Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Milo Todd for this wonderful audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly. Yeah. This book truly broke me, Focusing on Trans-Germans in and around the time of Nazi occupation, The Lilac People is a poignant and downright heartbreaking novel. The storylines, the characters, all it felt so immersive and real, I was gasping and crying at every turn. It was so raw and vulnerable, and hit hard. I enjoyed how raw it felt, Milo Todd does not hold back any punches and does not sugar coat the experience of these characters which I found so important.

I think what really sold the book for me was just how much historical fiction was sprinkled throughout teaching me so much. I had not heard of the Institute of Sexual Science, where transexual people got surgery and new passports. I had no idea that Americans were rounding up queer individuals after the Holocaust to reimprison them on behalf of the Germans. All of this information was so eye-opening, this book served as an eye-opening adventure.

Highly recommend to any and all of my friends. Especially my friends who loved In Memoriam, and other queer stories based around the World Wars.

“Most importantly, you represent the right to body and personhood. You represent a country not owning you, not using you however benefits a select few at the top.”

This is a book that I will think about forever. Most especially during times like today where the rights of Trans people are in jeopardy.

I am so impressed with the dedication this author had to keeping the text historically accurate (he described in the authors’ notes any discrepancies between fiction and true events). As much as I shouldn’t be, I was just shocked by the treatment of trans people, not only under the Third Reich, but also under Allied troops. Books like this are why I love reading, I learned so much and gained a new perspective. If you have any interest in historical fiction, this book should be at the top of your TBR! I listened on audio and enjoyed the narration.

Bertie, a trans man, struggles to keep his loved ones safe first from the Nazi's and then the Allies after the war. We flash back and forth between the start and the end of world war 2, as he grapples with the loss, trauma, and a potential future.

I am usually not a big fan of historical fiction, so this book took me by surprise! The correlations drawn between Nazi Germany at this time and our current political climate makes this story, and the character's thoughts and experiences more harrowing to read about than ever. It was insightful and refreshing to read about trans experiences at this time, as the majority of stories are centered around Jewish characters, often forgetting about the queer people who suffered greatly during this time.

As a trans person I gained new understanding and empathy for our history, and the origin of today's struggles, internally and externally, when it comes to our plain existence. It is scary to relate to characters from almost a century ago, and see yourself in them. See how you yourself could be facing similar fates in close futures.

The book is rather quiet and contemplative, without much action or plot, but the atmosphere is tense, and palatable throughout the entire book. A gripping experience, encouraged by the –sometimes overly– dramatic and engaging narrator, who really brought the story to life.

I cried at several times while listening to this audiobook, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an emotional and thought provoking reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the Audiobook ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

A moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies, all while protecting the ones he loves.

This book was written with such love and care, and you see that reflected in the characters throughout. These relationships are real and strong, forged in hard times and heartbreak. While this story is overall heartbreaking, there is hope at the end of the tunnel and a brightness that shines through in even the most run down of characters.

The audio was fantastic, the narrator utilized such a wide range of emotion, I was truly impressed by how well it was done.

This was such a unique WWII book. I have never read a book from the perspective of members of the LGBTQ+ community during this time period. Since I am making an effort to read more about Queer history, I am so glad I read this book because I learned a lot. The story was well told and the audiobook had great narration.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

C'est un livre qui a été très dur à écouter pour son sujet. On parle rarement de cette réalité qu'a été la libération et l'enfermement des personnes queer et trans par l'armée américaine. Les personnages sont touchants et vibrants, chaque nouvelle scène et tout ce qu'on apprend sur eux est déchirant.
Encore une fois c'est une histoire nécessaire mais douloureuse au point d'en avoir mal pendant l'écoute.

Thank you #Dreamscape Media & #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I have read and listened to a lot of WWII Historical Fiction, but this one was completely different.
I was intrigued by this story because I love the musical Cabaret.

I also don't read much, or really any LGBTQ+, so this book really had me contemplating the complexity of humans. The struggles and self-discovery really aren't unique to the LGBTQ+ population as much as heterosexuals would like to claim. In the end, we all want to be recognized for our unique self and not be judged simply for who we are.

This book did not disappoint in storyline, characters and setting. Bigotry of all kinds continues to be infuriating, yes even of those good ole Americans. Yet today is not much different than the past.

The narration is excellent!

I have two main issues with this book. The first is I felt the narration kept me away from the characters in a way that I couldn't connect with the characters; I saw the horrific things that were happening to them but I couldn't connect to them emotionally. The writing style is really dry and one-note. My second issue is that the book is really slow.

