A beautiful novel! Historical fiction novels set during World War II are my favorite and sometimes it’s hard to find one that stands out from all the others. Sisters of War does just that. I enjoyed the characters as well as the different setting of Kiev. Well done !

This story did not appeal to me. I finished it- but it was too sad, too graphic in details for me to enjoy.

It seems I have an unpopular opinion, but I just did not like this book. Now, this may due to my own personal circumstances rather than the book itself. I just don’t think I was in the proper mindset to enjoy Sisters of War. The book felt boring and repetitive, and the romantic scenes felt excessively cheesy.

I want to first thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for allowing me to read this book and give an honest review. This book was originally published in the UK. It is now being published in the US. This book is set in Kiev with two sisters who try to hold everything together with so much happening around them. If you are a fan of WW2 books, this is one for you.

What an excellent, well written, intelligent, heavy , heart wrenching read! I absolutely loved this;. This is the story of sisters Natasha and Lisa Smirnov ,their family and the trials and tribulations of how the war is playing a part in their loves and relationship dynamics. Many ups and downs with some bits of happiness. Truly enjoyed this but I'm gonna need a light read after this!

Sisters of war by Lana Korlchek
Synopsis - Kiev in 1941: Watching the Red Army withdraw from the Ukraine in the case of Hitler's relentless advances. Sister's Natasha and Lisa Smirnove realized their lives were about to change.

My thoughts - I was asked by a friend if I liked the book "German Midwife " and that I might like the "Sister's of War" by Lana Korichek.

I fell in love with this book! It was a great! Sister's of War was a page turner and drew me in from the first chapter. Sister's of War was about what people go through during the most horrible time in our history. It was a war of great magnitude. It affected Natasha and Lisa and their family and friends in several areas. This book was well written and you can see the author research of the time period. There were areas of this book that made me cry and laugh. It made me wonder how people survived during this time. Beside being a page turner, there was adventure and romance.

I will gladly recommend this book to family, friend's and my local library.

I will give this book a 5 out of 5.

I received this complimentary copy from Netgalley for a honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I throughly enjoyed this WWII story from a Russians perspective. I loved that it was also a single characters perspective (Natasha). I loved how she expressed her feelings for what all was happening around her and to her close knit family. Overall beautiful book with a little over the top ending.

This is more of a romance than a novel about life in Kiev under German Occupation. Natasha is crossing a park with her grandmother one night in 1941 when a drunken German soldier attacks her and she is rescued by Mark, a Hungarian soldier who kills the German. Unfortunately, her sister Lisa's fiancee is rounded up and hung as part of the retribution and her grandmother later dies of a wound. Natasha, though. falls in love with Mark, who helps the family. There are snippets of the horrors faced in Kiev but this, while not ignoring them, doesn't go that deep (beware that loved ones do die) but focuses equally on Natasha's love for Mark, and later their twins. There are some false notes such as when Natasha trades her earrings for silk to make Lisa a dress rather than for food. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of the WWII genre.

Sisters of War
by Lana Kortchik
HarperCollins Publishers
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
HQ Digital
General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction
Pub Date 22 Sep 2020 | Archive Date 17 Nov 2020

Fantastic Historical Fiction. Readers will not want to miss this one. Great story.

Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley!

5 star

Thank you HQ Digital and Lana Kortchik for an advanced copy of the Sisters of War . I enjoyed this book and give it 4 stars. It was very well written and kept you reading but I was wanting more of the historical fiction reading so got bogged down in the romance scenes.
Natasha and her family live in the Ukraine. She lives to read and loves to help in the preparations for her sisters upcoming nuptials. Lisa, her sister has just gotten engaged to Alexei and so has her head in the clouds. Nikolai, younger brother, is fun-loving and ready for adventure. Stanislav is a member of the Red Army And has already left to fight in the war so Mom and Dad are worried for his safety. The Germans have invaded the Ukraine and have just taken over Kiev.
The opening of the book is Natasha and her babushka, grandmother, returning home through the park when a drunken German soldier intimidates and threatens them, Mark a Hungarian soldier inscripted by the German army saves them and kills the German soldier. This of course leads to German retaliation which then costs Ukrainian lives.
Lana did an awesome job writing about the Jewish death marches and one quote, “Rumor or not, the condemned kept walking. The doomed procession was a terrifying sight. Poor lost souls ambled past Natasha’s window, heads bent, eyes dull, feet dragging, with Nazi guns pointed at them. As she watched the horrific river trickle towards Baba Yar....the human river that far from diminishing had grown to twice its original size.” This was so enlightening as Lana wrote how the Jews didn’t want to disobey the orders given even knowing this was their death.
Lana also helps us understand the Ukrainian mindset when Natasha and Mark are talking about their “favorites” and wishes, (books, travels. etc). Mark wants to travel to Corsica and see the world, Natasha wants to go to Leningrad. Mark helps her realize there are places from the books she has read that are real and she can go see them.
#SistersofWar #Netgalley

Sisters of War by Lana Kortchik is a FANTASTIC historical fiction novel. I loved it so much. World War II is my favorite time period to read.

