The Evacuee Christmas by Katie King

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320

Publisher: HQ

Released: 19th of October 2017 

Autumn 1939 and London prepares to evacuate its young. In No 5 Jubilee Street, Bermondsey, ten-year-old Connie is determined to show her parents that she’s a brave girl and can look after her twin brother, Jessie. She won’t cry, not while anyone’s watching.

In the crisp Yorkshire Dales, Connie and Jessie are billeted to a rambling vicarage. Kindly but chaotic, Reverend Braithwaite is determined to keep his London charges on the straight and narrow, but the twins soon find adventures of their own. As autumn turns to winter, Connie’s dearest wish is that war will end and they will be home for Christmas. But this Christmas Eve there will be an unexpected arrival…

What I Have to Say 

I must say I expected more Christmas from a book with Christmas in the title. I expected a lot of war time spirit, scraping together a fun and joyous celebration with whatever they can because they don't have much. There was a bit of war time spirit, but there wasn't really that much Christmas. There were preparations for Christmas but Christmas day was a paragraph on the last page and the preparations only started in the last fifteen percent of the book. It left me a bit disappointed, because I was hoping for a cosy holiday read. 

I also didn't get on much with the writing style. The author explained a lot of the character's thoughts in very great detail, often stopping in the middle of a conversation to think things through and work out the best way to respond for paragraph after paragraph. It gave the feeling that the characters were just standing awkwardly staring at each other until they were ready to continue. There was just too much exposition and the characters always seemed to be doing what was best for the situation, when real people aren't like that, because in real life, people don't think things through like that, they just act. 

I liked the characters well enough, but that's really all I can say for this book. I wanted to like it more, but I just didn't get along with it. 

My thanks go to HQ and Netgalley for providing me this copy for review. 

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: The Borough Press 

Released: 23rd of February 2017 

Summer, 1940. In the Kentish village of Chilbury some are unimpressed at the vicar's decision to close the church choir, since all the men have gone off to fight. But a new arrival prompts the creation of an all-female singing group and, as the women come together in song, they find the strength and initiative to confront their own dramatic affairs. 

Filled with intrigue, humour and touching warmth, and set against the devastating backdrop of WWII, this is a wonderfully spirited and big-hearted novel told through the voices of four marvellous and marvellously different females, who will win you over as much with their mischief as with their charm.

What I Have to Say 

This is a beautiful story of bravery, sisterhood and working hard to support the war effort. I wasn't sure how good it would be. I love stories about women stepping up and showing what they're capable of, but I wasn't sure how much more to it there would be. Church choirs in a small village? But it really showed a lot more depth to it than it first seemed. 

The book covered a lot of angles, from suspicious people who could be German spies, to homosexuality, to women supporting each other in a time of grief and turmoil. It really seemed to capture the essence of what it must have been like to be a women during the Second World War. 

The book is told through various different perspectives, each showing the life of a different woman in the choir and what it's like for them, setting up the new choir, coping with the bombs falling on their village and training to fight in case England gets invaded. 

This truly is a story about the power of women and what can be achieved. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and the Borough Press for providing me with this copy for review.