This audiobook has it all! Romance, espionage, sorrow, grief, fear, friendship and the unbreakable bonds of love.
This book immediately pulls you in, the characters are so interesting and relatable. This book is the epitome of a book lovers book! If you’re not a bookworm yet, you’ll definitely understand how a great novel such as this encourages people to read even more.
This story will live on with you well after you’ve finished it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to this awesome book.
#NetGalley #Goodreads #bookloversbook #fivestarread #HachetteAudio #KateThompson

This book swept me back in time to World War II and occupied Jersey, a small island which is part of the Channel Islands off the coast of England, who suffered their own fate during the war years.

The Wartime Book Club tells the story of Bea and Grace, best friends on the island since their childhood days, and that of their fellow islanders and how they survived the war years through heartbreak, bravery and resistance.
Bea, a local postwoman, suffers from a loss early on in the story and it is this turning point that leads her to implement her own form of resistance against the Germans and the power they hold. Grace becomes involved in her own way, as a local librarian she starts a book club, heavily censored by the Germans of course. The book club and the library become a haven for many residents as they try to survive the hardships and devastation the war brings. And of course, there is some romance!
A book of loyalty, love, bravery and strength set in a gorgeous part of the world. The narrator, Imogen Church was fabulous to listen to, she conveyed the emotions and feelings with her narration and I could easily distinguish between characters, with great expression displayed.
I recommend to all historical fiction fans, The Wartime Book Club brings real events into fiction. The author discusses this quite in depth as an after note. It was so informative. My knowledge of this time and events was expanded by this book and I learnt such a lot about Jersey in the process, a fascinating read!

The Wartime Book Club begins in 1940 as German occupation begins on the island of St Helier, Jersey. The story revolves around best friends Grace, the town librarian, and Bea, the local postwoman. Switching back and forth from each perspective is each woman's arduous and heartbreaking time through the rest of war.

Thoughts: I think going into this book I was expecting the "wartime book club" to be a bigger plot point. So it was a little disappointing that the book club was such a small part. I very much enjoyed the book club meetings because it was such solace for the townspeople in attendance. Overall I just wasn't prepared for how bleak the book would be. I did really love Grace and Bea's friendship, strength, and resilience. It was obvious how much research the author did and that is also very much appreciated. I really enjoyed the banned book chapter starters with the reason for the banishment.

I enjoyed this book as an audiobook and thought the narrator did an excellent job. It was easy to distinguish Grace and Bea's voices.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story about two best friends living on the Island of Jersey during WWII. Grace is a librarian tasked with keeping the library open after the head librarian went to war. Bea is a postal worker, the only female mail carrier on the island. The two women could not be more different, but they have an unbreakable bond that keeps them together through many hard events. During the war both women do their part to help the resistance and try to keep their friends safe. This story was beautiful, and as to be expected of a book set during WWII, filled with so much heartache and sadness. A beautiful story about the power of books, friendship, and hope during dark times. I loved that this book was inspired by real life events, and all the information and pictures at the authors note at the end.

I was so happy to see Kate Thompson had written another book. I really enjoyed The Little Wartime Library and the idea of a book club is what got my interest.

This book is about so much more than just a book club and I love the way Thompson weaves books into every aspect of life during war time.

Books can unite us in so many ways and this book is an excellent representation of just that. During good times, bad times, challenging times, books can bring us all together, helping us pull together for the common good.

If you like books about friendship, bringing people together despite differences, and overcoming challenging times, this is the book for you. I loved it.

Imogen Church is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. Not only does she do an excellent job narrating, but her talent in changing her voice and inflections brings the story and characters to life in such a wonderful way.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for the ALC. All views are my honest opinion.

This amazing story of war, books, love, lost, hope, and so much more is based off true events. Following the story of Bea and Grace, this beautifully written story will keep you captivated from the first page. The way the story is written you will feel like you are part of this story.

I was privileged to receive an arc of the audiobook of The Wartime Book Club. Some times books with such tough topics don’t work as an audiobook. Not this book. This was a perfect book to listen to. I could feel each emotion as the narrator read. I cried, laughed, and at times wanted to scream at what many women including the 2 FMC went through. This is a great book to educate yourself, and get a glimpse of what women went through during WWII.

I plan to buy a physical copy of this book. I will tell everyone to read this amazing book. 5⭐️ for me.

This is one of the absolute best WWII Historical Fiction novels that I have read. It is the story of best friends, Bea and Grace, during the Nazi occupation of the Isle of Jersey during WWII. The idea of a librarian hiding banned books from the Nazis and using books to help people get through such a horrible time drew to pick this book up but the passion and resilience of the people of Jersey kept me reading. With so many of the book characters based on actual people from Jersey it felt so real. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I am always amazed by the amount of research that goes into these books and the postscript and bibliography after the actual story in this book shows that Kate Thompson put an enormous amount of work and care into writing this. There is so much information given after the story that I put this book down with a whole list of new books to dive into on the Channel Islands. This is my favorite book I have read this year.

