Aptly named The Pact, this new book by Roberta Kagan tells the story of three little girls, one Jewish and two Catholics, who make a blood pact to become blood sisters and always be there for each other.
More as a coming of age book and a lighter read that most of her books, we see the little girls growing up into young women against the background of the years leading to WWII. We live with them the changes within themselves, among themselves and the political changes surrounding them.
Even though the feeling of this book is lighter than the ones you get with the other Ms. Kagan books, i feel that the one that follows in the series won't be this way, due to the cliffhanging ending of this book and the situation portrayed at the ending.
As usual with this author, this book grabs you from beginning to end.

The Pact is a coming of age story during WWII. The novel follows four young girls in Austria as they struggle with class, religion, and the rise of the Nazi party in their country. Overall I found the novel a bit too 'light' for me and would have liked to dig a bit deeper into the character's motivations and thoughts.

the story wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but overall I enjoyed the journey. I felt the writing was a little slow at times, but picked up during the second half. I definitely became attached to several of the characters, which is something I always look forward to in a new read!

Thank you Roberta Kagan for a great read about love, friendship, loyalty and betrayal centered during the rise of Hitler. I was totally immersed in #thepact from the very beginning to the delightfully unexpected end! Brava!! I wish to thank #netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this memorable story. All opinions are my own.

The Pact by Roberta Kagan exposes the reader to a smorgasbord of feelings. We are introduced to 4 young girls in 1929 Austria, who make a pact of “sisterhood”. They promise to always be there for each other, no matter what comes their way. But as they grow up, the differences in their social and economic status as well as religion work to separate them. During this time, we get to experience many emotions, such as, envy, anger, jealousy, revenge, sadness, etc. But this is not a sad book. We get to see love, kindness, forgiveness, etc. Throughout the book we get to see how each of the ladies handled the rise of Hitler and how their lives were changed by events beyond their control. Can friendship survive the destruction of all you held dear? That is the question. I would recommend this book.

It is a good start to a series. I liked that it was about 4 different girls, from different walks in life , but they chose to be sisters. . I liked that it gave more of a background story of each of the giirls. . Some parts of the book were a little bit easy and the dialogue a little bit too simple. I liked that it was about forgiveness, for that is what we do. . We forgive the people we love, Either for their sake or your own sake, or both. I Will continue to read the series. No doubt about that. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

The Pact has a good premise: three very different girls during one time period. It had smidges of a coming of age story, dashes of historical fiction, and lots of young adult elements, all of which would entice young adult readers.

The dialogue seemed rather simplistic and forced sometimes. The girls had a bond, yes, but thinking that the parents never checked up on them or the community didn't see them together required a good bit of suspension of disbelief to make the story work.

The plot is easy to grasp, easy to follow, and I think this is a nice companion piece to many WWII stories (like Night) that are common in classrooms + maturationally appropriate.

It'll be interesting to see how the entire series plays out...


Overall: 3.5/5 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, sex, trauma, murder, alcohol, smoking, prejudice, war, anti-semistism, LGBTQIA+, physical violence

**Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Whisperer for the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This story set in pre-war Austria and follows the lives of four girls, Anna, Elica, Bernie, and Dagna. Even though they are separated by social class and religion, they form a tight “blood bond” of friendship. This innocent but meaningful pact gets tested through the growing anti-Semitic times and simply the act of growing up. Although the plot moved real slow, I was mesmerized by the character development. The story is written well, but it seemed to have an abrupt ending. I would’ve like to see some closure. 3+stars.

Do you like historical fiction set during WWII? It is a favourite genre of mine and I have read many books set during this period as a result. So how does “The Pact” stack up?

I think it does some things well. Getting into the minds of children during this time period of 1929-39 Vienna is not easy. How much would a child know about the world around them and the pressures faced by Jews v. Other Austrians? The social divide between Anna and her friends is captured well and the constraints faced by her father as a Jewish man owning and trying to run a factory. Prejudices in adults as well as children are clearly demonstrated in realistic ways for the most part. I don't see Anna's parents allowing her to go to Berlin in the timeframe given though, they are cautious people and would have understood the political context much better than their daughter.

What dragged this book down from a higher rating was how often things were said or even repeated in the thought world of the characters when the plot needed to keep moving rather than be slowed down by this report on of facts or thoughts. The middle section did drag and the last third could have had more time to go through some of the issues explored in a more holistic way. I also thought it would be a stand alone novel but seems to be part of a series so I was wondering toward the end how a resolution could be reached so close to the end….alas, we have to wait for the next instalment.

Thanks to Net Galley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story focuses on three (four) girls who become 'blood sisters' at 11 and plan to be best friends thier whole lives. Anna starts out a wealthy Jew, her friends Elcina and Bernie are poverty stricken gentiles. This is how the 'original ' conflicts of jealousy and discord occur amongst the girls. As they grow, bigger issues come up such as the Austrian sympathizing with Hitler's Germany, class differences and of course they have to throw in some LBGT. (eyeroll) The story ends on a rather sharp cliffhanger which was rather disappointing.

Pros: the truth is people grow and change and sadly many friends of Jews turned their backs on them when they needed help.

