Ways We Hide is an interesting perspective on the interwar years and WWII. It is also a relief after all the standard WWII fare.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Fenna is an assistant fir a stage act. She stats behind the scenes and makes the trick look effortless. She is asked to us her skills to help defend her country. This was a remarkable story.

Young Fenna Vos shares a love of magic tricks with her neighbor, Arie. The two children live very separate lives, but trade Morse code messages by tapping on a shared wall. Language and religion keep their families apart. Fenna and her father, both Catholics, speak a different dialect of Dutch than Arie’s Protestant family.

The two families live in Michigan’s copper mining region. The mine owners are putting pressure on the workers to keep them from unionizing. At a Christmas Eve gathering, Fenna and Arie are caught in a suspicious and horrendous tragedy that kills many of their neighbors, mostly children. They survive, and are bound together and scarred for life by the experience.

As Fenna gets older, she becomes increasingly interested in gadgets and magic tricks. She eventually performs on stage, designing tricks and acting as back-up for a less adept magician. Her skill, and her uniqueness as a female magician, come to the attention of an MI9 operative in Britain. She is recruited for the war effort. Her assignment is to make gadgets and hide tools that will help downed airmen and prisoners of war escape from the Germans.

Meanwhile, Arie is also recruited for his skills. When the two childhood friends cross paths again, Arie is suspected of being a traitor. Fenna sneaks into Holland to aid her old friend. Deep in German territory, Fenna must use all of her knowledge of gadgets, tricks and misdirection to get out alive.

I am in absolute awe of The Ways We Hide. The quality of the writing, the plot and the characters are exquisite. This is not a thinly disguised romance set in the past. This is the real deal. Drawn from historical facts and extensive research, this is a masterwork novel. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and is the first book to win my Historical Fiction Gold Star Award in 2022.

My Rating GOLD STAR, A+

NOTE: Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark publishing for the opportunity to read and review an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. Expected publication date is September 6, 2022. Look for it at your favorite online or local bookseller.

Five stars for this fascinating well-written tale of "love and loss" that had me emotionally hooked from the beginning. The author did a terrific job developing the main characters whom we first meet as children. We understand how & why they develop into the adults they become and why their relationship moves along as it does. The main female character is a magician/illusionist who ends up in British intelligence helping to save lives in WWII; this aspect of the book, much of it based on true events, was incredibly interesting and informative. The well-rounded secondary characters added a great deal to the story, helping us better understand the motivations and actions of the main characters. I look forward to the author's next book

This is an entertaining, well-written, fast paced, historical fiction novel set during WWII, which is based on true events. It is tragic and heart-breaking, and has suspense, perseverance, a heart-warming romance, heroism, and hope. The female protagonist is likable, caring, courageous, intelligent, confident and resilient. The author's notes at the at the end of this novel are interesting and informative, and are truly appreciated.
NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark kindly provided me with an ARC of this novel, and this is my honest opinion.

Wow oh Wow!! I have read several of this authors works, but this one, is by far the best ever. What research she had to have done to get this story told so well plus the writing is stellar. There was never a dull moment, and the story is completely believable all the way thru.
The flow of this story is something you just don’t want to miss. I loved all the characters, it has it all, intrigue, enjoyment, sadness, joy but most of all, love. The love story is so touching. I re-read so many passages over again just so I wouldn’t miss anything.
I loved this book, the highest 5 stars I can give. Moving it into my top 5 books ever list. Of which she was already in the list with Sold on a Monday.
I want to thank SourceBooks Landmark along with NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC. Coming in with high 5*****

A great read. Very different than your typical WW2 reads. A lot packed into one novel! Thank you to NetGalle6 and the publisher for the early read.

The Ways We Hide opened introducing us to the main character, Fenna Vos in 1948. Fenna worked as a magician's assistant in a magic show. She was really the master mind behind the act as she created most of the tricks and props. She trained her partner to be the lead in the act hoping to get more bookings.

