Gave it 20% but I just couldn't get into the story because I didn't care for the narrator. Her voice sounded much too old for the characters voices she was trying to portray. I will pick this one up via print instead if I choose to finish it.

They are best friends but it's a miracle they ever even met. Lucy Brown is from the eastern part of North Carolina, growing up on a farm with tobacco and bees with her large family. Now that the War is on, one of her brothers and her brother-in-law are gone overseas. Her dad is sought out by the government for his bees. The Army doesn't want the honey so much but needs all the beeswax he can provide for waterproofing tents.
Allie Burt Tucker is from the mountains of North Carolina. After her mother's death, her father sends her East to help out his sister who is pregnant and needs help. But when Burt arrives, her aunt doesn't know who she is or why she's there. The aunt hasn't seen her husband in weeks and thinks Burt is after him. She seems on the verge of a breakdown and one night she throws Burt out in a storm and tells her never to return. Burt makes her way to Lucy's house and eventually moves in with Lucy's family.

With the war on, Lucy's dad has trouble keeping up the work of the farm plus over a hundred hives. He trains Burt to work with the bees and also uses the help of the town's gentle giant who is a bit slow but a good worker. Later he even uses German prisoners of war. There is some talk about them but the men soon show that they are just like most men, some good, some bad.

Burt and Lucy do all the things thirteen year old girls do. They tell stories, pretend to be detectives and talk about boys. They do each other's hair. Over the next couple of years they grow ever closer as they start to become more adult. Burt has a close call with an older boy who pretends to like her but has other things in mind. The girls learn about Ouija boards and use one to solve their most puzzling questions although the answers seem strange and hard to interpret. But most of all they learn to be a family and form a friendship that will never be broken.

Leah Weiss is a bestselling author who never published until after she retired from her career as an executive assistant at a school. Her first novel, If The Creek Don't Rise, has sold over a 100,000 copies and is also a novel of the rural South. Weiss was born in Eastern North Carolina. I was lucky enough to meet her at an author event when her first novel was published and she is a warm and witty woman. The characters in this book will bring wry smiles of recognition to women as they look back on their own teenage years and the friends they shared their lives with. This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Great read, loved reading the characters grow and the story was really great and touching.

Leah Weiss brings us to Appalachia during WWII. Charming and bittersweet, this novel centers on two girls, Lucy and Bert, growing up in North Carolina. Weiss exhibits an endearing love of the land through her words and her characters' ancestry "southern by grace and roots".

Living off the land is part of their proud heritage. I can almost smell the tobacco barns burn, hear the bees hum, and feel the labor under the hands of the farmers. Although life has dramatically changed since the 40s, books like this one creates vivid memories of a time long gone.

Thirteen year old Lucy Brown and her sister by choice, Allie Bert create the foundation of this southern story of friendship. The war blurs the lines of timeless troubles families faced and endured, including the Brown family with two of their sons fighting abroad.

Leah Weiss did a remarkable job painting each setting...from beehives and Nancy Drew novels to POW camps and local missing men. Her characters are interesting, eccentric and contagious, bringing enlightenment to such a dark time. I wanted to give this book five stars but when it was all said and done, I needed just a bit more finality and closure with more answers. This is definitely a fantastic novel for historical fiction lovers! If you enjoy audiobooks, definitely listen to this one. Narrator Kate Forbes has a great Southern accent you will love to hear. She has such great intonation and emotion, she will bring goosebumps to your arms. Highly recommend her and will definitely look for Kate Forbes on future audiobooks.

Thank you to Netgalley, Recorded Books and Leah Wiess for my ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest and fair review.