Cons: there was a lot of repeated information and sections that should have been edited out. The lesbian storyline was unnecessary. The idea that lying is so easy and the only way to grow up was just ridiculous.

Overall, I felt like the original appeal of the book was to younger girls but as they get older there is a lot of sex talk that wouldn't be appropriate for that age group. So I am not sure who this book is trying to reach.

I was given the opportunity to read this book as an ARC reader. This is the first book I have read from this author. There is not an opportunity to give a 3.5 rating, which is what I would give.

The story was engrossing; I was involved in the mostly fleshed out lives of the characters. I usually find historical novels very interesting; to see history played out by characters I care about.

I was somewhat frustrated by the sameness and repetitive descriptions of thoughts without it adding anything to the story. There was nothing redeeming about one of the characters and struck me as a one note annoyance.

I wanted to like this more than I did.

Get ready to be transported back in time to Austria right before World War II breaks out! We meet four young girls who take a Blood Sister oath. Anna, the only Jewish girl in the group, often faces prejudice even from within their friendship group. The girls have to navigate their relationships with each other and with their families. The story ended with a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to read the next book.
I was drawn in by the realistic, complex characters. Roberta Kagan did an amazing job of researching the time period. There were a few times that I was yelling at Anna’s dad to sell his factory and leave Austria. I devoured this book in two days. Many thanks to the author, The Book Whisperer and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A story of the bonds of friendship and the power of love. While the book wasn't what I expected, I enjoyed the writing style and storyline. The characters were both lovable and hateful and I enjoyed following them along on their journeys. I will definitely check out the rest of the series as I want to know what happened to everyone!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Book Whisperer for this advanced reader copy.

Set in the years leading up to and including the rise of Hitler, this book focuses upon four girls who make a pact to be blood sisters when they were young. The girls are a diverse group. Anna is wealthy and Jewish. Elica is a natural beauty and poor. Bernie is kindhearted and a lesbian. Dagna is cruelhearted and poor.

I found it a stretch that the girls stayed together as a group as long as they did, but it was a quick read with some twists.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, thank you for this opportunity!
Historical fiction isn't really my cup of tea. So I was actually forcing myself to read this story and I ended up dnf'ing it at 40%.

Set in 1929, Austria, when Nazi,Germany is spreading it's hate and cruelty against Jews. Three little eight year old girls, Anna, Bernie and Elicia nade a blood pact to support each other always and became blood sisters. Anna, a sweet and kind girl, is from a rich Jew family and Elicia is their maid's daughter. Anna loved her friends deeply. Elicia and Bernie are from poor non Jews families. As they grew older their social differences challenges their bond several times. It's their story of survival amid heartbreaks, prejudice, discrimination and finding freedom and happiness.
A superbly written book with intense emotions and painful experiences. Characters are defined throughly. Story of finding happiness and love in hatred filled surroundings. I liked the writing style which is easy to relate. Highly recommended.

I love WWII historical fiction and has high hopes for this book. The premise first of all seemed interesting at first but very shortly into the book I found the writing to be very repetitive and almost simple. Trying to get past that I found a lot of the story to be both improbable and hard to buy into. It felt like the same thing happened over and over (for example one of the characters tried to betray Anna so many times and Anna just kept going back to being “friends” with her).
I appreciate Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

The book began well. Three friends take blood oaths to always be true friends, despite their economic differences.
However, I found most of the characters, except Bernie, to be quite unlikable. I knew what Elica would do and with whom amd I was correct. Daniel was a complete louse and although I don’t wish harm on people, I wish a lot on Dagna.
Anna is too gullible and trusting.
What I found hard to accept was the notion that the main characters, including Ulf, acted like they hadn’t heard much about Hitler, although the time frame in the book I’m referencing was 1937-1938.
This is the first book in the series, but I some issues with it.

A coming-of-age story set in pre-WWII Vienna, The Pact follows three girls from the age of 8 when they make a pact to become "blood sisters." Their promise is to always be there for each other. A fourth girl bullies herself into the group to be close to one of the three. The story follows the girls (three from poor working-class families, one from a wealthy Jewish family) from 3rd grade through high school. The story ends in a cliff-hanger, which will continue when Ms. Kagan releases her next book in the Blood Sisters series.

The Pact set against the background of the rise of the Nazi regime. Focusing on themes of sisterhood, loyalty, jealousy, betrayal, forgiveness, antisemitism and class disparity as the world changes around them. The series would be a great choice for young adults to learn about the emotional impact of the rise of the Nazi regime on young people in Germany, Austria and Europe.

My rating of three stars is because I'm not a fan of YA fiction. That said, the author did not shy away from portraying the emotional impact of the intensifying antisemitic climate that overtakes Austria and the impact it has on the four girls. Thank you to NetGalley, the Book Whisperer and Roberta Kagan for the providing me an advance reader copy of the book. This opinion is my own.

I enjoyed this book for the most part! I thought the writing was amazing, and she did a fantastic job of giving background to each of the girl’s stories. I think I enjoyed that part the most. It definitely felt a bit more like a YA type drama than just a historical text, but that was a positive for me. The book obviously leaves it open for a sequel in the future with that cliffhanger.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Book Whisperer for the e-arc !