An interesting new take on a historical time period that receives a lot of attention. I really enjoyed this story and these characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Summary: Charlotte Kraus would follow Angelika Haas anywhere. Which is how she finds herself in an underground club one Friday night the summer before World War II, dancing to contraband American jazz and swing music, suddenly feeling that anything might be possible.
Unable to resist the allure of sharing this secret with Geli, Charlie returns to the club again and again, despite the dangers of breaking the Nazi Party’s rules. Soon, terrified by the tightening vise of Hitler’s power, Charlie and the other Swingjugend are drawn to larger and larger acts of rebellion. But the war will test how much they are willing to risk—and to lose.
From the critically acclaimed author of Who I Was with Her, this beautifully told story of hope, love, and resistance will captivate readers of Girl in the Blue Coat and Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
What I loved about this book: 1) EVERYTHING! I don’t know where to start. 2) Fans of historically accurate fiction will be fond of this book. 3) Reading about characters who do questionable things in the haze of love, and when the stakes are so high, is truly fascinating.
ARC provided by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #queerbookstagram #lgbt #wlw #lgbtqia #loveislove #queerrepresentationmatters #lgbtqbooks #bookstagram #queerbooks #books #booklover #booksofinstagram #bookish #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #booknerd #lgbtqreads #pride #queerreads #romance #lesbianromance #wlwromance #holocaust

What a beautiful and poignant story! I was not familiar with the swingjugend movement before reading this book and even though I'm not someone who typically reads historical fiction, I immediately found myself wanting to learn more upon finishing. I think that taking on an event as dark as World War II is a risk, but I think Tyndall definitely achieved what they set out to do.

Thank you to Nita Tyndall and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
In solidarity with #HPConStrike, I will not submit my full review until Harper Collins has met the demands of the union.

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken is a story about a group of queer teens in war-torn Berlin who escape to underground, forbidden jazz clubs in the night, while playing the part of obedient German citizens during the day. Their rendezvouses turn into anti-Nazi resistance organizations as they get older, a dangerous but inspiring journey that isn’t without consequences. This was such a unique perspective of WW2 from the eyes of German citizens watching as the country they once loved fell apart.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if Charlie was a more self-aware mc. She almost never though about how her actions would impact others, despite having good intentions. It was definitely understandable when she was younger, but throughout the years she didn’t really show much growth in that regard.

Even though I didn’t particularly love the characters, this was an important story to tell.

If you like YA historical fiction, this is definitely one you should add to your tbr!

thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for this arc in exchange for an honest review

I found the perspective of this book to be very interesting especially as a third generation German-American whose great grandmother fled Germany during Hitlers rise to power. It kind of solidified everything that’s been passed down from her to me through our family: Germany was not this great place during WWII. I also loved that this book was queer adding in some of my shared experience into this tale that felt very poignant.

I'm a simple girl. I see a sapphic book and I want to read it!!

In all seriousness though, this book was heartbreaking. In many ways. I mean the setting alone conjures up so many heavy emotions reading it, especially knowing the history so in depth. Then there were the characters. I mean, I would've loved to have gone a bit deeper with them but what we did see was nothing short of beautiful. The love in this story is felt so early on and it really pulls at your heartstrings as you read. As we get deeper into the story and the stakes get even higher, it's even more stunning. I really enjoyed reading this even though it broke my heart too lol. I haven't read the author's other book but I definitely plan to after this.

On the cusp of World War II, Charlie has some intense feelings for her best friend Geli. One night Geli takes her to a jazz and swing club. As the war draws nearer, their time at the club grows, and Charlie has a hard time hiding her feelings for Geli. Charlie continues to walk a fine line between silently protesting and flat out defying the Nazi regime.

There's something a little worrisome about starting a book about lesbians in Hilter's time. I had the sinking feeling that Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken would be hard to get through, and it was at times. (I even teared up at one point). One thing that I will commend Tyndall for is that they really make you care a lot about Charlie. I was immediately drawn to her, and wanted all the best for her. It constantly pulled at my heartstrings whenever Geli just acts like Geli, privileged and like what the Nazis are doing is just a bother to her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. I loved this book!

I love the cover and the title so much. I love the author and their writings so much. So this was a very nice book to read.

I think this book would have benefited from staying in 1938 rather than trying to cover the whole war because it falls very flat in the use of jazz as a method of resistance. Also that any Jewish characters don't really get handled with care or given all that much depth. I think this could have been really well done but it fell flat for me

Well. My heart's officially broken. I don't spend a lot of time reading historical fiction, but the juxtaposition of a queer romantic narrative with this time period of all time periods, was not something I could pass up. NOTHING SUNG AND NOTHING SPOKEN is gorgeous, heart crushing, frightening (in these "new rise of fascism" days we currently inhabit), and surprisingly hopeful. Tyndall's level of historical detail was perfect - there was no question about where, and when, you were. I'm really glad I stepped outside my usual genre sphere for this one.

As someone who sobbed their way through Who I Was With Her, I was really looking forward to this book but unfortunately it just felt really flat for me. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and felt more frustrated with their actions than anything else.

I wasn't a fan of the narration either and while I could understand the importance of providing multiple perspectives of a time period, it is difficult to empathize with characters Who are concerned about curfews and music when people are legitimately being murdered right next to them.

