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!

Huge fan of Libba Bray. I think I would have preferred this as an audiobook read by January Lavoy. It took a while to get into and didn’t have the same storytelling that I have become accustomed to.

An expertly woven story that involves three very different time periods, each with their own social and political ramifications. I couldn't stop reading this newest book from Libba Bray, wondering how each individual story would conclude, but also how each was interwoven with the others. The characters are well-developed, the plot woven impeccably, and the writing itself is excellent. Kudos are also due for the representation of emotionally-charged periods of time that brought, and still bring, tension to the entire world.

A new YA historical fiction novel that spans 80 years that looks at friendship, love, and resistence during three periods of social injustice. Set in in 1939-1941 Nazi Germany, 1980 Berlin Germany, and 2020 Brooklyn, New York. The reader realizes that the narrative of all three time periods are linked somehow and those connections are slowly revealed. Hannah and Sophie are friends in Kleinwald, Germany as the Nazi's prepare for war and the girls try to live their lives normally until they decide to join the resistence and help forge documents for those trying to flee Germany. Jenny and her well to do family move to Berlin due to her father's business and Jenny meets a punk-rock girl Lena who shows her the repressive nature of the Berlin Wall and East Germany while she encourages Jenny to be true to herself, but Jenny learns that Lena has secrets that will alter Jenny's live forever, and finally Miles and Chloe stuck isolated from each other during the Covid pandemic and research the mystery behind a package from her grandmother that is connected to Hannah and Sophie. All the protagonists learn that resistence is love and love resistence. For teen and adult fans of Ruta Sepetys and Alan Grantz. After the results of the 2024 US presidential election this will be a timely release in February of 2025.

Whoa. This book blew me away. At first, I was confused about the triple perspective point of view, but as the stories continued, I saw how the author was weaving them in and out of each other. As a Gen-exer, I loved the punk setting of West Berlin 1980 the best. The contemporary setting of the spring 2020 lockdown and the BLM riots hit me hard and there are many parallels that can be drawn between our current political and social environment and WWII. Without giving away anything, I will say that this is not a book to be read quickly, especially if the reader is passionate about history and human rights.

There are three storylines in this novel, that of Sophie and Hanna who live in Germany in the 1940s, Jenny and Lena in Berlin in 1980, and Chloe and Miles in Brooklyn in 2020. Of course, it turns out they're all connected. Chloe and Miles are the detectives, though that's tricky because it's early in the pandemic, before vaccines, so they rarely even left the house, let alone visit libraries, newspaper offices, or archives. I feel like just about anything I share will spoil the plot, and NetGalley shelf ate my bookmarks, so this is all you'll get! (But from what I recall, the way Nazis are described reminds me a lot of Zionist Israelis. I hope that was Bray's point, or just inevitable, rather than her trying to defend Zionism-because-the-holocaust.)

I found some of the Sophie and Hanna sections to be slow, but also inspiring because they were part of the resistance. Jenny is a sheltered girl of means who learns about squats, punk, and lesbianism. Miles, who despite being half Filipino and having two moms also has some learning to do about racial politics and standing up. He also needs to get out of his own way and tell the girl he likes that he likes her.

Such a well-done multi-period and multi-perspective story! I loved how each set of characters was developed and how the mystery slowly started to come together over the years the book covered.

I typically do not like these sorts of stories because it can get confusing but this was done so well and so easy to follow!

This was a great read! The connections between 2020, 1980, and the WWII time period were so well done. In particular, the sections set in 1980s Berlin made real a time period and political climate unfamiliar to many teens. I will give this to teens who loved Refugee that are ready for more complex themes.

I have been reading Libba Bray's Books since I was in my early 20's. This book is probably one of my absolute favorites by her.

It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom's Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom's Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too-but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are in the first weeks of COVID lockdown and hating Zoom school, when an unexpected package from Chloe's grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom's Oak eighty years ago.

I missed Libba Bray so much and this book was a fantastic welcome back!

The way the three generations weaved together to tell one big story that talks about the responsibility to ourselves and others when we face/see injustice was very well executed.

This book was a fantastic read and I highly recommend.

An engrossing generational story from a shining star of the YA realm. Three connected stories set in 1940s Nazi-occupied Germany, 1980s Berlin (both East & West), and 2020 NYC weave together a tale of bravery, heroism, and sacrifice. This is a departure from Bray's supernatural series so those fans may not be enthralled, but her strong storytelling remains gripping. Characters from 20th c. are white, but current storyline features more diversity.

