An incredible blend of mystery and historical fiction from one of the best historical young adult authors around. Readers of Ruta Septys and Lois Lowry will enjoy this book immensely.

Under the Same Stars is the kind of story that stays with you, not only because it is nostalgically familiar but also because it reveals hidden perspectives from familiar historical time periods. The three narrative voices are distinct, and I came to root deeply for each of them, especially Miles, the voice from 2020, who can be a model for young people as they try to live authentic lives in the modern world. The central mystery of what happened in 1940s Germany (perpetuated not by a mustache-twirling stereotype, but by the Nazi system working within German law) is resolved believably and aligns with one of the central themes: we have to accept others’--and our own--tragic humanity, and deal with the fallout of our decisions with bravery and honesty. It’s a book I’m recommending over and over again. Fans of Ruta Sepetys and Kristin Hannah—check out Libba Bray.

I read Under the Same Stars over a month ago. While I don’t remember the characters’ names, I do remember the story. I found it fascinating because it intertwined the stories of three generations. The first and most important story took place in Germany during World War II. It followed two friends who believed in the power of a tree to bring love through leaving notes hidden in its trunk or branches. One of the girls, who was thought by other children to be crazy, fiercely believed in that power. She became the victim of the cruelty of a group of boys. Ultimately, she and her friend disappeared and became part of a legend that was told over many decades.
The second story took place in the1970’s. An American teenager spends the summer in Berlin and befriends an in the building where her family lived. The woman was considered strange because she loved fairy tales and especially the story of the tree that brought true love. The girl meets a punk musician and and she embraces the radical ideas of the band and their followers.
The third story takes place in 2020. It tells about a young teenage boy who tries to learn more about his family and especially his grandmother’s past life in Germany.
This novel reveals the secrets and inter —connectivity of the three stories and their characters. IThe mystery of the disappearance of the two girls is finally solved. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Under the Same Stars. I have already recommended it to several people.

This is the first one that I have read by her in a really long time. I liked the premise and thought that the character development was classic for her style. I would recommend if you’re a fan of her previous work.

Loved this book so much! I loved each of the three different viewpoints used to tell the story. Usually I have a hard time connecting to at least one point of view and skim through that section of a book, but I appreciated and devoured every character's storyline. I loved how they all connected to Sophie and Hanna in some way.

Set during 3 separate time periods, Libba Bray weaves a historical fiction story with an impactful message about showing up. In 1940s Germany, friends Sophie and Hanna send love notes through the Bridegroom's Oak. As the war intensifies, they are faced with the decision of what role to play in Nazi Germany. In the 1980s, Jenny befriends Lena after moving to Germany from Dallas, Texas. As their friendship grows into something more, Jenny struggles with her identity as well as the political tensions between East and West Berlin. In 2020 New York, Miles and Chloe try to uncover secrets and mend their friendship during Covid lockdown.

Bray's work is beautifully written and the connections between all the parts of the story are solid. I struggled with probably the first half of the story, but I think it's more because of the audio. It was difficult to keep the stories separate for a while. I love how it all came together in the end, and no details were spared. Too daunting for the average high school reader, but a solid historical fiction piece for strong readers.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I adore Libba Bray, so I requested this one as soon as it popped up. I was a little iffy on the World War II angle, because I feel like that topic has just been done to death, but it’s been so long since I had a new Libba Bray book!

Oof. This one was a tough read. There are some structural elements that didn’t quite work for me (which I don’t see getting resolved by publishing - it’s the fundamental way the novel is set up that I didn’t like), but overall it just felt…preachy. I remember getting annoyed with the final two Diviners books in a similar way - when characters in settings from the past start acting like mouthpieces for current issues. I kept picking this up and putting it down, and honestly after the election I *really* wanted to be done with it, because it was hitting uncomfortably close to home (I feel like I’ve made this point before…maybe even in my review of King of Crows! that for me reading is an escape, and sometimes it’s just a little too much to read about all the horrors of the world. I am not the person who wants to be emotionally destroyed by a book!). Ahem. Anyway, I decided to keep going, mostly because I’ve been in a pretty terrible reading rut and couldn’t settle on anything else.

