This was a DNF for me. I read about 25% and could not get into the story. The book pacing felt a bit slow for me. I did appreciate the book trying to show how a German family experienced during WWII.

As an avid reader, I realize the effort authors put in to finally have a book published. If the book doesn’t ‘grab’ me right away, I keep plodding along in an effort to give the author the respect they deserve. Unfortunately I absolutely struggled with this book and I truly feel it had no redeeming value. I couldn’t connect with the story line or any of the characters. I do not like to give any book a one star rating but this was probably worse than that. At it’s heart the story is about a German family trying to ‘suffer’ through the hardships of WWII.

I would like to thank the publisher, author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ah how I adore this harrowing tale of the WWII, it was lovely - No. It was scaring? Yes. It made me ponder over things, acknowledge the fact that how privileged we really are while some are fighting everyday to keep their existence intact. The author has intricately weaved the feelings and emotions of the characters and had given the readers an exquisite taste of the great war.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: WWII is just so overdone in the historical fiction genre. It seems like every other book in the genre is set during WWII, and I'm just kind of sick of it. At this point, writing a WWII book is just like beating a dead horse. Because everyone and their mother has written about the period, it's hard to write something original, fresh, and exciting; it seems like it's all been done before. And, unfortunately, I think The Vanishing Sky suffered for that very reason. I enjoyed the book, but I felt like I've read ten others like it. It's a good book, but by no means is it the best. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable enough for me to recommend it to those who love reading WWII fiction.

Few novels focus on life from the German perspective at the end of World War II. The father, Josef, had been a teacher until his forgetfulness caused him to retire. A son, Max, was sent to the front, but came back changed because of what he had seen. And then there’s Georg, who at age 15, joined the Hitler Youth group. Mutti, is indomitable. She’s the one responsible for scrounging food and tending to her sick husband and sons. Of all the characters, only Georg really became a more in-depth character. The picture is bleak and we all know the ending even for those who involuntarily were forced to participate.

The Vanishing Sky by L. Annette Binder

This novel centers around WWII & the Huber family, in Germany, 1945. While the father’s memory fades, his wife struggles with her thoughts & emotions as her sons inevitably are called to serve the Nazi regime.

The father, Josef, was the hardest character for me to identify with. He was simply unresponsive to his family’s needs. The majority of the story centers around (mother) Etta’s struggles to continue on with her home life while she’s troubled over the health and well-being of her sons, Max and Georg. Max is to be returning from the war, while Georg is off to training camp.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

The Vanishing Sky is the story of one German family, the Hubers, in the waning months of WWII: mother Etta, father Joseph who appears to be sinking into the dementia that overwhelmed his father, older son Max serving on the Eastern front, and younger son Georg, 15 years old and off training with the Hitler Youth. Their home is in the countryside somewhat buffered for the moment. This debut novel is partially based on journals from relatives of the author.

As the novel begins, signs increase that the war is going poorly for Germany and Max returns home from the war a changed man with obvious emotional problems, unable to function. Food is becoming more scarce even in an area where people farm. Old men and younger boys are being called up.

But this is the story of one family, how they are living through these days, together and apart. And how the parents live in their community. It’s a difficult story, one that I took a break from a couple of times, especially toward the end, given the sadness of everyday life in the world lately. But it is very effectively written and from a perspective that I haven’t had much experience reading. There is at times an ethereal quality to some of the descriptions, offsetting the much too real activity happening.

I do recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction, WWII, and Germany. It’s a difficult book to rate, between 3 and 3.5 for me which results with the 3 rating.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book that takes place during WWII is from a different and unusual perspective - - that of a German family. One thing it has in common with most other WWII stories is that it's filled with the horrors of war. It's a slow read and the writing style doesn't lend itself to actually knowing the characters.

Yes, it's a different perspective on this subject so that might make it worthwhile to read, but reader be warned - I found it very dark and depressing.

