As always, Noelle Salazar broke my heart - but in a good way. When my heart aches and/or I cry while listening to or reading a book then you can be rest assured the writing and narrating is amazing. That was the case with The Lies We Leave Behind. Noelle has such a beautiful way with words. Her descriptions are so vivid I can picture everything in my mind as the story unfolds, and I feel as if I’m there witnessing it all. My emotions were all over the place while listening to this book. Historical fiction has always been my favorite genre, especially those that take place during World War II, but it’s taken on a whole new meaning for me since my youngest son recently enlisted in the military. Reading about the horrors of war hits differently when you know your child could be in the midst of it someday. I adored Kate and William’s love story. I’m glad William was able to move on and get married after he thought he’d lost Kate, but it really saddened me that she didn’t find love again, especially after the horrible things she went through. Xe Sands is an incredible narrator, but I have to admit it took me awhile to warm up to Patrick Zeller’s narrating. He has a very deep and rich voice that kind of startled me at first, but by the end of the book I was sobbing over the tremor and emotion that resonated in his voice when he found out the truth. It was very moving. I would highly recommend The Lies We Leave Behind to everyone.

I loved this book. Set during 1943, our protagonist, Kate, is a flight nurse serving in the Pacific theater, who is reassigned following a personal injury. Her reassignment takes her to England, where she meets her soulmate, and things go from there. BUT, there’s more! Kate has a very complicated back-story and you will need to read this book to get to it. I don’t want to say more because part of the pleasure for me in reading a book is discovering and processing the plot twists that come with a complex, well-crafted story, and this is definitely that.

"The Lies We Leave Behind" is very well researched, it was clear that Noelle Salazar had done a lot of research both on World War II and on the 1940s in general. Salazar hit all the right beats and used the facts and lingo correctly, but the characters felt extremely flat the whole time and distracted me from the rest of the book.

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking story. Highly recommend. Thanks to the author and publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions stated are my own.

By Noelle Salazar is a story of courage, highlighting the brave women US nurses during WWII. Some nurses flew into war zones to help collect injured soldiers from US army field hospitals and kept them alive during the transport to regular hospitals. We get a peek at their lives on and off the battlefield. Salazar imagines a German-born nurse who’d left her family behind in Germany.

Wow. What a breathtaking book!

I love reading World War 2 books that are set in the Pacific Front, as I feel they are just not as common as books set in Europe.

The relationship between Kate and William is so well done. I can't imagine what it must be like being Kate, caring for all these wounded men, and then falling in love with one of them. Especially at this point in the war, when things are still so uncertain.


This is the first book I've read by Salazar, and it will not be my last!

I immediately felt a deep affection for Kate. Her bravery and resilience shine through not only during World War II, but in every choice she makes as she seeks to reconcile with her past. Despite the hardships she's faced, Kate makes the difficult decision to return overseas, to a place she’s been running from, with the support of her aunt and uncle.

Her return home took me completely by surprise, and even more surprising was her decision to stay, despite the recent discovery.

The relationship between Kate and William was heartbreakingly beautiful. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes, hoping for a different outcome.
This is my second book by Salazar, and I'm sold—she's officially an auto-buy author for me. There’s something truly magical and moving about her storytelling. I especially love how she introduces us to different women from different time periods to life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for the eARC

One of my favorite books this year! Very engaging, well written story with a lot of depth. Very well written "mystery" and you can not tell what is going to happen next. An interesting piece of historical fiction based off a flight nurse during World War II with a mysterious past and a romantic story as well. Also like how it had a realistic and complicated ending.

This is a heartwarming WWII love story between a flight nurse and injured soldier, but it is more because it speaks to the human spirit and our efforts to continue on in adverse conditions while maintaining our humanity. The first part of the book establishes Kate Campbell as a dedicated nurse with a strong sense of purpose to help and save the transported soldiers in her care. Against her general philosophy regarding the patients in her care, she falls in love with one of the injured patients. This is a beautiful love story as their relationship slowly develops. When he is returned to battle, Components of Kate’s past come up which take her from her flight nurse duties to enemy territory and its adversity involving her more directly in the war and international politics.

This author’s writing was fantastic. i found myself right there with Kate. it grabbed my attention and was perfectly executed.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to receive a complementary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely mine.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction about a WWII nurse and her experiences first in the Pacific and later in England. The book goes far beyond a typical nurse’s experiences, though, because this nurse has to (spoiler!) go behind enemy lines to try and rescue her family. Why is her family behind enemy lines? Well, her story is complicated.
I’m a big fan and now want to find other books by this author. It’s not, like, super deep or educational or anything like that, but it’s good escapist fiction that sucked me in and kept me following closely along. I may have spent several middle of the night hours reading when I should have been sleeping!
I received an e-ARC of this book for free from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I love historical fiction more than pretty much anything, and this was no exception!
 
