I was really hoping that I would finally find an adult historical fiction novel that I loved and it seems it was not to be, though I did enjoy reading this a fair amount. The Children's Train was engaging from the first page, mostly because of the voice or the narrator. Not only was the voice very vibrant, but it was very cool to see history through such a young lens.
Despite the fact that this featured an interesting perspective, I didn’t know much about the actual history that this book was based on and I think that knowing more about the impact of WWll on Italy would probably have helped draw me in a little more. I did enjoy the first half even without my knowledge, but the thing that really let me down with this novel is the second half and especially the ending. The whole book felt like it was building up to something big and I never really felt like it happened. There wasn’t even an impactful moment at the midpoint. My qualms with the plot may be the result of expecting more drama, perhaps because I read more YA (maybe adult historical fiction is often like this?). Either way, I’m glad to have learned some things about history from this novel, but I ultimately seemed to miss the point of the story.
If you are a fan of adult historical fiction, I would recommend this, but otherwise I wouldn’t. Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the arc!
Despite the fact that this featured an interesting perspective, I didn’t know much about the actual history that this book was based on and I think that knowing more about the impact of WWll on Italy would probably have helped draw me in a little more. I did enjoy the first half even without my knowledge, but the thing that really let me down with this novel is the second half and especially the ending. The whole book felt like it was building up to something big and I never really felt like it happened. There wasn’t even an impactful moment at the midpoint. My qualms with the plot may be the result of expecting more drama, perhaps because I read more YA (maybe adult historical fiction is often like this?). Either way, I’m glad to have learned some things about history from this novel, but I ultimately seemed to miss the point of the story.
If you are a fan of adult historical fiction, I would recommend this, but otherwise I wouldn’t. Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for the arc!