Set during World War 2, in Annecy, France. Young Aurelie is trying to figure out who the covered body is that her father put on the roof due to the ground being too cold to bury. Her family and the locals in the village are crying.

Why is everyone ignoring Aurelie?
She realizes that person on the roof is herself and finds herself struggling to communicate. She wants to protect her sister and best friend Ginny who are in danger from the evil German Nazis.
Very intriguing novel. It took me a bit to realize what was going on. And then I couldn't stop reading. Very fascinating, suspenseful read.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

This is quite good. It starts in a compelling way, and kept me mostly engaged. Well formed characters along with an interesting plot, and good dialog made this a good pick. The author must have done some research due to the setting, which helped keep it interesting. While hard to categorize, it might be best for historical fiction fans.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

The Girl on the Roof is different from any book that I have read about World War 2. Aurelie’s story is beautifully told and it is easy to visualise every part of it. This story is about good and evil and whether we should forgive those who have wronged us.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

“The Girl on a Roof” held my attention from the very first chapter. Often, books start off slowly and gradually build the story and develop the characters. This novel quickly develops. I was intrigued by the body suspended from the roof of a home during a cold winter in occupied France during World War II. Aurelie, the main character of the novel, is the dead girl on the roof. She is puzzled at first when the people around her seem to ignore her when she tries to speak to them. She soon discovers that she is that dead body on the roof.

She loves her dear sister Claire and her best friend Ginny, She struggles to communicate with them from the in between world that she finds herself in. Her sense of frustration in trying to warn them of the dangers they are facing makes her character seem real and empathetic. While often anything supernatural and spiritual can seem contrived, I felt as though her in between world really existed..

This book would be a great book club pick. There are discussion questions at the end of the novel that would be helpful to readers, examining their own feelings about the afterlife, good and evil, as well as the possibility of reincarnation. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this unique novel..

From very early on in this book I knew exactly what had happened and it was so thinly veiled it wasn't even a mystery. Which was a bit disappointing. Not only that but the way it was narrated by the girl is so unreliable. She's already denying everything that happens even when it's plainly said to her ears not just once but over and over and over again and she's so adamant it's not true. I think the best part was her sister Claire's storyline with the French resistance, even if it was through Aurelie's eyes. But as the book goes on it just keeps making up rules and the story spins out further and further and by the last sentence I was glad it was finally over. I hate that I was so frustrated reading this the whole time because I wanted to like it.

Silent Presence

This book "The Girl on the Roof" was quite a different story for me, not like any I have read before. At first I didn't understand about Aurelie, but after reading for a while it was clear that she was a spirit.

In the cold the dead were put on the roof until the ground thawed and they could be buried, thus the girl on the roof.

Her best friend Ginny and her sister Claire are in danger and although she is no longer living she wants to protect them from the evil German Nazis especially Herr Schmidt.

She is in a between place not in Heaven, nor on earth, but must remain there until she completes her duty. Silvie and Naehelle are also spirits in the between place.

This story is about Aurelie, her gaining knowledge that she is dead, finding out how she died and trying to keep her friend Ginny from suffering the same fate at the hands of the same Nazi officer. It is also about Aurelie's love /hate relationship with this German officer. She loved him until he killed her, now he is after her best friend Ginny who has been drawn into his web.

It is also the story of Ginny, Claire, their brother Alain and Claire's boyfriend Jean-Michel. Their work with the resistance and their escape from the Nazis with the help of the spirits of Aurelie, Silvie and Naehellie. The experiences they encounter while fleeing the Nazi's and the work that Claire does to get information from the German's for the resistance while making the German's think she is working with them as a maid and getting them food supplies. She than passes that information to her boyfriend and brother. The demons that officer Schmidt has and how his ending comes about.

It was a riveting read although very different. It was interesting and engaging. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Debra Moffitt, Book Go Social, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book for an honest review.

I was initially drawn to this book because I enjoy reading historical fiction.
who puts a dead body on a roof? Why is everyone ignoring Aurelie? Who actually died and why doesn’t Aurelie know? Why does Claire feel guilty? Why is Ginny acting so strange? What is up with this Hans guy?