The writing was fantastic—it’s honestly what stands out to me the most about this book. It was attention-grabbing and just overall beautiful. Everything was executed perfectly!
 
An impeccable storyline, stunning writing, captivating characters, and heartwarming love in all forms. This had everything I wanted and more!

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

Kate is a flight nurse, facing much of the horrors first in the Pacific theater of WWII, then in England. When Kate meets William, she wants to tell him the truth of her background, but as their relationship grows, she holds back. Separated by the war, William remains hopeful but when he doesn’t hear from Kate, he assumes she is dead. Kate’s journey, however, was just beginning, ending in much sadness. I really liked the book but the one part that was a bit far fetched was Kate’s trip back to Germany in the middle of the war. I still would recommend this book to historical fiction fans. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

*3.5 // As with Salazar's previous books (I've read all except for Zora Lily), LIES brings out the heart and grit in her character develoment. From Kate's starting chapters in the Pacific to her chapters in England, I learned so much about flying nurses. Like so many others during this time period, they went through so much! The lead up to Kate's backstory was very much anticipating energy and I felt I was more looking forward than being in the present moment. The twists were so twisty, though, and I loved the action of the second half of the book!! I'm normally not a dual timeline fan, but since the contemporary timeline scenes were few, it didn't interrupt the flow of Kate's storyline. Another engaging story from this author!

This sweeping novel takes you from the war torn Pacific theater to the skies over Normandy to the danger behind the German lines. I loved the romance and guessing game as to how the threads of love, duty, and betrayal would weave together. It’s a poignant novel that tells a little-known aspect of the war, one that leaves you gasping at its murky intrigue and uncertainty. Highly recommended for those who love WWII novels!

I really enjoyed this book. The sacrifices Kate made throughout her life and her love story with William. It was a heartbreaking story of love, loss and freedom. I love reading about nurse stories from WWII

This was a beautiful and emotionally charged novel! I haven’t read a ton of historical fiction but I love anything set in WWII so I really enjoyed this one. The writing was beautiful and engaging and I cannot wait to read more of the authors work. I absolutely loved the chemistry and the way the romance played out. The characters were complicated but relatable. If you enjoy historical fiction mixed with romance this one is for you!

The Lies We Leave Behind
Noelle Salazar

Heartbreaking yet hopeful, The Lies We Leave Behind is equal parts moving historical fiction and angsty love story. While dual timeline, the story primarily follows a WWII flight nurse, charged with transporting and caring for wounded soldiers. Through a captivating blend of history, mystery, and romance, Salazar weaves themes of love, duty, loss, and family secrets. The Lies We Leave Behind is an emotionally charged, quickly paced novel you won't be able to put down.

I wasn’t expecting this story to turn out how it but, but damn was it good. I was drawn to Kate, she was strong and brave, as you would expect in a nurse caring for injured soldiers.
I wanted so much more of William & Kate and really fell hard with them. I did enjoy how the story unfolded and was hoping for something else but was pleasantly surprised with the actual twist. My heart ached for both Kate and William.

This is my second book by Noelle Salazar, and she is becoming an auto-buy author and a favorite.

Quick Look
-WWII fiction
-dual timeline, dual POV
-male MC you’ll love
-tons of twists

My Thoughts
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, then you already know that I’m a Noelle Salazar stan. As soon as I got my hands on the advanced reader copy of The Lies We Left Behind, I dove in and was finished in only a few days. Y’all, I LOVED William, and hearing from a male main character’s perspective was such a delightful change of pace. I will venture to say he has now become one of my favorite MMCs of all time. I also really enjoyed the romance, finding it just the right amount of tension and spice (door ajar). While it’s entirely fictional, Kate’s character is based on the real-life flight nurses of WWII, heroines in their own right. Having never heard of flight nurses serving in WWII, I was thrilled to discover another fun fact about female military service, thanks to this author. Being a sucker for sister stories, the tale of Kate and her baby sister sucked me in and kept me engaged, wanting to know more about their lives before the war and what happened to her little sister. The ending may be the only thing I didn’t love, mostly because I struggled with Kate’s choices. I understand them, but it hurt my heart and brought tears to my eyes. The many twists and turns kept the plot moving forward, sometimes at dizzying speed. But the overall tension and suspense of this book were top-notch!

Noelle Salazar’s The Lies We Leave Behind weaves together a historical fiction mystery set during WWII. This book details the love story of Kate and William. Kate has a secret past, and when the past catches up to her, and with the chaos of WWII, she makes a dangerous mission across enemy lines. Salazar did a great job showing how love can blind us. This has officially taken the place of my favorite Noelle Salazar book.