In the sequel to The Pact, Roberta Kagan continues to explore the lives of Anna, Dagna, Elica, and Bernie as they struggle with the arrival of the Nazis in Vienna. Kagan continues to highlight the challenges of their friendships through the lens of the early years of World War II, and Kagan continues to bring her characters through life through their petty grudges, their secrets, and their different identities. Kagan’s worldbuilding and character development remains spot-on, and she explores darker topics in this book as part of the consequences of the Nazi occupation. Kagan maintains her strong prose and worldbuilding, juggling the multiple perspectives very well while also introducing new characters and antagonists into the story. Her returning characters appear just as the reader left them in book one, though more scarred and scared than they were before. Kagan brings new groups (Nazis, the Rromani) into the story, bringing Anna, Dagna, Elica, and Bernie into new worlds with strange people and unfamiliar and dangerous situations. Kagan continues to raise the bar for the Blood Sisters series, and I have high expectations for the next book after reading My Sister’s Betrayal.

The second volume in Roberta Kagan's Blood Sisters series, this book continues on with the childhood friends and their struggle to survive Hitler and his brutal Nazi regime. With familiar characters from the first book, they continue on in desperate situations. Well written historical fiction.

The story centers around Anna, Dagna, Bernie, and Elica. While not sisters by birth, they are blood sisters from childhood. They each have different perspectives of Nazi oppression and the war. When the story begins, Anna and her family are hiding in her sister Bernie's attic from the Nazis because they are Jewish. Bernie is not only breaking the law by hiding Anna, she also takes guardianship of her sister Elica's baby, and is lesbian. Elica broke the law by not only marrying a Jew, but having his child. Dagna, who has always worshiped Elica's beauty now hates Elica for marrying a Jew and Anna for being a Jew, is trying to rise the ranks working for the Nazis.

Two of the sisters betray the others. One does out of desperation, the other out of desire.

I could not put the book down. It was interesting and heartbreaking that some of the people were faced with painful decisions and horrific treatment by others. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in another perspective of World War II.

I was given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an awesome read. I loved it so much. Now to read the first book in this set to kind of give me more information. That is not needed this book is awesome on its own. I would highly recommend this book!

The characters weren’t really well developed and the story had some holes. Like why wouldn’t Dagna turn in Ulf. If she knew him from Berlin and that he was in Austria, wouldn’t she know that he and not Helmut would have helped Anna.

I had to try to keep reading this book because it was kind of slow and disjointed.

This genre has been a particular favorite of mine for decades. I recently found out I am 98% Eastern European Jewish so it now holds a much more personal tie. Unfortunately for me the book fell flat. I think it is in part that I didn't know it was the second in a series and feel I would have benefited from reading the first book first. For me, most of the dialogue felt very forced and predictable. I would give another of her books a try because of the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and The BookWhisperer for an advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I found I could catch up and figure things out. The four women are “blood sisters” in Austria during WWII. They all come from different backgrounds and have different priorities. Their expectations of one another come to change as the horrors of the war come to their doorstep. I found it very thought provoking as their intentions could be altered by the circumstances in which they found themselves. I’m anxious to read the next book to get some closure on the characters.

A story of 3 young girls who became blood sisters in their childhood.
Anna, Bernie and Dagna played together and shared everything as youths, sworn friends. But that didn’t last when Hitler demanded that all Jews had to be rounded up, killed or sent to horrific camps where many were murdered, or died due to conditions not fit for humans,

Anna was a Jew. She and Dagna had shared a flat until Anna became pregnant by a non Jew. Dagna was angry with Anna as she couldn’t pay the rent on her own and was forced to move.

Anna married her lover, but the son was, of course, half Jewish and therefore unsafe from Hitler’s mob.
Bernie was willing to help Anna and family, but Dagna worked for the Reich and had always been jealous of Anna’s beauty, so that became a different story!

