Enjoyable read recommended during a Facebook live with CL TAYLOR

This has definitely pulled on the heart strings. I have loved this book. I highly recommend this book to others.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a WWII historical fiction set in Germany. Main character Hetty is the daughter of an SS officer and falls in love with a Jewish boy. This book shows a lot of heart. Great read.

I really liked reading a book from this perspective. This is the story of a girl whose family wholeheartedly follows Hitler and participates in his youth agendas. Hetty, the main character, has her eyes opened to Hitler's evils after she is saved by a Jewish boy from drowning in a lake.

This is a book you will be unable to put aside. It is also based on true events which makes it all the more interesting. I would reccomend this book to fans of historical fiction.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

People Like Us by Louise Fein (also titled Daughter of the Reich in the USA) is a captivating historical fiction book that fans of The Nightingale will absolutely love. This is such a beautifully written, interesting book. You will get emotional and completely caught up in the story of young Hetty.

Hetty Heinrich is a perfect German child. Her father is an SS officer, her brother in the Luftwaffe, herself a member of the BDM. She believes resolutely in her country, and the man who runs it.

Until Walter changes everything. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect in every way Walter. The boy who saved her life. A Jew.

Anti-semitism is growing by the day, and neighbours, friends and family members are turning on one another. As Hetty falls deeper in love with a man who is against all she has been taught, she begins to fight against her country, her family and herself. Hetty will have to risk everything to save Walter, even if it means sacrificing herself…

I read this about the author: The novel was inspired by the experience of her father’s family, who escaped from the Nazis and arrived in England as refugees in the 1930’s. When books are inspired by real events, it makes the story so interesting, especially on this topic!

Fans of historical fiction won’t want to miss this. Coming out on May 14!

This was such a wonderful book! It was a nice change of pace to read a story from the POV of a German character during pre- to post-WWII, and I really enjoyed Following Getty’s journey of self-discovery during this time.

As the daughter of an SS officer, Hetty’s role in the Reich was pretty clear. But being the headstrong girl that she is, she wanted more from life. She found herself struggling with being dedicated to her country and it’s vision, and following what she knew to be true in her heart. That was made apparent when she fell for her brother’s friend who once saved her life, but seeing as he’s a Jew, it complicated things in the worst possible way. She risked everything to be with him and even fought to save him. But was it worth it in the end?

This was such an emotional read and I really loved Hetty and Walter. They fought so hard for one another, even if it caused them pain, and though the story didn’t end how I thought it would, it was simply perfect and very heartwarming.

Highly recommend!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3253214758

This was a really good read. It was full of detail and really brought the era alive for me. It's an intense read filled with tension and dread of what might be around the corner.

I love any wartime fiction. This book was heartbreaking. I binged read until the end and was not disappointed.

Many stories about WWII Germany tell about the Jews and the Holocaust. A girl named Anne Frank kept a diary which told of her life in hiding. In this story, a German girl keeps a journal, telling the story from her point of view. She says they were "people like us".

Her father is a high-ranking Nazi officer in the Schutzstaffel. She lives in Leipzig in 1933 with her Vati, [Franz Heinrich], Mutti [Helene], and her brother [Karl]. Hetty [Herta] writes in her journal of Hitler's speeches which foretell of one great unified nation which will be the envy of all the world.

Her mother warns, "Pick your friends carefully, Hetty. Stick only with GOOD Germans, like us." Her friends include Walter Keller and Freda Federmann, who are Jews, and are humiliated at school and told not to come back. There is Tomas, who betrays his father , and will now join Hitler Jugend boys. Erna is also her friend.

Through the years, she writes of the friends who have disappeared, the doubts she is experiencing, her fear of being heard by friends or the maid, the realization that her parents' marriage is not all it seems, and the forbidden love that she feels for someone who is "like us". And something huge and ugly, overwhelming hatred or fear that makes people do unthinkable, unspeakable things. Lie upon lie upon lie. People are people, regardless of anything else. We all have immense capacity for both good and evil. We must stand up and speak out against those who preach hate.

Based on a true story, this tells the tale of someone young, who was fed a twisted ideology, taught hatred from day one. Someone who knew no other way.

