Having read the first book in The Blood Sisters series and not enjoying it, I should have known better than to read this one. I think I need to take a break from reading WWII historical fiction books because I am becoming too critical of books in that genre. I did not connect at all with the characters and the story did not pull me in and hold my attention. I know there is another book to be released in this series, but I am done. I don’t think I can swallow another story. I do, however, believe that the lives of individuals who were willing to do so much and risk their lives to fight the horrors of the Holocaust need to be told. Their efforts matter and I appreciate their selfless dedication and strong sense of loyalty.

Thank you to NetGalley and Roberta Kagan Publishing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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Having requested this on Netgalley, I soon realised that it was the 2nd book in The Blood Sisters series., so I purchased The 1st book, The Pact, and read it to catch up on the story.
I loved the story in both books, and the ending in The Pact was a complete cliffhanger, so I was delighted that I had book 2 ready to go.
I loved following the lives of the 4 girls, Elica, Bernie, Anna, and Dagna. All leading very different adult lives in Nazi occupied Austria.
Elica, although unlikable for the most part, pays a strong price for loving a Jewish man, and there are many times that you just have to feel sorry for her
Bernie was probably the most likeable of all the girls. Always knowing that she was somehow different to the rest of the girls, Bernie tried to keep the friendship together for them all, and always went out of her way to help the girls in time of need. So reliable, but probably paid the ultimate price for her fierce loyalty.
Anna, the only one of Jewish religion amongst the girls, found herself needing to escape Austria with her family and in doing so, got separated from her mother, father and brother and found herself needing to hide deep the woods to try and keep herself alive.
Dagna was a product of her environment. A hater of Jews from a young age, Dagna was the most dangerous of the girls. Always looking out for herself, and not caring who she hurt to get what she wanted, least of all Anna.

The book highlighted some of the most awful atrocities of WWII, from the Nazi invasion in Austria, to the horrific acts by the Gestappo, and the horrifying details of the concentration camps, I’ll look forward to the next book.

Thanks to The Book Whisperer for the copy.

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Roberta Kagan

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was not disappointed by this next book. It carried on the story nicely. I will be very interested in reading th next book in this series.

I love Roberta Kagan’s writing. She develops strong characters and realistic settings. Her k owl edge of the Holocaust teaches me more of what I thought I knew. But what impresses me the most is her ease in storytelling. She is always a “must read.”

A brilliant story of betrayal and the characterisation is great and kept me engaged. It's a very emotional read.

We meet the girls in Nazi occupied Austria. Where Elica is living with her husband, son and her husband’s family. The Nazi’s come and kill the men but Elica manages to keep her baby quiet during the raid.
Afterwards Elica entrusts Bernie with the baby to take him somewhere safe as he isn’t in Austria. Bernie takes him to an orphanage run by her girlfriend in Italy.
Anna and her family are saved from the roundup by Ulf who then drops them in a forest. Ulf can’t make up his mind if he lives or hates Anna.
I don’t want to spoil the whole story but the novel keeps you engaged.

This is the second book in the series Blood Sisters and I am still unsure of this series. I am an avid fan of historical fiction novels but I feel this does not read like a typical. Historical fiction. It reads like.a fluff read. It is an easy read. This is not good or bad but an observation as it is not something I see often in this genre. This is a fast paced novel which was nice surprise. Though I will finish the series, I am not sure I like this type of writing combined with such a heavy topic.

This is a very good series and I was excited to read this second book. It did not disappoint. It is well written and describes the atrocities the sisters endured.
Many thanks to The Book Whisperer and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Continuing from the first book in the series, I really enjoyed this one. These were my first books from Roberta Kagan and I'll definitely watch for more!

I really looked forward to this book. The second book in a series called the Blood Sisters. I absolutely loved the first book. So if you have not read it - please do!
My Sister's Betrayal was a tough book for me. Like the title states there is betrayal in this book between the four girls. But Hitler is getting deeper into his horrible treatment of the Jews, so that also makes this book sad. I don't know why, but I kept hoping that the girls that had some bad characteristics as children would become better women. But they did not, The personalities of the girls stayed very consistent as they got older.
The details around the horrible events in the concentration camps was difficult for me to read. I had become attached to the characters in the first book. I know these things really happened in our history, but it is hard to read. I hope that they last book in the series is as good as the first one and not so hard to read.

This is book two. It is the continuing story of four young women. The first part of the book recaps the end of book one. More depth and information is added. Since it is timed later in the WWII era the intensity is increased. I read an electronic copy courtesy of Net Galley.

I've never read any of Roberta Kagan's books before, and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to read her book via Netgalley for an honest review. Any fan of Kristin Harmel, Pam Jenoff or Kristin Hannah will love this novel. This book is the second book in a series, but I did not read the first book and it could very easily be a stand alone.
From the start, Roberta Kagan set the terrifying scene of the Gestapo knocking at the door. It's WWII and Austria is under Nazi occupation.
4 childhood friends. A blood friendship has taken a turn. One Jewish, one married to a Jewish man, one a lesbian hiding her Jewish friend and family, and the last a stout Nazi police officer.
So many twists and turns in this book. Well researched and well written. I don't want to give away any spoilers, it's such a good read for any liver of historical fiction I highly recommend:

Wow! Not at all what I expected. Really good read but be prepared for the unexpected from the first page.

Continuing where the first book of the series ended, we found the four blood sisters in different paths but always interconnecting one to another. The actions of one of them impacts immensely in the lives of the other three, with deadly and dangerous consequences for all of them.
Even though the story continued to captivate me, at times it felt repetitive and some of the dialogues were stilted and feeling a little like content fillers.
The book shows that nobody lives a black and white life, there are many shades of gray that come to the surface when your life is in peril.
I do want to continue reading the next installment in the series.

The plot and storyline is great, and the author gives out a lot of information about the main characters from the beginning, but some of the dialogue needs to be reworked. There’s some redundancy and it makes it difficult to really get into the story.

2nd.book in Trilogy is as good as the 1st.one,if if not better.
Anna,is now on the run as an SS officer is searching the forests for her.
He has killed her parents, after helping them escape from the Nazi's,after finding them hiding in Bernie's attic.
Bernie,is in one of the camps,trying to survive,after getting caught with no official papers on a train to Paris.
Anna,is living with some Romanian gypsies & just trying to survive day to day.
Roberta Kagan is masterful,the way she draws you in to the story with a super plot & dynamic characters.
As per usual, hated to see novel end,but on to the 3rd.book,which I will not want to put down either.

Once again another great novel from Roberta Kagan. Great plot, writing and characterization. A great second book in this series of World War 2. I highly recommend this to any one who enjoys WW2 novels.

As this was a sequel to a previous work, I was not surprised to feel like there was something missing as I read this work. It felt like there wasn't just a small something, though, but quite a lot that I had missed by not reading the first book. I would have enjoyed this more if it could have had more standalone power for those of us who hadn't already been introduced to the first work, because this did not make me more inclined to then go back and read from the beginning of the story of these four girls.

The writing style of this book is very disjointed, and the dialogue feels forced and unnatural. I'm not sure if it was written in English or translated, so this may be part of the issue.