Sisters of War is about World War II in Kiev. The story spans from the Nazis entering Kiev until the end of the war. This was the first book I read about Kiev during World War II. I love reading unique stories from World War II and this was unique.

Natasha and Lisa are sisters. They grew up being best friends. During the war, they both end up betraying each other. Can they forgive each other? Are they being selfish? Are they trying to do what they think is right for their sister?

Like any good historical fiction novel there is also romance. Both sisters have love interests with complications throughout the book. Some of them are expected in a World War II story but others are unique. I really liked the mix of expectations and surprises.

There is a lot going on for this family in Sisters of War however the story of the sisters and their relationship is the heart of the story. I always love when stories focus on sibling relationships especially sisters because I am very close to my sisters.

Sisters of War is a story of love, loss and heartbreak. There is sadness, grief and hunger. There are difficult family dynamics. Fear is a constant in their lives.

There is so much emotion in Sisters of War just like I expect whenever I read World War II novel. Sisters of War made me feel every single emotion while reading it.

I loved Sisters of War so much. There isn’t anything I didn’t like or wish was different. This is my first book by Lana Kortchik and definitely won’t be my last.

Sisters of War is a must read for fans of The Bronze Horseman and The Nightingale.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ Digital/Harper Collins Publishers for Sisters of War.

Such a powerful story of war, loss, and strength. Filled with great historical detail and wonderful characters, readers will not want to miss this stunning novel. 4/5 stars

One of my favorite parts of historical fiction is that you always learn something while reading a good story. So it is with the Sisters of War by Lana Kortchilk. I learned a great deal about the invasion of Russia by the Germans during WW2. When two nations go to war, there is always collateral damage. The Smirnova family of Kiev is such collateral damage. A once loving family is torn apart by the horrors of war. They must give up everything normal about their old way of life and learn to simply survive. Each member of the family has to learn to adapt and work toward the survival of the family as a whole. Along the way each member of the family faces these challenges in their own way. There are many emotions throughout this novel from birth to death, love to hate and understanding to acceptance. The sibling rivalries that were only part of growing up erupt and attempt to tear a family apart. How the Smirnova family survives and learns to accept each other and work toward making the best of their situation is an integral part of the novel. Natasha is the central figure that the story revolves around. She is a loving and caring young woman who is thrown into the worst time of history. However, throughout it all she doesn’t lose hope or her humanity. There are minor characters that add much to the story, love as well as suffering. Throw in some literary reference to The Count of Monte Cristo and War and Peace and you have a good book. This is a strong novel about family.

The positive reviews that this book got have me a bit confused. It was one of the most depressing books about war that I have ever read. That means it was certainly one of the most realistic portrayals of war I have ever read. Kudos to the author on that aspect.

However, the love story and the Disney-esque endings to the different threads of the story were absurd and the relationships between the sisters didn't really ring true.

This is a re-print and at .99 cents (Amazon on Kindle) price makes this a bargain just to read the descriptions of what life was like in Kiev (Kyiv) during this time.

*ARC supplied by the publisher.

Oh my gosh, I was literally CRYING through the last 20 pages of this book! The ending simply pulled out all the stops, leaving me so bittersweetly content about finishing this novel. It’s funny too, because up until the end, the book had been tracking at a 3-star for me as “liked it”, but didn’t quite pop over to 4-star “really liked it”. I’ll do my fellow readers the courtesy of not ruining the ending by mentioning just why I cried through the end, but I will say that the conclusion of “Sisters of War” added that something extra I was looking for and is definitely worth adding an extra star.

*A big thank you to Lana Kortchik, HarperCollins Publishers/HQ Digital, and NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.*

“Sisters of War” is a good, solid tale that I enjoyed. The characters feel very real and believable – in fact there is one in particular for whom I’m still feeling badly, even now – several hours after finishing the novel. The setting for this book was interesting as well. The majority of WWII novels I’ve come across take place in England or France or sometimes the U.S. This one takes place in Kiev, Ukraine, and is written by an author who actually grew up in Ukraine and Russia until moving to Australia as a preteen. The authenticity of Lana Kortchik’s writing, based on personal and family knowledge of that part of the world distinctly shines through. Kortchik also read dozens of memoirs and diaries of the Kiev survivors in preparation for the novel – true stories written by women who put their lives at risk documenting the Germans’ activities, which gave the storylines a strong factual base.