The story later flashed back to 1928 to give the reader a sense of Fenna's childhood. Fenna was a child who grew up in poverty. She became friends with the boy next door, Arie, who gave her a book on magic as a way to occupy her mind after they barely survived a tragic event . She spent time practicing on Arie and developed a real love for magic and Harry Houdini. Fenna lost her mother as a young child. She later lost her father as well and was sent to an orphanage. She eventually escaped the orphanage and tried to find her best friend, Arie, who moved to another town nearby. She found him and his family took her in. Fenna and Arie continued to pass the time practicing magic, learning, using Morse Code, and solving puzzles.

The story then moves back to 1943 where Fenna is approached by an agent working with the MI9 section of the British War Office. It was the middle of WWII and they were working on ways to secretly get tools and supplies to POWs. The agent felt that Fenna's skills in creating secret compartments used in magic acts would be an asset to their office. She decided to leave the magic act and begin work in London.

Fenna was an wonderful main character. She was flawed, as humans are, but she tried to do what was right. She had a love of creating illusions and misdirecting attention that helped those captured soldiers get necessary supplies. Fenna was fiercely loyal and would do what she could to help those she cared about. That loyalty later took her on a dangerous mission.

McMorris did a fantastic job of telling an unusual WWII tale. In reading her Author's Note at the end it was interesting reading how she took several events and wound those through her story. I love reading how women helped the war effort with their unique talents and abilities. Fenna's story explored an angle I had not read of before and I fell in love with her completely.

The Ways We Hide is scheduled to be released on September 6. 2022. I would like to thank Kristina McMorris, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book.

This review has been posted to my Goodreads, Instagram, and StoryGraph accounts. The links are below.

Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris is just... wow! This is a novel that will stay with you long after the last page. Jenna Voss is one of the most memorable, fully-realized characters I've ever "met." McMorris is incredibly talented-her books are unputdownable!

The Ways We Hide
by Kristina McMorris

I Loved This Book! I’ve read a lot of historical fiction that takes place in WWII but none have had multiple story lines like this book. The Ways We Hide hooked me on page one and my interest never waned. The writing is superb - descriptions of people, places and events clear and precise. On top of these hallmarks of good writing we meet wonderful characters like Fenna Vos and Arie.

Fenna Vos is an interesting and engaging woman. Growing up life isn’t easy but she copes by making the most of whatever she has to face. She is fascinated with learning to perform magic tricks - her "bible" is a worn copy of the great magician, Houdini. After her father dies Fenna is sent to an orphanage from which she escapes at 12 years of age. Making her way to her neighbor Arie’s house his parents take her in, and she grows up with a crush on her best friend, Arie.

Fenna matures into an accomplished magician, creator of illusions and magic tricks. Her skills wind up transporting her to England helping British intelligence during WWII. Arie, who enlisted in the US military, is over there as well, but he was sent to Holland where British intelligence believes he may have gone rogue. Fenna volunteers to go to Holland to “flush” Arie out and determine what’s happened to him. This part of the The Ways We Hide had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. I can’t go further without giving away too much of this fabulous story.

This is not the first book I’ve read by Kristina McMorris. Sold on a Monday will stay with me forever. That said, The Ways We Hide moves to the top of my list of “must read” historical fiction set in WWII. I will recommend this to my book club for inclusion on our reading list after September. Be sure to read the Author's Notes where Ms. McMorris distinguishes fact from fiction, explaining how the various story lines melded together to create a novel of intrigue, struggle, love, determination and WWII history.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the opportunity to read and review The Ways We Hide.

4.5 ⭐️

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. A new author. A new style of writing. A new plot and characters. I will admit, some of the chapters were a bit too slow-paced for my liking, but then the author would take readers back in time to relive Fenna's childhood days. Those were some of my favorite flashbacks, especially between Fenna and Arie. They were so wholesome and sweet, and Arie really is the best 🥹

If you're sitting down to read this book and you're wondering how on earth do magic tricks fit in to a WW2 story, I was right there with you. At first, it almost seemed like the first few chapters were unnecessary. BUT. As I got into the story more, I realized what an essential part magic tricks played towards 3/4 of the book, so trust me, if you don't understand initially, you will as you read more.