You will find the story heartbreaking, cruel but nevertheless fascination as it follows the lives of Anna, Bernie and Dagna. A page turner you won’t want to put down. It is very well written and I am anxious to read the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was such a good story. My Sister’s Betrayal by Roberta Kagan revolves around the lives of four girls, blood sisters, who have very different backgrounds. The four girls lives intersect through a series of events that take place when Austria is invaded during the Second World War. Bernie tries her best to protect her friends Anna and Elica. She also tries to warn her about Dagna. The four girls lives intersect but inevitably their experiences take them in very different directions. The story seemed to end abruptly and I am so hoping it means their will a sequel that will tie up some of the loose ends. Overall it was a great read.

I enjoyed #mysistersbetrayal as much as I enjoyed the first in the series, The Pact. Anna, Elica, Bernie and Dagna continue to live through the Nazi regime with varying rates of success. This volume really delves deep into the individual characters and how they feel, react and deal with the situations they find themselves in as well as how they interact with each other. A thank #netgalley and Roberta Kagan for this ebook to read and review. All opinions are my own.

It was great to meet up with familiar characters again and meeting new ones. Some of the story is not as one would have thought that it would have imagined but it rarely does! I can’t wait to read the next book to see how the characters turn out and see what surprises are in store. Thanks for another great book!

There seems to be a trend of bad writers trying to write about the Holocaust. It's a horrible trend as a reader and reviewer because how do you talk about how bad a book is when it's about a horrific historical event? It's a challenge, but I honestly thought this was one of the worst-written books I've read in a long time. The sentences were short and not remotely complex. The characters were one-dimensional and the author spent most of the time telling rather than showing. Maybe I missed something by not reading the previous book, but this was simply terrible.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

4 young girls pledge to be blood sisters and to help whenever they needed it, but this is the time when hitler is in power and jews are not liked

they each will have their own trials to go through some more dangerous than others but one of them betrays them

was really enjoying this story but somewhere in the middle i lost the plot... and i dont really know why...

My Sister's Betrayal follows Blood Sisters Anna, Bernie, Elica, and Dagna. We follow each of their stories living in German occupied Austria. I did find some of the conversations in the book a little repetitive and long winded but in saying that I found it really hard to put down. I was pulled into the stories of each woman as the friendship between them was filled with bitterness, love, compassion, jealousy and of course betrayal. My Sister's Betrayal finished on a cliff-hanger, and I can’t wait to read the next book in The Blood Sisters series.
I would like to thank The Book Whisperer, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this complimentary copy for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Roberta Kagan is back in her finest form. This book, My Sister’s Betrayal, is the second in the series. I think that this second book was far stronger than the first. Ms. Kagan had me on the edge of my seat the final half of the book. I cannot wait to read the third installment. She did an excellent job of developing the characters. I have read many books on the holocaust, but never one that included the Romany, how they lived, and how they were treated by the Nazis. I found this very informative . I gave this book 5 stars. I would recommend it highly.

Absolutely loved this second installment in this series! For the first book, you are left with a MAJOR cliffhanger, and its finally answered in this second installment. You will get to catch up with all the characters, and see how things are changing for them. Life and backstabbing are abundant in this series, and I can't wait for book 3.

I would like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this story.
First, I loved the cover and I must say it is what attracted me to the story before I even read the blurb. I loved the colors and the illustration because it sets the scene for the storyline.
I liked the characters especially Bernie, Elica and Anna. I think that they were the courageous ones of the story. I came into this book without reading the first one so all the characters were new to me. I thought that the Nazi antagonists were really horrifying. Ulf and his cronies were downright evil.
I think that the author was good at painting the period as one of horror and not as one of golden sunshine. The camp scenes made me feel like I was there with the characters. Ulf's evil made me put down the book.

From the first page I was completely hooked with the story. This is a great second installment in the series. The writing and the plot was amazing. This book had me turning the pages so fast to see what would happen. The ending was amazing. I'm looking forward to next book!
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.

This book details the lives of many people during WW2 including those loyal to the Germans and those fighting for the Resistance.

My Sister’s Betrayal by Roberta Kagan was the second book in The Blood Sisters series. The first book ended with a cliff hanger so I was so excited to read the next book in this series to find out what would happen. I was glad that I didn’t have to wait too long. The four blood sisters were now grown up and living separate lives in Nazi occupied Austria. Roberta Kagan masterfully set the stage for the atrocities Anna and her family, Bernie and Elica would be forced to endure under the Nazis in this book.

