Ways We Hide is a tragic tale set during WW II.

The book is about a girl Fenna, who joins the British Army intelligence. It is Fast paced, suspenseful and a great read with romance, magic and a bitter sweet ending.

I rated it 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is why I love historical fiction - the chance to learn new things about a subject that is generally well known, in this case, the creation of hidden tools and aids in ordinary items supplied to the Allies during WWII. I also learned about the Italian Hall Disaster and the Bethnal Green Tube Disasters, and while they were separate, McMorris wove them ably into her story so as to be seamless and not in the least unbelievable for Fenna's experiences. The whole story was wonderfully done, and pulled me in so deeply that at times I had to stop reading because the tension was too much. Well done indeed.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

The star of this novel is Fenna, a young woman who has had her share of troubles. Raised by her immigrant Dutch father, she is tragically left an orphan as an adolescent. Her friendship with best friend Arie, leads her to find a home with his family until she is ready to embark on life on her own.

As an adult, she is known as the mastermind behind magic shows, where she one day is recruited by the British intelligence agency for her skill with gadgets and codes. While on a dangerous mission, Fenna is confronted by the past she tried to forget as she struggles to survive and save the friend who once saved her.

This novel was nothing that I expected but I absolutely loved it! Although set during WWII, the war wasn’t the primary focus of the story. Fenna is a complex character with the grit to survive as she experiences, love, heartbreak, courage and resilience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for this early review copy. This review can also be found on IG @maria.needs.to.read and on Goodreads

5 stars for The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris

A beautiful, moving epic based on true events from WWII.

The Ways We Hide shares the story of the fictional Fenna Vos, a daughter of Dutch immigrants with a fascination for magic. Her extensive talent eventually takes her from stage shows in America to the Allied war effort in Britain, where she helps design secretive escape and evasion tools used to rescue airmen and soldiers from Nazi capture and imprisonment. When her childhood friend Arie Jansen disappears during an intelligence mission in Holland, Fenna must use all of her skills and knowledge to determine his whereabouts and devise a way to complete his mission and return them home.

In The Ways We Hide, Kristina McMorris blends morsels of history smoothly throughout Fenna’s story. From a Michigan community tragedy to the magic of Houdini and war time efforts in Britain and Holland, each piece of the past is woven carefully into the story to shape Fenna’s motivations and fears.

The novel flows effortlessly, beginning with Fenna’s clever stage shows as a young adult and continuing through her wartime service, with flashbacks from childhood revealing the strong connection between Fenna and Arie that moves her to risk her life to save his. It’s a beautiful story of friendship, and of finding the courage to face down fear and create a brighter tomorrow.

With wonderful character development and descriptive settings, The Ways We Hide invites readers into the past with skillful storytelling and a fresh perspective of the Second World War. I highly recommend this exceptional novel to all lovers of historical fiction and women’s fiction, especially fans of espionage who will enjoy the glimpse of Britain’s secretive MI9 and it’s fascinating gadgets.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for the advance reader’s copy of this novel. All opinions expressed above are my own. The expected publication date of The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris is September 6, 2022.

A beautiful historical fiction book. I loved Sold on a Monday by this author so was excited to read this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early read!

Magic tricks, WW2, gadgets, British Military and romance equal an absorbing and gripping tale by the author old Sold on a Monday.

There is so much packed into this book and yet it not only worked - but it also floored me. Fenna Vos learned how to survive at a young age. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was raised by her father. She was in the Italian Hall tragedy in 1913. I had not heard of this and after reading about it, I turned to Wikipedia to learn more. She and her best friend, Arie Jansen, communicate by a series of knocks.

Fenna has always been fascinated by magic and grows up to work as an assistant to Charlie, an escape artist. One evening after work she is approached by a man who wants to recruit her to work with his secret M19 team designing escape aids.

Doesn't sound too exciting, does it? Yet, after the first couple of chapters, I could not put this book down. Fenna is tasked with designing tools and gadgets which will help the soldiers and spies to escape and stay one step ahead of the Germans during the war.

