The Vanishing Sky.Hard to read, and hard to follow. Rarely do I not finish a book that I commit to read, but this is one.

I requested this book since it was based on World War II and a German family. I was disappointed that the book was somewhat disjointed, and I found myself needing to flip back and forth to figure out the POV or if in the present or past.

The Hubers are a family struggling to live through the end of WWII. Etta, the wife and mother, tries to take care of everyone. Josef, the husband and father, wants to be useful but has dementia. The two sons, Max and Georg are away in different areas of the country as members of the military, with Georg only 15.

There were many towns mentioned but I had no idea of the rural location where the Huber’s lived; it wasn’t until much later in the story that I had some idea of the general area. Georg had a more interesting tale with his time in the military youth and his travels when he ran away.

I enjoyed Etta’s devotion to her family and her life revolves around taking care of her boys and her husband. I could feel the urgency of her resolve to locate Max, who had been taken away after returning home from war and having PTSD type symptoms. She yearned to hear from Georg, who had not written while away.

Unfortunately, the pacing was quite slow, and I found myself skimming many parts of the story as I seldom DNF a book. It seemed odd that the story was based on WWII but little was mentioned about the Nazis, just that people disappeared. I know every book ends but I was left with questions about several aspects.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the story.

I suspect this will have some judgey reviews because it is, after all, set in Germany in 1945 and told from the perspective of a German family. No it doesn't address the Holocaust. It is the story of the Huber family- Etta, Josef, Max, and Georg. Etta's trying to hold things together even as Josef falls apart due to dementia. Her son Max is shellshocked. Georg, a sensitive boy, flees his Hitler Youth Camp. It's the story of one family- a small story if you will. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Not for all readers but I found it interesting.

The Vanishing Sky by L. Annette Binder
Publication Date: July 21, 2020

Description from NetGalley...
“In 1945, as the war in Germany nears its violent end, the Huber family is not yet free of its dangers or its insidious demands. Etta, a mother from a small, rural town, has two sons serving their home country: her elder, Max, on the Eastern front, and her younger, Georg, at a school for Hitler Youth. When Max returns from the front, Etta quickly realizes that something is not right-he is thin, almost ghostly, and behaving very strangely. Etta strives to protect him from the Nazi rule, even as her husband, Josef, becomes more nationalistic and impervious to Max's condition. Meanwhile, miles away, her younger son Georg has taken his fate into his own hands, deserting his young class of battle-bound soldiers to set off on a long and perilous journey home.”

Thank you to @NetGalley @bloomsburypublishung for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.

My thoughts...
This is a debut novel from L. Annette Binder and it’s a wallop of a debut! I love historical fiction, but i have not come across ones based from a German’s perspective, the way this story was told. This story was based in the last two months of WWII told from the perspective of a German family. Binder did a superb job in humanizing one of the most traumatizing times in history. It was an ambitious novel that painted a picture of oppression, fanatical force, darkness and casualties of war. It delivered a wave of compassion, generosity, survival, kindness and friendship in a gentle and poetic prose. And yes, once in awhile it’s important to have a good “klatch.”

I think Binder's novel is unique because it has a fresh perspective and it follows the struggles that the Huber family endures and how ideology and war can rip even the closest family apart. Etta's struggles are realistic and heartbreaking. I think this is a great summer read.

Drawing inspiration from her own father's time in the Hitler Youth, L. Annette Binder has crafted a spellbinding novel about the daring choices we make for country and for family. The Vanishing Sky is a World War II novel as seen through a German lens. The story discusses how the war affected the homefront and how one family chose to participate either involuntary, unseen, or direct in the war effort.
Mother Etta navigates rationing and relational changes in her home and rural town as the war progresses. Her husband Josef must accept that he's no longer a school teacher and is slowly succumbing to dementia. Elder son Max returns from the Eastern Front carrying the dead he pulled from the dirt. Younger son Georg must decide if he will stay or run away from Hitler School soldier training.
Each person in the family faces their own challenges as they navigate the intense changes war has brought.
I appreciated the psychological aspects of this novel. It's beautifully written and tugged at my emotions. I confess, though, that I wanted a happy ending. But the actual ending is much more satisfying. It's real and hopeful, honest and emotional.
This novel deals with many challenging topics, including PTSD, dementia, family relationships, and self-esteem. I highly recommend it as a realistic and real look at how war affected one German family.

I try to be fair about all the books I read and review, and normally most books I can get into by the end, but this book was not like others. I just could not get into it, whether it was the style of writing or the story itself, I'm not sure. I just did not enjoy this book, and had a hard time getting through it.
The book follows a family with a mother, Etta, who is desperate to have her family together, and healthy. There are two sons, Max and Georg, who have both been pulled into the Hitler Youth Regime, because they are of age and healthy. Max is sent home and is not quite right in the head. Georg has walked away from the group and is trying to get home, while suffering many hardships along the way. Josef, Etta's husband, is also not right in the head, and seems to be following in the footsteps of his late father. He constantly forgets things and is too stubborn to admit that he has any problems. Etta has more on her plate then she can handle sometimes, and yet she persevered through it all.
The book is written from a time during which we normally see things written from the perspective of the other side, but this is written from the perspective of a German family. The author's grandfather had many journals from this time when he was in a Hitler Youth camp, and she was able to incorporate a lot in the book from this.