Elica had reconciled her life with Daniel due to Anna’s selfless encouragement. Daniel and Elica were now happily married, living with Daniel’s parents in their home and raising their young son Theo when fists pounded on the door one night. The Gestapo barged into Daniel’s parent’s home, shot Daniel’s father and forced Daniel and his mother into a waiting truck. Elica and Theo had hidden in the back of the closet in Theo’s room. Paralyzed with fear, Elica dabbed her baby’s mouth with liquor she found in the closet to keep him from crying out. Luckily, Elica and Theo were not discovered by the Gestapo. When Elica finally emerged from the house she made her way to Bernie’s apartment. Elica’s plan was to leave Theo with Bernie and go to the police station where Dagna now worked with the Nazis. She would beg Dagna to help her find Daniel. Would Elica be able to convince Dagna to help her find and rescue Daniel?

Anna and her family found themselves beholden to Ulf for saving their lives. Ulf had rescued Anna and her family from a Gestapo raid. He brought Anna and her family to a forest far from Vienna and gave them food, water and blankets. Ulf was torn, though. He loved Anna, or at least he thought he did. Anna was Jewish, though, and having a relationship with her went against everything the Nazi party preached and stood for. Ulf was torn between his desires for Anna and his loyalty to the Nazi party. Even though Ulf had begun to question the violent acts he had witnessed by the Nazis, he did not want to disgrace himself and loose his reputation and status with the Nazis. Should Anna trust Ulf to keep her and her family safe? What did he expect from her in return?

After Elica entrusted Bernie with Theo’s care and survival, Bernie made the decision to take Theo to Italy. If the Nazis discovered Theo’s existence, they would surely kill him, after all Theo was half Jewish. Bernie managed to get Theo to Italy. She left him in the orphanage where her girlfriend Viola worked and promised to return to Italy and Viola as soon as she could. Bernie knew she had to return to Vienna to continue helping Anna and her family who she thought were still hidden in her attic. When Bernie arrived back in Vienna, she was alerted that her house had been raided. The Gestapo had found Anna and her family. Who turned Anna and her family in? Bernie discovered that her life was in danger as well. The Gestapo was searching for her as well. Bernie’s first instinct was to get back to Italy as quickly as she could but when she realized the train going to Italy would not be leaving for several hours Bernie decided to go to Paris. From Paris, it would be easier to get to Italy. Would Bernie be reunited with Viola? Will she be able to get back to Italy safely?

At one time, Dagna would have done anything for Elica. That all changed though when Elica left Dagna to go back to Daniel. Dagna could not afford the apartment she and Elica shared without Elica’s salary. That forced Dagna to move into a minuscule basement apartment. She was not happy with her situation or with Elica. Dagna started to go to secretarial school at night and soon became very skilled at typing and short hand. Before long, Dagna found herself working at the police department with the Nazis. Dagna had always been a Nazi sympathizer and a Jew hater. When Elica came to the police station looking for Dagna, Dagna was surprised but disgusted to see Elica. All Dagna wanted to do at this point was to use her power over Elica and make her life as miserable as she could. Dagna no longer worshipped Elica. She wanted to do whatever she could now to punish Elica for everything she did to her.

Living through World War II, all four blood sisters were forced to do things they probably would not have even considered if times had been different. The war had turned the friends against one another. Some of the things they did they were not proud of but they did them to survive, help others and get revenge. My Sister’s Betrayal portrayed unspeakable atrocities performed by the Nazis. Each of the blood sisters were now living their own lives. Their lives were full of fear and the desire to survive. There was loss, death, betrayal, secrets and a glimmers of hope. The chapters alternated to tell each girl’s story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. Once again, there was a cliffhanger at the conclusion of My Sister’s Betrayal. I can’t wait to read what happens next. Hopefully, the wait won’t be too long before the next book is available to read. I highly recommend this book. Publication is set for April 19, 2023.

Thank you to Book Whisperer for allowing me to read the ARC of My Sister’s Betrayal by Roberta Kagan through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.