A historical WWII book with a hit of a twist. I enjoyed the characters and got invested in the story of heartbreak and hero’s.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, I was provided an ARC of The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

**** Publishing September 6, 2022****



⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kristina McMorris does it again with another well researched and fascinating story. This time through the eyes of an illusionist and how her out of the box thinking helped in the war Intelligence efforts during WWII.

This story alternates between Fenna’s difficult childhood and her adult life. As an adult, she was as an assistant to an escape artist and served in WWII as an assistant for military intelligence in London.

Fenna lost both her parents at a young age, survived the staircase stampede, escaped an orphanage, and developed an obsession with magic, which stemmed from her best friend Arie, whom she lived with after her horrible orphanage experience.

Fenna and Charles are partners for their escapist show. When Fenna is recruited to go to London to help fight in the war, she seriously considers it because she realizes that she doesn’t see eye to eye with Charles. After much thought, she decided to take the assignment. Will this be the new start she is looking for? Will the hardships Fenna faced in her childhood and adulthood help in her intelligence job? Or is this another escape from life?

Absolutely loved the character development in this book. It just made this story flow and gave insight how hard life really was during the war, and the risks that were taken. Did you know that there is speculation that Houdini helped in the war intelligence efforts during WWI? During WWII, they used board games such as Monopoly to hide intelligence information. These are fascinating pieces of information this author provided in her author notes. Perfect book for book clubs and those who love Historical Fiction!

The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris is a World War II based novel with a fresh take on the dangers and heroism found in World War II era novels. Fenna Vos is a magician/illusionist recruited to help the war effort with her MI9 gadgets and undercover work in The Netherlands, which happens to involve a love interest. Overall a good story with the author's notes providing the history behind the novel.

Thanks to Net Galley and the author for giving me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book.

Overall, this was a very interesting book , especially if you like Q in the James Bond movies. This is about the original Q and his team who creates all of the hidden gadgets for Bond in his books and that part of WWII history is fascinating. Instead of British M19 creating gadgets for a spy, the items were sent behind enemy lines to help the resistance and added to soldiers clothing to aid with escapes, such as compasses hidden in buttons. There were more ideas than I could have imagined. I almost quit reading the book since the first 40% is about the most unrelenting depressing story I had read in a long time . Perhaps , I was not in the correct mindset but I was to the point if something good or at least not heartbreaking doesn't occur in the next 50 pages, I quit. Once the book got back to the 1940's and Fen's move to London to work with M19, it started to hold my interest. One can tell immediately that the author has admirable writing talent and had done outstanding research which kept me reading. However, I felt that book was very slow , even plodding. The history itself was fascinating but I personally never connected with Fen. Im sure that fault was with me and not the author.
I received an ARC of this book and leave this honest review voluntarily.

The Ways We Hide is another fascinating story by Kristina McMorris.

Its WW II and Fenna is the brains and talent behind an illusionist act and she herself is disillusioned.

Her talent is recognized and she is recruited by British intelligence to use her skills in for one designing gadgets.

It is a fascinating read to see behind the scenes and the gadgets and other means that are put to use by M19.

You cant help but cheer ,cry and admire Fenna.

The book is fast paced, suspenseful and a great read that I wont soon forget.

Kristina McMorris never disappoints in her storytelling and The Ways We Hide is no exception.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a compelling read that kept the lights on.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this Advanced Read. This is Kristina McMorris’s latest novel )she wrote the book Sold on a Monday.) I could not put this book down – it was an excellent read.
Fenna Vos’s childhood was not a very good one but she managed to pull herself up and, having always liked magic, she became an illusionist – unbeknownst to all, her partner Charles performed the tricks but Fenna was the “brains” of the acts. Things don’t go well for a period of time and they split up – Fenna is approached by military intelligence from London who works for M19, She joins in with them and ends up designing escape aids for the troops. For example, a deck of cards could have a map within its confines.. In the process she is more deeply involved and that is when her past is mixed with the present. I loved this story – I cried reading this story and enjoyed every page. I highly recommend this.

Ways We Hide has a lot to offer historical fiction lovers. Predominately set during World War II, the book does delve into the past and cover a significant event that occurred in the main two characters past.

Fen and Arie met as children while living in Michigan. Their friendship was forged at Christmastime, right before a catastrophic event that left the entire community devastated. Fen lived with her father, who was widowed when Fen was very young. They lived very close to Arie and his family. Through a series of unfortunate events, Fen ends up spending the remainder of her childhood with Arie and his family.