I also had trouble with the fact that this book takes place over such a long period of time yet none of the characters really change at all and even though the setting and the political climate all of that changes I think the author really took advantage of the fact that readers would have some sort of historical knowledge of world war II instead of putting the time and effort into on-page explanations. And while I think that many people are familiar I think this was a shortcut and there was an opportunity to really throw people into the mindset of how scary and terrifying it must have been for everyone during that time period.

Nothing Sung isn’t a bad book by any means but, unfortunately, it is an underwhelming one. Admittedly, having loved Tyndall’s debut novel, Who I Was with Her, and being an avid reader of 20th century, particularly WW2, fiction, my expectations for this novel were extremely high, too high even. I found characters to all be a tad 2-dimensional, making it difficult for me as a reader to connect with any of them, but more importantly, I found the book to handle the heavy topics of World War 2 a little too casually, skimming over quite crucial details. That said, given that this is a YA novel, I want to acknowledge that this just might be an issue I as an adult am having and not something most of the target demographic would be bothered by.

I loved this view into a world I didn't know much about. Lovely and heart wrenching and messy queer historical fiction.

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken brings us in Germany in 1938 and follows a group of four friends. Charlie, our main character, is very much in love with her best friend, Geli. The rest of the group is made of Mina, who is jewish and Renate who is also into girls. So the future doesn't announce anything great for the four girls but they find their joy in diverse things, mostly in Jazz music and underground meetings. But this is neither easy nor safe and the girls have much to discover about themselves and each other...

This was so captivating. I'm usually not a fan of long chapters and this was above that, it didn't really have chapters and some parts were huge. But it was so enthralling that I didn't mind (too much.) Now, while I did found the plot and the setting amazing, I had some issues with the main character at times. There were some things about her that I just didn't understand, starting with her obsession with Geli whom I really could not stand. I did really like Renate and Mina though.
Overall, this was truly great. The setting was so unusual for me and I found the entire thing so interesting. And I just really loved the idea of music being a saviour amongst this horrible chaos.

After reading and loving Who I Was With Her, I jumped at the chance to read and review Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken, solely because of Nita Tyndall’s writing. I am a reader who is so over the use of WWII as the setting to historical fiction. But if I was going to love a WWII book it would be this one. Filled with trauma and drama and love. This was a great read.

It's 1938 in Berlin, the summer before WWII starts. But Charlie doesn't know that yet. All she knows is the feelings she gets every time she holds her best friend's hand. Feelings that mean that Charlie would follow Geli anywhere. Including a forbidden jazz club. A place where Charlie can finally feel completely herself.

Under Nazi rule, returning to the jazz club becomes more and more dangerous as war looms over their heads. Soon, what was originally just a place to dance becomes a place where Charlie and her friends can be themselves. And rebel against the Nazi Party's rules. As Hitler gains power, Charlie has to decide how much she's willing to risk in order to resist.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken to review! There's a lyrical nature to this book, featuring strong characters doing their best to resist the rules being placed on them.

WWII historical fiction is a pretty saturated market in YA (and in children's fiction), but this book is different than a lot of the other books I've read. Yes, it has similar elements, resistence, the danger of the rise of the Nazis, the illegal nature of anything that's not German. But the focus on the jazz club is what makes it stand out from the others.

From the summary, I thought the book was just going to be focused on pre-war Germany, but we actually get to see during and after as well. Even though the story spans a lot of years, I didn't feel like anything got lost in the plot or the characters. Maybe it's because WWII is such a talked about part of history, at least in the US. We already know the context, so Tyndall was able to focus on the characters.

The romance moments were also well done. There was just enough longing from Charlie, and her complex feelings for Geli. The daugher of a Nazi officer. Charlie and Geli's relationship took up a lot of Charlie's thoughts, which means that maybe some of the other relationships take a back burner. The story would have been more rounded if the other relationships were more fleshed out.

All in all, if you enjoyed Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo last year, I'd highly recommend picking this one up!

I like the concept, but this story is *so* dull. Dull characters, nothing happens…and this is a story about the resistance against the Nazis?

• WWII Era Berlin
• Underground Jazz Club
• Dark History

Charlotte (Charlie) Kraus is living in Berlin during the time Hitler comes to power and is trying to spend as much time as she can with her best friend, Anjelika (Geli) Haas, as she can. Going to American jazz/swing clubs does just that, doesn’t matter that jazz is “degenerate” or that Geli spends most of her time with “Tommy”. When her other friends stop going and tell her it's too dangerous and to stop as well, she must choose Geli, or safety, her other friends, and her own family.

I’m not going to lie; this started a little slow for me. That could be because I was just nervous about how this book was about to go, especially with the German language. I’m glad I finished! It was different than what I was expecting, but in a good way. While there was some graphic content, (How could there not be?) I found it easier to digest than I expected. The romance helped balance out the tragedy of that time. <spoiler> The only thing I would change is at the end. I was hoping for a fast forward or at least what happened to Minna, her family, Hans, and Fritz. Were Minna and her family okay? Did Hans or Fritz ever have to fight? How did Fritz feel after the war ended? </spoiler>

<i>Thank you to Nita Tydall, HarperCollins Children’s Books and HarperTeen, for the digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.<i>

#NothingSungAndNothingSpoken #NitaTydall #HarperCollinsChildrensBooks #HarperTeen #NetGalley #ARC #eARC