People Like us (or Daughter of the Reich in some markets) by Louise Fein is the heartbreaking story of a love affair between a Nazi girl and a Jewish boy, set in the backdrop of the event of Kristellnacht in the town of Leipzig in Nazi Germany.

The story is narrated by a girl, the protagonist, who is born to a high ranking member of the Schutzstaffel. As expected, she is fed anti-Semitic views since birth. But when she falls in love with a Jew, she really understands the motives of the Nazis and their inhuman ideology. Thus begins the transformation of a young Nazi mind and its ability to see right from wrong.

With a very clear message of never forgetting the lessons we have learned from history, this book is a must read, especially in the current scenario when the world is again witnessing similar situations of false sense of nationalism leading the youth to believe in fake promises and blaming the minorities for anything and everything.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: Highly recommended

I realised that I had requested this book twice.

This is a raw and emotional memorable read. Hetty and Walter nearly made me cry. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a must-read for lovers of historical fiction - especially with VE day approaching fast. This is an amazing, pertinent, beautiful book, written with large heart, urgency and authenticity. It so compelling captures an absolutely insane period of history, and, despite everything, possesses such humanity. The characters are searing and the message and emotion deeply powerful. Highly recommended!

A very engaging book and I enjoyed the perspective being from a German girl struggling to form her own opinions in a very challenging time. The love story base was the glue that held all the pieces of this story together and made it flow so well.

Thanks for letting me review this book

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. What a story, beautifully written, a love story so poignant but with a backdrop of evil. It was interesting to read a book set in Nazi Germany before the start of the war but very difficult to understand mans inhumanity to man. I cried so much at the end but that is the sign of a great book, one which takes the reader to another time written in such a way I felt I was there.

Hetty Heinrich, daughter of a high ranking SS Officer and member of the Bund Deutscher Madel ((BDM) the League of German Girls) the female branch of Hitler Youth, truly believes in the Fuhrer and his ability to make Germany a better country after WW1.

Walter is the crush that a 7 year old Hetty never grows out of. After he saves her life when she nearly drowns she is captivated by him. But he is her Brother's friend, older than her, and therefore out of the question.

This is even more apparent when she learns something about him that changes everything.

Walter is a Jew, and therefore now forbidden entirely from their school, and their house. Her Brother abandoning his friendship with Walter out of loyalty to both his Father, and Nazi ideology. Hetty cannot believe that Walter is a Jew, he is the perfect Aryan poster boy.

She doesn't really think any more of Walter, until she meets him years later by chance as a teenager and realises what a remarkable young man he is. At first, she is confused by his beliefs, and they argue frequently about what is right for their country.

As time goes on and Hetty realises that she is falling in love with Walter, she also begins to realise that everything about her country and the way that they are treating people is wrong. She feels ashamed, and vows to help Walter in any way that she can.

This of course is without her family's knowledge, as her Father is a high ranking SS officer who believes in everything the Furher and the Nazi party stand for. But Hetty knows that she no longer does and is determined to do all that she can, to help Walter and make educate people to her country's leaders and their terrible crimes.

People Like Us is a beautifully written, important novel about the sacrifices that we must make for those that we love.

Wow wow! What a book! I know that some people have said that they couldn't put it down, for me I had to stop reading after a chapter or so as there was so much to process and I frankly found it quite scary! What a life, what a story and what a time in history. In reading it felt as if much research had gone into the writing of this novel. It really felt as if some one was writing their own account but with so much detail. It is one of those books which I won't forget. Almost one which we should all hear lest we forget and find society going down a dangerous path again. However I would not recommend that a young reader should try this as it is rather harrowing. No doubt it will become a film one day.

Wow what a powerful story. Such emotion when i was reading this, a love story, a heart wrenching story, powerful, it really made me realise and understand how people were treated what lives were like adn how the strongest survived.
Loved it

As a fan of historical fiction, I immediately fell in love with the writing of Louise Fein. This book explored WWII, life in the Reich, and the power of love. The deeper in love Hettie falls, the more she sees life through a different glass - which is a concept that defies time.

This gripping story mesmerized me and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction!

Also titled, "Daughters of the Reich". Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion.

A wonderful novel for fans of historical fiction. The book is a look on life in Germany, under Hitlers power, and written from the perspective of a daughter of a German family and what happens when a she is brave enough to think for herself & find her own truth in love and life. A great book for fans of The Nightingale and/or All The Light We Cannot See.

I started this book, stopped reading it, then started it again and loved it. I’m a newcomer to Historical Fiction and this is one of those books you just have to read.

Set in Leipzig in 1933, we meet Hetty, her brother and Walter. Hilter's propaganda is well and truly seconded onto the every day lives of German life and society and Hetty, who you would say is a good German girl is totally swept away with the ideology of a true, pure race.

When she turns 16, her world summersaults when Walter, her best friend and who is happens to be Jewish, encourages her to challenge those indoctrinated beliefs. In doing so, we see her faith in Hitler wain slightly, more so when she experiences firsthand the horrors that this ideology, the one she was so drawn too is perpetrating.

As Hetty matures, so do her ideals and what we have is an incredible love story that is set during one of the most horrendous times in history, but one that warms you and it is every bit as thought provoking, educational as it is a truly heart breaking novel.

This book is absolutely amazing. Really thought provoking and an unusual point of view for a book written about this era. I was really rooting for the main characters and the descriptions of the times were just heartbreaking. Definitely recommended.

Set in Leipzig in 1933, we are introduced to Hetty, her brother and his best friend Walter. Hilter's propaganda permeates every level of Germany society and Hetty, a good German girl is swept away with the ideology of a true, pure race.

