Michael Grant is a great author. I read the first book in this series, which I did enjoy but not enough to continue with the series. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Really interesting to see where Rio and the rest of the cast of characters ended up in this sequel from Grant.

Couldn't really get into this one but it was generally a quick read. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre and is looking for a short, fun read as I have bookish friends who thoroughly enjoyed it.

This story of three women struggling through hellish parts of a hellish war which the Nazis are going to lose - but not before battling on in as best they can against the might of Uncle Sam and the Soviets.
Some of the scenes are deeply disturbing as they recount the abuse of African American service personnel.

The 'war is hell' and 'racism is evil' message is thrown in the reader's face too obviously for me. Not the worst WW2 tale but not in the same league as Robert Harris.

An absolutely riveting book about the 2nd World War from a female point of view, which is very rare!
It explores different ethnic backgrounds, views, religions, and how women from these backgrounds navigated this gruesome time in our history.
The battles were described in great detail and gave you a real sense of the grittiness and horror that was this war.
I don't normally read this type of genre but found myself drawn back to the story and found it incredibly hard to put down!
Highly recommend this book!

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An incredible story line with a killer hook! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the soldier girls once more!

Didn’t take long to finish this book, it was interesting and kept my interest. It wasn’t a real page turner for me but still enjoyable.

Finished this book in one day due to the story being so intense and my feeling for the characters. Really felt as if the characters grew up overnight in this book and the horrific events that they overcome really filled me with a sense of pride despite it being a fiction story. The big issue of this book is prejudice and violence towards women and black women most of all. Frangie's story really stood out to me above the others. However, I felt like these were now women who had flaws, made mistakes and still rose above - characters that are entirely believable. As this is based in real life historical war settings, I know that the next book will almost certainly take me to the end of the war and the final push so I can't wait to find out what happens to them after war is done.

This is a brilliant book about an alternate universe where women fought alongside men during the second world war.

I started reading it one evening and that was a definite mistake as I couldn't put it down. I ended up reading the whole book in two sittings as it kept me entranced throughout.

It is book two of a three book series but I hadn't read book one before this and it didn't detract from it at all.

I would highly recommend this to everyone

The historical facts behind this novel - the role of women, including black women, in the army during the Second World War are really interesting. Unfortunately I don't think Grant did justice to the lives of the fictional women he presented, or their real life counterparts. My main issue was the style of writing/narrative voice, which was unconvincing and irritating. I'm sure some of Grant's YA readers will enjoy it, but I really didn't.

A book that immediately engages your mind and emotions.
As this book begins we read a letter from someone who is in hospital recovering from being shot in the chest.
It is WW2 in an alternate Earth where there are women soldiers fighting on the front line. The letter’s author tells us about the experiences of 3 of the women who each have different roles. There is a white girl from small ‘c’ conservative USA heartlands, who is in the infantry; there is a New York Jewish girl who works for Army intelligence; and there is a coloured girl from Oklahoma working as a medic. They had met before 1943 – which is where this story is set, but this fact only comes to light late in the book, unless you have read the first book in this series. The series has a short novella that follows and a further book not yet published which tells of the war from where this book finishes.
The war, as it is told in this story, is very similar to the one we know from our Earth, with just a few changes, but not enough to notice unless you happen to be an expert.
In this world’s army – if the men did it, then the women did also. From digging trenches and latrines, to shooting to kill, even sharing their accommodation with the men in their unit. Your gender is relevant here – only your army role counts – unless you are coloured in which case you will be I a special unit and have your own tents and so on. Just as we did in our version of WW2.
So we hear about each girl and how their war unfolds.
The white girl goes through the infantry hell of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. The Jewish girl becomes a spy ina complicated sub-plot which involves the Mafia and the Gestapo. And the coloured girl demonstrates her heroism in the trenches and how she treats those under her charge.
The book is frank about sexism, racism and the brutalities of war and how it hardens the mentions of those who go through it. It tells how human comfort is offered and accepted at unlikely times and how friendships are formed under conditions of duress. Torture is not missed but not in every bloody d3tail but much is told often in remembrances which make it a little less stark which must help the audience at which this series is targeted – the older YA including 6th forms. There is plenty of swearing but whilst there is no bowdlerisation the sear words are change to make them acceptable to libraries etc.
As a reflection for the YA audience on how fighting a war is less than heroism but more about dirt; disease; the randomness of death and injury and sheer bloodiness; trench foot; cold; wet; and awful food, it gets its message across.