RATING 4.5
2021; Recorded Books

I really loved this story. All the Little Hopes is set during WWII, but it is not just another WWII novel. WWII is the backdrop, but not the main thing about the story. It is a story of women, but not of women who were spies or chasing some grand romance. It is about women seeking for more than just what men think they can be. Or rather, what young girls are supposed to be. It is a coming of age story, set in Riverton, North Carolina, about two girls, Lucy and Bert (13 years old) that meet and become more than friends. After the death of her mother, Bert is sent to help her pregnant aunt in Riverton. When she gets there, she realizes she is not wanted and finds most of her time outside her aunt's home. Lucy comes from a farming family that is helping the war effort by beekeeping, and her brother and brother in law fighting in the war. She currently lives with her parents, married pregnant sister and 3 other sisters. She has discovered Nancy Drew and wants to solve mysteries like her. Lucy takes Bert first as a friend, and when her aunt can't care for her, Lucy's family steps in. The girls's friendship is tested living under the same roof, but their bond remains tight as friends turned to sisters. I loved the point of view from the young girls as it was a bit lighter, and yet also pulled at your heart strings a bit more. This novel is a hard one to label. It's a historical fiction, mixed with some mystery and suspense, but don't read it as a mystery. Once you start to try to figure things out, it is a bit easy. If you just read and let the story unfold it reads better. I listened to this one on audio and thought it was fantastically done.

***I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

I tried to get into this one, but it wasn't a success. I got bored and put it down. I can't say what would make it better, maybe something that would keep me picking it back up.

A well written and heart-warming story about two girls that are thrown together and their experiences, from dealing with a world of war and unravel a mystery of disappearing men.

All The Little Hopes is the tale of two unlikely friends during WW2. Lucy helps out with beekeeping at her family’s home. Her close knit family takes in Bert, who is struggling with family problems of her own. The uneducated Bert begins to thrive and learn under the care of Lucy’s family. With the mysterious disappearance and murder of several in the area, the 2 friends begin their own investigation. Lucy’s love of Nancy Drew books fuels their drive to find clues about what is going on in their town.
I really loved the writing of Leah Weiss. As a reader, I felt I got to know the characters and was invested in the outcomes of their lives. There was a lot going on throughout the book. Many sub plots. Sometimes that doesn’t work, but it was beautifully done here.
**huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

A family saga set in North Carolina 1943. Two girls, Lucy and Bert, from different backgrounds become each other’s family. Lucy and Bert help each other through good and bad times. Their family is stronger than blood. The girls grew and matured together during the uncertainty of wartime while constantly reading Nancy Drew books to keep entertained. They soon find themselves in a real-life mystery. The characters were deep and had many decisions to make throughout their journeys. Unfortunately, I couldn’t concentrate during this read and almost didn’t finish. It ended up being a good coming of age story with grief, friendship and mystery set within it.

Trigger warnings: war, attempted sexual assault of a minor, mental illness

Lucy Brown is the daughter of a farmer living in North Carolina. She has many brothers and sisters, most of whom are still working on the farm. Her oldest brother and brother-in-law are both soldiers fighting across the Atlantic in World War II. Her farm is chosen by the government as a beeswax producer so they are suffering less from rationing and poverty than many others nearby.

Allie Bert Tucker is an only child of a poor family across the state who is sent by her father to help his pregnant sister. Her aunt is mentally unstable and has an absent husband who Bert has never seen.

Bert and Lucy meet when Bert arrives in town, and Bert is mesmerized by Lucy's family farm and their massive personal library. Lucy shares her love of Nancy Drew with Bert, and the girls dream of traveling to the places they have read about. Lucy wants to be just like Nancy Drew, and Bert just wants to be a part of a family like Lucy's.

The novel is slow to start and the girls aren't the most likable of characters, which may deter some readers from finishing the novel. I made it almost 40% through before calling it quits.

Format: audiobook
Author: Leah Weiss ~ Title: All the Little Hopes ~ Narrator: Kate Forbes
Content: 3 stars ~ Narration: 4 stars

1943. Set in American South. Two best friends, Lucy Brown and Bert Tucker, are solving local mysteries as their favorite book character, Nancy Drew.

