England 1939, the main character, Lili, is upset that she is expected to marry Iain and live a normal life. On her way to finishing up her studies she runs into Leopold who is the leader of the British communist party who was grown up in a wealthy family. Through the course of growing up and moving to multiple areas you see Lili grow up from a shelter young girl to a woman becoming her own.

THE DIAMOND COURIER

I found this book enjoyable. Young Liliane Hamilton, daughter of the wealthy London Betteshanger Colliery family, attempts to fulfill her naive communistic fantasies during WWII.

After calling off her engagement to long time friend Iain Brodie, her family sends her to finishing school in Switzerland. When war breaks out, Lili becomes involved with the handsome and exciting Leo Oppenheim, leader of the British Communist Party and son from the wealthy Oppenheim Diamond Company family. Her loyalties and morals are challenged many times as she becomes a courier of diamonds between Antwerp, Belgium and London.

While traveling throughout Europe, between spending her time as a journalist for a communist newspaper and learning about the diamond business, Lili comes to understand the Nazi’s treatment of the Jewish people during the war. She learns some very hard lessons and matures a great deal throughout her time away from home.

I thought this was a good solid story with excellent historical content that would be especially appealing to young people. I found the use of current terminology and slang a little distracting, given the time period and setting. I look forward to reading more works by this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Hannah Byron for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I will not be giving feedback on the title. I has only about to complete a chapter and found the story rather dry and un-interesting.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good WWII novel. If you love that time period you might want to check it out.

I have so many thoughts on this book. I’ll do a Pro/Con list to simplify…

Pro:
Historical fiction (my fave genre)
Lots of details
Beautiful settings
Interesting story

Cons:
Some sentences were just VERY poorly written. Cheesy, not good writing, choppy
LONG story lines. Could have been condensed. The protagonist goes through hundreds of pages in the belief of communism to find out it doesn’t work, but then she hangs on to that theory as being beneficial throughout the remainder of the book. And yet she loves a capitalist lifestyle. IMO, I found that incredibly aggravating.
Too many details. At some points, it was detail overload

So, I read through it all, quite a long book on my e reader, and came away just so so about it all.

However, I would like to read other works of this author. She has the potential to be a great writer, so I’m not giving up yet!

this was a great sequel to the Resistance Girl, it had what I enjoyed from the previous book and had a great plot.

I really enjoyed this book! The character showed excellent growth and learning the more the book went on in a very difficult moment in history.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Diamond Courier is a WWII era historical fiction by Hannah Byron. I liked that the story presented a fresh perspective on this particular time period of historical fiction, but the book was a bit slow to develop for me and some of the interactions between characters came across as unnecessarily formal and stilted.

The main character Lili is a headstrong girl full of lofty political ideals and naive dreams. She gets swept up in the excitement of becoming part of the British Communist Party (mainly because it is a rebellion against what feels like the outdated and stuffy views or her parents and her cushy upbringing) and this leads her to fall for the charismatic party leader and to enter into an unhealthy and abusive relationship with him. Lili eventually breaks away from Leo, but his connections open doors and set the stage for the wartime path she will go down when she meets Isaac Goldmunz and becomes his diamond courier.

Some readers may find Lili's mistakes and impulsiveness endearing or relatable, but I found her character to be self absorbed and ego-centric. I won't go so far as to say she deserved any of the hardships or trauma she experienced, but she definitely walked straight into a few messes. Of course, in the end there is always the reliable and lovestruck Iain Brodie who loves Lili despite all that.

For me....too many relationships between characters that didn't feel entirely realistic or authentic. This was the second book in a series and I did not read the first book. I thought it stood alone fine, but I may have felt differently about the characters if I had read the first book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Hannah Byron for the chance to read this book for my honest opinions in an review.