At 16, her world summersaults when Walter, her best friend and who is also Jewish, encourages her to challenge her beliefs. Her faith in Hitler and the fatherland begins to slowly crumble when she experiences firsthand the horrors of what this ideology is perpetrating.

As she matures she begins to understand that she cannot believe everything she has been taught and that not everything is as it seems.

A tender love story within a tumultuous and dangerous era, it's message transcends time and place.

I did enjoy the novel, but I broke my arm and shoulder and I’m not capable of writing a review at the moment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read quotation mark people like us quotation mark.

I loved People Like Us, a moving tale of friendship, loyalty and love between two teenagers in 1930s Germany. As a child Hetty Heinrich is saved from drowning by Walter, a young Jewish boy. When they meet up again as teenagers they become friends. Their friendship develops into a passionate love affair but Hetty's family are Nazis: her father is a senior member of the SS and any relationship with Jews is forbidden and dangerous. Torn between love for Walter, unable at first to believe what is happening to him as a result of Nazi policies, Hetty has to make a choice.

This book deserves wide readership as it illustrates how Jewish people were stripped of their rights as German citizens in the lead up to World War 2. It is also a love story which brought tears to my eyes. Louise Fein has delved into her own family history for the idea behind this book, but tells the story from the young German's point of view. It is well researched and beautifully written. Its relevance to the early 21st century is paramount. I hope People Like Us gets all the accolades it deserves. Many thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review it.

Having read The Book Thief before, and loving it, this book, People Like Us really appealed to me and I was not disappointed,
A love story, set in Germany, detailing the relationship between Hetty, daughter of a high ranking SS officer, and Walter, a young Jewish neighbour.
The story starts at a time when they were children, and Hetty owes her life to Walter when he rescued her from drowning. It is a time of innocence, when there is no real distinction between Aryan and other races, for the children at least.
As time goes by, and the Nazi regime begins to take hold of the lives and thoughts of the younger generations, friendship turns to forbidden love.
I was engrossed from very early on in the book, and my heart went out to the innocents in the war. All those whose lives were ripped apart because of the thinking of that one man, Hitler, and his henchmen.
Highly recommended,
Many thanks to NetGalley ad Head Of Zeus for an ARC, in exchange for an honest review,

I have been immersed in this book for 24 hours! I am a big fan of historical fiction so when this was recommended for people who enjoyed The Book Thief, I knew I had to read it.

This is thought provoking, educational and truly heart breaking novel. It focuses on Hetty Heinrich, who is 7 years old when we first meet her. Her life is saved by a family friend, Walter, after she nearly drowns on a family day out. Something she never forgets but others seem to as time goes on.

We then fast forward to when Hetty is a teenager and the emergence of the Nazi party is at the fore. The author focuses on how the Nazi ideology was spread, through the media, through hearsay, through fake news and rumours. Hetty, at points, has Hitler's voice in her head, demonstrating how deeply ingrained the belief system was. At the early points, Hetty "believes resolutely in her country, and the man who runs it".

At the heart of this story, is her relationship with Walter, a Jew, the family friend who becomes an enemy purely due to religion. The love story is gripping and at times, difficult to read because there is an inevitability to it. That said, it doesn't detract from the storytelling and the joy of seeing them prosper and fight back in even a small way. Her love opens her eyes and she bravely challenges what she sees.

The author has also weaved in some of her own family history into this story and used it as an opportunity to learn more about what her own family will have gone through and how they survived.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As the author states in the epilogue, she explores the question of "How could a people, a deeply civilized, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to de-humanise one another, and commit atrocities on such an unimaginable scale?"

Published on 7th May 2020. Thank you to @headofzeus and @netgalley for the opportunity to review.

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A wonderful book of fiction, mainly from the German/Nazi perspective of the run up to WW2. A story of unconditional love, friendships & struggles for survival. Read the Author notes at the end to discover where this story comes from and understand some of the fiction and non-fiction of this story. Before I got to the end, I thought it would be a great book for a sequel to know what happens next rather than bringing us up to present time in the last two chapters. However, thoroughly good read, at times distressing. Thoroughly recommend.

Hetty Heinrich is a German girl growing up in 1930's Germany whose father is in the SS and whose brother is preparing to join the Luftwaffe. Set against a rising wave of anti-Semitism, Hetty's best friend, Walter is Jewish. As a child he saves her from drowning and the bond formed by this experience combined with their childhood friendship grows into a passionate love as they mature into adults. This is a wonderfully written, meticulously research, faboulously moving historical romance which I was riveted by from the beginning to the tear-jerking epilogue. For me, an extra layer of poignancy was added to the narrative by the dawning realisation that even though this is a work of fiction, this must have been a stark reality for thousands of couples in real-life during this era. Thank you for the advance review copy.

This book by Louise Fein set in Nazi Germany, at the start of World War Two.

I found this book a bit of an eye-opener shedding a reality on suffering for so many, that only the ones that lived in understood.
And how serious it was.

This book is written from somebody living in Germany's point of view. Hetty Heinrich. Following her childhood as a German and the way students were brainwashed to believe the depth of German life she was crafted to have.

Living amidst Nazi-Germany and the pressures and horrors that come with that – especially when Hetty ran into Walter, a Jewish friend from the past which is the aspect that made this book so interesting and so gripping to put down, a forbidden relationship that was bliss even in chaos.
The sadness surrounding Hetty's story creeps up on you. I felt Hetty's emotions, anger, frustration, love, confusion, and sorrow.
A heart-wrenching story that I couldn't let go of even after.
So memorable and real. An absolute must-read.