In the Shadow of the Wolves is about German children who survived in Lithuania after WWII. I had never heard of this topic and it intrigued me. The story itself is solid, although the author leaves you hanging with an incomplete ending, which is frustrating. The main issue I have with this book is the jumbled delivery. There is no transition from paragraph to paragraph chapter to chapter. It was hard to discern about whom the author had moved onto next. It detracted from the story immensely. I'm not sure if it was a translation hitch or editing oversight.

I will start off by saying that when I get an eBook ARC, I don't expect it to be perfect in the formatting. Everyone who reads ARCs knows that there might be mistakes here and there. HOWEVER. I don't know what happened with this one. There were no clear breaks which made getting through it a chore--I would be reading about one person and then would all of a sudden be in a different region with different characters.

I feel bad saying this but I found the translation a bit atrocious. I think that maybe this was way better in its original language. While I know the writing was meant to be spare, it just seemed disjointed and flat to me. I honestly can't say that any of the characters had an impact on me because the writing was just so stilted. This story had such potential and I was really sad to have to rate it so low because I think the topic is an important one. Overall, disappointed.

Not really for me, I found the skipping characters so quickly wasn’t my style. But it’s a good read with a hard tale to tell and I won’t mark it down because it’s not my cup of tea, it was still well written and well told.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I personally could not get into this book.
It skipped from one person to the next too fast (this may be the way it was laid out on my kindle,and if so apologies).
It was a good while before I had an idea of how old the children were,so that was confusing.
Cruel,bleak and full of horrors based on truth... I wish I could have scored it higher.

To write in a way that requires a reader to truly care about the characters moulded on the page; to write so that the atmosphere painted is visceral and can be almost tasted, is a rare gift. Here, in Slepikas' novel, is a jewel of an example. Though he does not indulge us with extensive details about each child or the individuals they encounter, Oh! how you care. Gripping my attention; grasping and tugging at my heart; immersing me so that my breathing slowed and my pulse settled, 'In the Shadow of Wolves' depicts a devastating, rarely acknowledged, moment in history; "here is postwar Prussia, trampled underfoot, raped, stood against a wall and shot."

Perhaps what is particularly remarkable, is that Slepikas' attention to detail and lyrical prose manage enough light (despite the horrific circumstances described) to avoid monotony The children's persistence and hope and mischief, offset the darkness of their hunger and desperation.

When the eldest child, Heinz, appears laden with food parcels after a treacherous trip across the border to Lithuania, he approaches as if in a dream, and you find yourself urging him on, as if your own stomach were clenching; "Through the snowstorm which seemed to be stretching itself out before dawn, through the whirling gusts of snow, a tiny figure could be seen coming from the direction of the railroad tracks. It was Heinz.." At other moments the weather's relentless cycle punishes with swirling snowstorms and "icicles like dragon's teeth" and yet merely seems to mock the characters' distress when spring finally comes with sap flowing along the branches of a tree which' "rises towards the sun, making buds burst, blossoms bloom, scents" soak the air.

The images painted, pulse vividly on the page and stick long after the book is complete; "For a moment the space around her seemed to distort, people's hands and faces lost their contours, everything expanded and then shrank again, everything slowed down."

I am grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing me an advance copy of the book in return for an honest review.

This is the first book in a while to have me staying up late in order to find out what horrible thing (because you know it can only be horrible things) will happen next. It is as dark and bleak as it is fascinating and gripping. For however brief the characters may be in the story, Slepikas makes you root for their survival even though you know it is futile. Now I see what the eastern European equivalent of Grave of the Fireflies could be like.

I am almost finished this book and wanted to post an early review. Let me first start out by saying that the war didn’t end when the people were liberated, it was beginning again. No food, raped, murdered and other atrocities that are are unthinkable happened. This story is not for the faint of heart! It was a quick easy read but for me the paragraphs all flowed into each other which made it difficult at times and had to be reread. I would recommend to people who are interested in war and it’s aftermath. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

All I can say is “wow!” I finished In the Shadow of Wolves in just three days. I could not put it down. What I loved was how raw the story was. I cried at the pain and struggles of the characters. This is by far the best historical fiction novel I have ever read!

Let me make it clear from the get go that this is not a feel good read. This book is based on real events that occurred at the end of World War II when people were faced with making impossible decisions no one should ever have to make. Most of us look back at history and see the Nazis being beaten back as a victory, and it was, but the ensuing fallout left many people facing horrors just as unimaginable as those perpetrated by the Nazis.In East Prussia, the Soviet army is advancing into a world of starving and terrified women and children. The women there know that their fight is just beginning and many make the choice to send their children alone into the forest, with hopes that the children would reach Lithuania, where they might be fed and cared for. I know several people who won’t read this book because they cannot imagine, as a parent, having to make a decision like that. How lucky we are that we have that luxury and how foolish would be to imagine that atrocities like this do not occur every day and that one day we might be tasked with making a decision no one should ever have to make. This story is brutal, stark and honest and tells a little known story that we all need to know