Title: Prisoner of Night and Fog
Author: Anne Blankman
Series: Book One
Genre: YA, Historical
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Belzhar+Bray/Penguin
Type of Book: Arc, Paperback
Review Word Count: 500
Rated: 5/5 stars
Notes:
This was a fascinating book. It tells the story of Herr Hitler in a unique light, from the perspective of a family member. Gretchen Mueller calls Herr Hitler “Uncle Dolf”, and is one of the most esteemed girls in the country of Germany during the ‘rise of the Fuhrer’. She has no idea of what’s really going on, believing everything that her Uncle tells her to be true. She is a favorite of Herr Hitler because her father gave his life, protecting him from bullets. She lives a life that is privileged, cherished, and full of fear of her brother who is obviously a psychopath-devoid of emotion, cruel, a bully, and abusive.
Gretchen tells of how she searches for answers to why her father died with bullets in his back instead of his front, for hadn’t he been shielding Herr Hitler? But with every turn she finds answers she doesn’t like, truths that are hard to ignore, and danger around every corner. Her life becomes a confusing mess, and she realizes how few friends she really has, and that there is no one, not even Hitler himself, that she can trust.
{I must warn readers that there is one suicide in this book, a dear friend of Gretchen kills herself towards the back half of the book. There’s also her brother that abuses her, and there was one scene where Herr Hitler asked if she wished to become her beau/lover and she flees in confused fear.}
The book was very well done, there was plenty of action, romance, and mystery throughout the entirety of the book, all up to the happy non-cliffhanger ending, of which pleased me. I really like this author’s writing style, and definitely look forward to reading more of her books in the future. While this book was a bit darker for a ya novel than I was expecting, the historical details were very well done, and I really enjoyed seeing things from a unique perspective in regards to that of Hitler.
I give this book a well deserved 5/5 stars, and plan on buying a hardcover version if one is available sometime in the future. If you’ve not read this yet, I strongly recommend it!
Until next time,
-Pass Me That Book.
Pass Me That Book 