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There are currently 42 member reviews
for Daughter of the Reich
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Teresa
Disappointed
I love books that deal with the history of WWII and the Nazi's. Unfortunately, this wasn't one that I enjoyed. I found it to be to long and honestly, tedious and boring to read.
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Barbara C. (Fountain Hills, AZ)
Daughter of the Reich
Hetty is a young daughter of a high ranking Nazi officer in Germany. Her story begins in 1933 at the start of the campaign against the Jews. She is indoctrinated by her father, teachers and neighbors to hate the Jews. But as she sees the hatred and cruelty of the Nazis, she begins to question the Nazi ideology. The story follows Hetty for several years into her teens, and develops into a love story between her and her Jewish childhood friend, Walter. She then realizes that the persecution of the Jews is immoral and wrong. When Walter has an opportunity to escape to the West and marry, they lose contact and their lives go separate ways. Eventually, in her later years, Hetty makes it to America and meets Walter's new family. This book could easily be considered a YA (Young Adult). It is easy to read with simple language and much dialogue. Hetty's gradual shift from realizing Nazi ideas are a blow to humanity is interesting to watch as her friend, Erna and she become closer. The concepts of indoctrinating children and young people into the Nazi order of hate reminded me of the movie, JoJo Rabbit. It was an interesting read from the viewpoint of a young German, but the overriding love story watered down the serious content.
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Laura C. (Bartlesville, OK)
Daughter of the Reich
Overall I liked the story. There are tons of WWII books out there and this had a slightly different premise than any I've read. I found the book too long (over 500 pages) and dragging in parts. I didn't need so many details over so many days to understand that Hetty had feelings for Walter. I did like Hetty and Erna's friendship and looked forward to the parts where they were together.
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Mary Jane D. (Arlington Heights, IL)
Slow Read
Daughter of the Reich is a well researched story based loosely on some details of author Louise Fein's family. While the story was interesting especially because it was written from the perspective of a German youth I found it a slow read. The character development was shallow and I never really felt an emotional attachment to Hetty the main character. I also felt the journal entries were too wordy and especially the middle of the story dragged. The ending was good and kept my interest much better. Perhaps if I had read the note from the author before I started the book it might have made a difference in my perception.
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Suzette P. (Chicago, IL)
Forbidden Love
"Daughter of the Reich" is the story of teenage forbidden love between the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi and a Jewish boy and, probably, I would have loved reading it as a teenage girl. However, I did not enjoy the first person, present tense exposition (mostly because the naivete and stupidity the narrator exhibited in certain situations was frustrating to experience in "real time" and also because it just wasn't written very well. I'm pretty sure the author did not intend for me to laugh out loud at some of the 'serious' actions taken by the narrator but I did because they were so dumb.) I wasn't a fan of the constant repetition and lovesick proclamations made by the narrator, although I understand that teenagers can be idiots. And there was a 55-year gap at the very end that skimmed over decades of events that, frankly, I probably would have preferred to read about than the love story between two teenagers. However, I was very interested in the parts of the book not focused on the love story - the takeover by the Nazis of everyday German life, the newspaper run by the narrator's father, the narrator's relationship with her parents, the various Hitler youth groups, the creation of the Lebensborn facilities, etc. If this book interests teenagers in life in Nazi Germany and informs them of the hatred of the Jews leading to diaspora and their state-sanctioned murder by couching them within a soppy love story, then it is successful. It should probably be marketed to the young adult market. It is not a literary masterpiece but it is interesting, especially if you just skim over the goofy teenage love bits which are so repetitive. To be honest, I found the Note from the Author about her father's family and the List of Sources at the end of the book very interesting, more so than the fictional story preceding it. I went through some of the things experienced by the narrator (not Nazi Germany but the teenage issues, including the event toward the end that drives the conclusion) so I should have appreciated the dilemma and drama experienced by the narrator but I just couldn't get past the prose. The book is a fast read and parts were very interesting to me - others may find it more enjoyable.
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Peggy A. (Morton Grove, IL)
Ok for Young Adult Readers
I was quite excited to get this book but felt it was dumbed down for either younger readers or those who wanted a fluffy take on the Nazi regime. Just finished a scholarly book on WW2...The Splendor and the Vile. No comparison. I wish this debut author more success on her next book. I didn't want to give it any more of my time.
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Judith G. (Ewa Beach, HI)
Written for tweens
The writing reminded me of something that might be written for 10-12 year olds experiencing their first 'crush.' I skimmed the entire book because I could not go through it page by page. Maybe I'll try again in a few months to see if I like it more.
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