Haunting and utterly fascinating, yet at times not the easiest of reads, but still one that very much should be read!
I have to be honest it wasn't what I initially expected, but wasn't disappointed by the overall story, I felt that despite the subject and era that this is more young adult historical fiction, or perfect for those just coming into the genre.
People Like Us tells the story of young Hetty and it is through her eyes that the story is told, I had mixed feelings about Hetty and I can't deny that she is brilliantly developed, her opinions and thoughts and actions are real and her journey draws you into her world.
The writing is compelling and engaging, I've not read any of Louise Fein before but I was incredibly impressed with her skilled and authentic writing and attention to detail which is both eye-opening and sensitively written for the subject matter.

Before you start make sure you have a box of tissues to hand. It is a well written heartbreaking read.

This is an unusual WWII novel as it is in the mind of the opposition.
Amazingly written and very poignant.
This book made me weep

A truly heartbreaking piece of historical fictiion. It touches so many emotions and leaves you thinking long after finishing.

People Like Us by Louise Fein is a powerful and heartbreaking historical novel. It consumed me as I read. Louise Fein grounded her novel in fact which makes it all the more powerful and shocking.
The novel is set in Leipzig in the 1930’s. It is told in the first person from the point of view of an SS officer’s daughter.
The reader is horrified to see the extent to which the young (and the old) are brainwashed, and the pedestal on which they place Hitler. “Community work is – is holy. It brings us closer to the Fuhrer.” What terrible, awful thinking. Hitler is seen as a god and he was even prayed to. The thought of Hitler drove a character’s thoughts and actions. The eyes of the vast majority of a nation were blinded to the evil reality.
As a modern reader, it is totally incomprehensible and utterly appalling to witness Hitler and the Nazis brainwashing a nation. People are the same the world over. If you cut us, we all bleed the same and we all have hopes and dreams.
There are some truly harrowing scenes to read within the book.
Following blindly and without question were the masses. Only a handful could see the terrible truth. “You opened my eyes and made me see.” Everyone needed someone to open their eyes.
There was much fear and mistrust as neighbours, and even family members, informed on those who were disloyal to Hitler.
There were pockets of bravery. Those who would go the extra mile with no thought to personal cost. Doing the right thing was more important than personal safety.
Louise Fein has cleverly and expertly crafted her novel. We witness the torment of a teen who knows what she’s been taught (Nazi ideology) and what this tells her she should be doing but her eyes and her heart are pulled in an altogether different direction. The reader ‘feels’ the internal tension and battle.
People Like Us was heartbreaking. It was shocking and it was powerful.
People Like Us is a novel that must be read in memory of the six million innocents who perished.
I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

Although I read the first 100 pages of this book, I found that it didn’t hole my interest so stopped reading. sorry!

I usually enjoy war time stories but I found this one really hard to get into. Whilst the writing is good I found the story a bit flat in places. I just didn’t feel like I was transported there.

This isn’t my usual sort of genre of book, but I thought I would give it a read. I’m glad I did, beautifully written and lovely story.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Hetty seems the perfect example of a young Nazi woman. Dedicated to her family and Hitler, she believes in the Reich unflinchingly. But whispers reach her that make her begin to question her family sudden rise. And then there is Walter. Handsome Walter who looks like the Aryan dream but is in fact Jewish. They fall in love, but in their town it's not easy to keep a secret.

Lockdown has definitely affected my reading mojo and for that reason only I struggled at first with this. But then something just clicked and I found myself reading into the wee small hours. And then waking the house with properly ugly crying.

A sweet love story told against a disturbing backdrop. 4 stars.

What a great piece of writing for Louise Fein's dedut novel. Set in pre war Germany the story is told by a young girl Hetty who falls in love with Walter a Jew and tells of the hardships and struggles they faced in their lives. It's a hard read at time's as the terrible events that happened to families who lost everything and suffered at the hands of the Natzi's just for being Jews. A powerful story that will stay with me for a long time. A work of fiction and a romantic tale that flows beautifully between the characters but the historical significance is very important and needs to be remembered

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

I am trying to get through my Netgalley TBR (to be read) list and am randomly downloading and reading books. This novel just happened to come after I finished two other novels about World Wars, and the second in a row about the WW2 and set in Germany.

Hetty and her brother Karl live in Leipzig in the 1930s. And the rise of Nazism is told through Hettie’s eyes as she grows up from child to teenager. Hetty dreams of being a Doctor but Nazism requires her to have pure blooded Aryan children. When Hetty falls in love with Walter, a Jewish boy and friend of the family, her life, and the lives of all those she loves are threatened.

What unfolds is a beautiful love story set against the rise of Nazism. Hetty is a good girl who believes Hitler and the teachings the Jews are inferior and threat to the Third Reich. But Walter is not like other Jews and through her love for him she finds herself questioning Hitler.

Unfortunately for Hetty she is only 17 and not allowed to make her choices being a woman and minor.
What unfolds is a wonderful novel of Hetty’s fight for her own and Walters life.
Recommend for historical fiction lovers.

I was completely hooked from the very beginning of this book. It is heart wrenching and a story that will live with me for a long time. A brilliant debut novel.

What’s it About? The daughter of a high ranking Nazi official and the Jewish boy she loves.

What I liked: Ok, so we all know I am a sucker for a good bit of WWII historical fiction and this was that. I loved this book. It was so good. I loved it. I loved the way it all unfolded, how it showed Hetty grow from dutiful Nazi who speaks to Hitler in her head to this girl who'll risk everything to help the people she's always thought she should hate. I loved watching her eyes being opened, I love how cleverly this book showed what was the most terrifying about Hitler's regime - the way they turned everything upside down and played on just a little bit of discontent, a little bit of fear to bring about their own, terrifying, end game. I loved all the stories - mostly of women - that this book showcased. It's entirely my kind of book and I'm so glad I read it.