The Lilac People by Milo Todd is a heart wrenching historical fiction novel. So tragic, but so important.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook copy in exchange for a review.

Audio narration is well done. 👍👍

Before I listened to this audiobook, I never knew the extent of the queer history of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. I only had a vague idea of Berlin’s vibrant LGBTQ+ population pre-WW2 because I’ve been to Berlin and watched the tv show Transparent.

Before the Third Reich, trans people even had the opportunity to get surgery at Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute of Sex Research and many were able to carry cards with their true identities and chosen names. Then, to have all the progress ripped from them as many of them were sent to concentration camps, adorned with pink triangles, and set out to endure absolute torture at the hands of the Nazis.

When the camps were freed by the ally troops, the few that survived from the German queer community were still treated awfully. Many were re-imprisoned. Nazi laws against homosexuality were not repealed in Germany until 1969.

For the queer people who “passed” as cis/het, they were harassed by the allies for being German when ally soldiers heard their German accents. They were unable to speak of the torture they endured at camps at the hands of Nazi Germans, for fear of re-imprisonment by the same people who had just set them free. It was a never-ending torment and shame for who they were and who they weren’t.

The book focuses on three main characters- Bertie, Sofie, and Carl as they grapple with shame, fear, identity, love, heartbreak and ever changing politics in Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Bertie was a trans employee at the Institute of Sex Research. Sofie is his girlfriend. After faking their own suicides, they were taken in during Hitler’s regime and stayed at a fellow trans friend’s family farm. That friend never returned from the camps after his arrest. After the war, Carl, another trans man, stumbles onto their farm for sanctuary after release from Dachau.

This book succeeded in breaking my heart but also forcing me look up the parts of LGBTQ+ history that I was unfamiliar with from this time period.

There is of course an irony that American soldiers become “the bad guys” in the end of the book, hunting lgbtq people for imprisonment, while in recent years, US military has been the single largest employer of transgender people in the US. And in a continuation of trans people being outed and persecuted by fascist governments, Trump recently issued an executive order banning transgender people from the US military and forcing removal of those who currently serve.

It is shameful that society continues to repeat errors of the past and needlessly harasses the queer and trans communities. There’s a reason this history is not well known - it was the banning and burning of both people and books and the deliberate erasure of their history. And to the people who gave this book 1 star and never read it, you’re one of the “empty ones.”

———————————————
Quotes from the book that stuck with me:
“Hold steady, fellow Lilac People. We will see this heartache through. We have received word that a prison has opened in Dachau. They are calling it a work camp. Specifically built to house transvestites, inverts, and political opponents of Adolf Hitler. Rumor has it there are plans to build many more as time goes on. Be careful out there, friends. Do not draw attention to yourselves.”

“No person should encourage the suffering of another. There’s already too much given by nature. And when a person encourages the suffering of another, you can bet it won’t stop there. They want to see it because they hope it will fill the emptiness inside themselves, but it won’t. Because it never does. And so they’ll look for the next one, and the next one, and the one after that. Any invert who thinks Hitler will stop at transvestites is a fool.”

“He did not know how to convince Ward that innocent people had many reasons to hide.

“I just realized we escaped the Americans to go to America”

—————————————-
A real quote attributed to Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld:

“Soon the day will come when science will win victory over error, justice a victory over injustice, and human love a victory over human hatred and ignorance.”

Max Meyers did a phenomenal job on narrating this book. His narration really made this story come to life in the best and worst possible ways. This story hurt, but was so well written with quotes I've captured on paper and some that now just live with me. Both author and narrator are now on my list to keep an eye on as they are both at the top of their game. Brilliant, heart achingly raw, a story I will not soon forget.

This book held a lot of interest and promise for me, unfortunately, some scenes were just too intense or graphic for me. I ended up DNF halfway through. I may come back to it another time in the future when I'm feeling a little braver. Just be aware of that when heading in to read this one.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me free audio ARC. I enjoy WW2 novels and this one did not disappoint. If you want to get all the feels and your heart broken, you have to read about transgenders in Germany before and after the war. The audio was very well done and I will think about these characters for a long time.

This was a beautiful book. The characters were complex, layered, and felt so real. The story was both heartbreaking and also shows the joy that we can have in life. I think this book is stunning and a written beautifully.

Dnf @ 52% and I skimmed the ending.

