Asta is a great representative of courage. The story made me ask myself the question of how I would have handled what happened and I still have no idea how to answer. My emotions were all over the place while reading. It's a sweet romance and not a sweet look on humanity.

Asta tries to survive the German occupation of her country while falling in love with one of the occupiers. With great resilience and in the face of everything and everyone, she manages to get by without losing her fighting spirit.
Asta is a great female character who faces adversity with courage. She is accompanied by other characters for whom I have not felt so much sympathy and with whose decisions I have not shared, although I have been able to understand them to a certain extent.
An emotional novel set in WW2 that brings together romance and historical fiction in a moving story.

Life in the Norwegian fjords changes rapidly for the Pettersen family when Germany invades and billets one of their men in the Pettersen home.

Author Eliza Graham shows how the civilians of this neutral country reacted to the German invasion and occupation. You’ll learn why Norway was invaded and what it was like to live alongside the German occupiers. The insecurity of occupied living, the acute awareness of powerlessness, and the struggle to make sense of and shape their present situation are ever present in this novel. Graham excels at showing the relationship between the occupier and the occupied.

“Sometimes it’s good to behave as we would do outside war and occupation.”

Lieutenant Max Brandt, who’s been posted in a civilian capacity as an engineer, soon became an integral part of Asta Pettersen’s family life. Max was able to show Asta his humanity and quickly the uncomfortable situation became comfortable … too comfortable. You’ll read about how things changed as the war progressed and put pressure on these two ‘friends’.

Graham allows readers to see Max for who he really is. I was in awe seeing how the two friends completed each other; Max experienced a temporary escape from the demands of his military life and provided a different lens for Asta to view her world. Asta received rations and aid, both at home and for her family. I’d never considered the give-and-take scenario of occupation.

If you are looking for a WW2 novel with a unique setting, fantastic emotional pull, unpredictable twists, and great characterization, this is one to put on your tbr list!

I was gifted this copy by Storm Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The Girl from the Fjords is not just another World War II novel. The first half of the book is set during the Nazi occupation of Norway but the second half covers the immediate post-war period and the consequences faced by the vanquished. The story begins in 1940 in a remote Norwegian coastal settlement, where Asta's older brother slips away to Scotland. Asta and her father despise the Nazis but cannot refuse when a German officer is billeted in their small home. Barriers are broken as they get to know one another. Max Brandt isn't a typical Nazi and has never served in combat due to an injury...he is a civil engineer.

My emotions were all over the place reading this book. On one hand, I felt that Asta deserved a bit of happiness with Max, but I knew the ugly reality she would face. And, although Max had never been an ardent Nazi, wasn't he still complicit? If he survived the war, why would he be shown any grace by the Allies? And then there is their daughter, who will be vilified even though she is an innocent. Although I expected the German occupation of Norway to be the most difficult part of this book, it was the second half that was soul-shattering. There were plot twists that I never anticipated, that left me gasping and wondering just how much emotional pain a person can withstand. The scope of this book is impressive, and Eliza Graham's writing has once again made me rethink some of my preconceived notions of history and humanity. If you are a WW II historical fiction fan, you won't want to miss this one.

My thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read the ARC. The review and all opinions are entirely my own.