I had not read the previous novel and when I started this one I wasnt sure this was for me. It started really slowly and I really could not get into the author's style of writing. There were times when I almost gave up. I read before I go to sleep every night - and fell asleep over my book on many occasions.
But I plodded on - such that last evening I realised that at 2am I wasnt going to finish my book - and continued it to the end over my breakfast!
The main character, Lilianne really exasperated me at times, born into privilege she took up Communist ideals though really she had no idea of life for those born into a 'lower' class than she. Through a convoluted story she became embroiled with the Jews in Belgium who were of use to the Nazis for their knowledge of diamonds , both industrial and valuable and the Belgian Resistance. Through a brief spell in a Finishing School she met a Fascist chauffeur who she then met again when she became a diamond courier.
Parts of the narrative didnt gel and at times became incredulous but I never felt the book was ridiculous. The author in her notes at the end says she used literary license in her descriptions of life in Antwerp and in the prison camp towards the end.
If anything the book showed the inhumanity of the Nazis, their cruelty and the mistakes of their own ideology.

During the book I felt I wouldn't want to read the next book in the series - I now cant wait for its publication to read more of some of the other more minor characters in this book.
I do feel that if one had read the first book in the series then some of the events in this one might have had more context but it really is possible to enjoy this as a standalone book.

It might have been hardgoing initially but I am glad I didn't give in and not finish it

Thanks again to the publisher and Hannah Byron for the chance to read this book

This book is riveting and you won’t want to put it down. It’s takes you on a roller like coaster of emotions and gives you the bittersweet ending that is realistic of the time portrayed.

I loved this!

The plot was brilliant, containing all you could wish for. It was well written and flowed beautifully. It went from heart warming to heart stopping with ease, containing romance and intrigue in a delightfully dizzying whirl. At times moving me to tears, I didn't want to put it down.

The characters were well drawn, demonstrating everything from family relationships to deep rooted evil.
I can't praise it highly enough, a brilliant book!

This is a wonderful WW11 novel about a woman who was recruited by her boyfriend to illegally transport diamonds from Antwerp to London.
This book has an engaging plot that kept me turning the pages, relatable and realistic characters that you connect with, and vivid writing that helps you visualize the setting completely.
Loved this one! Cannot wait to read more by this author.

To live, to love and to be free

Liliane Hamilton is a spirited young redhead. When she calls off her engagement to Iain Brody at the engagement party and is sent to a girl's finishing school she has no idea what life has in store for her.

She engages the Communistic way of thinking and vows that the fascists will never prevail. She rails against capitalism and begins to write articles for a communistic newspaper. When she assists with a strike against her father's mine she goes too far and flees to London to be with Leo a communistic leader.

As WWII rages on she becomes involved in activities that put her at risk. Her life becomes more hectic as she goes from finishing school to war reporter to smuggling diamond out from under the noses of the Nazi's. Her luck will run out and she is captured by the Nazi's and sent to a camp.

This story is of the courage of a few brave people. It is a story of the treatment of the Jewish people by the Germans during WWII, and some that were brave enough to help them.

I loved the characters in the story, some of whom survived and those that did not. I loved the descriptions of the many different places mentioned in the book. I really liked the Character of Iain Brody who was always there for Lili.

I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Hannah Byron, BooksGoSocial, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of the book

Oh, headstrong Lili! I got upset with a few times, your decisions were not always the best! But what a journey, I just experienced!

Lili is 18 and feels trapped in a future that she doesn't want. She brazenly follows her heart and learns who she really is and just how much she is capable of doing.

I loved the dialogue, the vivid descriptions and the rich story telling of this book!

First and foremost, a big thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

“Be careful, dear girl, and choose wisely. It will help you – maybe not in the short run but for the rest of your life.”

The Diamond Courier is a historical fiction set during World war II. The protagonist Lili Hamilton, who dreams of being a radical journalist, gets her life turned upside down in the world of war and politics, on her journey to find herself and liberate herself from her privileged upbringing.

Lili Hamilton, who is nineteen, doesn't want to marry Iain Brodie, her best friend and her father's right hand, and settle for a domestic life. However, her ambitions to be a communist and journalist gets skewed when she is sent to the Swiss Finishing School in the summer of 1939.

On her way to her exile, she encounters Leo Oppenheim in Paris. He's not only the handsome leader of British Communist Party but also a prodigal son of London's most rich diamond trader, Chaim Oppenheim. Lili discovers an entirely different universe. Lili's stay at the opulent Swiss school becomes more bearable by the fact that Leo would take her under his wing.

