I'm a big reader of WWII fiction and I love finding unique perspectives on the era. All the Lights Above had a great premise. I've read other stories that include D-Day but it is usually from the perspective of military people - either the allies landing at Normandy or the French Resistance in France eagerly awaiting the invasion. This book told the story from the perspective of 5 women in different places and roles.

I've read multiple books that are told by alternating characters, but I'm not sure I've ever read one with points of view from 5 characters, particularly as each is given about equal amounts of attention.

Mildred Gillars is an unsuccessful American actress living in Germany and gets a job on the national radio. Though she doesn't agree with everything the Nazi party is doing, as she says it is hard to argue with clean streets and plenty of food to eat. Mildred was a real person. You may better know her as Axis Sally - the famed announcer of Nazi Propaganda.
Theda is a volunteer nurse at a portside hospital in England. She hopes to get on a combat nurses team, but all her skills and stamina are put to the test as the hospital is overrun with D-Day casualties.
Flora is a courier for the French Resistance whose parents (who also worked with the Resistance) have gone missing. She has moxie and a determination to find out what happened to her parents.
Emilia, who lives in the same French town as Flora, has chosen the other side in an effort to survive. She has worked her way up the ranks of the Gestapo.
Adelaide is a French woman who has been forced to house German soldiers. When the invasion starts her only thought is to get to her daughter and granddaughter who live on the coast.
With so many main characters it was difficult to connect with anyone of them. I struggled to remember their backstory as there would be too many chapters between each character's POV. Mildred interested me the most because she is a real person and I did some Googling to learn more about her. Theda was probably the most sympathetic character. The other 3 just kind of got lost for me.

I did like the different perspectives on the most infamous day of WWII. However, the execution of the story hindered my enjoyment. I think 5 POVs were just too many to keep straight. Flora and Emilia are the only characters to overlap so it was really like keeping 5 separate stories straight. While I might read multiple books at a time, my limit is 3 (I've recently had 4 books on the go at the same time and I found myself having trouble keeping them all straight).

Perhaps if you have large chunks of time to devote to reading this book, you wouldn't have the same problems with remembering the characters' backstories. This is my only real complaint. I think each character's story if taken on its own, was well-written and interesting. I loved that the story focused on the women and how D-Day affected them.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Friday, July 1 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/07/all-lights-above-us-by-m-b-henry-review.html

The story of D Day told by several different women was very interesting, Nazi, Resistance member, grandmother, nurse, Axis Sally all have their own perspective and tale. The descriptive language made it easy to hear, see and smell the action of the day. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a historical story.

A wonderful historical fiction story of D Day told through the stories of 5 very different women. doing very different jobs. A bit hard to keep straight because there are 5, but their stories are quite worth, slowing down and understanding them.

This novel is about five different women and the events lead up to D-Day. Each woman is fighting for their own survival and the survival of their country. The situations they face and their resilience through events most of us cannot imagine is the most powerful part of this story.

I enjoyed the alternating view points. It really helped me see various aspects of D-Day that I hadn't considered before. So much of what is written focuses on the military aspect which is so important. This novel, through the eyes of the women focused more on what was happening on land.

Some of the storylines kept my attention more than others and I had trouble staying invested in the whole story. I think this is more me and the timing of my reading the novel. I definitely learned a lot from this book and am amazed at the strength of these women during a horrible time in history.

I voluntarily received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Alcove press. All views are simply my honest opinion.

I really enjoy historical stores and those which give various perspectives on the same situation, but for some reason I did not love this book as much as I had expected. I think maybe there were too many characters, and some that were less dominant in the story so became slightly irrelevant. I enjoyed some aspects and some of the storylines piqued my interest.

While it was nice to read a WWII book that was focused on a different series of events (D-Day), I had a hard time staying interested in the story. Henry weaves the story well, and I enjoyed the different perspectives from the different women. I think I just picked up this book at a time that wasn't the "right time" for me to read it, but I have no doubt others will enjoy it.

We follow the lives of Mildred, Theda, Flora, Emilia and Adelaide. Set during WWII on D-Day this tells how each woman handled her circumstance during the invasion.
Absolutely loved this book. I loved the history and how each woman handled June 6.
This was an ARC from NetGalley with the publisher Alcove Press.

This piece of historical fiction weaves together the stories of five women navigating the war. It's as heartbreaking as the history and a great read for fans of historical writers.

Read if you like: WW2 fiction, alternating perspectives.
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This book focuses on five women’s experiences of the D-Day invasion during the Second World War. With these perspectives, we see a multitude of different experiences. One woman is an American living in Berlin and working as a radio star. Another woman is a nurse in Britain. My favourite perspectives were Flora, who aided the French resistance in letting them know when the invasion would happen, Emilia, who works for the Gestapo in France but starts to question her role in Nazi Germany, and Adelaide, who traversed the French coast to reach her daughter and granddaughter.
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These different perspectives made the book fast-paced and I thought it interesting to focus on one event during the war and how it could be experienced differently!
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CW: war, violence, torture, execution, anti-Semitism, and sexual content

I thought this book sounded interesting and was looking forward to reading it but was disappointed with it.

I felt it was a bit disjointed the fact you kept going to each woman and I didn’t feel there was a flow to the book. It was interesting to read the bits about what happened round the areas the woman were from.

I did feel about giving the book up but I did finish it.