What I liked Less: I just liked it. This is SUCH a good read. Perhaps the romance element let it down a little bit, I liked the romance, and I loved what it brought to the story but it was maybe a little bit OTT. Maybe.

What a beautiful yet heartwrenching story, Wonderfully written, powerful not many books bring a tear to my eyes, but this one did. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I have read many books based during WWII People Like Us has a huge point of difference which intrigued me.

Hetty is in love with Walter. Hetty's dad is very high in the SS and a "true german". Walter is a Jew.

In the book you follow Hetty from a young child to a young adult and see how she has been swayed and manipulated by Hitler and his followers to distrust and dislike Jews. Its rare to see the story develop in this way. Her teaching in school change, prayers to Hitler and not God, textbooks every year are the same- Mein Kampf, Teachers scared to teach for fear of a pupil reporting them.

Then Hetty and Walter, childhood friends reconnect and she begins to question everything. Has the "filthy Jew" corrupted her mind? Or is he helping her to see the light?

This book was interesting from the start - a total different view point which I have never come across in a bok from this genre. The characters are likeable, and really help to build up your empathy towards each and every situation. IT also really helps you understand how and why people turned on each other by placing you in their mindset.

This book is very powerful and a must read if all things WWII interest you.

I kept putting off reading this book thinking it would be too heavy and not really summer holiday reading but to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it despite its serious themes. In fact I found myself discussing with my husband the things I’d learned about 1930s Germany and German politics at that time while finding similarities in today’s world. This is essentially a love story written during the build up to the Second World War in Nazi Germany between a daughter of a well connected SS collaborator and a Jewish boy. A very interesting book and I’ve promised my husband that I will buy the real book so he can read it too.

It’s not very often I sob uncontrollably in the garden on a sunny afternoon – but my goodness, I haven’t read a book that had such a powerful emotional impact in quite some time. And there was nothing remotely manipulative about it, just a totally heartbreaking love story set against an exceptionally drawn period of history.

Set in Leipzig, the book begins with the innocence of a child – Hetty’s attachment to Walter, the boy who saved her life, her brother’s friend. Through her child’s eye view, we witness the rise of Nazism, the growing enmity towards the Jewish population, the appropriation of property, the regimentation of the population, the deification of Hitler – as Hetty’s father rises through the ranks of the SS, she follows the path of unquestioning duty. The insights into the daily lives of ordinary German people are extraordinary, the domestic detail, the day-to-day lives, all set against a vivid portrayal of the growing threat, the constant indoctrination and the rising tide of hatred.

And then, Hetty finds out that Walter is Jewish – and it turns her firmly held beliefs and her comfortable life entirely upside down. He’s blonde and blue-eyed, and doesn’t conform to the “type” they had described – with living examples – at their school assembly (one of so many stunning set pieces in the book that will long stay in the memory). And when they meet again, totally against the odds, their relationship only grows – despite the massive risks, including the possibility of betrayal by others, their love becomes all-consuming. It’s a love that makes you ache because its sheer impossibility, the risks they take every time they meet… and as their love story develops, it plays itself out against the horrifying backdrop of the approach of the Second World War.

Hetty and Walter’s story is, of course, fiction, albeit inspired by the author’s family history (do read the author’s note at the book’s end) – but fiction set against an only-too-real background, with an exceptional depth of accurate detail. I’ve never read a story told from quite this perspective before, and it’s what makes it all so much more powerful – Hetty’s early unquestioning belief that her way is the right way is exceptionally disturbing, but entirely understandable, and so superbly conveyed. The whole book has the intimacy of a memoir – told in the first person, everything is seen through Hetty’s eyes, as we travel with her along her journey from blind allegiance, through uncertainty and questioning, to anger and opposition as the cruelty and dehumanisation escalates.

This is a deeply affecting love story – one that will strengthen your belief in the power of love, and its ability to overcome every obstacle. The book’s ending – that so broke me – is almost unbearably uplifting, perfectly pitched, a glorious triumph of hope and endurance. But what will particularly remain with me from this book is that horrifying backdrop, the way an ideology took over a people, that blind belief, the ease with which hatred and brutality became the norm. This is such an important book, and one I doubt I’ll ever forget – and to forget its lessons would be unforgivable.

Such a sad story showing the realities of life for those living in Germany during the Second World War. I’ve ready many books on this topic, but this is the first from this perspective and it was enlightening. The characters drew me in and I couldn’t put this story down, needing to know what happened to them. I would recommend this read to family and friends and am very much looking forwards to exploring more from the author.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC version of this book in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book and found it hard to put down though I had to for a little bit because the subject is so sad.

I thought that it was incredibly well written and when I read the afterward I could see exactly why. I would definitely read another book by Louise Fein. Although I'm fascinated by the holocaust because I'm interested in how and why people can treat others so dreadfully, this was based at the start when things were starting to become very difficult for Jewish people and how they had to leave or face imprisonment in concentration camps or worse, death. I thought that the characters were well developed and I was interested in each person's story and it was realistic though horrific in parts to the point that I read about things that I didn't realise before even though I've read a lot on this subject.

One thing that I would like to read about in future is even earlier than this, what was it that made Adolf Hitler turn so nasty though the book does give some indication of why people followed him.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this one. I found it a little slow going, more of a slow burn story about children than a page turning story and I found myself flicking quite a bit to get to something plot driven. But I know I’m in the minority.