Kristina McMorris is a mastermind in historical fiction. Kristina brings another approach to reading about WW2. She gives us unforgettable characters and stories that will stay with us forever.
This is a must read for historical fiction readers,

I loved the author's book On the Edge of Lost, and liked Sold on a Monday okay enough. I would say this one falls in between the two - I love WWII books, I love nonfiction and historical fiction, so when a WWII novel based on a true story gets published I almost always want to read it! This was a well-written, gripping story, based on true events, that had me absolutely captivated and always eager to know what would happen next. 4.5 stars!

I have enjoyed books by this author and this is no exception. Ways We Hide is an historical fiction novel that is set in WWII and based on true events. I love novels that portray history in a narrative format such as this. It has a strong female protagonist and a strong plot. the writing is beautiful and the subject matter brings the emotions. Definitely recommend.
#TheWaysWeHide #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark

I received a free ARC ebook of <i>The Ways We Hide</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

First person narrators can be difficult to maintain in a novel. Feena, the protagonist and narrator, uses her love and awe of Houdini's skill and magic to eventually serve as a creator of aids to soldiers during World War II. The path there is circuitous and long. Readers first see Feena as a little immigrant Dutch girl whose father works in the mines. A terrible tragedy involving a terrified crush of people leaves Feena emotionally scarred. Her father's death cements her loneliness. Feena's struggles to survive with a little magic eventually brings her to the home of the Jansens and Arie who once saved her.

Eventually Feena's talent brings her to Britain to aid in war work. It isn't long before her friend Arie needs help. Although I never doubted Feena's willingness to help Arie behind enemy lines, I truly doubted the British agreement to send a lightly trained American to meet with Resistance fighters.

Her time in Holland made the first person narration awkward. Too often Feena gets involved in a dangerous situation without enough details or backup. The reader can only see what she sees, hear what she hears. There is no limited omniscient view to provide more information.

Still the idea of trickery and deception to fool the Nazis in a critical situation kept me reading.

I loved this book. Idk why it took me so long to read it it. But it was so good! I need the physical copy. It literally had me in from sentence one.

the concept of a female magician using her skills to combat nazi is so compelling but i felt this book less about that than it was about displaying all the historical research the author did.

this was a strangely paced book that jumped around in time. it wasn't hard to follow but the way it was employed only served to slow down the momentum.

additionally, i don't understand the need for every book (especially ones that are "historical fiction") to include a romance element. in this case, it was especially heavy handed.

I enjoyed the first half of the book very much but there was a specific plot point mid-way through that made me groan for predictability and nearly made me want to abandon it. There was enough of a "cat and mouse" story going to keep me engaged enough to finish and the author does a nice job with her research of historical events to give it some authenticity.

For some reason I could not get into this book. I think the topic was good and the author told a part of history that is important. I found it slow at the beginning and for me it just didn’t pick up speed.

I wanted to like this story more than I did. I found it hard to relate to Fenna throughout the book so it was a bit of a slog.

Another beautiful book written by Kristina Morris. The story weaves magic, family, tragedies and war together beautifully. It had me tearing up, getting angry and cheering.. The ending was a bit odd for me, but it does tie the story together.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SourcebooksLandmark, #kristinaMcMorris and #thewayswehide for the ebook for my honest review.

A different view of WWII and a completely different plot than I was expecting when I started reading. This book moved slow to start, but I was too engrossed into the life of Fenna, and her creative mind. Kristina McMorris is a storyteller through and through, and this is no exception! Beautiful piece of history.

So, most of the historical fiction I read usually has a romance component as the main part of it. Not with this book. Ways We Hide was a great insight into an unknown portion of World War 2 for me. I learned something about the war and gained a deeper understanding of magic.

Some parts of Fenna were undesirable to me, but for a woman of that time, she was incredibly strong. I do wish that she had relaxed a bit more and been a bit more open, but in some way, those are things that I also wish for myself.

I think I will go back and read more books by this author, as I appreciate the amount of research that goes into them.

This book gives off the many wonderful, powerful themes of a strong WWII novel. I was immediately captivated by Fenna as such a strong character, struggling with many inner challenges of her difficult upbringing and uncertainties.

I cannot figure out how the author put so much into this book but my head was spinning. Well written and interesting! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher

What a great story. I loved how the book was linked to real historic events and how elements of magic were interwoven into the historical fiction novel. It was like nothing I had ever read before.

It was a wonderful historical fiction novel that swept two decades, starting from the late 1920s and going through World War II. The main character, Fenna, experienced a horrible tragedy as a child that causes her to be scared to be in enclosed spaces and always has her looking for a way to escape. That’s probably why she became an admirer of escape artist, Houdini and learned to do tricks. When she gets older, she meets up with a boy she was friends with, Arie, who experienced the same tragedy. When orphaned, she goes to his parents house and they take her in. She does magic acts for neighborhood kids and when she gets older, she joins another magician and creates great escape illusions inspired by Houdini.

It’s because of this, she’s recruited for the mysterious MI-9 agency of the UK in World War II, to create spy gadgets to help soldiers escape POW camps. During this time, she gets called on to go on a spy mission that has special meaning for her and makes the stakes even higher. This book is filled with chock of interesting facts about two less historical events and the MI-9 . The author does an amazing job on her research to bring this events and the agency to life. There is also a big mystery that Fenna is involved in this book. I also deeply fell in love with the main characters. I highly recommend this book.

What a wonderful historical fiction read! I loved Ways We Hide and its multiple timeline story of love, loss, courage, and hope in wartime. The story offered a fresh perspective and take on the genre that had me hooked from the start. I really enjoyed coming alongside all of the characters, though I especially appreciated Fenna's story. The magic element wound into the story was a highlight for me and something I found super interesting. It was clear a lot of research went into this book to make it the compelling, atmospheric, engaging wartime story it was. Highly recommend to my fellow historical fiction readers looking for something different in the genre.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy!

Growing up and learning to make her own way, Fenna is the driving force behind an illusionist act of escapism during WWII. She surprisingly gets contacted by British Intelligence to help with the war effort in thwarting the Germans. I had no idea this was based upon a true story, so it is a fascinating new account of patriotic efforts during the war. I did feel that it took quite a while to set the stage and develop the characters, but worth it to stick with the story. I have loved historical fiction, particularly WWII stories, for quite some time, but learned so much more from this story of dedication, love, courage, and loss. Thanks so much to Kristina McMorris, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

I struggled with this book despite being very interested in the story. The beginning dragged for me even though it was needed to set up the story. I was hoping for a more engaging story. I did stick with it and it improved but it took me forever to finish this story. I initially didn't relate to the characters which made it hard to continue to read (it took me forever to finish). It was an interesting take on a WWII genre story but it started off very slowly.

Thank you to Kristina McMorris, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for the ARC. This review is voluntary and contains my homes opinions. I am a fan of historical fiction and was excited to receive my copy of this book. I enjoyed the storyline as this is about a wartime tragedy but also gives us hope. It is a story of loss, reconciliation and redemption. It is a bit long and the second half dragged a bit for me. The ending wasn’t what I expected yet I think it is still well worth reading.