The lives of five very different women are all about to change. The dawn of a new day brings hope to all those who have lived under the threat of the Nazis; victory, like the scent of a springtime flower, is in the air. The planes are fast approaching; the parachutes are deployed. Soldiers fall from the sky, like swarms of locusts here to plague the Nazi regime. As the events of D-day unfold, some are left wondering what will become of them. Are they on the wrong side of history? Only time will tell.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At first, I was skeptical that I would ever figure out who was who; each of the first five chapters introduced a new main character, making it hard to keep things straight. Once I got a grip on the MCs, the action took me by storm. Told over the span of 24 hours, this book was non-stop, page-turning, action-packed goodness. I found myself completely engrossed, unable to put it down. Having said that, I suspect this one may be problematic for some. Two of the characters in the book are Nazis, so we hear about World War II from their perspective in the beginning. Despite this, I’m certain the author didn’t intend to glorify or support Nazism in any way. Simply put, I believe the author was crafting the characters, portraying their allegiance to the Nazi regime as part of who they are at the beginning to the book. Over time, we watch as they question their own beliefs and loyalties, but, still, some may find their initial views as troubling. I was able to put it into perspective, but I can see why others might not be willing or able to do so.

Overall, this is a great book that I encourage people to read, but some may find it triggering in the beginning.

A book no one ever thought they would need, but that will absolutely change your outlook on things.'

Getting to view D-day and the effects of it from 5 different vantage points was eye opening. I think the effects of huge days in history aren't often considered and many tend to take it at surface level.

I loved this story and would highly recommend anyone read it.

June 6, 1944 - D-Day. This book presents a different perspective on the events of one of the most unforgettable days in history. Told from the viewpoint of 5 women - Mildred, Theda, Flora, Adelaide, and Emilia - each with a different perspective of the events of the day. Mildred is actually Axis Sally, an American working for the Nazi propaganda machine having convinced herself that she is doing both wrong. Theda is a medical volunteer who must face the horror of casualties being brought back to England from the beaches of France. Flora works with the French Resistance, wanting to play a bigger role in order to avenge the disappearance of her parents. Adelaide is older, fiercely French, but conflicted as she has been housing German troops. Although estranged from her daughter, she decides to seek her out on D-Day despite the dangers of moving through the countryside toward the Normandy beaches. Emilia is a young German whose parents tried to have her become part of the Lebensborn program (where she would be expected to bear Aryan children from many fathers). Instead, she winds up working for a brutal Gestapo agent in Caen, France. Those in France hear the insistent drone of aircraft and the constant shelling and know that the day has finally arrived to liberate France while those in Germany continue to believe in eventual victory. A different way of looking at the events of this memorable day. We will always remember the sacrifices of the military, but this book reminds the reader of the many others in the background who were directly impacted by the horrors of war and especially the day that turned the tide in WWII. My thanks (and apology for the late posting of this review) to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

All the light above us, although a work of fiction, shows the reader, in a lot of detail, how D day must have been and how people's feelings and lives were changed during WWII. The most interesting part of this story is how the same event was seen by people on different paths of life and yet somehow they all feared the same thing - not being able to return to their previous life or dying. It's also a recognition of all the cultural prejudice against women at the time and the big part those same women played in the war and in life. An absorbing and most interesting reading and a must-read for those who enjoy historical fiction.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I have watched many D-day movies and shows, but never completed a book. Finally this is the book for me.
All the Lights Above Us is SO unique, it is a book that happened on June 6, 1944(d-Day) , there are 5 women with different ages and different nationalities, from their view we see some other things on this most important day of WWII.
every single woman caught my eyes, their stories are so interesting and believable. They are seeing differently because of their backgrounds. They grow in different situations, but have the same pain and also have the same hope.
The writing is great, smooth and vivid. I highly recommend this book, if you like women's fiction, historical fiction.

What i love most about this book . It is told from alternating views. We get to Know how completely different women see the d day. What they have done during the war. What they endured during war. How much they have grown, how the war has changed their view on the war. It is raw, you can almost feel the pain and the smell of the devastating war . I highly recommend this book. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was a beautiful,historical story set during in the invasion of the latter half of the Second World War. It was set in three different cities with a few characters. I really enjoyed this story and I found the descriptions really spot on. A really interesting story to read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I did not like this book. It did not hold my interest. Once I got involved with one character, it switched to another.
I did not like this book. It did not hold my interest. Once I got involved with one character, it switched to another.
I did not like this book. It did not hold my interest. Once I got involved with one character, it switched to another.

I enjoyed the multiple perspectives offered in Henry's historical novel. I got to experience D-Day through the eyes of a German secretary in occupied France, a Resistance courier, an elderly French woman whose home was used by the Germans, a nurse-in-training in a hospital in England, and Axis Sally, radio mouthpiece of Nazi propaganda. And the writing was so good, I felt as if I were in each locale as the stories unfolded.

D-Day: June, 6, 1944. A novel of 5 women-1 American, 1 English, 1 German and 2 French told about the most harrowing day of their lives. Ages: 19 years to a grandmother. Territory’s covered: England, Germany and France. I was reminded of the movie “The Longest Day” where this same subject was covered in light of the servicemen and what took place on that day. This covers that aspect but, more importantly, the impact of these women as D-Day occurs in France. Each woman’s story is a book within itself but all have the one quality of: what must I do in order to survive. A passionate story with such detailed historical research. A particularly relevant story within 2022 being the struggle of the Ukraine people fighting for the survival of their country. I highly recommend this book for genres of historical fiction, WWII, and a great book club read.