I have read quite a few books centered in WWII but very few about an average German family, so I was really looking forward to reading "the rest of the story". Unfortunately, this story was probably not the right one to pick for several reasons. It was difficult to get through, because of the wordy prose, lack of conversation, which I think would have brought the characters to life, and excessive detail. I often had to put the book down because it was so heavy and depressing.

Yes, The Vanishing Sky, demonstrates the horrors of war and the effects that it has on both the survivors and their families. In that respect, the book is explicit. As we see Germany collapsing, we also see the struggle of an average German family to survive, and to get through the last days of the war while feeling the impending sense of doom (due to the constant planes overhead and bombs) which is contrary to the optimistic official reports. It had to be difficult to keep one's sense of normalcy with this discrepant input. However, this is what the main character, Etta, attempted to do throughout the final days of the war.

Etta had insurmountable demons to battle - between her husband's progressive dementia, her oldest son's PTSD, and mental illness which rendered him unable to function in his daily life, and lack of information from the younger 15 year old son in Hitler's Youth army- Etta had her hands full just trying to get through her days.

I didn't feel that there was a real conclusion to the story, although there were a lot of tense moments and an abundance of physical and emotional suffering. It was difficult at times to get back into the story - and I must admit to putting it down for a while, then picking it up a week or so later.

Thanks to Netgalley and to Bloomsbury publishing for providing me with an ebook to read and review. The thoughts here are my own honest opinions.

There are a ton of World War II historical fiction novels out there and I've read quite a few myself. The Vanishing Sky is another novel set during WWII except this one is told from the perspective of a German family, the Hubers. The family is comprised of Etta & Josef and their sons Max and Georg. It's 1945 and Max has returned home from the front. He is quiet and off from his normal behavior. He spends a lot of time walking by himself through town and hanging out in the cemetery. He talks about bones a lot and how he had to collect bones. Meanwhile, younger son Georg, who had been at a Hitler Youth academy is sent out into the field with a troop of young soldiers. At one point, while in a transport vehicle and the rest of his group is sleeping, Georg jumps from the vehicle and begins the long journey towards home.

This novel is heart-wrenching. It shows the impact of WWII from a perspective we don't often see. You can feel Etta's worry for her family, in particular, Max. There is a lot of despair in this novel, which is what one would expect from a story of young soldiers who had seen battle. Including the whole family in the story added impact. I didn't quite connect with any of these characters as much as I'd hoped. I found myself putting it down to clear my brain.

This book follows one family's experiences through the final days of WW2 in Germany. I liked that the book captured an average German family story as most books in this genre do not touch on the experiences of average Germans. It was a heartbreaking account, from the perspectives of different family members and the challenges they faced, not just because of the war, but because of who they were and their own demons and that perspective compounded by the impacts of the war. For example, the father is suffering from genetic dementia, although never called that. And we see how that impacts the family, plus the war on top of that. The mom is a strong woman, trying to hold everyone and everything together, bearing witness to the individual challenges faced by each member of the family and just trying to get through each day and help her son, who is returned from the war with PTSD and possible other mental illnesses. Then there is another son, who was a part of the Hitler youth...we watch his journey unfold throughout the book and his desire to return home and have things back to normal. Even as I'm writing this, my heart hurts. No big stories, no heroics, just an average family and their struggles in not so average times.

L. Annette Binder provides an alternative to WWII storytelling in The Vanishing Sky which is a welcome change of pace. Based on her father's/family experience, Binder writes about the Huber family's life on the German home front as the Russians and Americans are pushing through the country. The story examines the former teacher father, housewife mother, eldest son who suffers tragically from PTSD and the youngest son who literally walks away from the Hitler Youth as his group moves into battle. The characters were not fleshed out well and left me needing more substance in order to feel more of a connection. Since Binder personally knows how the story ends, I would have liked her to share more.

An interesting look at the war from the German point of view. Compelling characters deal with a very tough subject of how brutal war can be and how lasting the effects are.