Despite all my questions, there are actually 3 Big questions asked in this book. The who, the why, and the how. Believe it or not, they all get answered well before the end, and we are left with another question: what now? It keeps you on your toes, it truly does.

I was drawn to this book because I love historical fiction, especially books set in WW2.
Set in Annecy in the French Alps, the opening drew me in instantly. First person pov, young Auralie wonders who it is that has died, as her family and the local people in the village gather around, crying. Of course I soon realised who the body was, but the opening chapter is so engaging, vivid, and real. I did find the use of the word, 'Mom' interesting, as it's not the way a French girl would address her mother, it's more American and it did jar me slightly from the story.
Whilst set during the war, the war is not the main focus of the story. There is an emerging spiritual theme along with a murder to solve. It is an intriguing concept, well written and plotted.
Thank you NetGalley and Debra Moffitt for having the opportunity to read this wonderful story.

Following young Aurelie on her journey to help the ones she loves. It isn't an easy task, and she faces many obstacles, but she does whatever it takes.

I didn't knew right away if this was a book I hated or loved. Once I read more I got sucked into the story and wanted to know how the story would continue. At that moment, I knew I loved the story. Every time if I thought I knew which way the story went, it would go in a completely different direction. I liked that a lot! It wasn't predictable.

I do wish the end was a bit longer. I wanted to know more about Claire, Ginny, Aurelie and Jean-Michel. But then again it did made me very curious about the next book, Immunity.

Really great job, Debra! I enjoyed the story so much! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to read it in advance.

I could write you an essay of the reasons why I love this book and these characters, but I’ll stick to a few paragraphs. The story jumps right in with a funeral, and I was hooked. Just a few pages in and I was left with a slew of questions: who puts a dead body on a roof? Why is everyone ignoring Aurelie? Who actually died and why doesn’t Aurelie know? Why does Claire feel guilty? Why is Ginny acting so strange? What is up with this Hans guy?

Despite all my questions, there are actually 3 Big questions asked in this book. The who, the why, and the how. Believe it or not, they all get answered well before the end, and we are left with another question: what now? It keeps you on your toes, it truly does.

One thing I noticed very early on is the Aurelie is a very unreliable narrator. She gets fixated on things and ignores the reality of what is truly happening. This is to be expected given that she is a confused, scared, 15 year old girl, but it leaves us to come to our conclusions far before she does. Something she fixates on is the books at the back of the classroom, and the way her best friend Ginny is now ignoring her despite telling her she would always be her friend only a few pages back. Of course, I also got fixated on that (truly wonderful writing that I got hung up on a pile of books). It’s important. It brought me a strong sense of dread. Is Aurelie dead, I wonder? Was she murdered by this Hans, perhaps? Or perhaps something happened and she has amnesia? These are the conclusions I drew from a pile of books. Again, wonderful writing. I knew what was really going on not long after.

The mystery of it all and the way she ignored all the clues and refused to see the truth was frustrating and exciting in equal measure, but what really killed me was the supernatural element (no pun intended). I adore stories with big reveals, and if you pair that with a supernatural element I just about lose my mind in excitement.

Even with all the mystery and suspense, the plot just kept going and going and going. Not once did I feel the story slowing down or getting boring, and I hardly wanted to put the book down at all. The writing was superb, a bit of an odd style with the dialogue but I got that figured out after a while, and the tone and the way Aurelie narrates as a spectator was wonderful. You can never really forget who she is, and that you are reading from her perspective even when the story is following the other characters.

By the end, I felt I knew these characters, could anticipate their reactions, as though I was Aurelie herself. The only character I could not fully anticipate was Hans, and that was simply because he’s erratic and desperate, and I don’t think we are meant to be able to figure him out. All in all, a fantastic story, with wonderful, well rounded characters, and excellent writing!



(I didn’t appreciate the lack of trigger warnings for sexual assault. That seems like something that would be necessary for how much it is a theme in the book. Other than that, all is golden)