It’s time for another historical fiction book review. This is a bit different from my normal reads so I’d love to know what you think.
Goodreads Blurb
All The Little Hopes by Leah Weiss
Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing’s been the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Brown is precocious and itching for adventure. Then Allie Bert Tucker wanders into town, an outcast with a puzzling past, and Lucy figures the two of them can solve any curious crime they find―just like her hero, Nancy Drew.
Their chance comes when a man goes missing, a woman stops speaking, and an eccentric gives the girls a mystery to solve that takes them beyond the ordinary. Their quiet town, seasoned with honeybees and sweet tea, becomes home to a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp. More men go missing. And together, the girls embark on a journey to discover if we ever really know who the enemy is.
Lush with Southern atmosphere, All The Little Hopes is the story of two girls growing up as war creeps closer, blurring the difference between what’s right, what’s wrong, and what we know to be true.
Review
So, how was this book different from the other historical fiction I read? For one, it was set in the Deep South rather than anywhere in Europe. Secondly, while we do hear of fathers, sons, and husbands who are serving on the war, we don’t actually meet them. No, this is a book about those that are left behind rather than those that went to fight on the front line. We learn what it was like to contribute to the war effort at home, that feeling of dread of bad news, and the conflicted feelings when German POWs are sent to work on your land.
However, All The Little Hopes wasn’t necessarily a book about the war for me. No, it was more of a coming-of-age book that happened to take place during the war. The main bulk of this story is actually about Bert and Lucy’s friendship, how to bounce from being wannabe detectives to an interest in boys, and all that comes in between. It’s a nice story of how two young girls grow to love each other enough to go from being strangers to sisters.
Sadly, All The Little Hopes was lacking for me. I needed more to happen. The book’s quiet town was a bit too quiet for what I look for in a book. There was some promise with the girls’ pursuits as detectives but that came too late in the book.
All The Little Hopes is not a bad book, just not a book for me. However, if you prefer a more quieter, slow-paced read, it’s certainly worth picking up a copy.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Joyful Antidotes 