster; the gross injustices described against those who were supposedly very close to the Reich.....these are all things that we don't see / hear much about during WWII discussions. I felt like this was tastefully (!) done, with regards to showing sympathy for those who chose to work with the Reich. After all, if the war had ended differently, these are the same people who would have been lauded...

The writing style didn't work for me. I couldn't get into this and didn't finish it.

There are many good novels on the subject of WWII. What makes this book stand out is a new angle, something never told before. The idea of this book was prompted by an account of Margot Woelk, a real taster for Adolf Hitler, who revealed her story at the age of ninety-five. This book is not based on her life, although several scenes from her life were incorporated into this story.

“Who killed Adolf Hitler? (…) The circumstances surrounding his death have been disputed since 1945…”

In this story, a fictional character of Magda Ritter answers this question by telling her story. “She is one of the fifteen women who tastes Hitler’s food as he is obsessively concerned about being poisoned by the Allies or traitors.”

In 1943, at the age of 25, Magda’s parents send her to their family in Bavaria to keep her safe from Allied bombs raiding over Berlin. As soon as she arrives in the charming town of Berchtesgaden, her aunt forces her to get a job to pay her share.

She is taken to Berghof Chalet perched on a hillside above her uncle’s town. Here she learns about her job description. As she learns her duties and how to identify poisonous food, she also learns about an underground network operating right under Hitler’s radar. The National Socialism they’ve been fed by Hitler turns out to be full of cruelty proven by photos taken at Auschwitz.

Cut off from the world and fed by Hitler’s propaganda, most of the German people don’t know the truth and the atrocities done in the camps. But as war progresses and as some hope it’s nearing its end, more and more Germans start questioning Hitler’s ideology, if it’s rather madness. More and more attempts are made to kill him, but they all fail. Now they’re hopeful that Operation Valkyrie will work.

The first part of the book is slow in action, but not in pace. It is still an interesting part. The second half has more action and graphic descriptions about brutality of the war.

How did Adolf Hitler die and did most of the Germans not know about atrocities of the WWII? We may never find out the answers to these questions. Nevertheless, this is a very fascinating read.

"The Taster" is an interesting book about the fate of a young woman serving as Hitler's taster during the last years of WWII. The writing was good and I generally liked the plot but the characters felts slightly underdeveloped and some parts of the story felt glossed over.

There were a lot of coincidences that made the story feel unrealistic at times and there wasn't enough time spend on Magda's emotions and character development, in my opinion.

Overall, I liked the plot but the characters could have done with a bit more development.

It's 1943- Magda Ritter, young ,naive and German. She is a food taster for the Fuhrer.

Her position would place her in the Teahouse at Hitler's Berghof, The Wolf's Lair and The Furer's Bunker in Berlin.
-Is this a job she seeked? NO
-Did she want to be separated from her parents/family? NO
-Was she a supporter of Hitler or the SS Party? NO
-Did she fear for her life and the lives of her family and loved ones? YES

Magda lives with her parents in Berlin and Allied bombs have been falling along with rumors that Germany is not doing well in the war. To protect her, they send her to live with her Nazi Uncle Willy. She is expected to do her part, her duty, and winds up at The Berghof, Hitler's own remote mountain retreat. She is trained to recognize the smell and taste of poisons. Her teacher states "Your body is offered in sacrifice to the Reich in case the food is poisoned." Magda is utterly horrified!

As the Allied forces move in and the war intensifies, so does the plight of Magda and those she loves. Magda must hide her hatred of Hitler or die.

The author notes that several scenes are based on Margot Woelk's account of her experiences as a taster for Adolf Hitler (although not a biography, it is fiction). Ms. Woelk kept her accounts confidential until she turned 95 years old. Fascinating!

If you enjoy WWII Historical Fiction, you may enjoy this "different take" as it is from the perspective of a German girl who despises Hitler. The story is fictional and the author does take some unsubstantiated turns, but it becomes part of her story!

When she goes in search of a job, Magda finds herself assigned to be a taster for Adolf Hitler. Though she had little political inclination herself, she slowly comes to see just how inhumane the war is. Somehow, she must keep her true opinions to herself as she lives in the heart of the Reich.

To be honest, this left me with mixed feelings. The story is well researched and, for the most part, well written. Magda starting off with no real opinion about the war was a brilliant move, as it makes it easier to follow her journey. She did change her mind very quick merely because the man she was attracted to showed her pictures, but they were graphic images.

I especially liked the approach of "what-if" that the author used to tell this story. The telling of the story, how it ends, made it seem likely it could have happened in a similar manner.

There is a sex scene, though thankfully it is not detailed. There is also a rape scene which was in more detail. Towards the end, Magda's journey did seem a little far-fetched, and the end was even more unbelievable.

Overall, I found it interesting if not exactly an instant favorite.

This is a different look at World War II than readers are used to reading. The Taster is from the perspective of a young German girl and is about life inside Germany during the war. It's a coming of age story for a young girl with little to no interest in politics and war to a young woman who begins to see the moral dilemmas of the war and the inhumanity of the Nazi party.

Magda's parents send her out of Berlin because the allies have started bombing and they fear for her safety. She goes to live with relatives and they feel that it is a German woman's role to have a job that will help the country. After several interviews, she gets a job at Hitler's mountain retreat as a taster - she tastes every food that he will be served at his meal to make sure the food hasn't been poisoned. She is willing to sacrifice her life to save the life of the ruler of Germany. The longer Magda is at the German headquarters, the more she sees about the inhumanity of the war and once she falls in love with a conspirator, she really begins to have questions.

This is fantastic war story about a subject that we don't usually read about. It's a story about love and courage in the face of war.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This is an amazing story of a strong and courageous young woman who lived in one of the bleakest periods of modern history. Magda was forced to confront an evil that is unimaginable to most of us, and her strength of character serves as an inspiration. This book gives us an inside look at what it was like to be a part of the Third Reich and the character of Magda is one that I will long remember. I highly recommend this book.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Adolph Hitler have long been discussed and disputed since the end of the war. “The Taster”, written by V.S. Alexander and published by Kensington Publishers is a novel based on a woman who was among Hitler’s “tasters”. These women were chosen for their fidelity to the Fuhrer and were required to taste every bit of food and drink prior to its presentation to Hitler. Hitler was scared to death that he would be poisoned and thought that everyone was out to kill him. At the Wolf’s Lair and at The Berghof, Hitler’s places of residence, the tasters followed him and were required to stay within the compound at his service.

Magda Ritter, is the name of the young woman in this novel who is chosen by the Reichstag to be one of Hitler’s tasters. She is schooled in the different forms of poison so she can recognize them by taste and smell. If she falters, then she will be the one poisoned. Magda meets a member of the SS assigned to Hitler’s guard and they become involved. He is also involved in a group planning to assassinate Hitler. This story is so interesting and menacing at the same time. All the while reading this book, I was constantly feeling terrified for all those involved.

I thought that this was a great read and very rooted in historical fact. The author’s list of background books and articles made the book seem real. Based on a true character, who would not believe it?