I went into The Lilac People so excited! It really felt like it was exactly suited to my interests - Weimar Germany in the early 1930s with a focus on queer and trans rights and history!

I'd already read some about the period prior to this book, and was really interested in having a book set during this time as it's an important but less generally known part of queer history. Sadly, The Lilac People didn't work for me.

While reading, it felt like the book wanted to do too much and was trying too hard. This tended to lead to a lack of nuance and depth since The Lilac People attempted to cover almost too much in its 300 some pages.

The book had lots of promise but ultimately, the writing style wasn't for me. The random German words also took me out of the book while reading, and while the narrator tried their best, they struggled with the German terms and place-names.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an audio copy of this incredible story.

In my reading life, I have read many WWII novels. It is a genre I do enjoy though am very selective as it is generally a difficult topic to digest and fathom. However, learning facts through fiction is more captivating vs text book.

The author; Milo Todd truly fascinated me from the beginning to end. This is the first of fiction based on actual events that I discovered the trans community's history pre Hitler coming to power to the aftermath of the US army’s involvement in Berlin in liberation.

Without spoilers, the Trans community were well advanced for the times, with doctors and support staff helping them become their authentic selves, where there was a third sex established. In a split second, all of it crumbles when chancellor Hitler came to power.

My heart broke and I did have tissues on hand through the audio. The narrator was fantastic. Recommend a listen or read of this riveting story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This beautifully written story shines a light on a dark piece of World War II-era history. Trans couple Bertie and Sophie have been living under assumed names to hide persecution, but when they discover a young trans man on their property, all of them are put at risk. Moving back and forth in time, the story focuses on the thriving LGBTQIA+ community in Berlin, and then the changes once Hitler came into power. This is a story of love and community in the face of oppression, and the hope that can endure even in the darkest times.

What a book.

I usually struggle with audio books because in classic adhd fashion, I can’t concentrate on one single thing for very long. But this story had me gripped and emotionally involved immediately.

I cried so many times throughout this book, it was devastating and hopeful and devastating again. The history of trans people cannot be documented enough, and through works like this we can witness the heartbreaking reality of so many during the war, and the sacrifices they were forced to make and how much they lost at the hands of fascism.

What is most striking about this story is the direct parallels between then and now. The announcements to the lilac people once hitler took control of Germany are an exact copy of the news stories coming out of America and other first world countries today. That is beyond terrifying. How we could not have moved on, and moved forward towards an equal and harmonious society. How all this tragedy and death and heartache could be ignored, how it could be encouraged, even.

The lilac people is without a doubt a 5 star read. More people need to read it and reflect on what it teaches.

5/5⭐️

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. I would recommend this to absolutely anyone who loves WWII historical fiction and especially anyone who wants to learn more about what the experiences of LGBTQ+ folks might have been before, during, and after the war.

Incredible book! Loved the depiction of trans people in the 1930s and 40s and how raw it was. It looked critically at the allies treatment of trans people, in a way I have never seen before. Truly, I didn't even know about it before.
The prose was beautiful and immersive.
I did have some problems with the pronounciation and use of german words though. I myseld am swiss, so I knew all of the german words. It was a bit grating to out of nowhere hear something like "Auto" in a context where the English word would've made more sense. I think, the German language could've been used more intentionally.

Thank you so much for the arc! My other reviews can be found on Goodreads and Storygraph

first and foremost, let me preface this review by saying that all my major qualms regarding this novel are related to its content, not the audiobook narration; the narrator did a superb job and i really do think it somewhat improved my experience of an otherwise frustrating book.

i was really excited to read the lilac people, because i am very much interested in lgbtq+ history and how it intersects with the holocaust and ww2. but this was just... really lacking in depth, both in its style and its character development, and the ‘plot twists’ were just downright ridiculous. i also really didn’t appreciate the way in which the author kept info dumping about even the most basic aspects of life in the weimar republic or the holocaust – treating your readers like a bunch of highschoolers who have virtually no knowledge of what happened during the war is, to me, a very poor way of getting your message across.

i also didn’t understand the characters at all. bertie was meant to be 34 in 1932, but he read like a 20 year old or so; likewise, he did not read as a 47 year old man in the 1945 timeline, and neither did karl as a 27 year old. it was all fairly unbelievable and, to be honest, it saddens me to think of what this book could have been if it had been taken more seriously, because i care very deeply about trans rights and i thought that reading about a group of trans characters facing the nazi regime would be fascinating and eye-opening in regards to what is happening in the world today. but alas, it was not.