I started reading this and it was a slow start for me that continued to drag on. I did appreciate the perspective of the novel - it's not very often that you see a historical fiction book set during WW2 that is from a German family's perspective. Also, there were themes of mental illness and homosexuality that made this a more complex read. Ultimately, it wasn't for me. Those who enjoy and read historical fiction frequently and are looking for a new perspective would enjoy this.

This isn't my usual WWII book that I read. Typically, I read from the perspective of Jewish people during the war. This book was written from the German perspective during WWII, where two boys in a German family experienced time on the Eastern Front (Max) and at the Hitler Youth Camp (Georg), all the while, Josef, their father is experiencing memory loss. This book was not really for me and I found it confusing as the author jumped from character to character and setting to setting.

I kept waiting for this book to hit it's stride, but instead it stayed monotone and depressing. One son suffering from what appears to be PTSD, one son who escapes his military camp trying to find his way home, a mother who believes her son can get better if only she is allowed to care for him, and a father who wants to help with the Nazi fight but appears to be suffering from dementia. Too much going on, without a real story.

This WWII novel focuses on the war through the eyes of a young boy in the Hitler youth, his brother who has fought in the war and returns home broken, and their mother who wants her sons home and in full health. The premise is interesting, but I found the story hard to follow in the early chapters of the book. It is worth pressing through those chapters for the full story.

This was the voice of World War II historical novels that we haven't heard in this country yet. Binder was perhaps best positioned to offer the viewpoint of the last year of the war from the perspective of German families, mothers, and Hitler Youth. The pace was very slow and resembled a third-person stream of consciousness like so much of the story is from the innermost thoughts of the characters. For myself, this made the novel harder to read for hours on end, but that is my own reading style; clearly this was a story that needed telling. Etta, the mother of two sons affected by the war, one profoundly to the point that we are left to ponder what he experienced, and the other a fifteen-year-old forced to join Hitler Youth and sent to both labor and lift a weapon in a war they were too young to understand. Georg, the youngest, and Max the oldest son whose narrative fails as his mind collapses under the weight of his experience from years of service. Lastly, Josef, the father who lives in a cloud of nationalism fueled by anger from World War I. Josef has lost all ability to support his family in their time of greatest need.

Not for me...

If this wasn't an ARC I would have DNF at 25%.

What I liked:
The awareness of shell shock/ PTSD, dementia and LGBT inclusion.

What I didn't like:
I didn't connect with any of the characters, there were too many random flashbacks and excessive perspectives changes which made reading the novel confusing. This story was about a family of German citizens during the end of World War II and nothing more. I found no depth or a build up to a climax. It was surprising that there were barely any mention of what the Nazis were doing and I found it hard to believe this 'ordinary German family' didn't recognized what society and rulership they were living under if they had to question why non-Aryan looking Germans or Germans with mental issues were 'taken away'. Towards, the conclusion of the book you don't get a true sense of what happened to all the characters and you're somewhat left hanging.

Unfortunately, I lost interest too early in the book and it went down hill for me.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Netgalley and was intrigued to read a World War II story from the perspective of a German family.

The story follows the Huber family in the latter part of World War II. Etta and Josef's oldest son Max has come home from the front a changed man, spending his days wandering around town and often rambling nonsense. Their younger son Georg, barely 15, is deployed with his group of Hitler Youth to build a wall to try to keep the British and American soldiers at bay. Etta struggles with the changes she sees in Max and does her best to keep her family intact, even traveling to the city to try to bring Max home when he is taken from his bed by the local doctor and sent to a psychiatric hospital. Georg begins to see the futility in what they are doing and makes the decision to run from his unit, a decision that could very well cost him his life.

I struggled at times reading this book due to the constant shifting in perspective between the characters. There were no chapter headings or any other indication of the shift, so it sometimes took a little bit to orient myself to what was going on. With the story centered on a German family, I was expecting more on what the average German at the end of the war might have been facing. While there were references to the lack of things like chocolate, sugar, or milk, I felt like this was glossed over in favor of Etta trying to deal with Max. This was also an area of the story that could have been fleshed out so much more - what was it like for the people at home when their loved ones came back changed because of their experiences in the war? I felt like the author was trying to deal with too many issues and left a few loose ends in the story.

Family at War

This is the story of a German family living in Germany during the war. Most WWII books are about the Polish, or French or other companies being occupied by Germany during the war. This is a story of a German family in Germany.

It is their story of rationing, of a son returned from the war mentally damaged, and a younger son away with the other young boys being trained to be soldiers. A mother alone at home with a husband slipping into dementia, a returned son with a mental condition, and a missing younger son.