Book Review Summary:

Front Lines was one of my favourite books of last year, and Silver Stars does not disappoint. The characters are developed, the world is dangerous, and the harm is around every corner. It makes for a tense and enjoyable read, and I will continue to love it. It is fair to say that I can't wait for the next book.

Book Review:

Silver Stars as previously stated is the sequel to Front Lines, an alternative WWII novel where women, soldier girls, can serve in the US army. The book follows Rio, a soldier, Frangie, the medic and Rainy, the intelligence as they go through the ordeals of war.

OK so I'm just going to say it, I loved this book. I am always slightly scared when reading sequels because most of them often act for filler books, this is obviously not the case for Silver Stars. Silver Stars packs the same punch that Front Lines have but the stakes are so much higher.

We see the true casualties of war and this is not shied away from with descriptions of how these come to be. Although this was an element that I enjoyed, those who don't like gory details may find this slightly off-putting although this does not cover a large amount of the book if you were worried about this.

Character development has also a massive part that I loved this book especially seeing more about Frangie and Rainey whose stories are developed in this book. We get to seen the fire of Rainy who has a very important mission in this book which shows the strength of her character showing that women are just as brave as men and are equally as capable.

Frangie also is developed as a character and knowing more about her past and her relationship with her brother was nice to see in this book. Although we do see her develop in Silver Stars, I would love to see more of her character in Purple Hearts so if I had any complaints about this book then it would be more Frangie. I think using Frangie's character to see racism at the time is something that I also really like about this series, because to just ignore it would be ignoring a part of history that needs to be told. So this is something that I also like.

Rio is a massive part of the series and again we see massive development from her especially about the effect that war can have on people. She is such a determined and likeable character that I can't help not but like her. Rio's relationship with Jenou is just wonderful. I like that in times of war, a female friendship can still be developed and be complicated as this is something that you still don't see in YA books but you should. I also love Jack so much and his relationship with Rio but something in my head tells me that it will not end well so I feel like Purple Hearts will probably make me cry.

Basically, I loved Silver Stars and can't wait for Purple Hearts and if you haven't read this series yet you should!

The Verdict:

Silver Stars is a wonderful sequel to one of my favourite books of last year and to beat this is a massive task in itself. But Silver Stars did and it too is one of my favourite books. I highly recommend this series being a highly unique twist on WWII literature with a feminist touch.

If you thought Front Lines was good then you've honestly not seen anything yet because Silver Stars ups the stakes in every way possible, the danger is greater than ever and the characters have completely come into their own. If you're new to this series then I'd recommend reading the books in order but to give you a brief recap this is an alternative history of WWII imagining one major change - that female soldiers were recruited into the American army and served alongside the men on the front lines. Pretty much everything else is accurate to what really happened and these books are so well written and believable that you actually feel like you could be reading someone's personal diary as they tell you their own life story.

We continue to follow the stories of the three main characters introduced in the first book. First you have Rio Richlin who joined the army with her best friend Jenou after finding out her sister was killed in action. Then there is Frangie Marr who signed up as a medic mainly because her family needed the money, she faces even more prejudice than the others because not only is she a woman she's also black and racism was very prevalent during this time. The third main character is a young Jewish woman Rainy Schulterman who joined the army with the intention of shooting nazis but was quickly recruited into the intelligence community. Each girl has a separate story to tell but there are times when their stories link and I love getting to see the war through their very different experiences.

Rio has been fighting on the front lines for a long time now and she's rising up through the ranks because of her experience. She's become quite a ruthless fighter and has had to try and lock her emotions away but she feels a growing distance between her and her best friend and she's struggling to cope with everything that she's seen and done. As a medic Frangie is right there at the front too tending to wounded soldiers who wouldn't have much of a chance without immediate treatment. Her job definitely isn't a risk free one and she constantly finds herself facing danger while trying to protect others. Rainy has the most dangerous job of all though and is sent on an undercover mission to Italy, she has no backup and not much of a plan on how she's supposed to get herself home again so her story is fraught with danger and she suffers badly when she's captured along the way.

I have totally fallen in love with all three of these girls, I feel their pain and suffer alongside them and I'm desperately hoping they'll all make it through the war alive but we're constantly being shown how much danger they're facing and I'm worried that at least one of them won't survive it. I don't think I can praise this series highly enough, it's dark and can be quite painful at times but it's also totally addictive and utterly absorbing. Michael Grant has done a stellar job with these books, you can tell they're meticulously researched and they really are a must read.

