The Last Green Valley lived up to my hopes which were built from Beneath A Scarlett Sky; a book I read several years ago and still heartily recommend.

Focusing on the life arc of Adeline and Emil, along with their sons Walt and Will, we join them on the treacherous and harrowing long journey from Ukraine to Germany in the closing stages of WWII. Flanked by their Nazi ‘companions’ and avoiding Stalin’s troops, they make their way slowly west with their extended family. Over the following years they endure numerous setbacks and hardships in a tale that is grounded in truth and utterly mesmerising as they try to make their way ‘west’.

The first third of the book is a little slow and my enjoyment increased as some of the minor characters took paths away from our main protagonists. Overall this is a fantastic read and the second half is particularly difficult to put down.

With thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.

Mark Sullivan does it again! I couldn't stop reading this incredible story about the Martel family and their long trek fleeing the Soviet regime during the aftermath of WWII.

There were moments I found myself on the edge of my seat gripping my Kindle to see what the next pages would bring! The Last Green Valley is full of action, well-developed characters, and history. As always, Sullivan does immaculate research when compiling an unforgettable story. I felt so connected to each member of this family he introduced us to. I stayed up very late many nights simply because I couldn't go to sleep not knowing what would happen next. I highlighted paragraphs that were full of wisdom and insight. I will never be the same after reading this story based on the real Martel family. I'm thankful that Mark Sullivan wrote this story for the world, it is a gift indeed.

This book gets every star, and I will be recommending it to everyone.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, Mark Sullivan, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Last Green Valley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought this book provided a good read with endearing characters. I wished I had been better versed in history and geography to follow the story line better. I had to remind myself that while it is based on historical events, some of the story was created for the final copy. The author has weaved a beautiful tale of love, resilience and courage based on memories of the Martel family during WW2. Well worth my time.

The author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky returns with The Last Green Valley. I am absolutely blown away by the story that unfolded in these chapters and am so excited for everyone to read this book so I can discuss it all. The research and character development that goes into Sullivan’s books is obvious once again and proves to make Emil and Adeline Martel unforgettable. I feel connected to these real life stories through more than what I read on paper the past few days. The Martel family barely lived through the Holodorror and now find themselves refugees trapped between Stalin’s and Hitler’s Armies as once again they are forced through starvation, disease and separations that most will not live through. Choosing the Long Trek under the protection of the German Army, they attempt to head towards freedom. It is their visions of hope and the promise of the future together that they live for as they travel West. I highly recommend this book. I received an ARC, all opinions are my own.

Sometimes you come across a book that sucks you right in and you feel the characters' emotions.

I love WW2 fiction and was happy to get this arc, and just wow. Reading about the struggles and survival of the Martel family was amazing. I cannot think how horrible it be to live through both Stalin's Russia and Nazi Europe. The struggle to survive is constant.
As ethnic Black Sea Germans, Emil and his wife, Adeline, are considered at the top of the list as pure Arrayans. Yet it is something that proves to haunt them on both sides. First through the purges and hunger of Stalin's 1920 and 30's Ukaraine. Then it means Emil is pressured to be like any other German man and destroy the Jews and Slavs to gain Hitlers protection. The book goes from both Emil to Adeline's point of views and from their early years to after the war. It makes me think that not every German was bad or a supporter of Hitler, and not everyone in Old Russia liked Stalin. Both powers caused terrible loss of life and pain. This book will be a great seller no doubt and it's story will stay with us for a long time.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, Mark Sullivan, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Last Green Valley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought this book provided a good read with endearing characters. The author has weaved a beautiful tale of love, resilience and courage based on memories of the Martel family during WW2.
Well worth a read.

I loved this book. The characters were wonderfully portrayed. Just enough sadness sprinkled with just the right amount of love and joy. A few too many coincidences at times, but if you can ignore that and just enjoy the story, it is a worthwhile read. Just the right amount of closure too! Thank you for allowing me to read this so soon!

#TheLastGreenValley #NetGalley

Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union publishing for providing me with ARC.

This is the first novel to me by Mark Sullivan but didn't fit for me, i am feeling sorry but this is the truth, the events real slow and boring.

I really wanted to like this and for the most part I did but I had a few issues with it.
Firstly, for me, it starts off quite slowly and I didn't engage with the characters. It was only at about 15% or so in when more characters were being introduced and the back stories of the main characters were being described in flashbacks, that I decided it was worth carrying on.
Secondly, there are a lot of coincidences in the book. The main characters keep bumping into people from their past which I did find far fetched seeing as there were thousands of people fleeing to the west at this time. This really annoyed me and about halfway through the book there is one incidence where I was left shaking my head at the convenience of the encounter!
On the plus side the last 30% or so is where the action takes place and I stayed up late to finish the book to see how the Martel's fared.
It is a page turner for the most part, a bit gruesome in places but an important story to tell of how innocent people were caught up between the Nazi's and the Soviet's. If you can ignore the coincidences then it's a great read, but unfortunately it did spoil the book for me.