The story takes place across three timelines, and while it’s clear there’s a connection, and we do put all of the pieces together, it takes far too long for the puzzle to be assembled. It’s almost like Bray is delaying that gratifying “I KNEW it!” moment when you realize *this* character is *that* character all grown up. Our three POV characters are Sophie, a teen living in Kleinwald Germany in 1941; Jenny, an American girl living in West Berlin in 1980 (her father is an American businessman doing something abroad. I forget what, and it’s not really relevant); and Miles, a teen living through the early days of Covid in spring of 2020. As is often the case with these kinds of narratives, all 3 characters may as well have been in different books for the majority of the story. Again, it’s clear there’s a connection - Jenny has a weird old neighbor with a secret, Miles’s friend Chloe has a grandmother who also maybe has a secret (all German-adjacent).

Surprisingly, I actually found myself drawn to Sophie and Hanna’s story the most (the WWII timeline). They’re working for the German resistance, creating fake documents to help smuggle people out of the country. There’s a little bit of romance between Sophie and Hanna’s brother Karl (a soldier who has his own haunted backstory) that’s sweet without being too cloying. In spite of thinking World War II is massively overdone, I am still fascinated by stories from the Axis side - it’s depressing to see what lengths people will go to to delude themselves into thinking “it can’t happen here.” (Yes, I realize that’s basically the whole theme of this book!) While I really wanted to like the 1980s story, it just fell flat for me. I found all of the punk stuff incredibly grating (it doesn’t help that Jenny is very much romanticizing the whole thing…which she is forced to come to terms with).

The 2020 chapters…yikes. Not a fan. Part of it is that the lockdown times are still far too recent - I’m not keen to relive those months quite yet. The other part is that other than researching all of this stuff from the past, I’m not entirely sure what Miles is even doing here. There’s a not terribly well developed subplot of him deciding to take action and join the civil rights protests that were happening that summer. It felt a *little* shoehorned in, like Bray was trying to check off another important issue box, or really just give Miles something to do other than sit at his computer and look things up.

Without giving too much away (since this doesn’t come out until February), I think this whole story would have been better served with just Jenny as the main character. She could be more well developed, and we could trace her story through time. She has enough connections to both the 1940s and 2020s timelines for it to make sense, and we’d be able to give some of the events in her timeline more breathing room. Multiple timelines are tricky, and having three of them really drives home how much each story is missing.

I wanted to run from some of the tough subject matter in this book, but since I'll read whatever Libba Bray writes, I jumped in. And of course I was enthralled. The multiple timelines in this novel are fun to navigate as readers start to see how and where they might converge. We see friendships from the 1940s, the 1980s, and 2020.
And Bray shows us that we need to pay attention to history because some ideals roll back around. She reminds us, "You must ask yourself which story you want—what is true or what makes you comfortable."

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this on exchange for an honest review!

As I read this book, I was reminded of one of my favorites from the past years (Elana K Arnold's The Blood Years). Multiple timelines, including one set during the COVID-19 pandemic. A searching for answers behind a family's mystery. And a case of identity shifting.

I am surprised it took me longer than expected to figure out how all of the timelines connected. Once again, I do not know much about Eastern Germany in the 1980s so I appreciated one of those storylines. it's also odd to think that COVID-19 is part of historical fiction these days but I guess it makes sense. All of the characters are related (just in different lineage than expected ;)

Under the Same Stars is a heavy story about standing up for what you believe in.
Even though it hurt my heart, I didn't want to put it down.
The story is told through 3 time periods, where the stories eventually intertwine.
Hanna and Sophie in 1940 Germany
Jenny and Lena in 1980 West Berlin
Chloe and Miles in 2020 Brooklyn
I was drawn into each story at a different pace, but by the end I was invested in all of them.
I probably liked Chloe and Miles' story the least, but it served it's purpose.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan publishing for an early copy for review.

