The pact is between three girls and a fourth who forces her way into the group. There is an opening scene in 1940 and then the book goes back in time to 1929. The girls are eight years old at this time. We will follow them as they grow up. One girl is Jewish, the others are not. The Jewish girl's family is wealthy, the others are not. There will be good times as well as bad. There will be opportunities for loyalty or betrayal. The end is the conclusion of the opening scene. I had lost track that this is book one. I believe that I will be looking for book two as there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. I read an electronic version courtesy of NetGalley.

Well, this book sure did end with a cliffhanger!! I absolutely cannot wait until the next book in the series is released so I can find out what happened. This is a historical piece, but not in the sense of many books of the time period. I loved reading how 4 friends from unlikely situations became friends and what that friendship and pact meant to all of them.

The Pact by Roberta Kagan was beautifully written I have read many books by this author and she has never disappoints. The Pact is the first book in the new The Blood Sisters series and is about Love, Sisterhood, Compassion, Jealousy, Bitterness and Forgiveness these are all packed into this beautifully written story about three young girls Anna, Bernie, and Elica and set in Austria in 1929,

Anna is from an affluent Jewish family, while Bernie and Elica are from poor Austrian families who barely make ends meet. As they get older, their social differences become all too real.

With infectious Jew-hate-laden rhetoric from Nazi Germany spreading into Austria, it is only a matter of time before their bond of friendship gets severely tested.

But, how strong is a bond sealed in blood between them all?

WoW......This is So good and I am looking forward to the next book in the promising series.

I enjoyed the story itself, but the writing just felt off to me. The characters voices did not seem authentic nor do i feel the way they interacted and spoke was consistent with what you would expect from them at the various ages they were throughout the story. This took me completely out of the story many times. There was over-repetition of the same themes - jealousy, hate of Jewish people, division of classes, etc. I also think this could use a thorough edit for grammar and phrasing - so hopefully the fact that I was reading an early copy means there is still some editing going on.

I am giving a 3 starts because it was a DNF for me, I read 40%of the book, and still nothing was happening, I was struggling to try to get through it. I like to read books set during WW2, I like to read books that make me feel a lot of different emotions, but this one did not make me feel anything. So far it was all the same about the girls getting older, it was boring. It felt like a text book, I felt like someone was just telling me something that was happening, instead of narrating a story.

Three young girls create a friendship bond in Germany in the early 1930’s. Anna was a Jewish girl raised by a family whose father owned a small factory.

A fourth girl tried to join Anna, Elisa, and Bernie but Dagna felt like an outsider in the group and was jealous of Anna and her family’s wealth. Dagna leaned strongly towards the Young Nationalist Party headed by the new Chancellor, Adolf Hitler.

Although Anna’s father adhered to all government edicts and supported the government, he was always confronted with surprise inspections and other government intrusions into his business.

Ultimately his factory is taken over and his family’s properties are commandeered, the family is put out into the street penniless. Anna and her parents are sent to a special “reeducation camp”.
Jealousy from a young girl leads to family imprisonment. Sadly many of the issues faced by Anne Frank are paralleled by Anna and her family. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

I loved this book! The trials and tribulations of Gentile and Jewish girls from youn kids to older teenagers in the mid 30s and into the 40s in Austria and Germany. It is a heart touching and very upsetting. It is totally worth the read. Thank you Roberta for the great book!

The Pact (The Blood Sisters #1) by Roberts Kagan was a most engaging book. I was immediately drawn into the story, immediately made a connection with the characters and was fully captivated until the very end. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have read many books by Roberta Kagan. Her creative mind never ceases to amaze me! She is a masterful storyteller. The Pact was the first book in this new series and in my opinion it definitely set the stage for the other books to follow.

Three young girls, Anna, Elica and Bernie, had grown up in Austria during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. They had been best friends for as long as they each could remember. The three girls were as different from one another as could be but they hardly noticed the differences when they were young. Anna was of the Jewish faith and her family lived in a nice house and lived a comfortable lifestyle. Years ago, Anna’s parents had lived through a pogrom in Russia and had emigrated to Austria for a better life. Her father had built his factory business from the ground up and worked hard to make it successful. All of Anna’s father’s hard work paid off and Anna was rewarded with everything she could have ever wanted. Anna had a beautiful home, nice clothes and toys, piano lessons and many opportunities that her friends did not have. To Anna, though, her friends were more important than any materialistic things. Bragging or making her friends feel jealous was not part of Anna’s nature. Anna was smart, quiet, a good listener and confidant and lived by the expectations and rules her parents expected her to follow. Elica was the prettiest of the three friends. She had beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. Elica’s mother worked for Anna’s parents as their maid. As the girls got older, that became an embarrassment for Elica. Bernie was quite athletic and enjoyed playing sports. She was loyal and knew how to keep a secret. Both Elica’s and Bernie’s families had a hard time making ends meet. They both lived in a poorer neighborhood than Anna and they were Christians by faith. None of those differences distracted the three girls from the love they felt for each other. There was nothing that they wouldn’t do for one another. They felt so strongly about those feelings, that when the girls were eight years old, they made a pact with one another. Each girl cut herself and shared their blood with each other to become blood sisters.

