Friday 27 March 2015

Mini review: Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman

Summary: The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content.

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?


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Expected publication date: 21/04/15

Despite not loving it as much as book one, I thought Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke was an enjoyable conclusion to Daniel and Gretchen's story. Unlike in the previous book Hitler is not actually present for the majority of the story. However, you can still feel his dark presence throughout as Gretchen and Daniel attempt to stay under the radar. In CoBaS Gretchen and Daniel's relationship is constantly being tested, but they remain a strong and supportive couple - I love that there was no drama in relation to how they felt about each other. Although the story started out slow things soon started to speed up as they returned to the place they fled and the stakes increase. Once again it's obvious that Blankman has done her research and I like the twists she added to make the story her own.

Overall, this is a great duology for YA historical fiction fans!

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6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a really good story! I have wanted to read these books for a while, and haven't found the time. Guess I'll have to now. :)

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  2. Great review Renu. <3 I'm glad you enjoyed this book, despite not loving it like you wanted to :\ I'm curious about it, and I shall read it, though I didn't love book one. Ack. And I have heard some bad things about this one; that it is boring :\ but hoping I will at least like it, like you did :) Thank you for sharing your thoughts sweetie. <3

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  3. Awesome Review !! Sounds like a book to add on my TBR List.:)

    http://readersklub.blogspot.com/

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  4. I'm glad you enjoyed this one, even if it wasn't as much as the first! I think Prisoner had slightly more of an ominous, sinister tone, but I still found myself on the edge of my seat with Conspiracy. Plus Daniel and Gretchen are amazing together.

    Great review!

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  5. Great review! I've heard lots about these books, they sound super interesting
    www.booknerdigans.com

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  6. Oh my, I need to eat this series up, I LOVE HISTORICAL FICTION ABUT ACTUAL EVENTS. I should see if there is an audio copy of the first book. Thanks for sharing this!

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