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Coming soon April 2, 2019, Historical Fiction
"May we all be as noble one day"
I honestly don't know where to begin. Reading this book was an experience. The fact that Kip Wilson chose verse to portray a story like this is still fascinating me. I was honestly skeptical but I felt more rushed, more on my toes, more sense of urgency reading the pages in this way. Urgent is what this book is so the choice was genius.
This book tells the story of a Nazi resistance group called White Rose, a group that was brave enough to mail leaflets and share what would be considered treasonous materials with others at the time. They wanted to wake up the German conscience and let them see the atrocities that were happening. There weren't many members, but they were determined. We see this story through several POVs, but mainly through the eyes of Sophie. It is Sophie who opens the story in the midst of an intense investigation by Robert Mohr, the Gestapo investigator. In those first two verses in the book, I had so many visuals. Maybe it's because I have read a lot of Non-fiction about this time in history, but I could see her there being interrogated, them being angry, her sense of dread.
This is why you keep reading. Every couple of pages the verses go from the present to the past and vice versa, helping to fill in the gaps of any questions you might have had. It fills a timeline between 1938-1943 in snippets of memories, events, thoughts, and letters. You get to see the inner workings of a German Family that did not sympathize with the Reich. Some were for it some were against it and this is a point of view rarely touched on. There must have been Germans who didn't think what Hitler did was right. It begs the question, Why didn't they do anything? Why were they complicit?
"Boom, Boom"
"Boom, Boom"
Every time the lines above came up in the book, I read it like a heartbeat, I found it strange. However, this must have been Sophie's feelings about everything that was going on in her life. Sophie is strong in so many ways, strong mind, strong will, she had an uncanny way of seeing the world, considering how complacent everyone else outside her family was being. In reality, it is scary to remember how ambivalent society was during that time yet, Sophie refused to be quiet just to be safe. I'm sure there were others, they were just afraid to speak up. Her actions make us face one daunting question, would we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of doing the right thing? Would we speak up if we were in her shoes? In this political climate, it is important that we have some kind of answer to this question because injustices are happening all around us.
"Today you'll hang us, but you'll be next"
Most of us must know how the story ends but I won't spoil it for those who don't. Sophie, Hans, and Cristoph, who are also members of the White Rose experience it all together. They all hoped that what they did would cause revolt and change but they didn't. Even to me, it was the first time encountering the story of this brave group and those who stood tall in the representation of it. White Rose and Sophie might not have caused a wave then but I hope they do now. I hope a whole new generation is inspired by the members of the White Rose and Sophie, and this brilliant book. I hope it makes every single reader think, question others, and ask of society, will you stay silent? It isn't your family today but it could be. So will you be the first person to take a step for what's right? That's is what Sophie told the judge,
"Someone needed to make a start."
Rating 5\5 ❤❤❤❤❤
What I liked about this story was that it was genuine. Kip Wilson made an effort to make Sophie as realistic as possible based on historical documents available about this amazing young woman and those in the White Rose group. It's only fiction because you couldn't possibly know everything Sophie was thinking at the time and even then, she tried to write those in the way of her personality and bring her character to life. Sophie loved and hurt in a realistic manner, she tried and failed, she was for the Reich and then She wasn't. She was human and I think that is what Kip Wilson wanted us to now. That for all our flaws, we can still choose to do the right thing.
"I did the best I could for my country. I don't regret what I did and I'm ready to accept the consequences for my actions."
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest)
If you would like to pre-order this amazing book you can find it on Amazon or Book Depository.