Title: Girl in the Blue Coat
Author: Monica Hesse
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Source: Publisher
World War 2 historical fiction books are not in short supply. There are quite a few of them out there, a lot of which I haven't read. However, I have read some really great ones - ones that most everyone else has heard of. You know the ones I am talking about - The Book Thief...Sarah's Key... And so many more. They are powerful, emotional, and intense.
Girl in the Blue Coat belongs right up there with all of them. It is a story that is going to stick with you once you finish it.
Girl in the Blue Coat is about Hanneke. Hanneke is the main provider for her family despite being a teenager. However, where her parents assume she is working a fair and honest job, she is in fact working for an underground black market. She is the middle man. She is the one who will either go get the desired hard to find item, or she is the one that will deliver it. Cigarettes, chocolate, and all the other hard to get "luxury" items that have become hard to find.
Then one day, one of her regulars asks her to find something different. Hanneke is asked to find a missing girl. However, she isn't just any missing girl...she is a Jewish missing girl in the middle of the Netherlands while it is occupied by the Germans.
Not a good place to be missing.
Hanneke then goes against her better judgement and begins to hunt for the missing girl in the blue coat. And through this journey, the story unfolds into its full glory.
Through Girl in the Blue Coat we learn a lot about the Netherlands while it was occupied by the Germans in World War 2. I found this very interesting. Not many stories I have come across have showed this particular country and what it was like then. The fears of the people, both the Jewish and others. The way friends can get torn apart because of war. The loss of loved ones...
Girl in the Blue Coat really covered a lot and it covered it beautifully. Well, as beautifully as one can cover something as horrific as World War 2. And even though it is technically historical fiction, I still felt as though I learned a lot from the story. It opened my eyes to a lot of different aspects of World War 2 and for that I am thankful.
This is a story that I think any World War 2 historical fiction buff needs to add to their TBR if they haven't already. And be ready to suffer from many many feels.
It is worth it though.
My Rating
5 Stars
This review is based on an ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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