Alona

Considering this book was about WWII, I expected it to be kind of a downer. I think it was, but in all of the right ways. It was a nice breath of fresh air to read a book that portrayed women that are ACTUALLY tough. Better yet, a woman who didn't feel or claim to be strong, but acted bravely when her situation was dire. Another woman who fell in love and didn't throw away what she believed in/what she was doing for him! (For some reason, books with competent female lead characters are not highly recommended in the mainstream/Booktok.) I thoroughly enjoyed the book. My only gripe is the “silly American” line that just had to show up every time there was an American. Which, yeah, we Americans are a little silly, but I feel like it was a tiny bit overused.