As adults, they end up going their separate ways, only to be reunited during the war while serving with the Allies. When Arie turns up missing in Holland, MI9 ends up sending Fen to find him. Immediately the plans are thwarted, but Fen is determined and finds Arie in spite of the obstacles.

I have to say, this novel took me to some unexpected places. Magic tricks played a prominent role in the story and brought some of the characters together. At the start of the novel, I was expecting something other than what happened and I was pleasantly surprised. The only drawback for me was that some of what happened seemed a bit too unbelievable. In spite of that, I enjoyed the story and recommend it to readers who love historical fiction, suspense and romance.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an advance copy and offer my honest review.

Enjoyed this historical WWII historical fiction. Fenna the heroine is captivating as she overcomes adversity and triumphs. A must read for those that love this era!

Kristina McMorris you have given me two characters that will remain with me for a long long time. Fenna and Arie’s relationship, while children, was so very poignant, while at the same time so very real. I felt as if they were my friends and I was right in the room with them as they supported each other through horrific events in their childhood lives. Their love for Houdini and magic helped keep them connected and sane while all hell was breaking out around them. I again was reminded how events in your childhood definitely serve to shape your lives as adults. I laughed with them, cried with them, and grew frustrated with them, and felt just as I do with my own friends. You truly have a gift for bringing your characters right off the page and into our heart, Kristina McMorris.
The notes at the end of the book added a whole new layer of significance to The Ways We Hide. Knowing that many of the events that were part of this amazing read actually occurred in real life made this book so moving and so very powerful. It just reinforced for me that those traumatic events from your childhood serve to shape the adults we become.
I have read many books about this time frame and several covered the espionage aspect but The Ways We Hide presented me with actual proof of just how involved it was. I will never look at Monopoly or a deck of cards the same way. The soup can incident and the drink spilled on the cards left my heart in my throat. I so appreciated all the research and the notes that Kristina McMorris shared that just reinforced what a gifted author she is and the lengths she takes to ensure that her books are as accurate as possible.
The love that Fenna and Arie had was so realistic, especially at the five star ending which totally moved me. It came as a total surprise.
Many many thanks to Kristina McMorris and NetGalley for allowing me the true honor of having the opportunity to read an arc of this exceptional book, to be published on September 6th.

I enjoyed this book!
Fenna has not had an easy life. She becomes an assistant to an illusionist during WW 2 and through this she becomes involved in the designing of escape aids for the POW’s

Such an interesting story with such great character!

4.5 magical stars

We meet the memorable character of Fenna Vos as she is working a magic show in the 1940s. We flash back in time to read all about her upbringing in the copper country of Michigan to find out how she became fascinated with magic. Her childhood is heartbreaking in so many ways with poverty, death, a great tragedy at a Christmas party, and one great friend, Arie.

As fate would have it, she’s recruited to help MI9 (that’s British intelligence) to win the war against the Germans. It seems her skill with escapism can come in handy for downed pilots and spies sent into Germany. As she is sent to England, it was fascinating to read about all the ingenious things created, maps disguised as everyday objects and other spy gadgets.

A chance encounter overseas with Arie sends Fenna deep into enemy territory and she must put her skills to use in ways she never planned. This one had tense moments and I really fell in love with these characters. It was fascinating to read that this one was inspired by real people. I am always amazed at how many brave people made difficult choices in this war.

This is great historical fiction and I love the title; I can think of so many interpretations as Fenna is such a real character in this one.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author for the opportunity to read this one and provide my honest review. Set to release on 9.6.2022.

I recently read Kristina McMorris' "Sold on a Monday" for my book club and liked the story. I was excited to receive this title and thought it sounded interesting. The book drew me in quickly and I really wanted to know what was going to happen to Fenna & Arie. But somewhere around the halfway point, I got bored and lost interest. I don't know what it was, but I just did not really care anymore about the story or the characters. I ended up skimming the second half of the book. There were a couple of places where I stopped and actually paid closer attention to, but it wasn't often enough for me to stop skimming. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital arc of this title.

