I am incredibly biased when I say Michael Grant is one of the best authors in the YA genre and one of my favourite authors. You’re pretty much guaranteed a superb read when you get your hands on any of his books, but enough of my gushing!

Silver Stars is another fantastic book that follows on from its prequel, Front Lines (review). We see a lot of character development for our main characters Rio, Frangie and Rainy who, their gender not withholding, go to hell and back as soldiers/medics in this alternate world during WWII.

If you have read Michael’s other books, namely the Gone series and The Tattooed Heart series, you will be familiar with his writing and the descriptive gory details he likes to provide us with.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was a bit of a shot in the dark for me. All too often when an author tries to address questions of gender politics in an alternate historical setting, either the characterisation or the narrative, or even the rest of the historucal accuracy, is affected. No such problems here. Grant's one twist is that women enlisted in the army proper in WWII (from America - it was a bit of a different set up in the UK although royal proclaimation would not allow women in roles where they engaged the enemy with weapons - unlike Russia who sensibly grabbed all the able bodied people they could get regardless of gender) and he pulls it off splendidly.

The book is replete with historical detail and Grant evokes the feel of the time very well indeed. Rio, Frangie and Rainy are great characters, each giving you a different POV on why they enlisted and on different parts of the military - soldier, medic, spy.

Grant does not pull punches when it comes to gore either. It's not gratuitous but it is authentic - being a girl doesn't make you magically blade and bullet proof, something which other (particularly male) authors sometimes fall into the trap of doing.

Altogether this was a very compelling read. I quite liked the rathet bizarre Gone series, but Grant blows his previous works out of the water here in my opinion.

This was a hard book to read. Not because the plot is overly complicated, or the language too elaborate or the characters unlikeable, but because the handling of the subject of war is, by its nature, disturbing. Consequently it took me longer to read Silver Stars than I expected, and took more reading than Front Lines. However, this is 1944 and the protagonists Rio, Rainy and Frangie are no longer green new recruits, but survivors of battles, with the gravitas that brings.
The use of the varying narrative of the three young women, as well as the interstitials with an unnamed narrator means that Grant can widen his exploration of the war. A soldier, a medic and an intelligence agent - each has their own story to tell, and they overlap and diverge in satisfying fashion.
This is a great book, and very thought-provoking, but there's something I can't put my finger on that means I'd give it 4.5 stars rather than a perfect 5. In the absence of half stars on Netgalley, though, I'm happy to round up! A very involving read, with a wide range of audience appeal.

I have had this book on my shelves for a while and have tried to read it several times but I have finally quit. It is full of violence and I know it is a YA novel but for the first time, I failed to finish it.

Very harrowing book. Gave a brilliant insight to girl soldiers in the 2 world war especially where coloured soldiers and girls were treated. Not usually into that type of book but thoroughly enjoyed reading it even the very descriptive parts of soldier's injuries

I received a copy of ‘Silver Stars’ from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to get this book from NetGalley, so, so excited. I managed to get the first book, Front Lines, last year and I really enjoyed it (I have a review somewhere on my tumblr) and Silver Stars was one of my most anticipated reads of this year.

Michael Grant continues with his alternate history trilogy following Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr and Rainy Schulterman as they continue to help the war effort in various ways. Rainy remains my favourite of the three POV characters and her storyline in this book is just so intense as she is sent on a secret mission that is of vital importance to the war effort that is pretty much suicide. Frangie felt less present in this book than the last which made me a bit sad but her story was just as good as before, the bravery she shows in this story is just incredible. Rio, my least favourite of the three main characters, has grown on me over the course of Silver Stars Michael Grant again tackles sexism and racism with these characters and he doesn’t shy away from these problems, making the books feel very relevant.

Of course this is a Michael Grant book so it is quite gruesome and violent in some places. The imagery during the battles is pretty horrifying and some of the injuries faced by the soldiers made my stomach turn but never is any of this violence unbelievable. It is clear, as it was with Front Lines, that he has done his research (a bibliography is given at the end of the book for anyone who wants to do any extra reading) and it really pays off making the horrors of the second world war come to life.