I was honestly conflicted in my rating because I thought this story was shaping up to be a 3.5 star read. And then, as I read more, it became a 4-star read. But, because of a few scenes (I'll explain more down below), it was back down to 3.5 stars. But then. About 80% into the story, my heart broke. And it became 4 stars again. But THEN. About 93% into the story, there was this one scene that literally broke my heart. I'm not a crier when it comes to books. I've honestly never cried before. So when I say this, it truly shows how the author did such an incredible job of writing this scene: I. Was. Blinking. Back. Tears. So. Hard. And. If. I. Didn't. Have. To. Go. To. Bed. I. Might. Have. Cried.

THAT scene, and the way the author ended the story with such a bittersweet but hopeful ending, brought this book up to 4.5 stars. Endings are so important for authors to nail. It ties the story together, leaving the reader crying happy or sad tears, wishing there was more to the story or it had ended sooner, and sealing the deal on the final rating the reader will give. The author NAILED this ending. It was one of the best endings I've ever read in my life--and I've read a lot of books, trust me.

So. This story is a 4.5 read for me. Why not 5 stars? Well, because of this...

Content Warning: There were two scenes I skipped because, well, Arie and Fenn loved each other. And in two specific scenes, their love led them to show it in a "what couples would do on their honeymoon night" kind of way (that sounds so awkward to say, hahaha!). As a Christian, I don't read scenes that include s*x. I'm going to mention the chapters, so if content like this is something you don't want to read but still want to give this book a try, you can skip those scenes. Chapter 24 and Chapter 70 (these CW scenes are only about 1 page long, so I completely skipped the page when I knew where the scene was going, so it's easy not to read it).

Minus the CW, I honestly have no complaints about this book. I. still can't get over how 93% into the story and until the very last page, how I was fighting tears, and just how the author ended the book...this is a story I won't forget for quite some time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of The Ways We Hide. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

I am not usually a fan of historical fiction but I am a fan of Kristina McMorris so thought I’d give the Ways We hide a try. I’m so glad I did. The story of Fen had me captivated from the very first page. There were moments I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breathe, praying all would work out. I felt the fear every time she encountered a German soldier. This book was definitely worth the read, even if you are like me and not usually a fan of historical fiction. You will not be disappointed!

"Everything is better with magic." So says a very wise child we meet in WAYS WE HIDE, and oh, so true. As a performer, I loved the validation that one uses her particular set of skills to provide such great help to the Allied forces. McMorris' research, from MI9's gadgets to a tragedy at the beginning of the book, early in our heroine's life, gives us such great facts, wrapped in a wonderful, and at times difficult, story. In the author's note, McMorris says she often describes historical fiction as "literary Advil", providing a sugarcoating to harsh history. Nothing could be more apt for this book. From the glamour of the stage to the hard knocks of an orphanage and daring escapes, this book took my breath away, made me laugh, and, yes, cry. I couldn't ask for more.

At the beginning of this book we are introduced to Fenna and her career in magic and illusions. From there, the story introduces a potential change for Fenna with an invitation for her to head to Europe to support war efforts. And then the story also goes back and covers a lot of Fenna's childhood.

Her love and understanding of magic tricks and illusionism weave through the story as she applies her skills with MI9 in designing tools to aid in the war efforts. She also finds herself in some missions that introduce danger and intrigue.

There is an interesting connection that weaves Fenna's love of Houdini and magic and illusions through the entire story.

A story of friendship and family with the burdens of a war. Fen has to figure out how to move on after a few devastation’s that she experienced. Well written and worth the read.

In THE WAYS WE HIDE, a terrifying, near-fatal, narrow escape during her childhood in the 1920s turns out to be a predestination of sorts for things to come for Fenna Vos, the daughter of an immigrant Dutch miner in America’s Upper Midwest.

In their native tongue Vos means “fox,” her father taught Fenna. Thus she was already, in the words of author Kristina McMorris, “fated to be inquisitive and friendly yet sly and elusive, a solitary creature not meant for a pack. And like the Arctic fox, whose fur changes color with the seasons, I was adept at fading into the background.”

Good traits for not one, but two, subsequent career paths. Fenna shares a clandestine childhood friendship with Arie, whose family are also Dutch emigres. One day she discovers a gift from him under her pillow: a well-thumbed copy of Houdini’s magic tricks. The little volume, as well as memories of the tragedy she could never have escaped without Arie’s help, will end up shaping her destiny. So, too, will her deep connection with Arie.