The story is told from Georg the younger son and the mother. I thought it was a different story. It was told like I was reading a journal written by someone. I did read the book to the end, but it wasn’t a page turner for me. I found it a bit tedious at times. I did not care for the ending, I felt like it left me hanging.

Thanks to L. Annette Binder, Bloomsbury Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book for an honest review.

Vanishing Skies by L. Annette Binder

This is novel is written from the point of view of a German mother, mutti.

The second World War is coming to an end and the German people are told that their armies are winning the war while their cities are being bombed by the Allied forces. A time when any weakness is frowned upon, when it is simpler and safer to agree than disagree. A time when boys are sent to Hitler Youth Camps to learn to become soldiers and the old men in the small town are trained to become soldiers once again. The threads of the story weave between the young brother, Georg, Max the eldest, the father, their experiences and their mother’s desire to have her family whole again.
They are a middleclass family in a small village, the father a taciturn retired teacher who yearns to fight again, the eldest son is a soldier at the front and the youngest is at Hitler Camp. The brothers could not be more different. One is athletic and daring and the other is plump, soft, and bookish. The family is held together by the mother(mutti), a strong and resolute woman who unequivocally loves the men in her family. She worries about her sons so far from home and her husband who daily is becoming more distant and forgetful. When her eldest son returns from war, he looks unscathed on the outside, but they learn he is not. Mutti strives to maintain the façade of his normalcy but soon the neighbours and others in the village notice the Max’s odd behaviour. One day, mutti returns to the house to find Max gone from his bed. Her husband, simply says, “they’ve come and taken him’. Heartbroken, she tries to discover where he is taken, when she does, she goes to the city to bring him home.
Georg yearns to return to his mutti and finally gets away to start his unsanctioned journey home. His way, people help him on his journey and others are determined that he be a soldier and fight.

I found this novel presents a view of the German people during WW2, that we do not usually read about. We find they are mothers, fathers, children, friends and neighbours who worry about their families, who are caught up in a situation they have little control over, but they try to endure and create a new normal. I felt the mother’s pain, sensed her fear and hopelessness, and cheered for her strength. Yes, this novel, omits the atrocities committed by Hitler’s people and armies but not to, in any way, diminish the horrific things that were done, but to show a mother wanting her family safe.

Isn’t that what we all want?

This novel was inspired by the journals of the author's grandfather covering the time between the World Wars.
Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC copy of the book.

The Huber family lives in a German village, as the end of World War II approaches. When the story begins, parents Etta and Josef are alone in their home. Their older son, Max, is away fighting in the east. Their younger son, 15-year-old Georg, is at a Hitler Youth camp, drilling, working, and preparing to be called up into active service.

Josef, a former schoolteacher, is in denial about his memory loss, and retreats. He’s always at the beer hall, in his woodshop, or sitting in his chair, glued to the radio and adamant that Germany will crush the Allies encroaching from all sides. Etta cooks with the meager food available, cleans, and worries about her boys.

Max is sent home because of a nervous breakdown as a result of his experiences in the east. Georg hates the Hitler Youth, except for the boy he falls in love with. As conditions deteriorate, he is able to escape and strike out on a long walk home.

Despite the subject matter, there’s a dreamlike quality to Binder’s writing. There is much description of the natural settings, and also of the characters’ secret thoughts, which have to remain secret because they are not publicly acceptable in the Third Reich.

This is a view of war, family and community through the experiences of one ordinary family. It’s an impressive debut novel.

2.5 stars. This novel covers the final months of WWII from the standpoint of a middle-class family in a small German town. Unfortunately the book left me cold. I found myself skimming a bit, just to get to the end to see what would happen. The family's two sons are two "types": one an athletic soldier who comes home from the war due to shell-shock/PTSD, a condition that is considered shameful; the other, a studious younger boy who is in the Hitler Youth movement because he has to be. The mother, Etta, is a sympathetic character but the father is drawn as very hard and bordering on dementia, ashamed that he can no longer command respect as a former teacher. The author skims over the atrocities of the Nazis, which takes away from the book. The only person who seems a bit kind toward the "disappeared" is a neighbor and friend, Ilsa, who surreptitiously has hidden treasures for neighbors who we know will never return to claim them. Georg, the younger son, has the most interesting arc of the story, but other than his story, not a whole lot happens in this book. And by the end of the book, you don't have any real sense of what has happened to the other members of this family; you are just left hanging by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited to read The Vanishing Sky. I love WW2 historical fiction, and am always looking for perspectives from every type of person, from all different countries. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. I liked that it humanized Germans, but I feel that the book tried to do too much. There was a lot of representation and diversity (dementia, LGBT, and PTSD/mental illness) , but I think that none of them were developed as much as they could be. Honestly, it took me a long time to read this book, which was disappointing. I do think that there are readers out there who will enjoy this story!

To be honest, I couldn't finish this one. I felt the perspective of the characters something I really couldn't relate to. After reading three wonderful books before this one, it just really couldn't hold my attention.