All the Little Hopes started very well. I had high hopes for this novel. Unfortunately, somewhere after the first quarter of the book, I didn’t like it as in the beginning. The story took a few wrong turns for me and I didn’t like how Bert changed throughout this story. Narration was good, and I liked it. But overall, the book was just ok. It was interesting, but nothing special about it.

Thanks to the Recorded Books for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

This is a beautifully written novel with an amazing cast of characters. The narration of this audiobook by Kate Forbes is exquisite.

EXCERPT: Of her seven grandchildren, I am Oma's favourite. In private, she tells me so. It's because I am curious and have a deductive mind. I collect obscure words like 'misnomer' for contradiction and 'knave' for someone dishonest. My favourite word is 'enigma', for without mystery to challenge a curious mind, it will starve. My brother Grady calls me high and mighty for using ten dollar words in a ten cent town. Out loud, I call him rude, but inside my head I know he's a chuff. Mama says I can be insensitive. She says language is meant to communicate, not separate, so I mostly spend ten dollar words inside my head.

Oma never returns to Germany. She dies in Riverton on twentieth of May, and her granite tombstone is etched with a mountain sketch we've only seen on a page in a travel book in our library. At her passing, our hope for thrilling danger passes with her.

We fear nothing will happen here . . . here where a lazy river rolls by, outsiders are rare, and farming rules our days.

We think we are safe here, where nothing happens - until something comes that undoes us all.

ABOUT 'ALL THE LITTLE HOPES': Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing's the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Brown is curious and clever, but she can't make sense of it all. Then Allie Bert Tucker comes to town, an outcast with a complicated past, and Lucy believes that together they can solve crimes. Just like her hero, Nancy Drew.

That chance comes when a man goes missing, a woman stops speaking, and an eccentric gives the girls a mystery that takes them beyond the ordinary. Their quiet town, seasoned with honeybees and sweet tea, becomes home to a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp—and more men go missing. The pair set out to answer the big question: do we ever really know who the enemy is?

MY THOUGHTS: All The Little Hopes is a quietly moving book that I didn't realise how much I had enjoyed until the last word faded from my earpiece. I just sat there a while, thinking on it, savouring the beautiful writing, the deceptively lazy pace which conveyed so much.

The characters are fascinating - Trula Freed, who has 'the sight'; Aunt Fanniebelle, Lucy's wealthy aunt who comes to the girls rescue more than once; Helen, Lucy's older sister whose husband is off fighting the war in the Pacific; and Bert and Lucy, from whose points of view the story is told, girls on the cusp of womanhood, learning about life, and playing at Nancy Drew as they investigate the apparently unrelated disappearances of three men.

All the Little Hopes is a portrayal of family life in a small tobacco farming town in North Carolina that has lost a lot of it's men to the war effort, and into whose midst is dropped a German prisoner of war camp. Weiss has written a deeply moving and atmospheric story of family, of love, of loss, of desperation, of prejudice, and redemption told through the eyes of two teenage girls.

Kate Forbes is an excellent narrator who had me fully immersed in this captivating tale. She has a lilting Southern accent, perfectly suited to this story.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.1

#AlltheLittleHopes #NetGalley

I: @leahweissauthor @recordedbooks

T: @RBmediaCo

#audiobook #comingofage #familydrama #historicalfiction #mystery #WWII

THE AUTHOR: Leah Weiss is a bestselling author born in eastern North Carolina and raised in the foothills of Virginia. She retired in 2015 from a 24-year career as an Executive Assistant at Virginia Episcopal School. Leah writes full time, enjoys meeting with book clubs, and speaking about writing and publishing later in life, after retirement.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to RB Media Recorded Books via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

I tried this book but the Nancy Drew angle, with children solving cases, didn't ring quite true for me. I also felt the children sounded much younger than their actual ages and the YA flavor didn't appeal to me.

I appreciate the opportunity but I am dnf'ing as a book that is not for me. Thank you for the opportunity and best wishes for the book's success. I will not be leaving a review on social media since I didn't finish it.