WOWZA! This was such a well written and extensively researched book. Fenna was a great character. I rooted for her the entire book. This book is full of courage, intrigue, and romance as well. I love reading about people being placed in difficult situations and watching as they shine. Fenna is very clever and talented. She also feels very real as she is strong yet flawed.

This one will stay with me for quite some time.

Highly Recommend.

#TheWaysWeHide #NetGalley

This book is a story of love and loss. Of survival, trust, courage, and the art of illusion. Fenna Vos is trying to escape her past, while using escape as her defense against the world. She is an illusionist that goes from entertaining on stages to inventing for British Intelligence.

My favorite part of historical fiction is being based on true accounts, and this book is no exception. Escape aids during WWII was a very real element to fighting the war. I don’t know that I was fully drawn into the world of illusion, and because of that I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I would have liked. However, I was very invested in the friendship between Fenna and Arie Jansen. And I loved diving into Fenna’s past to better understand her fears and how they influenced her choices.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, I definitely recommend this book. It is based on a side of WWII that I haven’t read about before. Like codebreaking in The Rose Code, this is about the inventing of escape aids… another side of fighting the war with intelligence, long hours, and creativity.

This book is fast paced and well written, inspiring and tragic, and somehow heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this advanced e-book of The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Fenna Vos learned to take care of herself and survive. She is a the assistant to an escape artist, but behind the scenes she is the mastermind. During the War, she is called on my British Intelligence. Can she use her skills to help the military personnel escape and survive?

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: Sept 6, 2022

Fenna and Arie have known each other from childhood - both passionate about magic and illusions, and grateful for the parents who took Fenna in when she had nowhere else to go. Fast forward to their adult years, and World War II has changed everything. Will the skills Fenna has learned as a performer, illusionist and survivor be enough to make a difference in this terrible war? And will she be able to save those she loves?

PROS and CONS:
Compelling historical drama with a magician/illusionist angle which I thought was unique. I felt that a few characters I was curious about were introduced but then never really mentioned again, but the ones that were included were quite well developed. I was invested in her mission/job once she was recruited by the British, but felt the tension that could have developed was never really there. Very nice writing style and a great story!

READ IT?
If you’re a fan of historical fiction, then I’m sure this one will be a home run for you!

4 Stars

The Ways We Hide is another wonderful, beautifully written book by Kristin McNorris. I loved this story which was inspired by true events, and the characters were complicated but likable with a strong and resilient female protagonist. I learned quite a bit of new things that I did not know took place during WWII. It was intriguing, suspenseful, and absolutely captivating. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the review copy.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


While I greatly enjoy historical fiction, I find that I can’t race through it as quickly as I do other genres. Perhaps it’s the methodical pace of the novels. This novel was beautiful and shared so much history regarding World War II.

It starts with Fenna Vos as a young girl. Through a horrible tragedy in their town, Fenna befriends a young boy named Arie. Throughout the years Arie and Fenna support one another and put on magic shows in the neighborhood. But then one day Arie’s family moves away, leaving Fenna.

After her father’s death, she is placed in a girls’ home. There she learns how to befriend others using her magic skills. She performs sleights of hand and card tricks deep in the night when the adults are sleeping, but for one girl who makes it her mission to make Fenna miserable. One night Fenna devises an escape to run away, but she only knows one place to escape to - Amesboro where Arie’s family has gone.

Through the kindness of Arie’s family, Fenna finds a home. She continues to be fascinated by magic and Houdini, and Arie is very supportive of her interest, though he is going to study to be an engineer. This predates WWII. When the war begins, Arie becomes a member of the engineering corps.

Fenna, who by now has moved away and is performing magic in theaters, is approached to assist in the war effort by helping to devise hidden tools and maps for Allied soldiers. She is employed in England by MI9 and a rather eccentric gentleman. During her time in MI9, she finds that something has happened in Holland with Arie, and she volunteers to go into Holland to try to find the truth and bring Arie back. Due to her knowledge of Dutch, and her diversionary abilities, Army Intelligence agrees. But Fenna has no idea what awaits her in Holland.