Amazing book will definitely recommend to friends and family love the characters development. Love the plot line

Wow! Libba Bray weaves a story about rebellion, activism, and hope between three different timelines: WII Germany, 1980s Berlin, and 2020 NYC.

WWII Germany - I thought this was a very unique take on the era, following a Germany village as it moved through Hitler's rise, illustrating everyone's easy support of him, eventually moving into coming face to face with the horrific reality, leading (some of) them to resist. Eerily mirroring to what we're seeing happen with fascism arising in our current day. I felt uncomfortable reading as these girls lived sheltered through the war, and it often felt as if they were untouched by it, knowing that atrocities that were happening to Jews and other minorities everywhere else. I wish we'd gotten a follow up to whatever happened to Sophie's father, although I'm sure it wasn't a happy ending.

1980s Berlin - This felt like Bray's love letter to 1980s punk culture, it felt personal and you could tell she'd lived it. I've never been interested in this time, or the punk rebellion, but Bray made me care about it, a credit to her powerful writing. I learned so much, pausing often to pull open Wikipedia to read more. I loved, loved her tie to Queer experience as well as women's roles and identities. My only complaint - Frau Hermann was written out too quick and I wanted to know more about her, who answered her letter, and why she left. She served as a plot device, I wanted more and she deserved better.

2020 NYC - I could have done without this story entirely. I did not care for Miles and Chloe, their stories did not have the emotional impact that the other eras had. It felt too on the nose in its messaging. I know she was using it to tie the other two stories together but it's too clean, too "putting a bow on top." Also, minor quibble that bothers me in YA - there were too many pop culture references, which will age this book very quickly, and the teen language/dialogue was dated for 2020 and didn't sound like how teens talk to each other. Docking a star for this weaker story, otherwise would have been a 5.

Libba Bray has triumphed with an ambitious puzzle of a book, which plumbs storylines, myth, self-discovery, and heartbreak at the juncture of three timepoints of social upheaval and political oppression. Each seemingly unrelated story focuses on teenagers forced by external circumstances to make the difficult and often life-threatening choice to political realities. And the author’s narrative voice, which alternates between speakers and POVs, often uses a meta perspective of storytelling conventions, detailing the importance of all our narratives to shape into the story that suits our belief systems the best, and how easily this can be corrupted and corrupt others.
The first story and the most poignant is about Hanna and Sophie, best friends in Kleinwald , in Germany at the time of Hitler’s ascent to power. Their coming of age and belief in fairytales is cut short by the war, their innocence splintered by the brutality of neighbors wholeheartedly buying into Nazi propaganda and reports from those at the front. Sophie still believes in love and fairytales and the tales of protection and magical connection from the legendary Bridegroom’s tree in the middle of their forest. Employing another kind of magic, they use it as a connection point to forge papers and passports for the underground resistance. There is a folktale, The Tale of the Hare and the Deer, which symbolizes their plight and Bray includes many iterations of it as the Nazis close in. The pacing is flawless and horrifying; it is impossible to look away or put the book down. The second interwoven story, is in 1980s Berlin, where Dallas born Jenny has arrived with her conservative parents for her father’s latest career posting. She is intrigued by the incipient punk movement and especially with defiant Lena, who leads her to uncomfortable truths about the East German wall and about her own sexuality. Jenny hides her secret life from her parents as she follows Lena down her uncertain furious path of rebellion, but how long can she hold her two lives apart? Finally, a 2020 timeline takes place in Brooklyn during the pandemic, where socially isolated Miles must confront his inertia in response to the George Floyd protests and his inability to connect with his secret crush, Chloe. Bray beautifully orchestrates the overlap between these stories and the seemingly improbable connection between them. She pulls it off. There is a big mind-boggling reveal and some moments that will kick your angst and emotions to the curb. This is a timely book for these times, a fierce reminder against the backdrop of history that we are not alone. It is an encouragement to create a narrative that favors compassion, inclusion, and justice. Like the reverberations of a giant bell, these stories echo for a long time.

Picked this book to read because people praised the author and have read several of her books in the past. She does seem to view things from different perspectives. I didn't care for the book because it cycled through three time periods. Because of that there were multiple characters to remember. It is described as a historical mystery. Not sure what the whole mystery is. I was not motivated to finish the book.

