Member Reviews
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.
I loved the first book in this series and My Sister's Betrayal is just as good which is a rarity. We get to know the three sisters more and how there very different personalities lead them to continue to survive the war. Now I must wait for book 3..
The follow up book of the The. I thought that was good this is phenomenal as only Roberta Kagan can write. Following the friends through the holocaust, harrowing. Waiting impatiently for the next one, there has to be a next one..
I almost didn’t finish this book. I had problems with the first book but this one made my stomach roll.
All of the characters except Bernie and Anna are just vile.
I disliked Dagna from the first book and she becomes even more repugnant in this book.
There are many violent scenes and while I can accommodate that, they truly made me ill.
Riveting WWII fiction with a fresh perspective on the time. The writing is well-crafted, the pacing comfortable, strong character development and an intriguing plot. An all-around easy to recommend title for historical fiction lovers.
A story of four friends as they navigate the perils of war, we find each is challenged with a variety of circumstances testing their strength, courage, and deciding upon who they can trust. The story is told from each of their points of view, along with additional characters to the story. We learn the harrowing journey of Bernie from Italy to Ravensbruck, Anna is taken from an attic to a forest where she is forced to run for her life, Elica is imprisoned, and Dagna works to gain prominence among the Reich.
Overall, the story was full of twists and turns, but I felt the character development was lacking. The story also seemed to lack an overall plot, although it is part of a series. We follow each character, but not necessarily along a chronological path. Bits and pieces of each character's journey is told and then we jump to another character.
The dialogue felt forced and random acts of sexual violence felt thrown in for effect rather than adding to the story. The story intrigued me, but I did not care for the style of writing.
This is a sequel to Blood Sisters, and I am glad that I read Blood Sisters first in order to get solid background information. I'm not sure how well this would stand up as a stand alone novel as I struggled to remember important details from the previous book. This book ended abruptly, so I'm assuming a third book will be written to continue the story where this one left off.
There were a couple of places in which I had to stretch my belief, such as the amount of obsession about other people that a couple of the characters have. It was also hard to grasp that one character was arrested and on the spot was labeled a lesbian by her capturers who knew nothing about her.
That said, the storyline is engaging and kept my turning the pages quickly to see what will happen next.
I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Another great book by Roberta Kagan.
Four women, the affects of war and what they each do to survive. This is a wonderful second book of the series that follows four women through war, betrayal, survival, death and the affects of an ever changing landscape due to the war.
It is heart-wrenching and intriguing as it follows how each woman deals with the affects of an horrific war. I think it followed on well from the first book and I really enjoyed hearing from each character. It is a well written book and one that will tug at your heart-strings.
Broken Trust
WWII happens and the blood sisters Elica, Anna, Bernie and Dagna are torn apart by it. This second book finds Elica in a desperate situation. Her husband Daniel has been taken by the Gestapo while Elica hides in a closet with her baby son. Elica is willing to sacrifice all to be reunited with her husband.
Elica knows Dagna works with the Gestapo , but she cannot risk taking her half Jewish son with her to ask about Daniel. She leaves him with Bernie who tells her a secret. She is hiding Anna and her family in her attic.
At the Gestapo office Elica tells Dagna that if she helps her find her husband Daniel she will tell her where Anna and her family are hiding.
It is a story of young people in desperate and horrible situations. In a war that is so horrible it turns friends, sisters, neighbors and all against each other. A story where love can turn and where even in the midst of such horror sometimes compassion can be found. A story of secrets, losses and old feelings resurfacing and causing so much heartache.
Anna and her family go on the run and disastrous events happen featuring two of her former friends who are now working with the Nazi's. Who will survive? What happens to Elica, Anna, Bernie and Dagna now? Awaiting the next book to find out the next chapter in their story.
Thanks to Roberta Kagan for another great series, to the book whisperer for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.
The second in her series My Sister's Betrayal picks up shortly after the end of the first novel. It is definitely very helpful to read the first novel as the story is very character driven. Overall I enjoyed the story, but found some of the characterizations felt very repetitive and unfortunately feel a bit flat for me.
A story of a group of ladies and how thier lives intertwined during ww2. How each plays a part in what happens to the others after they became blood sisters at a younger age.
I enjoyed the book. However since this was book 2 and I haven't read the one before it or after it. I don't know if the way the ending happened was done intentionally for the 3rd book or left open for the readers imagination to conclude thier stories.
Overall I enjoyed the way each of the blood sisters own stories impacted the others as they struggled to survive during ww2 in thier own ways.
I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for my review and look forward to reading books 1 and 3 in this series.
Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am an avid reader of historical fiction especially from the World War II era. This is the first book that I have read by this author, the story focuses on four females , Elica, Anna, Bernie, and Dagna whose relationship due to the war and other circumstances has become somewhat estranged. This book was very graphic in its description of the horrors of war, but it also had moments of compassion and true friendship. I felt that this book was somewhat uneven in the several plot lines, probably because this book ended with a true cliffhanger, hopefully the next book will spend more time on the other characters and tie up some loose ends. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in historical fiction, it was not my all time favorite but it was an engaging story.
"Thank you for being my friend"
This line utterly broke me in this, the sequel to The Pact which I enjoyed earlier this year, resolving the cliffhanger and throwing the girls into even more turmoil. Roberta again handles her characters with sensitivity and delves into their depth of emotions as the circumstances force them into new situations. Detailing the happier times makes the despair that they experience, that much harsher.