The pacing of this book is a lot better than in Front Lines. It felt more tense, the stakes were higher.

Overall, I thought his was a really good read which I would highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and ElectricMonkey for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 1/2 * (out of 5)

Silver Stars is a brilliant continuation of the Solider Girl series. If you liked Front Lines, I am convinced you will love this. This series so cleverly mixes fact with fiction, and the author creates a very believable alternate history of what it might have been like if women joined the army in WWII. When I say believable, I also mean that there are some quite starkly described incidents of sexism, racism and anti-semitism, as one might expect from the era! To me this felt very well done and part of the story, as opposed to the whole focus. Our trio of protagonists are women; Frangie is black and Rainy is Jewish, so of course their experiences are different to those of many of their white, male fellow soldiers, but those characteristics are just one of their many traits.

The characters were the key to this story for me. Silver Stars picks up where Front Lines left off, and I was so happy to return to these three wonderful ladies. There has been massive amounts of character development throughout the series, and I am so very attached. I do hope there's a book 3 in the pipeline! The author's storytelling is clever, detailed and offers us three very compelling, unique perspectives.

Recommended for those who enjoyed the first in the series. Series as a whole recommended for people looking for an unusual twist on WWII fiction with protagonists you can really root for.

Okay, so, for this review we're going to do things a little differently. I've already gushed about how much I adored Front Lines, the first in this kick-ass alternate history about what would've happened if women were allowed to fight in WWII, and now it's time to gush about Silver Stars in a handy dandy list of reasons why it's so good, and you will love it too! Now, in attempt to not completely repeat myself, these are the top three reasons why I loved it, but it's got all the same features going for it as Front Lines.

1. RAINY.
I'll admit that Rainy was my least favourite of the female leads initially. There was nothing wrong with her as a character - I liked her - but her POVs always came up whenever Frangie or Rio were in the thick of it, and I desperately wanted to get back to them and found myself wavering in Rainy's chapters. BUT NOW, oh my GOODNESS. Rainy gets to be a sort-of spy with special missions, interacting with many different groups of people, and every scene with her was dynamic and exciting. She went from being the character I was least interested in to the character I wanted to know most about! The scene when she's getting out of the the hotel and running off to Italy, was wow, could it get any more cinematic?

2. ROMANCE.
For Rio especially, things are getting more serious. After the events of Front Lines, it's not surprising that she's turning into a different person, but in Silver Stars we get to see Rio work through old relationships and make the shift into new ones. I feel in general that Silver Stars didn't have the same balance between light-heartedness and deeply unsettling action, but a detour into Rio's love life was a surprisingly pleasant detour! The only problem is...it took her away from Jenou!

3. IT'S DIFFERENT TO FRONT LINES.
Now that might sound ridiculous to some, but I was worried that this was going to be a rehash of the first book but in two different locations, but boy, I couldn't have been more wrong! The war can get a little tedious, but it's a war. It's going to be tough and feel never ending in the moment!

Silver Stars is so much more intense, but it's also really rewarding. It's got the same narrator and I'm dying to know who she is, but in the end I don't think it'll really matter. It's still full of girl power, with all three girls being recognised for their efforts by being awarded the Silver Star! (That's not a spoiler, guys, it's literally the title.) I'm really excited to see how this story will continue; I don't know if it's going to be a trilogy or a longer series, but either way I'm eagerly anticipating the next instalment, and I'm bitterly disappointed that I can't read it RIGHT NOW.

I love the `Gone` series by Michael Grant and was so happy when I saw that he had published another series. I didn't even bother to read the synopsis of this book as I knew I would love it and it certainly met my expectations. I hope there is going to be a third instalment! Would definitely recommend Silver Stars to everyone!

I loved this book so much and I will definitely be posting a full review when it comes to the release date since I don't want to spoil anyone

Although I haven't read the first book in the series I found the book a clever blend of action and history.The characters were well written, though I found the book a little slow at first it was a very good read .