I read this EARC courtesy pf Head of Zeus and NetGalley. pub date 05/07/20

When Hetty, a young German girl is saved from drowning by her brother’s best friend, a lifetime of love is cemented. Hetty’s father becomes a high ranking official of the Nazi party and unfortunately, her love, Walter is a Jew. After meeting again when they are older, they quickly fall in love. What happens next would be a nightmare for anyone.
While I absolutely loved the book, the end was very abrupt and lacked the detail of the rest of the story, it seemed to flow well and then just abruptly stopped and ended. I would have love to have known some more detail and this book could have been much longer as we followed the story of Hetty. But all in all, a great read

Not what I expected from this book. But was pleasantly surprised by this book. Really loved this book and would recommend it.

First book about the Holocaust that I have read where the main character was a die hard fan of Hitler and then had her eyes opened to the evil inherent in him and his SS. Hetty is the daughter of someone on the rise within the Nazi party. As the story opens, her family has just moved into a grand mansion. She gradually learns from her brother’s former best friend, Walter, whom she falls in love with, the deadly truth about the Nazi party. She idolizes her brother but also loves Walter, and her loyalties gradually change. I found myself feeling bad for Hetty within the family dynamic as her brother, Karl, was clearly the favored child. I was even more saddened about her losses and deals she had to make towards the end of the book. How frustrated she must have been. I was enthralled watching Hetty’s growing realizations about her father and the truth about the Jewish people being persecuted. Many many thanks to Louise Fein, Head of Zeus, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this ARC of a book to be published in May.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Aria publishing for providing me with ARC.

OMG OMG, i can't describe how much i love Historical Fiction Books, it add spirit and taste to my life. I dreamed a lot about living in those days which you can find everything nature not fake like today.

I read a lot about WWll but this novel is so different than others may be because it not focused in war events and how people struggle to live their life but it was about the period before WWll and how Hitler persecuted the Jews and made their life so hard.

This novel started with Walter how saved Hetty life from drowning when she swimming, but she saved his life more.

Hetty character is amazing, i loved her so much how she is brave ,strong and fearless.
The letters between Hetty and Walter are adorable and fantastic, i hope one day that anyone will send me one.

This Epilogue made me cry so hard, i need more tissue please. Why Louise why you not giving Walter and Hetty another chance, i know that life is not fair but they deserve that after everything they fight.

I loved the cover with name * Daughter of the Reich* than the cover with name *People like us*
You did good job by writing this amazing novel Louise, i really enjoyed it.

#FightForTheirLove #NetGalley #PeopleLikeUs #LouiseFein

I tried hard to like this a lot but the story failed slightly to give me an all round experience. I felt the writing was good but I wish the story had started later, not when the main female character was a child. It was a bit slow to get going.

Wow! This story is as intense as the reality of the time in which it’s set! The author has masterfully gone into the mind of a teenage girl, Hetty, during the 1930’s as the Nazi Regime really starts to take over Germany. It begins with Hetty as a young girl, nearly drowning in a lake only to be saved by her brothers best friend, Walter...a Jew. At that time he was a friend and a savior but as the ideology of the Nazis began to overtake everything...he became the enemy. Hetty day family moves into a house stolen from a kind, good Jewish family when her father begins to climb the ranks of the Regime. Like the articles that appear in the paper he manages, Hetty’s mind is filled with cruel ideas dreamed up by Hitler...anything that went against that was unthinkable. As she becomes a teenager, Hetty becomes reacquainted with Walter and the two fall in a forbidden love. Walter opens her eyes to the reality of what’s happening under Hitlers reign and she begins to see that all she’s ever known is wrong. She challenges her father and his beliefs often to be called foolish and stupid. She has to play the part of a Nazi officers child while secretly doing what she can to help Walter when things go from bad to worse. Ultimately...she ends up making a sacrifice that she’ll carry with her forever.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be in Hetty’s shoes. The way this story was written...I could actually feel Hetty’s feelings...her joy, her sadness, her disbelief, her fear. This story is so emotionally gripping it’s crazy! It definitely paints a picture of what life was like for a German teenage girl. What I love even more is that this is a side of things I have yet to read about. Even though it’s fictional...lots of work went into making this story as believable as possible. You can’t help but feel for Hetty and being torn between what is right and the wrong that you’re brainwashed to believe is right and the only way.

Definitely a five star story! It’s gripping, it’s intense, it’s emotional, it’s hopeful! Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Louise Fein and Head of Zeus Ltd for this ARC! I’m honored to have had the chance to read and review

I was drawn into the story into the world of the characters from the first pages.So well written so emotionally moving.Read late into the night highly recommend.#netgalley#ariabooks

Some books are hard to get into, but you are glad you stuck it out. People Like Us by Louise Fein is one of those books. I almost quit several times in the first half. The chapters, dates in the life of Hetty, seemed to jump randomly from one event to another. Eventually, the author begins to tie them together.