I just finished Under the Same Stars and it punched a hole in my heart. I usually don't like multiple timelines, but it worked perfectly. Libba Bray knows how to devastate me with her beautiful writing. I will think of this book for years to come.

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

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Publishing for an opportunity to review Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

I will begin by stating that I am a fan of Libba Bray's earlier writing (A Great and Terrible Beauty), but am unable to find a level of positive in Under the Same Stars.

The author appears to have an agenda here which is to pack the novel with as many same-sex relationships as possible. After drawing attention to these relationships in all three of her time frames, Bray's intentions are clear.

"Jenny turned her head, but stole glances at Lena's naked stomach, the swell of her breasts above her bra cups, the dark triangular outline pressed against the front of her underwear." This is appropriate for what is defined as "young adult" reading 12 to 16 year-olds?

Navigating three timelines challenges many full adults who often complain that dealing with multiple timelines confuses the story and fails to satisfy the reader.

Additional problems with the book:

Jenny's parents who moved her to West Berlin have pretty much left their daughter on her own in a strange city speaking a different language with little to no guidance or support

Bray seems to feel that only A+ students in an English class can use words like "nuance".

While I am always on the lookout for books that will help young teenagers grow and learn, Under the Same Stars will not be on the list.

Libba Bray's Under the Same Stars is a thrilling historical mystery that jumps between three different time periods. The story follows young women in 1940s Germany, 1980s Berlin, and modern-day Brooklyn. As they navigate their own lives, they become connected by a mysterious disappearance from the past.

Bray weaves a captivating tale filled with friendship, love, and the power of hope. The book is a great blend of history, mystery, and coming-of-age stories. It's a perfect read for fans of historical fiction and young adult novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Three different timelines all tied to a magic tree where you can send a letter to find true love. Germany 1930s, Berlin 1980s, and New York 2020s. A multi-period multi-perspective historical fiction.

I had trouble getting through this book. The writing is very literary, full of metaphors and symbolism. While it is written for high school age readers, I feel like this will be too over their heads to be truly enjoyed.

The 1980s timeline was my favorite. Jenny is an American that has moved to Berlin with her family. She meets some punk teenagers that are squatting in an abonded building. The characters in this timeline were definitely the most developed in my opinion.

The timeline taking place in Germany during the Nazi invasion is average. Sometimes it is not clear who the narrator is at times and the situations are a little muddy.

The timeline taking place during the pandemic in New York is not well written at all. While I did appreciate how all three timelines tie together in the end and we see the relation. However, this timeline got very political and felt like a political ad. It just didn't fit the tone of the story.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC! I was so into this book. It follows three different stories in time: one is set in 1940s Germany during WWII, one is in 1980s Berlin with the Berlin Wall still up, and the last one is during the 2020 pandemic in NYC. I felt like I would start getting totally vested and into one story while i was reading, and then when it switched to a different story, I got the same feeling about that one, etc. and repeat for the entire stinking book. I can’t even say which one was my favorite, but I can say they are all uniquely their own stories but that they also come together in such a cool way and are all really about relationships and growth and finding one’s true self (including coming to accept one’s own sexuality when those around you make that hard). I just loved all of it. I also think when I read pandemic stories, it really takes me back and adds something to a book since I experienced that IRL, which I can’t say about most historical fiction. In the end, I’ve always been a Libby Bray fan, but I loved seeing her take on historical fiction. I highly recommend this one and will be recommending it to many people in my life. FYI talk of sexual situations (nothing too graphic), profanity (mostly in German), and really lovely diversity

This is one of those "it's not you, it's me" instances... There is no denying the literary merit of Libba Bray--I have even loved some of her earlier novels. I am sure, in a different age, I would have adored this novel. But now, not so much. I just don't love the characters, I am not all that interested in the plot, the COVID theme is so stale at this point. I dunno. I was underwhelmed; that's all I feel.

But don't take my word for it, give Under the Same Stars a read for yourself!