The German Messenger by M.J. Hollows

The German Messenger Reviews

• 
  Karren Sandercock

  Ruth Holt is a journalist, she lives in Liverpool, and her husband Peter is serving in the Royal Navy and her son George has been evacuated to the country. The people George is staying with put him on a train, send him home without telling her and now Ruth is busy juggling motherhood, working for the newspaper and she’s a member of the Women’s Voluntary Services.
  
  When the blitz begins and life for Londoners becomes a struggle, nightly the bombs reign down, destroying houses and starting fires and killing and wounding hundreds of people. Ruth isn’t allowed to publish what’s happening in the paper, the sensors won’t allow it and they think it will cause widespread panic. Ruth’s neighbour looks after George for her, one day he’s taken and the kidnapper wants her to supply him with information and so he can give it to the Germans.
  
  Ruth has no choice but to co-operate, she can access some details through her work, she has taken a few photographs and she passes on these and falsified troop movements. Ruth receives some bad news about Peter, she gets very disheartened and around the same time she meets Anthony Lloyd. He’s a school teacher and Anthony volunteers at night to make sure people are following the blackout rules. Ruth can’t tell Anthony the truth about herself and what she’s been doing, Ruth was born in Austria, George being kidnapped, she’s a spy and if she's caught, Ruth faces being arrested for committing treason.
  
  I received a copy of The German Messenger by M. J. Hollows from NetGalley and HQ Digital in exchange for an honest review. The narrative focuses on a woman’s struggles during the Second World War, at first it was due to rationing and having to evacuate her son to the country and it gets worse. It highlights the horrors of the blitz, the endless nights of bombing and especially for people living in Merseyside. A historical fiction story full of, secrets, mystery, suspense, tragedy and drama. The pace of the narrative was a little slow for me at times and due to this, I gave the book three and a half stars.
• 
  theliterateleprechaun (cruising, will catch up!)

  “How do we stop feeling so impotent, how do we take control?”
  
  Author M.J. Hollows sweeps readers away to Liverpool in 1940 right before the August Blitz. He instantly captured my attention with a brazen boy who took matters into his own hands and returned home from the countryside. Knowing George’s secret added to my curiosity: Would he get away with it?
  
  As was done in Britain during the war, children were sent, on the advice of the War Office, to the countryside for safety. George, like so many others, was lulled into false security by the strangely quiet start to the war and believed that the disruptions to their life were simply a result of fearmongering. This is a much-neglected part of historical fiction, so it was refreshing to read about it, not only from a child’s point of view but also from the point of view of adults who disregarded the blackout and air raid protocols.
  
  I also appreciated the author highlighting those who weren’t British-born and the fears they lived with knowing they’d be considered a threat to national security. I hadn’t considered what the wartime experience would have been like for these individuals. Also, rarely touched upon are those who were considered unfit to fight and the feelings of inadequacy and unfairness they harboured. They, too, faced scorn from others.
  
  There was a good balance of reactions to the war in this novel; it felt like an authentic representation. The spirit of the unconquered people working together in the face of trauma was triumphant against those who didn’t want to comply. There was also a good balance of mystery and historical fiction. Hollows appealed to my senses and showed the effects of the horrors of the Blitz through the eyes of those who chose to remain and volunteer. My only wish is that there had been a bit more showing instead of telling.
  
  This story featuring Ruth Holt and Anthony Lloyd set during the Liverpool Blitz is a wonderful addition to the historical fiction genre.
  
  I was gifted this copy by HQ Digital and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
• 
  Julia

  The German Messenger by M J Hollows is a mesmerizing historical novel that gripped me from the start.
  The story is set in Liverpool 1940-1941 at the height of the blitz. M J Hollows writes of the horrors facing the brave people of the city. As the city burns, we witness brave firefighters running towards the flames. Comprehensive descriptions bring the landscape to life as we see a landscape right out of Dante’s inferno.
  Ordinary citizens with German roots were viewed with suspicion. Some were interred in camps. It is heartbreaking to see the elderly wrenched from their homes to spend their last days incarcerated simply because of their roots.
  There is a question of trust. Some, surprisingly, placed their loyalty with Hitler. These evil characters would prey on the vulnerable, using leverage to get classified information.
  War throws people together. Neighbours help each other. Homes are opened to those in need of shelter and care.
  We witness the rescues on bomb sites, seeing amazing miracles of survival.
  All the characters were well drawn, likable and realistic.
  I thoroughly enjoyed The German Messenger. I always love M J Hollow’s books that educate and entertain. This tale is simply marvelous.
  I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
  