There was definitely an air of mystery to this novel. It was quite the tale, weaving in true elements of history during this time. Fascinating to learn more about the war effort and how MI9 devised these instruments to be smuggled into the soldiers. I loved learning about all this. The novel is a slower read, but worth every minute and page. Fenna is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s lovely to see strong women portrayed during the war effort. More than just a history lesson, this is a lesson about a woman who in the face of danger refuses to give up.

Fenna Vos is an American illusionist tapped by the British military intelligence to create escape aids for prisoners of war. But when the one she loves is targeted as a traitor, she finds herself drawn into her own personal rescue mission.

Set against the backdrop of World War II and inspired by true stories, Ways We Hide is a both a heart-wrenching and fascinating look at not only the battles of war but also the battles of the heart. Rich with historical details, I highly recommend!

*Thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was immediately pulled into Fenna’s story & didn’t want to put it down. I found this to be a well-written epic about a young woman that’s braver than she’ll ever give herself credit for being. By opening the story with her drama-filled magic act, it made me very curious about her childhood, & what led her to being on stage @ her young age. The jump back in time to the recollections of her childhood is richly detailed. I could almost feel her joys, hopes, losses, heartbreaks, & her ever present anxiety. Looking back, it seems every single experience she had in her young life helped prepare her for what she faces later. Really enjoyed the war intrigue & her timeless friendship with Arie. Fen basically has to reinvent herself again & again, but her uncanny ability to hide herself both mentally & physically is indeed a constant throughout.
I was able to read an advance copy via NetGalley & am happy to leave this voluntary review.

As a fan of the great Houdini, Fenna Vos has spent her lifetime mastering tricks and illusions.  Tired of being the mastermind behind the scenes,  she's ready for something new. When a British officer approaches her after a show to recruit her for the war effort,  she travels to London and uses her art of illusion to create gadgets to help pilots escape if caught by the enemy. But when she finds out that Arie, her closest friend is in grave danger,  she volunteers to help bring him home. Getting them both out safely may be her greatest trick yet...
This is one emotional,  nerve-wracking,  nail-biting rollercoaster of a story.  McMorris just has a way of writing that puts you right into the story. Based on true events, this book is well researched and very well written. I'm going to remember this book for a very long time. I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

This would make a great book club read!

A great historical fiction set during World War II. We meet Fenna when she is working as an illusionist. She ends up working in intelligence for the British army, where she uses her invetor skills to help design escape aids. She comes face to face with her past during her most dangerous mission.

It did take a bit to get into the story, but you will quickly become engrossed. The magic and illusion will suck you in. It deals with a lot of WW II history, which is an era that interests me. There's a little romance involved.

All in all a great read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks Landmark for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Another great Kristina McMorris book. I had a hard time putting this World War 2 story down. If you are a historical fiction lover this is must read. Highly recommend!

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have most of Kristina McMorris’s works on my TBR, though so far, I’ve only had a chance to read two of her books — this book, her newest novel The Ways We Hide, and her previous one, Sold on a Monday, which came out back in 2018. While I have every intention of getting through McMorris’s backlist at some point, I also don’t want to miss any of her new works — which is why, as soon as I saw that she had a new book coming out this month, I requested an ARC before even reading the summary of what the book would be about. After I got approved, I went back and read the blurb, which made me even more intrigued and excited to read the novel. While I’ve read plenty of books set during World War II and covering various themes, one that I haven’t come across is exactly what McMorris’s new book explores: the role of magicians / illusionists in the war effort. Up until this point, I’ve always thought about magicians as entertainers, never realizing that there were very practical ways they could put their skills to use during the war, such as helping to design escape plans and contraptions or other gadgets that could hide things such as maps. This was a fascinating concept to me and an angle not often explored in WWII-themed fiction. Not only that though, in terms of this particular story, the illusionist is a woman (the main character Fenna Vos), which is even more rare given the time period and the prevalent society conventions at the time.