The Vanishing Sky by L. Annette Binder follows the members of the Huber family in Germany as WWII reaches its violent end. This story shares the ravages of war on the German home front.

I was initially intrigued to read this book as WWII historical fiction is my favourite genre and I had never read one that focused on the experience told through a German lens. However, novelty of that concept aside, this book just fell flat for me.

The writing style was difficulty to get into. The sentences were short and plain, feeling more like I was reading lackluster stage directions. It is possible this writing style was intentional to set the dreary and oppressive tone of living in Nazi Germany – the whole book felt “grey” – but if this was intentional, the cost was my ability to connect with the characters and story.

The novel also touched upon the issue of PTSD brought on by wartime experiences; however, this storyline was not told from the perspective of the character experiencing it, so it was much less powerful than it could have been.

Things finally started to pick up and become more engaging in the last 15-20% of the novel, but then its conclusion arrived so abruptly and was so anticlimactic that I actually exclaimed “oh!?” out loud when I reached the acknowledgements section of the book.

If you are very into WWII historical fiction and are looking for a unique take on the genre and don’t mind a very slow book, this may be one to try.

Thank you to @bloomsburypublishing and @netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

Set at the end of WWII, the Vanishing Sky centers around Etta, her sons Max and Georg, and her husband Josef. It was definitely a heavy read. I find that in historical fiction, usually there's little sparks of light that help ease up the topic a little bit. This book did not have those. It was an interesting read, and I especially loved Etta; I felt how strong and brave she was trying to be for her family, and how hopeful she was and how much she loved them despite their problems. However, it was just too dark and sad for me to really say I truly enjoyed it. The story for me was quick paced and moved along nicely, but I had to kind of read bits at a time because it was emotional. However, I do think L. Annette Binder wrote it this way to make it more realistic to the setting of the book, and I think she did a good job at this because I can only imagine how hard things must be when the world has been at war for years.

So to sum up my thoughts, this was a quick paced and interesting read, and I was involved with the characters in the story, particularly Etta. However, it was a sad, dark read almost all the way through and that was a little hard to take at times.

Although I prefer historical novels, I found this book to be ver dismal and depressing. Based on the author’s family history, it is well written with well constructed characters.
Set during the final days of WWII, it is the story of Etta, a mother and wife living in a small German town. It tells the stories of her aging husband Josef, moving into dementia and her two young sons, Max a soldier at the front and
Georg, a student at the Hitler School.
It’s a tale of the struggles and pain of war, loss and despair. A talented writer,
L Annette Binder, conveys the darkness, frigid, long days of an existence based on war and the destruction of their lives. For serious history buffs that don’t need a feel good story to enjoy the book. My thanks to #NetGalley and
#BloomsburyPublishing for the ARC for my independent opinion!

I really struggled to get through this book. It was very slow and I really didn't connect with any of the characters. What I did like about it was Etta's determination to help her son and that she didn't give up on him. However, overall it wasn't the book for me.

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I was looking forward to reading this, seeing WWII at a different perspective and unfortunately this was a tough book to get into. It jumped around to much from character to character, It was disjointed and I just couldn't get into it. I DNFd around 35% in.

Did you ever force yourself to finish a book and then try to figure out what you just read ? That was this book for me. And I have to say anything bad about a book, but I just did not like it. And I really do not understand what the point was supposed to be.

When I received this book, I thought I was going to be in for a wonderful treat. All I could keep thinking was maybe this would be a read alike for We Were the Lucky Ones. Unfortunately that could not be further from what the story was written about.

The author draws this story from her own father’s time in the Hitler Youth. While the author attempted to put together a narrative of this family during the end of WWII, I found myself wondering why this is even a story that needs to be written. I felt very disconnected from each member of the Huber Family. I do feel that this might make a good book club discussion, because I feel many people will walk away from this book with a multitude of different thoughts and feeling.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.