Fascinating and Timely

filled star filled star filled star filled star star unfilled
bookishknitter Avatar

By

I've been longing for historical fiction set during the Spanish Influenza, and this one seems to hit the mark. The story also hits on themes I really enjoy: class/culture divide in America and human survival. I also appreciate that the protagonist is a German-American coming of age during he First World War; it leaves room for some good tension and nuance.

The plot moves quickly, which definitely keeps the reader engaged and turning pages. There were a couple moments when I would have liked a little more reflection or nuanced lingering instead of rushing from one scene to the next (at a couple points I had to go back and re-read the previous paragraph because I wasn't sure how we got from the previous scene to the one I was currently reading). However, the pace of the first two chapters definitly lays a lot of groundwork for a good plot and character development.