I really enjoyed this book. The pacing for each of the three stories was great because just as you're immersed in one story, it flips and you catch up with the others. I enjoyed the timelines and was invested in each character. I liked finding out the connection between all three stories at the end. The characters were fully developed and every time I thought I had a favorite character, it changed with the next change in timeline. I fell in love with these characters and I wish I could read more about them. The relationships between characters made me feel hopeful and warm inside. I really liked the interspersed German and I played a game with myself trying to guess what it said with my little German language knowledge and the context before the text translated the phrases.

Time is a slippery thing in Under the Same Stars, which takes place across three decades and encompasses three sets of protagonists connected by a massive, magical German oak. The Bridegroom’s Oak in the Dodauer Forest allegedly unites soulmates if you write to it, but has also been blamed for the disappearance of three teenagers. This is a dark, redemptive, and beautiful tale that weaves its secrets carefully.

The book begins by following Sophie Muller and Hannah Schmidt, two girls trying to cope with the beginning of World War II and the nightmares therein. They are separated by their parents ideals; Sophie is Jewish but hiding that fact, while Hannah’s family supports the Nazi party. Both girls are in the Hitler Youth, but they slowly but surely come to learn what being loyal to the Nazi party means. Sophie’s family goes to Lodz, and Hannah’s falls under suspicion for lacking patriotic fervor. Hannah becomes more and more disenchanted with Hitler and fascism as the war goes on. When the girls are reunited, they create their own resistance movement, printing their own antifascist paper. The two girls – along with Oskar Gerber, a fervent Nazi who has been trying to court Hannah – mysteriously disappear from the Dodauer Forest during the winter solstice.

Then we follow Jenny Campbell and Lena – an American transplant and a German punk rocker - living in the divided Germany of the 1980s. Lena writes doggerel dedicated to her never-ending rebellion and pushes back against the bourgeois – which include Jenny’s parents. Jenny starts to realize she’s not straight as she falls in love both with Lena and her music and ideals. She joins Lena’s band and plays the violin in it, and together they experiment with drugs, girls, boys and alcohol in a very teenaged way. Lena’s big dream is tearing down the Berlin wall; her brother is an East German smuggler and being in contact with him is dangerous. Jenny, meanwhile, is obsessed with the mystery of her neighbor, Frau Hermann, who is rumored to be a witch but is actually a psychologist. Jenny agrees to carry Frau Hermann’s letter to the Bridegroom’s Oak and from her, learns more and more about Sophie and Hannah’s disappearance.

Finally, Miles and Chloe – two bored American teens stuck in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic – decide to investigate the mystery of The Bridegroom’s Oak, spurred on by a package Chloe receives from her grandmother containing a grainy article about the case. Chloe is rich and Miles is not, and while the disparity bothers him sometimes, he has a big crush on her and hopes that their investigation will bring them closer. The story of Hannah and Sophie’s heroism inspires Miles to take part in activist activities, including protests against George Floyd’s murder, instead of simply supporting them from a distance. All the while, the question lingers; did Sophie and Hannah really magically disappear on the night of that fateful Winter Solstice? Or did they blend into the chaotic World War II world and manage a getaway?

You know the threads here have to connect somehow. Readers will be happy to know that Bray does indeed knot all the ends together in an inventive way. Under the Same Stars has less magical realism in it than other of Bray's novels which, here, works well. Everything feels brutally real in the best ways.

I deeply loved the 1980s sections, but Bray manages to make the story of Hannah and Sophie unique among World War II fictions. They are brave and flawed, and reading about their lives is a privilege.

The 2020s narrative feels the most teenagerly, but the problem of Covid, the terminal illness of Chloe’s grandmother, and Miles’ feelings about his self-described cowardice and being the biracial kid of two moms all provide narrative tension. All three plotlines dovetail well together, and while you may suspect where the story is going, the mystery of Hannah and Sophie is genuinely surprising.

This is a handsomely written book – touching, brave, and nervy, and strongly anti fascist in these trying times. Teenagers will like Under the Same Stars - and adults will like it just as much.

Following three interconnected timelines, two teens work to unravel a long standing mystery surrounding an oak tree in Germany. Full of tension and emotion, this novel is sure to hit readers hard in just the right way. Each timeline carries its own unique story and characters, but the overarching theme is about history repeating itself and what we can do as individuals to make sure that doesn't happen. The beautiful prose and emotionally fraught stories will endear the readers to the characters and make the reader hooked to find out what happens next and how the timelines are related.
This is a timely historical fiction novel that I would recommend to anyone looking for a fresh take on a WWII novel. Whereas most WWII novels are isolated in that time period, Libba Bray ties those events into modern day and show us how history is woven into our modern tapestry. This novel is an impressive feat and one of my favorite reads of the year- definitely one of my most impactful reads of the year.