Overall a very interesting book based on the war. The first little bit of the story did not really draw me in eithbthe magic...but I'm glad that I stuck with it.
Not as good as Sold on Monday but well worth the read.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book

Very different story when reading about this time in history. Really enjoyed the historical aspects and always enjoy learning more details. I liked the main character and enjoyed reading about her journey.
Thanks to the author for the writing. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

A unique look at a little known part of WWII. Fenna has been fascinated with magic since she was a child so a request from MI9 to help make devices to help downed airmen and others is a terrific opportunity for a woman from copper country in the US. She's lived a hard life but she survived a disaster with the help of her friend Arie, whose family later takes her in. Now, she's in England and then in the Netherlands taking advantage of her Dutch heritage to work undercover against the Nazis. This is both a story of WWII courage and a love story - a slow burn love story- between Fenna, Arie, and his family. If I have a quibble (and it's actually a big one), it's that this goes on a bit too long at the start with Fenna and Charlie's magic act and problems and then backs up to her childhood. There are some blips in here but Fenna's character is well developed and comes through loud and clear. I appreciated the different settings as well as the chance to learn about the origins of Q. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I’d like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Ways We Hide’ by Kristina McMorris in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Fenna Vos is a talented illusionist and is approached by Christopher Clayton Hutton who works for British Military Intelligence. He offers her a job in the Civil Service in London to use her unique abilities of escape to save allied lives during WWII. As she’s just had a disagreement with her stage partner Charles Bouchard she agrees and becomes an inventor of escape aids by using a well-known board game to thwart the enemy.

‘The Ways We Hide’ is an historical fiction inspired by true events and tells of a brave young woman who uses her skills at illusion to escape from the memories of a childhood trauma. The plot is really interesting especially as it’s based on fact and I was gripped by the first chapters of escapology and Fenna’s hero Houdini, but the further I got into the novel the more I thought it was over-long and could have been improved by losing some of the pages as I found my interest waning at times. Although well-written, I found it difficult to keep motivated but this is probably my mindset as other readers’ reviews show it to be a very popular novel.

Fenna Vos has a hard life. Her mother died and Fenna is being raised by her father, a Dutch copper miner, in Michigan. She survives a horrible accident but is left with mental scars. Her next-door neighbor, Arie Janson, is just about her only friend. Arie moves away and she is bereft. Arie has given her a book of magic tricks and this is what ultimately saves her. Following a stay in an orphanage from which she runs away, she and Arie re-connect and she is raised in the Janson household. She continues to practice her magic tricks and puts on small shows for the neighborhood. Growing up, she starts putting on bigger, more complicated shows and it is through these shows, she is discovered by someone who thinks she might have a place in the military, to aid in winning World War II. She puts her skills to work, designing gadgets to help soldiers. A lipstick might be a flashlight, or a deck of cards might hold a silk map of the countryside. Nothing was ever as it seemed on the surface.

She and Arie float in and out of each other's lives. MI9 is convinced that Arie is a double agent, spying for the Germans. Fenna is sent to work in Holland, since she looks and speaks Dutch, but her own adventure includes finding Arie and getting answers to the spying questions.

The chapters alternate between time lines. It was an interesting look at a little-known aspect of WWII. McMorris has done an amazing amount of research in order to write this book.

Ways We Hide is an interesting WWII story told from a new perspective, As a magician Fenna is able to come up with new ways to help the war effort. It took some twists I didn't expect. It is well written and the characters are well developed. If you are tired of WWII books, give this one a try because it's very different.
Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy of this book.

The initial description of the Ways We Hide, "a sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path." captured my interest. The novel starts off depicting Fenna Vos and her magic act, so much so that I was beginning to wonder if I misread the description of World War II and British intelligence. But that is the exact beauty of Kristina McMorris' writing. The initial description of the magic act was only setting the stage for the experiences of a Dutch girl who grows up with unfathomable losses. Her skill in illusion is put to use in the war effort. All of this is wrapped around her relationship with Arie, both as a child and during the war. The final chapters are especially well written. The images are vivid. You will have a hard time putting this one down!

World War II novels are popular now and I am happy that they are. There were so many ordinary citizens who rose to heroic levels during that time period. “Ways We Hide” by Kristina McMorris gives us a different type of heroine, Fenna Vos. Fenna is a magician and illusionist in the style of Houdini.

Fenna’ s story is revealed in several parts. We learn of her childhood as the daughter of Dutch immigrants in the Midwest. Fenna forms a bond with boy her age, Arie. Together they survive a local tragedy. Although it seems they are destined to be together, their relation changes as they reach young adulthood.

Fenna is performing her magic professionally when World War II starts. Her skills lead her to England to work on illusionist-type creations that will help spies and POWs, such as hidden knives, compasses, maps, and telescopes disguised as game pieces or ordinary objects. This part of the story was fascinating.

When Fenna learns of danger involving Arie, who is also in Europe with the war effort, she must put all her skills to the fore to attempt to save him. This part of the book is well-written and engaging.

Overall, this is an interesting book with a different view of heroic war-time efforts. I received an advance digital review copy from the publisher and this is my honest review.