As for the audio version of the book O really enjoyed the narrators. So many times you feel like the narrator is just simply reading the words on the page when you get an audiobook but these narrators really captured the feelings and emotion of the words on the page. They drew me in so much. It was so good!!!

A harrowing tale of bravery, resilience, and perseverance of good over evil. As we follow Grace in her quest to hide stories from Nazis, we meet engaging characters and learn how they're surviving the invasion. The narrator's voice is warm and charming, even during the more intense parts of the stories, almost like a warm hug, and I very much enjoyed the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Wartime Book Club" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audio book. This was a very long book, very long but interesting. We got to know Grace and Bea and the struggles that went on in Jersey during the war. Overall I liked the book and the narration was just okay. Since it was so long I don't think I would have finished the print book.

Best friends go through the occupation of the Channel Islands together. They share loss, birth, secrets, and lies. One makes the ultimate sacrifice for the other giving herself over to the Nazis. Who will make it home, and who will have to leave to have a future? Good story but the epilogue had some details that seemed off with the ages of kids and grandkids.

To be honest, in the beginning, I was struggling to want to continue. I just wasn't connecting to the story, and I almost DNF'd. I decided to give it a bit more time, and after the 35% mark or so, I started to enjoy and get into this story. Ultimately, I am glad I gave it a solid try and didn't give up because I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. Historal fiction, especially those around war times, is not typically enjoyable for me. You could tell the author did a lot of research, and that shines through the story and the references and extras at the end of the book.
This was not my first experience with the narrator, and as with her other work, Imogen was great and brought the characters to life. She is a favorite narrator for me when it comes to UK reads.
Thank you, NetGalley, and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Kate Thompson for the chance to listen to this amazing audiobook.

I truly love reading historical fiction and I really enjoyed the different perspective of this title! This story truly grabs at your heartstrings! It is so emotional and beautifully written.

In The Wartime Book Club we follow Bea and Grace on the Isle of Jersey during the occupation. Both women use bravery and their everyday jobs to help make life bareable for the island and fight against the Nazis in their own amazing ways.

While reading this novel I couldn't help but love these strong women and feel so much for what they were going through. Grace and Bea were both very remarkable women. The Wartime Book Club was a very insightful, emotional and beautiful book! Highly recommend !

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really liked it, stuck with me & would recommend
Part wartime drama, part small town snapshot, part emotional journey, I really enjoyed this extensively researched historical fiction story. Grace and her best friend Bea, try to cope with the realities of and subvert the Nazi occupation of their very small but highly strategic island during WWII. All of the sub-characters along with Grace and Bea were beautifully written with uniqueness and realness. I felt very attached to these characters. They each illustrated the small subversive acts, sacrifices, and grave danger each and every islander was in, and how they coped in their own way. The Wartime Book Club centered on themes of family, friendship, community, sacrifice, wartime desperation, love, the power of books, and resilience and I would recommend this to anyone who likes stories about strong women or historical fiction.

The narrator, Imogen Church, did a good job, I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when, with what expression/intension, and the appropriate accent. It was a pleasure to listen to.

Thank you to Hachette Audio, NetGalley, and author Kate Thompson for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The Wartime Book Club is out April 9, 2024.

One thing that always astounds me about historical fiction novels is the amount of research that goes into them. A well written historical fiction attests to the passion the author has for the subject. This is abundantly evident in this book.

This book was based on true events and real people during the Nazi invasion of The Isle of Jersey during WW2. It focuses on Grace La Mottée, the sole librarian on the island, and her best friend Bea and their unrelenting efforts to help boost morale of their fellow islanders in any way they could.

“And it was then she realized, readers weren’t reading a book. They were inhabiting a whole new world.”

Do yourself a favor and read this incredible novel. The story of these islanders deserves to be shared.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.

This is a powerful, entertaining, emotional read. Grace and Bea are interesting, intriguing, complex, wounded, entertaining, relatable characters. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment – there are all kinds of characters in this story. Thompson writes her story with a deft hand that manages to have the reader both feeling the characters’ pain and wanting to shake them. Without going into great detail, the reader is sucked into what the world on Jersey during the occupation and what Grace went through during her imprisonment. I loved the nod to the main characters in The Little Wartime Library 😊. This book took me on an emotion ride – I laughed, cried, cheered, and got angry. The book and its word are easy to get into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The War Time Book Club is an excellent book set on the island of Jersey during the occupation of World War II. Bea, post mistress, and Grace, librarian, are best friends that live on the island. A book club was started to help the morale of the island folk. It showed that books are important. But even more so, in times of war. Books help ward off boredom, allow escape into a new world, and discover new things. The people of Jersey needed all the help they could get to escape into the books.