Fenna becomes transfixed by the notion of “escaping the inescapable.” Mastering Houdini’s skills of illusion and deflection, peppered with extraordinary moxie, she manages to outwit a series of gatekeepers [you’ll get no plot spoilers in this review] in her youth. Ultimately, she lands on her feet—and on stage, following in Houdini’s footsteps—although she’s most comfortable behind the scenes, devising and designing complex escape illusions for her stage partners.

After a performance one night during one of her tours, she’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to go to England and join an MI9 classified section designing spycraft for the Allied forces and POWs: such as gadgets hidden in buttons, lipsticks, and Monopoly boards.

From the first scene of McMorris’s novel where life and death escapes are offered as stage entertainment (though we hold our breath nonetheless, because an illusionist’s trick can still go horribly wrong), we are led through a series of ever more dangerous offstage life and death escapes, where there is no sure denouement. Escapes from the inescapable must occasionally be improvised or re-imagined on the spot; and Fenna is never entirely sure who to trust. She has been hired for her skills in the art of deception; yet is she herself being deceived by someone? Or by more than one person? Including those in whom she has always placed her trust?

In THE WAYS WE HIDE the stakes are always impossibly high—and then they change, only to grow even higher. War rages on, with a ticking clock, just like a timed escape from a water tank or an airless capsule. Each of Fenna’s narrow escapes, too, are timed or doomed to failure—which would be catastrophic. There is no time to mourn a loss: characters must acknowledge it and move on, or more precious moments will be gone forever. Even true emotions remain hidden; revealed too late. McMorris has written a story of WWII that rings completely true, has no time for sentiment, yet grabs your gut and your heart from the first page, and never lets go.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. The Ways We Hide is a beautiful and breathtaking story of bravery and love. The characters are so well developed and yet human. That this amazing story is inspired by real life events just makes it all the more amazing. This is a testament to just what lengths we will go to for those that matter.

Historical fiction is my absolute favourite genre so I was super excited to get my hands on this book early.

This was a great book and I really liked Fen and was rooting for her the whole way. The way the whole story was set up to use her childhood love of magic/illusion and Houdini was perfect. From her escaping from the orphanage to escaping from Holland during the war to her career before and after the war.

I found the first part of the book a bit slow. Once Fenna was recruited to work for M19 the pace of the book really picked up and it was hard to put down!

My only knock on this story was the ending with Arie (no spoilers here). I really liked his character and was rooting for them as a couple the whole way through. The whole situation in Holland was not really believable but this is a fictional story so I understand the author's spin on this.

Make sure you read the Author's Note at the end. It is fascinating to see how she pulled the story together and did her research. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC of this book.

A tragedy where children were trampled trying to escape a false fire alarm impacted Fen’s life. Her life was spared, thanks to Arie’s help. This experience bound them together for life. Fen also had a fascination with Houdini which led to the stage & then to working for MI9 during WWII.

Ways We Hide, by Kristina McMorris tells the remarkable story of Fen, her fear of closed places, her development of escape trips for the stage, and her work making escape tools for POWs. It is a story of courage and love that defies time and distance.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks LANDMARK Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Where do I begin? This book covers so much and it hooks you at the very beginning. It is like having 3 or 4 books all in one. It is brilliantly written, the story flow works, the characters are amazing and it really involves the reader in the story. This is not the first book that I have read by this author and it will not be the last. I am a huge fan.

This story begins in New York City before WWII. Fenna has been fascinated with the magician Houdini since she was a child and as a young woman she is part of a magician team that entertains all over the country. She is the main person behind the scenes but on stage acts as the assistant. If this was all of the book I would have been pleased but the story evolves when the British government hires her to go to London and work with MI9 developing spy implements that will help downed pilots, POWs, and soldiers and spies in the field. If you are a James Bond fan this will grab you. She connects with an old flame and they work together to try to free a young Jewish girl and others. I do not want to say more but believe me this is a great book for anyone who loves espionage, and action all wrapped up in a web of magic. I loved it and highly recommend it.