This novel firmly anchors you in Germany during WWII, with a (mostly) engaging story of courage, sorrow, love, and loss. The perspective is not one we often find in WWII novels, that of a young Nazi soldier who, at the beginning of the story, firmly believes in all that Hitler is doing. Max comes home to recover after being injured and discovers his mother has a secret. That secret is the impetus for Max’s change of heart. Max is perhaps the character that grows the most, although Lola’s progression is seen too. I have to admit that there were times I disliked Lola’s character intensely. Her childishness in endangering those around her for example. I found the first part of the book engaging but it bogged down a little for me in the middle. I think a lot could have been cut from the middle and perhaps then the story would have flowed more evenly. The characters felt a little flat to me, and some of the storylines felt very contrived. I think others might enjoy this book, but for me, it was just ok.

What a strange experience to read about the 2nd world war from another perspective. It’s the first time I have read a book from the German side of the war. It definitely makes you think. Hate, love and death. A German lady protects two Jewish girls in her attic. Then her Son comes back home after being injured. He is not happy, but his feelings change. Well written. Thank you for my arc, it is very educational to see the other side.

Max Wolff returns home from the front to discover his mother is hiding 2 Jewish girls in the attic. He is angry and also terrified for his mother. Discovery of the girls will for sure mean death for his mother. But the longer he doesn't turn the girls in, the harder it becomes.

I wanted to love this and did for the first quarter of the book. But then it turned slow and predictable and just didn't work for me. I think the story could have been so much more and the themes of redemption and change were set up, but just not as follow through with as I would have liked.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read a great number of historical fiction books on the Holocaust, so I expected this book to have a predictable storyline, but I was quite surprised. The story weaves the pain, torture and inhumanity of Nazi guards as well as neighbors, but add that much needed love story. Lovely book, but heart breaking at the same time.

This is a new to me author, but I will check out more of his books since I enjoyed reading this one.

I loved how layered the characters were, not just good or bad, but with their own strengths and weaknesses. The way Max changed during the book because of what he sees and experiences. There is growth in the character when he opens himself up to other ideas.

The book gave me goosebumps while reading, which is always a good sign, because that means I was pulled into the story and the actions happening.

I recommend this book.

An interesting book to read about the Second World War. When l started it l kept on reading. There was everything sadness ,horror, hope and love. Thank you for allowing me to read it.

Another fabulous book from Marius and worth more than 5 stars. Following the fictional lives of different people during WW2 the book brings together both Germans and Jewish women. Max is a German solider and finds his mother is hiding 2 young Jewish women and struggles to accept her decision. The storyline explores the outcome and what happens in the years up until liberation by the Americans. Thanks to Marius, Lake Union publisher and NetGalley. .

Max Wolff is a dedicated soldier to the Reich. He needs to be, since his father was imprisoned for his anti-Nazi beliefs. He is injured at war and sent home to heal.

Max is angered when he discovers that his mother is hiding two Jewesses in her home.! He feels it is a slap in the face to himself and his sacrifices.

Max must do his due diligence and turn the girls over to the Gestapo. It is the right thing to do. However, the decision becomes harder as he gets to know the sisters.

Predictable, but it it to be expected as a romance. I did find the use of the word "darling" a bit much.

Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged.

His mother’s act of mercy is a gross betrayal of everything Max stands for. He has dedicated his life to Nazism, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti-Hitler father’s imprisonment. It’s his duty to turn the sisters over to the Gestapo. But he hesitates, and the longer Max fails to do his duty, the harder it becomes.

When Allied bombers fill the skies of Germany, Max is forced to abandon all dogma and face the brutality of war in order to defend precious lives. But what will it cost him? I loved this book and by the middle couldn’t put it down until I saw how it ended! Great read!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sorry! Didn't get enough time to finish the whole book I'm in the middle and its got archived and my NetGalley not showing the title anymore so I guess I'll review later when I'll able to find ebook online.

Anyways, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange of honest review.

PS- I'll soon gonna edit this with the review one as soon I find one and read the rest.

Wonderful heartbreaking story of the second world war and the horrible conditions faced by both sides .I was engrossed all the way through this wonderful book .

A very engaging book. Seen from a different perspective to the run of the mill WWII novels, this one lets you experience the war from the German point of view. Max and Lola are engaging characters and their story keeps you captivated from beginning to end. The story proves that no one wins in war. Resilience, love, hate, fear and loyalty are all explored. A great book.

“ Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged. “

This beginning of the synopsis was enough to kindle my interest and request the book from NetGalley.

It starts off terrific with Wolff feeling betrayed by his mother and all that he has stood for, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti - Hitler father’s imprisonment.

The description of how the two sisters spend their time hidden in the Attic, how they try to educate themselves and the emotions Max goes through, torn between his duty to report them to the Gestapo but finding something stopping him, are very well written. Lola, the firebrand , Heidi the circumspect, Max the righteous and Magda, the caring mother, hold your attention. The war and its horrors are chilling.

Somewhere down the line, once Lola and Max seem to begin to understand each other but have to flee their home is when the read starts becoming repetitive and a little unrealistic.

This should’ve remained a war story in which case some new nuggets of information could’ve been added; or it could’ve been a sweet romance read and reduced the sensorial overload of bombings, brutality, terror, poverty, hunger and violence.

Crisper editing and a shorter length would’ve made this book a brilliant read. It had great potential and I am going to read more of this author’s works.

Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for approving the digital e-arc. All views expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Marius Gabriel and Amazon Publishing UK for the digital copy of The Girls in the Attic. This is my personal review.
This is a wonderful book . It tells the story of how two people can find love when they least expect it.
Max is a soldier during WWII while Lola is a Jewish girl being hidden in the attic along with her sister. The attic is in the home that belongs to Max’s family. When Max returns home after being injured he is shocked to find his mother hiding these girls.
After seeing how things are through the eyes of Lola, Max begins to realize that the war is not what it seems to be.
I enjoyed reading this book and found it very hard to put down.

This book really surprised me , it was a slow start and i wasn't sure if i was going to stick with it,,but Max and Lola wow what 2 great characters , i really enjoyed this book couldn't put it down.

I read only true stories on the Holocaust. As I couldn't find any on Netgalley, I thought I would give this one a try. I honestly didn't expect a lot. However, if it hadn't been for work and grandkids, I would have completed this book in one sitting. In the about the author sections is say Marius Gabriel was accused by Cosmopolitan of 'keeping you reading while your dinner burns'. It kept me reading way past my normal bedtime several nights and away from household chores today.

Lola is an amazingly strong character that sees many different sides to the war from beginning to end of the book. From being hidden in the attic by the mother of a Nazi soldier who returns home due to war time injuries to finding her way to America, there is never a dull moment.

This will be a book that I will read again in the future as it's now a favorite.

The Girls in the Attic
by Marius Gabriel
Back of the Book: “The bestselling author of The Designer presents a sweeping story of blind faith, family allegiance, and how love makes one man question everything he thought he knew.
Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged.
His mother’s act of mercy is a gross betrayal of everything Max stands for. He has dedicated his life to Nazism, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti-Hitler father’s imprisonment. It’s his duty to turn the sisters over to the Gestapo. But he hesitates, and the longer Max fails to do his duty, the harder it becomes.
When Allied bombers fill the skies of Germany, Max is forced to abandon all dogma and face the brutality of war in order to defend precious lives. But what will it cost him?”
Impressions: This was an intense story of love and loss during WW2.
Rated: Language, kissing, sex, murder, discrimination, sexual harassment and attempted assault and physical assault
Liked: I enjoyed this story and perspective. It is hard to imagine what life must have looked like in Germany before and during WW2. It is startling how hateful people can be but here in this book was the perfect example of how when you search for a common ground you will find that we are all just human. For the safety of his mother and himself, Max had to interact with two Jewish girls. Through these interactions he was able to realize that they were not so different; they were not so easy to hate anymore. I also found it interesting the ignorance of the hate as some characters (and I’m sure real German citizens) had never even met a Jewish person but were still passionate about the war effort. When it came down to it no one was good enough to the Nazis and they crucified their own prideful efforts to maintain power.
Disliked: I prefer to read clean romances but this one had some steamy scenes as well as language sprinkled through it. There were also quite graphic injury scenes. These weren’t a huge problem for me but if you aren’t up for some of the more gruesome details this might be off-putting.
Quotes: “…their hatred was like something black being pulled over my head. I couldn’t breathe.”
“That’s my deepest fear. That the war will end, and we will still be prisoners of what they did to us. Until the day we also die.”
I received a copy of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here.

This was a truly interesting premise. Max is a soldier, fully committed to the Third Reich, but when he is wounded in action and sent home, he finds his mother has hidden two Jewish girls in their attic. He is furious and all set to do his duty and turn them over to the Gestapo. His life has been put on the line for the Nazi party and he believes in their rhetoric, with every fibre of his being. He has already had to weather the shame of his father’s stance against Hitler. Since his father was imprisoned, he has thrown himself into supporting the party to atone for what he sees as his family’s betrayal. Now here is another stand against Hitler under the family’s roof. So why is he hesitating?

The book was emotionally harrowing and it was interesting to read WW2 from the perspective of a German soldier. I could feel his dilemma - he has already lost his father for his actions against Nazism so what would happen to his mother if he turned the girls in? Also, in living alongside the girls he starts to see them as people rather than ‘other’ and this also mellows his initial resolve, He starts to see their perspective on what’s happening to Jewish people and once empathy is felt, duty starts to come second. As his friendship with Lola grows, he starts to worry that they will be discovered out in the country and suggests a move into town for more anonymity, but this could be a gamble that doesn’t pay off. As enemy troops move closer and bombing raids become frequent will any of them survive? Mostly though, I loved that the author recognised the psychological impact of this conflict - not just for these characters or the victims who survived the Holocaust - but for their families and the wider world. This conflict is known to have created generational trauma that reverberated throughout the 20th Century and that was captured very clearly.

I felt that the book portrayed the period and the horrors of Nazi atrocities brutally and accurately. The escalation of danger was well paced and really created tension in the reader. I felt though, there were parts that where we told about people’s emotions and motivations rather than shown. There were places where I was screaming at Lola, because her head strong nature was making the dangers worse. However, I liked that she wasn’t stereotypical and ‘perfect’ because it elevated her from caricature to a real and flawed person.

While you know from the start that everything turns out okay in the end, the story of Lola Rosenstein has you engaged and curious as to what will happen next. This is a beautiful love story and was hard to put down...I finished it in 24 hours. There are so many WWII books out there (I am a sucker for them) and this one showed me a whole new side of the war experience/drama/trauma.

A. wwll written WWII story filled with love,mstrength, courage and tragedy. Through specific descriptions this is not a lght read. It is a page turner story that makes the horrors of war very evident.

The book was engaging from the very beginning, i was hooked immediately, and felt so close to the characters that i felt as they suffered throughout the book. Even through all of this i still recommend.

My review are strictly written by me . Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers