Three things I loved about The White Rose Resists by Amanda Barratt

Resistance reading
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My 2022 Book Reviews

One of my goals for 2022 is to write more reviews of the books I read, both on this blog and on Goodreads. I’ve decided that I’m only going to write reviews of books because a) I want to be supportive of my fellow authors and  b) if a book is bad or I don’t like it, I don’t want to waste my precious minutes writing about the fact. I’d rather move on to the next book. There is so much to read in the world that I will never get around to reading that I don’t want to dwell on the books I don’t like.

You can take all my reviews here as recommendations, but despite my best intentions, I know I wont get around to writing a review for every book I love so if I share that I’ve read something on Instagram or in a monthly reading roundup but a review doesn’t materialise that doesn’t mean I didn’t love like it just that I’m probably having a behind the scenes crises of some sort…

My style of book review

I’m going to stick to reviewing books about WWII. Not everything I read will be strictly speaking from the romance genre, but since I think that a little romance makes EVERY book better, I’m giving every book a romance rating. 

Not every book will be a new release either. So many good books are released each year that I can’t really keep up (I love reading but I’m slow compared to most). I just post about books as I find them, which may not be when everyone else is talking about them!

I love this three things format that I developed last year – because it allows me to focus on the positive aspects of the books I read. Please bewares, sometimes my three things won’t be about the book as such they will be about how the book met me as a reader. I understand this is so subjective, but it also reflects how I feel about reading. It’s a co-creation process!

The three things I loved about this book

These three things have been sitting in my back pocket since I read this book last year. Amanda Barratt’s The White Rose Resists is the story of a resistance movement among students in Nazi Germany led by Hans and Sophie Schol. Barratt expertly weaves fact and fiction, filling in details of real life resisters to pull together a compelling picture of life for young people at odds with the ideology of Nazi Germany. Here are three things I loved:

1) A true story of resistance

From the author’s notes at the end of the book, I know that not every part of this book is a true story. For instance, the romance between Kirk and Annaliese is from the author’s imagination. But the core of the book – particularly the details around Hans and Sophie Schol – are true. I find it too easy to despair when I read about the systematic cruelty of Nazi Germany so I like to be reminded of the stories of resisters, particularly ones who risked everything for what was right as this group did. There is a lot that is sad about this book (not a spoiler – it’s well documented history!) but the overall message of people fighting against an evil ideology at great personal cost is incredibly uplifting.

The White Rose Resists Cover

Cosy reading for the long weekend

2) Understanding a German POV

There was one particular moment in the book that really moved me by taking me deep into the shoes of the character Kirk. Although he was part of this resistance movement, he was also in the Wehrmacht (German Army) as every young German man was conscripted to be. In one scene, he is in Poland witnessing the atrocities of his country first hand as a young Jewish girl dies at the entrance to a ghetto. You are watching the scene from his point of view and as a reader you understand how deeply upset and horrified he is by the moment. But he can’t speak or say anything – partly because he is too shocked, but for other reasons too. To an outsider, it might look like he is complicit, but really his resolve to resist is being sharpened. Something about this scene captured for me the complexity of the situation that many Germans must have faced. And while there were those who agreed with the regime, and those who were complacent, others used their silence to plan their resistance.

3) The audiobook narration

I read this book on Kindle and switched to audio when I needed to drive, walk or do housework. As a former voice and dialect coach, audio narration can make or break a book for me. But I really enjoyed the way this book used male and female voices voices to distinguish the POVs. Perhaps it’s a small touch, but I’m convinced it drew me deeper into the story.

Romance rating

A solid 4/5 hearts. It’s not at the centre of the book, just a side element, but it was sweet, innocent and hopeful which was a counterpoint to the other events in the story.

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