A unique aspect of the book is that each chapter starts off with a banned book. Most are well-known books that were considered against the Third Reich. The book is well written with many details to make the characters likable or not.

One thing I greatly appreciate about most historical fiction is the facts and author's notes at the end. This one, even includes how the book came about and when the research happened.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hatchett Audio for this Advanced Reader Copy. The opinions are my own.

The narration of this audiobook was not for me. I really wanted to like it because I generally love historical fiction books set in WWII England, but I did not enjoy this narrator’s voice or style.

So, you know when you start to read a book, and it brings you to new places? Carries you away? Makes you forget about what is going on in YOUR life, and transports you to the lives of those in the BOOK?
Well, that is what happened here...and it was astonishing!
I only wish I could go back and read it again for the very first time.

This is a very SPECIAL book!
And, it has several remarkable main characters, as well as an array of supporting characters too...and if you are like me, you are going to fall in love with them too!!

#TheWartimeBookClub by #KateThompson is one of the best books I've read in a long time!
Not only did I love the book, but I loved the characters, the town (and it's people), and became very invested in the lives of everyone in the book!

To me, when a book makes you FEEL everything, it is a winner.
And this one made me feel in spades!
I laughed. I cried (sobbed out loud, at work... for multiple parts of it...) =0
I cheered them on, and felt my heart break too... when things didn't go as planned...

It is told in 2 POV's with Grace and Bea as the 2 FMC's, but with so many more ancillary players...
They grew up on a beautiful, small island, off the Channel Islands called St. Helier, Jersey. But when Hitler's people come and occupy the space...well, everything changes.
Grace runs the town's library, and Bea the post-office. But during wartime, everything changes...

Such a beautiful story, spanning so many families, their lives, their losses, and how...even during the worst of times, people and communities can come together to help in whatever way they can.

My heart shattered over and over again for these beautiful women, their losses, their despair, the tragedies they faced, and the very brave faces they put on to get them through on a daily basis!
But the good news about shattered hearts? They can heal…❤️❤️❤️

5 thousand ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫💫💫💫💫 for me!!!!

The Wartime Book Club by Kate Thompson and beautifully narrated by another of my favorites, #ImogenChurch.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #HachetteAudio for giving me the opportunity to read this one before it came out by providing me with an ARC of the audiobook, which is due out on 4/9/24...so, less than a week!
If it sounds good to you, I'd ask you to put it on your list soon... if you are anything like me, YOU WILL LOVE IT!!

Just an aside: Although NetGalley provides me with these books, I am under NO OBLIGATION to give a good review...I'm only asked to give A REVIEW...and so, with each book I read, I am totally honest...whether I love it (this one), or really did not care for it (so many others...)

Feel free to like, follow and friend me on: Goodreads,
IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr or
My Facebook Book Club: Book Reviews With Elaine.

Thanks so much for reading!📚⭐️

I'll be honest it was just okay. It wasn't great I'll remember it forever and it wasn't awful. I felt the story was good plot was good but it needed to be shorter and less detailed.

I love finding unique WWII stories, which is admittedly hard to do when you read as much WWII fiction as I do. Libraries, librarians, bookstores, and book clubs during WWII have become a popular topic in the past few years. I've read a couple set in Europe, but recently they have given me a glimpse at the homefront.

I was looking at my digital library for different library-themed WWII novel when I saw The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson. I was momentarily confused as I knew that I had The Wartime Book Club on my review list but then I realized that was last year's book. I did listen to it but you don't need to have read it to enjoy this book. They are totally stand-alone novels.

The Channel Islands were mentioned at the end of The Little Wartime Library but before that I don't think I've ever heard them mentioned in regards to the war. So I was interested to learn about the German occupation of this British island.

The story is told from the point-of-view of two best friends - Grace, the librarian, and Bea, a postwoman. The chapters alternate between the two and we get to see a lot of island life between them. I really liked the characters - not just these two main characters but the secondary characters as well.

If you read The Little Wartime Library you know how the chapters started off with a snippet from a librarian. In The Wartime Book Club each chapter starts with a book banned by the Third Reich. We get a little information about the book and/or author and why it was banned. I found these snippets as interesting as the story. I do wish though that the date stamp for the chapter was told after the book snippet because I often lost track of the story's timeline.

The Wartime Book Club is narrated by Imogen Church. There were times were I thought the voices for the characters were wrong, particularly for Bea. She seemed to only have one volume even when the text indicated that she was getting louder or should have been whispering. Otherwise, the story was easy to listen to.

There is nearly 1.5 hours at the end of the book that includes a book club reading guide and information about the author's research, which was quite extensive.

If you like books about books or like me looking for something new in WWII fiction, you should pick up this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Friday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/04/the-wartime-book-club-by-kate-thompson.html