All the Little Hopes is an awesome book set in a small southern town in the 1940's. It is a great book to listen to in an audiobook form as the it is enjoyable to hear the young southern voices. The main characters are young girls, Lucy and Bert. Lucy loves learning new words and loves to read. She is obsessed with Nancy Drew books and tries to be a detective like Nancy. Bert has come to Riverton to help out with her aunt that is pregnant and ends up living with Lucy's family.
They have a chance to work on solving mysteries when several men turn up missing and a mystic also gives the girls a mystery to solve. This town also is affected by WW 2 as men in the town head to the war and a Nazi Prison-of-war camp is set up in the town. Two of the POWs come to work at their farm. This is a delightful story from the viewpoint of the young girls. I highly recommend it.

A timeless coming of age tale told between the two perspectives of young friends. This book felt like a blending of Fried Green Tomatoes meets Nancy Drew meets war-era Best friends. I caught the audiobook and genuinely enjoyed the narration as well. This story would also make for an amazing movie!!

I loved this book. The Brown family is remarkable and the friendship between Lucy and Bert is so special. I typically love stories set in the South since I was born and raised in TN. This one did not disappoint. Character driven, interesting, and the resolution of the mystery was definitely unexpected. Highly recommend!

I loved this. The warmth and connection primarily between two girls who had lived very different lives. It reminds me so much of the intensity of your best friend when you’re just at the cusp of going from being a child to a young woman . You are just starting to understand how life works and to have someone else to go through that with is so meaningful.

Lucy comes from a close knit family in Riverton, North Carolina. Her mother teaches her children to be kind, strong, and understanding of each other. Lucy is just 13 when another young girl, Allie Bert Tucker has moved from the Mountains to her Eastern, NC town. Bert has come from much different circumstances and an abusive family. So, the Brown family has Bert come stay with them. Some passages are funny, such as when Lucy tells Bert that she will be living with a family of Bibliophiles. Bert thinks she is talking about her religion. Lucy talks a lot about how wonderful Nancy Drew is, and Bert thinks that is a member of her large family. Lucy can’t believe this because she thinks Nancy Drew is fantastic and that every girl knows about her books. Still, Bert does not even know how to read or pronounce certain words, but quickly blends into the Brown’s ways. Their father is a bee keeper, and gets by during WWII b/c he harvests the beeswax, which helps the soldiers with their supplies.

Both girls work at collecting the honey and beeswax, read Nancy Drew, and Lucy especially is searching for clues to some mysterious disappearances. That was an excellent part as I know about beekeeping and at 13 worshipped Nancy Drew. So, at times the book highlights the innocence of the time period, it takes place in the 1940’s, but eventually that changes as a POW camp for Germans is in their town. This is based on factual information. I had never heard of this.

So, Lucy and Bert keep each other going through hard times and fun times. There is always room for forgiveness and understanding for this family. Blood ties are not the only way to become a family member, and this has a great influence on Bert. It also teaches Lucy many lessons about growing up.

I just moved to North Carolina in the last few years, so I found the geographical descriptions terrific. Riverton is not a real town, but it is describing Eastern, NC and Bert came from Asheville, located several hours away high in the mountains. It really gave me a feeling of being present in these areas. The culture of the south in the 40’s also was interesting to learn about.

I did get an audio 🎧 version of this book which I enjoyed, but usually don’t read just the audio format.

Thank you NetGalley, Leah Weiss, and RB Media Recorded Books for an ARC of this book.

This book started off strong for me and I was instantly drawn in. Then, the story started to meander and tried to cover too many topics at once. It took a long time for the conclusion of “the missing men”. It was just an “okay” listen (and read) for me.

My thanks to Net Galley and the audio publisher but this was a dnf for me. I could not relate to the narrator. Very slow and dry. I felt like I was listening to the narration of To Kill a Mockingbird.