Then the Nazis invaded Austria. Jewish propaganda and hate started to spread. Anna, Elica and Bernie remained best friends but as they grew older, social differences started to emerge between them. Elica had always been a little jealous of Anna and all she had. That jealousy surfaced and interfered with their relationship. Anna was usually the one that was eager to fix things and forgive and forget even when it meant swallowing her pride or going against her parent’s wishes. All three girls never forgot the pact they made to be blood sisters. That was the glue that held their friendship in tact. Would the girls allow the Nazis to strip away the love they felt for one anther and the special pact they made as children? Could the Nazis’ hatred for the Jewish people and the propaganda they were spreading alienate one girl against another?

Of all the characters in The Pact, I really admired Anna and Bernie the most. I disliked Dagna and everything she stood for. Dagna was mean, a follower, jealous of Anna and Elica’s friendship and a troublemaker. The Pact was about friendship, family, trust, forgiveness, secrets, jealousies, and betrayal. In my opinion, Roberta Kagan, was able to paint a very realist picture of the political climate in Austria and Germany during the time when the Nazis first made their presence known. She was also able to portray each one of Anna’s, Elica’s, Bernie’s and Dagna’s flaws and attributes in a way that made them familiar, unique and like I knew them all. I loved how Roberta Kagan made the ending into a cliffhanger. It makes me want to read the next book in this series even more now. I really enjoyed reading The Pact and highly recommend it.

Thank you to The Book Whisperer for allowing me to read The Pact by Roberta Kagan through Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Roberta Kagan does it again with another fast paced book about the lives of three young girls in Vienna beginning in the 1930’s. Best friends and blood sisters, one “wanna be” joins their ranks, although never truly belongs. From different backgrounds and different religions they come face to face with the hate of Nazi Germany. It is a quick read, a real page turner, especially at the end. The concluding pages will leave you spellbound.

In Vienna, three girls, best friends in school form a blood pact to seal the friendship forever. This is all in the context of rising Nazi Germany and its anti-Jewish sentiment which is also spreading in Austria. The reader accompanies the fate of these three girls till early adulthood. The fact that Anna is Jewish and wealthy, while the other two are poor complicates many typical coming-of-age experiences. The topics covered are friendship, love, jalousies and forgiveness.
The book brings to life how anti-Jewish propaganda slowly infiltrated the atmosphere and how people changed their views and behaviours towards people they knew well. On the other hand, it also shows that they are always true friends.

Well-written, engaging, historical fiction. This has wonderful character development and excellent pacing. Definitely a book I can recommend to others!

I enjoy historical fiction set in this time period and this story did keep me interested. The story flowed pretty quickly, the writing was ok and the characters were somewhat developed. I found the dialogue uncomfortable at times and overall the writing was choppy. It was an entertaining read but it didn't stick with me long..

A good read about friendship with others of different cultures during troubled times.
Good historical fiction.
Also for teens as well as older adults.

I received this advanced copy from NetGalley. This is a WWII Historical Fiction novel set in Vienna based on the friendship amongst 3 women who couldn’t be more different. Anna, a Jewish girl and daughter from a very wealthy family. Elica, a gentile who is incredibly beautiful, but poor; Bernie, a gentile who can’t be bothered to follow norms and holds true to her passions. Together, they make a pact as blood sisters and you see how their friendship evolves through the years. I found the characters to be well described and relatable, yet I found the book to be long winded at times. Although the plot captured and held my interest, I feel that certain dialogues were repetitive and repeated as a way to lengthen the book. The ending leaves you in suspense for the next book within the series. I plan to read the next one when it’s published because I must know how it ends.

This beautiful story begins with three girls from very different lives. Told over a period of a few years she shows us the difficulties of being Jewish, or poor in 1930s Germany. I love the way the author took the time to build up the lives of the girls early life leading to the challenges of their late teens/early adult lives. The flow in which the author wrote was enough to reel and keep me in. This is my first Roberta Kagan book and I can’t wait to read more by her.

Roberta has done it again. I don't want to give away spoilers, but my mouth was wide open at the end. Totally unexpected. Thank you, Roberta!

Three young girls in Germany form a promise, a solemn vow, to always help and support each other. When WWII starts, this is a difficult thing to do especially since one of the girls is Jewish and the others are not. The young women are from different socioeconomic levels and follow different paths in life. How they relate to each other and conduct their lives makes a compelling story that is hard to stop reading.

The characters are three-dimensional and seem realistic, as does the setting and plot. This is one of Roberta Kagan’s best, a great read.

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. Wow! Talk about riveting- this story is bittersweet and heartbreaking and so amazing! All the characters are flawed and so true to life in this historical fiction with twists everywhere! This is a total slant on the years leading up to WWII. I recommend this story to readers who enjoy historical fiction.

So well written, I was so invested in the characters. It ended way too abruptly. I can only assume there will be a sequel, wish it was out today! Roberta never ever disappoints!

I will start by thanking Netgalley for the ARC. I am a huge fan of historical fiction.

Full disclosure - I almost stopped reading this book.. The storyline did eventually grab my attention and I am glad that I stuck with it. The ending was perfect for a series. I will be looking for the next one in the series when it comes out.
Why I almost stopped reading this book is on my personal preference and not a reflection of the author. I found the dialogue to YA like but with a mature topic. I understand that is how the character were suppose to be which is why I said the issue with this book is my personal preference and not a reflection of the author's writing. I am not a fan of immature characters and usually do not read them. But the story itself is beautiful and I want to know what happens to these characters.