When World War II breaks out, Lili winds up in London, where she eventually dabbles in free love and communism. Causes, however, need capital. Leopold who required funds for both his personal needs and the communist party had his sights set on Antwerp, Europe's largest diamond centre. Germany, on the other hand, was also in desperate need of Antwerp's diamonds for its war industry.

Lili infiltrates the Jewish community in Belgium and befriends both the Goldmunz family and Gestapo leader Ulrich Lemberg. Despite the atrocities of war, she becomes a diamond messenger between Antwerp and London. Until she is caught in 1943!

The Diamond Courier is packed with adventure, danger and excitement. The essence and atrocities of the world war has been well – captured, and it felt very real, at times. The author has penned wonderful female characters, who display such courage and brilliance, in a man’s world, especially during the darkest times of war. The plot is sluggish at first, but then it really picks up the pace and gets gripping halfway through.

What struck me the most was, the love and warmth displayed by Iain, her family, friends and comrades is genuinely heartwarming and beautiful. Lili Hamilton, with her strong personality, was smart and inspirational.

Hannah Byron brings us a tale of love, sacrifices, and compassion with such interesting, palpable, and solid characters and a captivating narrative style. It’s a fascinating historical tale. To all the silent brave heroes of the war! They radiated light in the darkest times.

The novel focuses on the young lady Liliane Hamilton, who is idealistic, opinionated but also enjoys the luxury to be so while living at home with her parents, her father a mine owner and her mother of French dissent. Lili as she is referred to in the story is trying to find herself. England 1939, Liliane Hamilton is only 19 and her parents want her to marry Iain Brodie. Iain works for her father Gerald at his Betteshanger colliery, she considers him a friend and Lili doesn’t feel ready to get married. She has her own plans, she’s interested in communism, its ideology and becoming a journalist. Not something a girl from her background could possibly be involved in and her parents plan to send her off to finishing school in Switzerland. Here she’s expected to learn all the things a proper young lady needs to know before she becomes a wife and mother.. On her way to finishing school Lili meets Leopold Oppenheim in Paris; he’s the leader of the British communist party and he’s turned his back on his own privileged upbringing. His father Chaim Oppenheim is London’s richest and most influential diamond merchant and is very well known in the diamond trade.. Leo is troubled and involved in the communist movement but proves to be unreliable and having lots of his own troubles but Lili believes she is in love.

The book evolves and you really go from thinking Lili a selfish spoiled brat to someone who has grown with a better understanding of responsibility and of giving of themselves for others.. Reading this evolution is nice but the writing is a bit wordy and at times choppy. I did enjoy the story and the plot. The writing did transfer the settings and the opinions of Lili well.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher or the opportunity to review this book,

I love the Diamond Courier's storyline, but this Hannah Byron book isn't for me. The writing is way too descriptive for my liking.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and story line of this novel, I was not overly thrilled with the time-transitions throughout. I often found myself having to restart paragraphs or flip back pages to figure out how much time had lapsed or where exactly the protagonist was located in the geography of the story. Overall, I would recommend ‘The Diamond Courier’ to others as I very much enjoyed the dynamics of the characters, their struggles, and their triumphs.

Wonderful novel!!!

The diamond courier is the second novel of a serie written by Hannah Byron on heroic girls called "resistance girl novels". It features Lili Hamilton, a young british who became a "Diamond Courier" carrying diamonds from Antwerp, in Belgium, to London during the World War II. Her heroic action saved assets of many Jewish families from Nazis. Because of that, Lili was arrested, experienced prison and almost lost her life. Beside the war there were romance, love stories and interting encounters.

The diamond courier is well written and captivating. The author portrayed very well the context of WW II to such an extent the book can be read as watching a film. She also highlited the political debates and ideologies at that time.

All characters are well designed and inspirational. Personally I have adored Lili who was strong and brave. I highly recommend this book particularly for fans of romance in time of war.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for this read. Started out slow but picked up a little towards middle/end. The storyline was good. The characters were ok. First read by this author for me and I will definitely try other titles by author but this one was ok for me.