Hetty is the daughter of a pro-Natzi father and French mother. When she is seven, her brother's best friend Walter saves her from drowning. She has a crush on him. The three of them are constantly playing together until one day her brother will have nothing to do with Walter. Who would have suspected Walter, blonde and blue-eyed, was a Jew. When Hetty is 16, she and Walter run into one another, begin to meet secretly. They fall in love. With Hetty's father rising rapidly in the SS, she has to be very careful. Walter eventually is able to leave Germany and to go England. To escape, he must marry a young woman there he's never met. Hetty is willing to let him go to keep him safe. When she discover's she's pregnant with Walter's child, she doesn't know what to do. Erna, Hetty's best friend, keeps Hetty sane and helps the baby get out of Germany on a kinder transport. I won't spoil the end for you.

Fein shows how Hitler's propaganda molds the minds and hearts of young German children. There are long transcripts of Hitler's speeches and radio programs used by his minions to keep control of the people. Fein also shows how a few resist the Natzi message, and risk themselves to help others. She shows both the best and the worst in people, This is a different approach to the WWII story. I'm glad I finished it.

People Like Us is set during World War II and it focuses on Hetty a young German girl who falls in love with Jewish boy Walter and the challenges they face. I love books from this time period and I really enjoyed the majority of this book. However, I felt that the ending of the novel was very rushed and it is ultimately why I rated this book only 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC

Did you enjoy The Book Thief or We Were the Lucky Ones? If you answered yes, this book is for you!

1930's, in Leipzig Germany, Fein tells a unique love story amid war and evil. It's kind of beautiful however that among war and violence, something so powerful and wonderful as love can rise above.

What happens when you fall in love with the wrong person? The person that society is telling you is the wrong person. . . but deep inside you KNOW is your soul mate? What do you do? Because in Germany, during WWII, falling in love with the wrong person could mean your life.

What a unique and fascinating story! I have read many historical fiction books about WWII but this one was very different. It was thought-provoking and kept me turning the pages. Fein masterfully executed this story and expertly paced the plot. I also appreciated the in-depth character development. I would highly recommend this to any historical fiction fan.

I enjoyed this novel a lot. Very well written and spellbinding, with an engaging cast of characters, this historical novel kept me enthralled. Highly recommended.

A heart-wrenching story, told from the perspective of an SS officer’s daughter. The story begins with Hetty being rescued from drowning by Walter, her brother’s best friend. The three of them used to spend a lot of time together, until one day Walter stopped going to her house, because Karl, her brother, didn’t want to be friends with him anymore. Hetty was only a child, and she didn’t understand why her brother wanted to stay away from his best friend.

The truth came suddenly when they were at school, and the new literature teacher asked a girl and Walter to go to the front of the students. He started explaining how to recognize a Jew, telling the rest of the students that sometimes they could get deceived by their appearance, as was the case of Walter. After humiliating them, the teacher expelled them. Hetty couldn’t believe that Walter, so kind, so honest, was a Jew, but she knew, deep inside, that what she felt for him would never go away.

The rest of the story is mainly focused after Hetty and Walter meet again. She’s almost 16 and he’s 18, and the feeling they had for each other turned into love.
I think it’s quite interesting and original to read such a story from another perspective. Hetty was raised to be a perfect German citizen, from the Nazi point of view. To hate the Jews, see herself as a member of a superior human race, and to follow all the atrocious Nazi’s ideals. Therefore, when she meets Walter again, all this world starts to fall down.

I really liked this book, although it’s been hard to read, because it’s such a sad story, and worst of all, it was real. All those people, hated because of their blood, mistreated and condemned to the most barbarous and unforgivable acts. How heinous can people be!

Finally, I’d like to highlight the author’s words about how “the lessons of the past must never be forgotten” and how mass media can be a way of propaganda, how the word is widely spread and its consequences. It shouldn’t be this way. Mass media is supposed to inform in a neutral way, but we all know that’s not how it works. Therefore, we must be critics.

I just hope we have truly learned the lessons. It’s quite disturbing to see how the thoughts of the extreme and radical right are flourishing again. Please, don’t forget all these people running away from wars, trying to find a better place to live and raise their children, and what do they find? Walls.
We must not forget. We are all the same, it doesn't matter where we come from. It's our behaviour, our acts that differenciate us. There's good and bad in all of us, but we can always do the right thing.

Thanks to Aria / Head of Zeus Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.