This book really needed a professional editor. It was super repetitive and incredibly long (90 chapters?!) I love historical fiction, specifically WWII so I was excited for this, but the characters seemed flat and not at all in their age ranges and it was just too long winded for me.

I really enjoyed this book and was thrilled to learn that there are two more, especially after the abrupt ending of this one. My grandfather left Austria in 1929, the year this book starts, so it was interesting to see what the climate was like around then, as most WWII books begin in the late 30s. Wonderful story about enduring the ups and downs of friendship, with the rise of Hitler in the background. Loved the development of the characters and how diverse they are.

If you are looking for a book about the true bonds of friendship, then look no further. The Pact is for you! I have not read any other books by Roberta Kagan, but they are now on my TBR list.

Anna, Bernie, and Elica, as young girls, make a pact to be blood sisters for life. We follow each of the girls as they grow up and live during the WWII era and all of the things that they must endure. The Pact is a book about friendship, family, grit, love, and forgiveness.

This was such a well-written book that I felt like I was there with the three women. What a wonderful historical fiction book that begs the question: What would you do to stay friends?

Thank you to NetGalley and Roberta Kagan for the opportunity to read this book.

Great outstanding book and now I have to buy the sequel! Three little girls make a pact to be blood sisters but as they get older, social differences cause problems. First in a series of three books .

I didn't like the writing style of this book and I DNF'd after 4 typos within 30 pages. The book also read like a young adult and the characters were incredibly unlikable from the beginning.

I am always here for a good historical fiction. I appreciated that this book dealt with the build up to ww2. In addition, it showed the complicated relationships between jews and non-jews. The dialog between the female main characters at times sounded more juvenile than their age, but all in all a wonderful book.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Three girls from different backgrounds join together to make a blood sisters pact. A fourth weasels/blackmails her way into The Pact and definitely does not make things easy for the others.

The girls (Anna, Bernie, Elica and Dagna) face many circumstances together, through their friendship with trust, love and betrayal (as a group) and as individuals, their own circumstances of coming out, and the hate for the Jewish community, as the war starts to ramp up.

The girls are very well written and we see them group from children to teenagers, and I found myself loving some characters, and others who you just want to punch.

I am really looking forward to the next book to see what happens to the girls (even for the girls I didn't like) as the war continues and see how the girls grow further.

I love a good WW2 historical fiction, and this did not disappoint! I fell in love with the characters and couldn't wait to know more about them.

I typically enjoy WW2 stories and overall, I do think this book had strong plot points and a good general idea of WW2. However, I struggled to get through parts of the dialogue and narrative at times. This could be a personal preference on my part, but I found it very disjointed which made it hard to relate to the characters and immerse myself into the book.

Three friends that I loved watching grow up from children to women with tough journeys and the world telling them they are different so they can't be friends. Throughout there friendship remains steadfast.

A very captivating story and I was hooked from the beginning. The writing is atmospheric and rich in historical detail. After that cliffhanger, I can’t wait for the next book!
Many thanks to The Book Whisperer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Pact by Roberta Kagan. The author managed to blend friendships, life lessons, growth and history all in a way that was seamless. I couldn’t put the book down! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book. A very well done book and story!

This is the first novel in a Trilogy called "Blood Sisters."
When they were eight yrs.old,Anna,Bernie & 2 other little girls decided they needed to make a pact.
Three were Christians & one was a Jew.
Anna was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish,factory owner.
Their friendship had many hope & downs over the course of their growing up yrs.
As they neared adulthood, their friendship,would be sorely tested,when,what was the obvious Jew hater of the four,made trouble & told lies
Hitler,was in power now & he wanted Germany to get rid of all the Jews,Gypsies & Vermin.
This is a powerful novel with great characters & I have found myself deeply immersed in it's pages.
I have read many books by this author.
Roberta Kagan is top-notch & never fails to deliver the goods on her powerful WWII novels.

Thank you, NetGalley, Roberta Kagan, and publishers for gifting me a copy of The Pact in return for my honest opinion.

4/5 stars
In 1929 Anna, Bermie, and Elice made a blood pact to be sisters forever, as small girls they believed that nothing could come between them. Anna is from an affluent Jewish family, while Bernie, and Elica, are from poor Austrian families. When the Nazi's ideology starts spreading through Austria how long will they be able to stay friends. Will they be able to survive the war and each other?

This was a beautifully written book that dives into love, friendship, sisterhood, compassion, jealousy, bitterness, and forgiveness. All emotions that I felt along with the characters. I loved the bond that the characters shared even with them from different backgrounds. Roberta does a wonderful job of writing well-rounded characters that you connect with.

I get that she wanted a cliffhanger but I did feel like the ending was a little rushed and I wish it was a little more thought out. Which is why I gave this book a 4 instead of a five. I do look forward to the other books in the series and I can't wait to see where Roberta takes us!

I really enjoy historical fiction, but unfortunately this story did not keep me interested. The writing felt choppy and simple.. As the characters were talking, it just felt off and not totally authentic. There was a lot of repetition in the story. For those that like WWII historical fiction, it was an enjoyable story and the first book in a series.

I couldn't finish this book. The book begins when the characters are in third grade and the language used in the conversations was nothing even close to how a third grader speaks. I currently have a third grader and I could not get over the advanced language these nine-year-olds were using. It was too distracting to continue.

I absolutely loved this book. It was suspenseful and beyond intriguing throughout its entirety. I can't wait for the sequel to be released.

I really enjoyed this read. Three girls from different backgrounds join together to make a blood sisters pact. A fourth weasels her way into The Pact and definitely does not make things easy for the others.
The Pact faced many circumstances together and separately as the hate for the Jews continues to grow and the war really starts to ramp up.
The characters were all very well developed and engaging even if I did want to punch Dagna in the face. Anna had the patience of a saint continuously!!!!
I am really looking forward to the next installment to see what happens to The Pact as the war rages on.

Thanks to Net Galley and The Book Whisperer for the advanced copy.

The pact is between three girls and a fourth who forces her way into the group. There is an opening scene in 1940 and then the book goes back in time to 1929. The girls are eight years old at this time. We will follow them as they grow up. One girl is Jewish, the others are not. The Jewish girl's family is wealthy, the others are not. There will be good times as well as bad. There will be opportunities for loyalty or betrayal. The end is the conclusion of the opening scene. I had lost track that this is book one. I believe that I will be looking for book two as there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. I read an electronic version courtesy of NetGalley.

Well, this book sure did end with a cliffhanger!! I absolutely cannot wait until the next book in the series is released so I can find out what happened. This is a historical piece, but not in the sense of many books of the time period. I loved reading how 4 friends from unlikely situations became friends and what that friendship and pact meant to all of them.