Source: Received from Egmont in exchange for an honest review

What if American women were allowed to fight during WWII? Grant continues to provide an answer to this in the second book of the Front Lines series. We’re back following soldier Rio, medic Frangie and Intelligence officer Rainy who each have a part to play in the defeat of the Germans. In Silver Stars, the girls appear far more jaded after the events of the first book-the realities of war have hardened them, and that’s reflected in the narrative tone, particularly in Rio’s portion of the text. Their innocence has left them and the focus is on survival. The interstitials provide an overview of the war and how our characters fit into the massive jigsaw being played out across the world. We don’t know who the voice is but I have my suspicions!
Despite pulling no punches in the scenes of warfare, I was thoroughly captivated by this book-more so than the first- and couldn’t tear my eyes from the page. The characters, including those on the periphery, are so well drawn, I really feel as if I know them and was desperate to find out what happened next. As in the first book, the 3 central characters do converge, in a lovely scene towards the end that made me smile. I’m already looking forward to the third in the series.

Silver stars is the second book in a series of 3.
However I wasn't fortunate to of read the first book so I found it a little bit daunting. The characters had allready developed and their journey began so it was a little confusing to start with until I got the gist of it.

This book is very well researched and I felt the emotions and rawness of the war and it has been portrayed very well.
I can feel the characters pain and how the war has changed each women.

It's nice to read a book that shows what it was like for women in the war as they played a huge part but it isn't always mentioned. So I applaud Michael for this.

Rainy, Frangie and Rio are the three main characters and we see their journey progress throughout the army and different jobs within the army.
It's not an easy journey and we witness the sexism and racism within that era.

I would recommend reading Silver Stars, but I highly recommend reading the first book.
I did enjoy reading this book as I have always been fascinated with the history of the war. If I had of read the first book I'm sure I would of enjoyed this more as I wanted to get to know the characters more.

I found this a very uncomfortable read which I never really got into. I didn't realise it was a sequel so maybe if I had read the other one first it would have been more successful a read.

Perhaps because I've read a lot of more traditional views of WWII, but this one never really clicked with me and reading it was more of a chore than a pleasure.

However, I'm sure it will appeal to other readers.

Once again Michael Grant has written a powerful book that doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to the brutality of war, sexism, racism and antisemitism, not to mention torture and the weight of being responsible for others. Once again our three main heroines prove themselves to be both ordinary and extraordinary, heroes in their moments, yet never desiring of such titles or accolades.

It did take me a while to get back into the flow of the story. When it comes to battles and the movements of the war, that’s where this book is best. When the action happens and it’s life or death, or even during the aftermath when everyone is trying to make sense of things, this book grabs my attention and doesn’t easily let go. However, the first quarter or so isn’t about that, it’s about Rio and her fellow soldiers lying around in the desert, waiting for their next orders to come through, while Rainy is back in New York, almost normal again. We don’t see much of Frangie, sadly, but when we do she always shines.

This first quarter dragged a fair bit for me. There’s a lot of detail about life in 1940s New York and what Rainy’s up to, which is interesting, but felt a bit superfluous. Rio’s romantic dramas are also tiresome to me, especially when it’s so clear that Jack is the only true choice.

Once this first section is over with, however, the pace picks up and things get a lot more interesting and absorbing. Rainy’s mission not only puts her in peril, but truly tests her for the first time. I’ve always found her intelligence impressive, but she wasn’t particularly likable before, being slightly arrogant and aware of how good she is and how easily she does everything asked of her. This time around she is tested to breaking point and finally discovers all that she is made of. It made her much more real to me and I truly cared what happened to her.

Once again Rio proves herself to be far stronger than she ever knew, even as she tries to fight being given more responsibilities. She is a natural leader, though, but it’s nice to see she hasn’t changed too much. Her competence might be unnerving, if only she wasn’t still slightly naive about certain things here and there.

Finally, there’s Frangie, who I would have liked to have seen more of. Her experience of war is a lot different to the other two in many ways, not least because of the racism – both overt and casual – that she faces. Her calm competence under pressure is still there, but there are more questions in her mind now and she definitely is not the same girl she was when she left home.

Woven throughout is a powerful sense of history. The addition of female fighters might be made up, but pretty much everything else is real. If you have a passion for history, this book is written for you. From tiny details to full scale battles, the research for this book has clearly been immense and it shows. I’m not particularly familiar with the Italian side of WW2, but after reading this I definitely want to find out more.

Powerful, detailed and epic, this is an excellent follow up to Front Lines. It won’t be for everyone, being long and highly detailed and containing uncomfortable language and plot lines, but if history is your thing, then you should really give this a try.