From a historical perspective, McMorris did a great job relaying the various elements related to real-life events and people, as well as establishing an atmospheric sense of time and place. I remember reading somewhere that McMorris mentioned this is one of her more ambitious novels to date, which I can totally see, as this one actually covered quite a bit of ground, with a time period spanning 1928 to 1945, a setting across three different countries (United States, England, the Netherlands), and a multitude of historical events / people covered (which I didn’t actually realize until I read her Author’s Note at the end of the book). The meticulous research she did in preparation was obvious in the way she was able to utilize so much descriptive detail throughout the story, whether in reference to historical events and people, or even the gadgets created for military use. Also, with Fenna’s background as the daughter of Dutch immigrants and so parts of the story revolves around the Dutch community she grows up in, I ended up learning a lot in that area as well.

In addition to the story being well-written, the characters were also well-drawn, with Fenna written in a way where, as readers, we can’t help rooting for her through all the hardships. With that said however, I honestly found it difficult to connect with her on an emotional level — which is strange given the entire story was told from Fenna’s first person point of view, so we are privy to all her inner thoughts and feelings. I think part of the reason for this is because, for me, some parts of the story ended up focusing a bit too much on Fenna’s romantic relationship with Arie, to the point that it drove a large part of Fenna’s actions and decisions during a certain portion of the story. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but given the premise of the story and the highly dangerous situations she often found herself in, some of her actions came across as irrational and illogical. While the romance piece wasn’t overwhelming compared to the rest of the story, it was a little distracting for me because I was expecting more focus on the historical piece and how Fenna uses her skills as an illusionist and escape artist in her work with MI9. This was also the main reason I ended up rating this 4 stars instead of 5, as I felt like the direction of the story strayed a bit near the midway mark and also, the emotional connection was lacking.

Overall, I definitely liked this one quite a bit and recommend it as a worthwhile read, especially for the different and refreshing angle it presents in terms of WWII historical fiction.

Received e-ARC from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley and print ARC via BookBrowse First Impressions program.

I was incredibly intrigued by the premise of Ways We Hide - a female magician in WW2 translating her skills to intelligence in the war effort.

While there was a lot in this book that I enjoyed, I wanted more. I got rather invested in Fenna and Arie, but I would have liked more about her time working in intelligence and on gadgets before she reunited with Arie. I felt like there were often references to her interest and expertise in magic, it wasn't a consistent thread.

There were parts that were slow and that I struggled to get through. But the last third of the book, where she reunites with Arie, captured my attention.

Overall, a great historical fiction novel, with solid bones but once that I wish had gone a bit deeper and leaned into what made it unique.

Thank you, NetGalley, for offering this advanced reading copy!

I was initially hesitant to read another World War II novel, but I'm so glad I read this one! My Dutch heritage in Michigan created a nostalgic beginning and easy connection to Fenna Vos. The overwhelming odds against her success, as not only an MI9 contributor but also, in love and friendship moved easily through this emotional novel. Considering the things Fenna hides, the revelation of her loyalty and tenacity under pressure was an engaging read!

The title explains how we hide things from people. This girl called FENNA Was raised in a mining camp from Shrewsbury young. Her mother died so her father was taking care of her. And she always had a lot of disasters happened in her life. Like the Christmas party from the striking miners and supposedly there was a fire and a lot of children died. Her father then left the area to work and he died as well. She was sent to an orphanage. Before she left the mining camp she gave a toy train to a boy called ARIE This was the Christmas party when all this bad things happened. She wanted the doll but she got the toy train instead. This train also had hidden compartments in it. She hated it though after so much so she decided she was gonna escape and the only she took was her father's boots which apparently lost but she kept his watch.. The way backup to ARIE family and then took her in. Then things started to not go very well and then she was off again. She wasn't loved anything to do with huntini and magician with the Hyundai the magician and she always practiced this and this is what she was doing on the stage when the intelligent people came and asked her to go over to England. This is why it was really interesting in this book because she was helping people get out of Holland especially the Jewish people. They think there was a double agent there as well and this was our childhood friend. He carried the toy train with him and she retrieved the message from it. It has a lot of headed meetings in this book you'll find out at the end of the board called this all ties in with Ariel and And FENNA. She was a she could escape hide do all these crazy things and not get caught this is why the book You can be in broad daylight and people will not know who you are how you learn how to survive