The story in “Sisters of War” starts out in the early 1940’s in Kiev, which has been under Soviet rule for over 20 years. Germans have been bombing the city and eventually bring Kiev under Nazi occupation, not leaving for over two years when the Soviet Red Army finally frees the city. The slice of time Kortchik chose for her novel framed the events well, making for an impactful read. As you can imagine with a WWII tale, there are many losses and heartbreaking experiences, but there is also love and hope, new life, and the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people. As our heroine Natasha reflects, “(T)heir lives… would forever be touched by war, but not broken. Never broken.”

#SistersOfWar
#LanaKortchik
#HQDigital
#HarperCollinsPublishers
#NetGalley

In my opinion, Sisters of War was just okay. The setting--Ukraine during WWII--was interesting and unique, a change up from most WWII novels. However, I didn't connect with the characters. I didn't truly care what happened to them, and felt like parts were not well explained while other parts were overdone. I know Lisa was more of a secondary character, so we should have sympathized more with Natasha, but we barely knew her... so why is this book called Sisters of War? It just doesn't make sense to me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a complimentary e-copy. All thoughts are my own.

4 stars for a story of a family in occupied Ukraine during WWII. This is a book about hardship, loss and a rift between family members caused by decisions that result in death. Natasha and Lisa are sisters living in Kiev, Ukraine. A German soldier shoots their Grandmother while she is protecting Natasha from the soldier about to rape Natasha. He is about to shoot Natasha when a Hungarian soldier shoots the German soldier.
Mark, the Hungarian soldier and Natasha fall in love. But Natasha does not tell anyone in her family, because the Germans will kill Mark if they find out. German reprisals cause the rift between Lisa and Natasha. If you enjoyed The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah , you will enjoy this book also.
Two quotes: Initial occupation of Kiev, Sept., 1941: "But even with her back turned, she could still see a dark cloud hanging over Kiev. A dark cloud seemed to swallow the entire city whole. There was nothing left, not even a glimmer of hope."
Jews going to their death at Babi Yar: "Rumour or not, the condemned kept walking. The doomed procession was a terrifying sight. Poor lost souls ambled past Natasha's window, heads bent, eyes dull, feet dragging, with N**i guns pointed at them. As she watched the horrific river trickle towards Babi Yar-- the human river that, far from diminishing, had grown to almost twice its original size-- her every bone, her every vein was chilled."
#SistersofWar #NetGalley
Thanks to HarperCollins for sending me this eARC through NetGalley

This is the third title this novel has been published under, in various incarnations, since 2016. It was all right, but I don’t feel like it’s entirely fair to give it the same attention as other arcs when it’s not the first or second time it’s been released. It’s already gotten a large number of reviews.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

“‘Wait and hope’ she whispered feverishly. ‘Wait and hope.’” Natasha Smirnova would hold onto these three words against all odds throughout one of the worst periods of history in the capital city of Kiev, Ukraine. On September 19, 1941, Nazi troops entered the city and occupied it until the city was eventually liberated by the Soviets. During that time the population of the city would decrease by more than 200,000 citizens as the German army murdered, terrorized and starved the people left behind. This book is about the hope, love, and faith of one family who struggles to survive during this occupation. It is also about the love and bond between two sisters, Natasha and her younger sister Lisa, whose relationship is tested unimaginably. The author really highlights the pain and tragedy these poor people endured on the eastern front of World War II in Europe. This story was riveting and I could not stop reading. I would recommend this book to lovers of Russian history, historical fiction, and European Military history. Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to review a copy of “Sisters of War” by Lana Kortchik (22 Sept 2020) in exchange for an honest review. No major spoilers, but will talk generally unless marked otherwise.

The book begins in 1941, setting the scene of an impending invasion of the German advances into Kiev. Two sisters, Natasha and Lisa Smirnova, are facing the realities of wartime struggle before the soldiers set foot in their city. Their family is tense, and relationships are strained beyond their capacity. The book’s beginnings imparted a sense of doom, as if something was about to happen to the family or someone close to them. This writing style is utilized throughout the remainder of the book, which underpins (for me) the reality of wartime: you don’t really know what’s going to happen next, and at any moment, everything can change forever.
The story is marred with loss and heartbreak, as well as secrets and love triangles. I don’t really usually go for romance, but if I do, I like it within the historical fiction genre. Every day, this family faces troubles far more damaging than a love triangle, so that really shouldn’t be the main takeaway from this book. For me, it kind of shows how even in the darkest times, a lot of people still search for something to hold on to… some still have the capacity to love, even when facing invasion, hunger, and violence. To some, that might be unrealistic, but in many ways, I don’t think that’s an unnatural response.

All in all, this was a well-written, war-time historical fiction with added romance. I would suggest it to those who favor any of those categories, but I will say that is it at times very sad and it includes mentions of violence and sexual content (although not above a PG rating imo, just wanted to let anyone know that beforehand.) A good read. Look forward to seeing more from this author.