Another interesting facet of the story was how it explored the effects of a certain mindset spreading insidiously amongst people, convincing them that they were better than the friends they were raised with, that they laughed with, flirted with, ate with. How it slowly sets in, and the boundary gets pushed a little further every time until it’s no longer there. This story is heartbreaking in so many ways but at the same time, you can’t help but hope that it will get better. How much more can the friends endure? I eagerly await the final instalment of this trilogy with the hope that there is at least some happiness in the darkness.
If you are like me and never understood how we got to such a point that World War 2 occurred, you need to read My Sister's Betrayal, book two in The Blood Sister's series. I didn't think the hatred could be me more horrid than in book one. Was I ever wrong!!!! The details in this book brought the horrors of the past to life.
Things that were said and things that were done had my stomach churning. I was unable to control the tears that fell. Manipulation and encouragement allowed people to act in unacceptable, evil ways. People were given permission to be evil just because of someone's religious belief, physical challenges or sexual orientation. It took everything I had not to hate those that judged. I can only hope that we never allow others to twist our beliefs so we treatment of a certain group as if they were trash. Reading My Sister's Betrayal is a great reminder.
Three friends, Anna, Bernie and Elica, made blood oath when the were children. Another girl, Dagna, forced her way in. Dagna was always a supporter of the Nazi party. She becomes more and more vocal, causing problems for her blood sisters.
My Sister's Betrayal takes the reader back to a time we might want to forget, but we need to make sure we never forget. Anna, Bernie, and Elica are trying to survive, to live. Their days are ugly. Their lives are a daily, hourly struggle. I came addicted to the hope that they might survive. We can't always get what we wish for.
i don’t have a whole lot to say about this one. i liked the first installment in the blood sisters series a little better, but this was still a decent, enjoyable read filled with very nicely crafted female characters and a couple storylines that definitely made it a worthwhile read. if anything, my only major qualm would be that the book appears to be a little too ambitious in its scope for my taste — it would have benefitted from focusing on fewer characters, but that’s just my opinion.
i wouldn't say i enjoyed the book as a whole but i did like the historical aspect of it. hearing about the horrors of the concentration camps made me think about life in general and i gotta say Kagan is an incredible author as i rarely feel this way while reading a book that wasn't an absolute five star. it is kind of my fault as i should've read the first book before i read this one as i had to spend a lot of time in whos who which was somewhat annoying. but the dynamics between the characters *chef's kiss*. this story is basically about the lives of Elica, Anna, Dagna, Bernie, Oliver and Daniel, the childhood friends who are now adults living during WWII so i already knew it'd be to die for and i was right.
now coming to the parts i did not like. the writing style just didn't work for me, but that's a me problem. also the plot sometimes became too boring which i'm not very fond of but overall the book was 3.5stars read for me.
<i>Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for me to read and review .</i>
My Sisters Betrayal is the 2nd book in The Blood Sister Series. Much like the first book, I found this book’s writing style hard to get into, but the storyline is still interesting. The writing style of the four protagonists POV is made up mostly by thoughts and feelings, and I wish the actions and dialogue between characters would tell the story more. For me, too many thoughts and feelings make up a good majority of the book.
With that said, the four characters are still very interesting and their stories are intriguing. It will be interesting to see where the author takes their stories in the third installment. Three of the four characters experienced so much heartache in this installment, my heart goes out to them. The fourth one is truly evil, and I hope as the future installments come out, Dagna’s character experiences some sort of karma.
This review was posted to Goodreads manually even though NetGalley would not link the two.
My Sister’s Betrayal by Roberta Kagan
This is book two in Roberta Kagans new serious The Blood Sisters.
I do not want to say too much as I’m afraid I will end up giving too much away but basically, we learn more about and go deeper in to the lives of Anna, Bernie, Elica and Dagna and what they must do to survive the Nazi occupation of Austria during World War II.
I enjoyed this book very much and I cannot wait for the next book in this serious
I would like to thank Net Galley and The Book Whisperer for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
This is the 2nd in a series, and I did not read the first, so there were a lot of characters, and it took me a while to sort them out. The book was very disjointed, going from character to character, each story more miserable than the next. Nazi Germany, so expect horror stories, where even the soldiers you think are going to be nice are not.
The author, I think is trying to tell too many stories and covering too many topics. Also,the ending is a cliffhanger.I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
I am so glad that I got to read the second novel in this series so quickly after finishing the first.
Kagan has a way of drawing you in from the very first page and then leaving you hanging at the edge of a cliff with her very last words.
My goodness I truly have a love hate relationship with these characters. They are written so well and spring to life from the pages but oh how I loathe some of them.
I enjoy how this author writes the story but then shows the inner monologue of the characters. It can be entirely chilling to read but really adds so much depth to the characters.
I would highly suggest reading this book but definitely pick up the first in the series before starting. There is so much that happens before you even crack this book open.
Thanks to Net Galley and The Book Whisperer for the advanced copy. I am throughly looking forward to the next instalment.
I can't believe that Roberta left me hanging-again!! Just when I thought all my questions would be answered, more came up. I don't like to give spoilers in my reviews. Let's just say that Roberta talked about all the blood sisters, but there were a couple of things that surprised me when it shouldn't have. Love her books!! Keep writing, Roberta!