The format of this book, moving back and forth through time and narrators, keeps the story engaging and fresh, and the connections between the three narratives are slowly revealed, keeping suspense but also offering the reader the opportunity to make guesses or assumptions about who's who and what connections there might be. The callback to the early days of the pandemic brought back my own memories, while the earlier sections, set in 1940 and 1980, provided an interesting examination of German culture and resistance that I was not as familiar with and was therefore delighted to learn more about through the narrative of the young people living in each era.
The only part of the book I found dissapointing was the interspersed "fairy tale" about the hare and the doe; it seemed to be giving "clues" about the larger narrative, but didn't seem necessary. There was a somewhat tenuous connection between the Kleinwald narrative and the fairy tale, but it wasn't developed well enough to engage me in this fourth story in the book.
I would recommend this book to high school students, and given the vareity of narrators and "main characters" in the text, I believe it would appeal across genders.

I wasn't sure I was going to finish this one. Around 60% in I was kind of bored and forcing myself to keep reading, and ALMOST put this away as a DNF. But, at 61% the book took off and I was racing to finish it because I needed to know what happened.

There are three storylines occurring throughout the book. The one that intrigued me the most was taking place during WWII and obviously you don't know until the end how they truly all connect. The second one is happening in the 80s when the Berlin wall is in place. I don't know squat about that time period as I was just an infant, but I did a bunch of googling when this book was done so I could learn more. It certainly opened my eyes to more horrific things that humans have done to each other. The third storyline is taking place during the pandemic and highlights a lot of the racial issues that were forefront during a time when panic was high for so many reasons. While this was the least interesting, it was necessary for the three to connect. Honestly, though, I'm so tired of reading about the pandemic.

I'm glad I pushed through and finished this one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this.

Under The Same Stars
By: Libba Bray

5 Stars

This was a book with so much. It was about war and loss. Tragedy and redemption. Magic and fantasy. Death and survival. This book was told with multiple timelines that bring the reader, me, on an amazing journey and adventure. This book was written well and captivates the mind and soul as well as the heart. I love the relationships of Hanna and Sophie, Lena and Jen. Each timeline converged into an amazing story at the end. As a whole, this book was very well done. It brought past and present and did it in a descriptive way. It was simply amazing.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

well, i read my most-anticipated book of the past several years, and i have thoughts!

as a libba bray stan of almost two decades, i can say that this book feels very different from all of her others. it doesn't feature any actual magic, but there is this dreamlike, fairytale quality woven throughout that i loved. this book's central message is that magic might not be real in a literal sense, but love and resistance and community *are* magic.

the three timelines were very ambitious, and i think some worked better than others. my favorite of the three was definitely jenny's story, set in west berlin in 1980. the one that really didn't work for me was the 2020 timeline-- i think we're just not far removed enough yet from that time to have many meaningful reflections on it. the characters in the 2020 story also felt the least fully formed. i really think the main purpose of that timeline was to tie everything together, which it definitely did. i enjoyed finding the ways in which the timelines and characters were connected. i correctly put together a lot of the mystery elements before the characters did, but i still had fun on the journey of piecing the whole narrative together. i will say that i loved the last chapter and definitely teared up a bit.

all in all, i think this is worth the read if you're a libba bray fan and/or historical fiction lover! it shares themes with a lot of her other work, and her social commentary is always appreciated.

i received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I send so many thanks to Libba Bray, the publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I picked this book entirely because of Libba Bray and how much I loved the Diviners series. I think she writes solid historical fiction pieces and, so, I was eager to get my hands on this one.

This book intertwines a story over three timelines: Germany during WWII, Berlin during the 80s and the underground punk scene, and winter 2020 during the COVID pandemic. And, I have to be honest, it just didn't work that well for me.

While I loved Hannah and Sophie's story in WWII and Dallas' story discovering the underground punk scene in Berlin, I didn't think the pandemic era story fit as well. Libba Bray did connect all three timelines but I think the whole tagline of "you have to understand the past to understand the future," wasn't the strongest.

I would have enjoyed either timeline on its own.

At the end of it all, Bray's writing is superb. She builds solid tension and foreboding when appropriate, as always. And this one prompted me to go down a wormhole regarding punk in Berlin in the 80s. I had no idea that punks helped to eventually bring down the Berlin Wall.

Overall, 4/5 stars for this one!

A wonderful book that balances multiple generations across history. I loved the different perspectives with the common thread woven through.