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.

Fenna grows up with hardships and performs with escape artist as young adult. She makes most of the equipment for the shows so is recruited by British military intelligence during WWII to design escape aids. She finds love, takes risks, and helps others. Different perspective of WWII based on true accounts

This was my first book by Kristina McMorris and I found it to be totally engrossing. Her characters are so well developed, the descriptions crisp and the research had to have been extensive. Of course, she fictionalized parts of the World War II story and plumped up the story into an educational, but totally entertaining story of a woman magician recruited to produce "gadgets" to help soldiers (secret maps, disguised telescopes and flashlights) and hiding places for them. Her personal story was a great enhancement to the story. There's also a truly touching romance thrown in and so many touching moments that made me cry.

The book is almost four hundred pages, but I found that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and I had finished it before I knew it.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Ways We Hide" and all opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed a previous book "Sold on a Monday" by this author. Unfortunately, The Ways We Hide didn't hold my attention. I don't know if it was the magic tricks, slow pace, etc. I had a hard time following the story. I did not finish.

I loved Fenna and was rooting for her the whole book. There were a few parts inspired by true events that I never heard of which was great. This book was very well researched! A must read for historical fiction fans.

DNF at 50%. I wanted to love this book, being a big fan of WWII stories, but sadly it did not work for me. I found the writing a slow place and the story a lot longer than it needed to be. Also, when I read the plot summary, I thought the magic component would be more prevalent than it was. My favorite part was the section that took place prior to the war.

Maybe I’m an outlier but this book really didn’t do it for me. My favorite part was the first section, and the rest was sort of downhill. I had hoped the magic would have been a bigger component of the story, and it just wasn’t (a missed opportunity IMO). This book was also far too long for what it was. I wish I could put my finger on what didn’t work for me, but I found myself not really wanting to pick this book up.

Oh, my goodness. Run don’t walk to get this historical fiction book that is a must read. From the beginning to the end, I could not put this down. When I was reading this book, the irony was that I was on vacation in the Keeweenaw peninsula, heart of the copper country in Michigan where an important part of this story took place. Fenna Vos was a survivor. Having lost her mother early in life and later her father, a copper miner who also lost his life early to pneumonia, Fenna had to learn to fend for herself. As one of only a few who survived the horrible Christmas Eve massacre at the Italian Hall, thanks to the help of her new friend Arie. However, this affected her the rest of her life. Fenna has an affinity for Harry Houdini, magic, illusions, and escape. As an adult, she is the mastermind of escapes but seen as the assistant to Charles, an escape artist. Fenna is recruited to help M19 in London to devise special hidden gadgets to help soldiers in the field to survive during WWII. Meanwhile, her best friend Arie, whom she hides secrets from, is missing in action, and suspected of being a traitor. Fenna she sets out to prove them wrong and to save him as she goes on a secret mission to find him in the Netherlands. I loved the suspense which kept me turning the page. The characters are strong and relatable, they made me laugh and cry. It was an interesting read about elements of behind the scenes in a war, of spies, and the contributions of brave men and women to protect others. Who knew that Monopoly was used as a weapon in espionage? This is a story of courage, friendship, loyalty, perseverance, and love. I highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to #netgalley #wayswehide #kristinamcmorris #sourcebooks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Kristina McMorris has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors with The Ways We Hide. The pace is a little slower, but it never feels like it drags on. There was enough happening to make me want to keep reading.

I like that The Ways We Hide was not only based on WWII, but also on other lesser-known events. At least I didn't know about them which made everything more intriguing. Fenna is a strong protagonist and I felt like I was experiencing everything with her and leaving a dear friend at the end of the book.

The Ways We Hide is a beautifully written novel. It's about the unexpected strength and courage we find in ourselves when faced with challenges, and surviving losses.

I highly recommend The Ways We Hide to historical fiction fans, especially fans of The Nightingale.

This books rates 10 out of 10 in could not put downness! Once you get started on this one, don’t make another plans. Fen's plucky innate survival skills serve her well from early childhood on. There is love, intrigue and heartbreak in every stage of the story. The characters are fully animated and fun to get to know. In a tide of books either to frivolous, gut wrenching, or heavy, Ways We Hide is a welcome sight on the new books shelve.

For some reason, I had a hard time connecting with this story. It may be me or where I'm at so...

There a lot of history which is interesting but the story moved slow which may have been the issue for me. The premise of the book is fascinating, but the pace seems to drag.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Kristina McMorris has written another spectacular book with The Ways We Hide. The story centers around Fenna, a young woman who has gone through numerous traumatic situations. Fenna trains herself to become an illusionist like Houdini, which gets her recruited to help the British with the war against Germany.
This story evokes emotions of love, fear, friendship, and grief. It has complex characters and you grow to love them. Kristina McMorris does her research and shows you the history while enveloping you in the story. I look forward to reading many more books by her.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris is my first book by this author. I’ll start with the part that intrigued me the most. The premise of this story began with a minimally known fact about how Monopoly, the board game, was used to smuggle escape maps and aids to Allied Prisoner of War during World War II. Who would have thought! There in is the beginning of the intrigue of this story.

This is a very well written historical fiction novel. The story encompasses courage, fear, illusion, espionage, loss and war. It has tons of suspense, tragedy, heartbreak, hope, heroism and finally sprinkled with romance.

The settings throughout the book were very well written. You can feel the dark, the rain, see the cobwebs, smell the smoke and walk through the streets, houses and rooms. The author’s ability to place the reader into each scene is wonderful.

The main protagonist is Fenna Vos. She is resilient, courageous, smart, caring and likeable. The story is about Fenna’s life. She is a skilled illusionist who’s hero is none other than Houdini. The author had me so vested in Fenna’s story that it was difficult to put down. Fenna faces many fears from her childhood that reoccur and haunt her. This is the kind of character you find yourself crying with, cheering for her, worrying about and being in awe of her courage. Fenna has an admiring amount of inner strength which she relies on in order to overcome so many obstacles. She deals remarkably with the treachery and evil she is faced with. The author has the reader following this winding adventure from beginning to end.

I was thrilled to see how the author had woven all these various thread together at the end of the story. Be sure to take the time to read the Author’s Notes at the end. It is wonderful to see where the history was and where ideas grew from. To me, Kristina McMorris is the illusionist! Very well done. I will definitely be reading her other stories and wonder what she has in store for us next.

I would like to thank Ms. McMorris, SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This story follows Fenna from growing up in Michigan’s Copper Country to being knee deep in the middle of WWII. Fenna has been fascinated with magic and Houdini since she was a little girl. When tragedy strikes, she is forced into fending for herself. Fast forward to 1943, she’s a part of the British military intelligence, tasking with creating hidden objects for aid of British soldiers. Realizing a friend from the past is in danger, she reluctantly signs up to go undercover in the Netherlands. A lot more than she bargains for awaits her and all she has to do is worry about fending for herself and being two steps ahead of her past. I loved this book and eagerly kept turning the pages wanting to know what awaited Fenna. I almost threw this across the room during a part that utterly broke my heart! Loved that my hometown is mentioned several times during the book and shined a spotlight on a part of Michigan’s history that isn’t well know. Highly recommend this book for not only the high pace action but the great storytelling!

A great WW II novel very accurate in her research Kristina McMorris has written an incredible tale of survival, friendship, trust and love. Fen and Arie’s life has been intertwined since childhood and, even if they parted ways abruptly, the war will bring them together in a risky mission amidst the Nazis in Dutch. A really great story that will keep you reading until the end.