• 
  Leanne

  Ruth is a reporter and when her adopted son is kidnapped in broad daylight she is devestated. Soon the kidnappers demands come in, she must work for the Nazis too get her son back. This one started out rather slow but it didn't take long to pick up momentum and I became invested in the protagonist life. I loved how strong and courageous humans can be. The plot really makes you feel the danger and hear the bombs falling. It made me think about the dangers they faced and I think Ruth was amazing and I was screaming for her. I highly recommend this book especially for historical fiction lovers.
• 
  Jenny Dawson

  I did enjoy this book, it was interesting reading about Liverpool during the war and how it was affected as it is local to me. I was expecting more about the 'German messenger' based off the title, but it was more focused on Ruth's struggles from having her son kidnapped and also a love interest along with it. So I feel the title may not entirely fit with the story.
  Regardless of that, I did really enjoy this book and it did really make you think about what life would have been like here during that time. I thought it was very well written and I will definitely be reading more
• 
  Jill

  This novel brings a different perspective to the realities of the Blitz in the north western port of Liverpool. For those that remained in the city, such as Ruth and Anthony, both felt the need to join the workforce of volunteers alongside their jobs as a newspaper journalist and school teacher. As the bombs fell on the city, the population struggled to survive with an underlying theme of mistrust. When Ruth’s son is kidnapped, she has no option but to bend to the demands of the man responsible to provide information to the Nazis so as to protect her son. As the months pass Ruth maintains her silence until eventually Anthony discovers the truth about the woman he is falling in love with.
  
  An interesting read, based closely on historical events, although I’m not convinced that the title adequately depicts the scope of the book.
  
  My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this advance copy.
  
• 
  Amy DeWolfe

  It's clear that the author has done his research on his location, time period and topic. He painted a vivid picture of what life was like in Liverpool during the blitz.
  
  I just couldn't bring myself to find the characters enjoyable. Ruth, to me, didn't have any redeeming characteristics and was very unlikable (and selfish!). Anthony was just bland. The relationship between them, I felt, wasn't fleshed out or developed and it happened all too quickly. They barely knew each other, only meeting for small periods of time a handful of times, when she asks him to move in with her because his house is destroyed by a bomb. Ruth's husband dies in August, but in December, she's starting up a relationship with Anthony. I know people mourn differently, but I just couldn't wrap my head around her.
  
  The pacing for the story was off. It was too slow at first and then too fast towards the end. Also, George doesn't even get kidnapped until 42% in!
  
  Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Kayla Lambert

  The German Messenger by MJ Hollows was an interesting read.
  
  It takes place at the beginning of the war in 1940 when London is experiencing nightly bombings by the Luftwaffe. Ruth works for a local newspaper and volunteers by night during the bombings to help the local citizens, but Ruth has a secret that she will not tell anyone. Anthony is a teacher by day and a bomb warden by night. Their paths cross one night during a raid and they instantly do not like one another. As the story progresses, they find out they have a lot more in common than they think. Back to Ruth's secret.. someone finds out about it and instantly uses it against her, in the worse way - involving the kidnapping of her son.
  
  My only complaint is that the book starts incredibly slow and took a very long time to pick up the pace, only to have a somewhat rushed ending. The author has a really good writing style and is incredibly descriptive, which also helped bring the story to life.
• 
  Lori Sinsel Harris

  Another intriguing WWII novel about the sacrifices made and lengths gone when our loved ones are threatened or in harm's way.
  Forced into giving critical information from her job about Britain to the Nazis when her son is kidnapped, journalist Ruth Holt finds herself in an impossible position, with impossible decisions having to be made, each one could result in her son paying the ultimate price. As the demands increase will she be able to withstand the pressure or will she break?
  This was a exciting if somewhat far-fetched read. Some parts you just thought, "yeah right, I doubt that could have ever happened. But oh well, it is called fiction for a reason.
  It isn't a bad book, it was interesting, but withou any of those "wow" moments that make a book great!!
  Thank you to the publishers and author for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.
• 
  Tracy

  This book really has the wrong title, its really more about a 2 folks surviving during the severe bombing Liverpool took during the war and eventually hooking up. The actual messenger stuff was almost like a secondary/minor storyline that you really forgot about it for most of the book. Nice enough main characters and you really did feel for them surviving the bombings but there just seemed something missing with the book itself especially given the title of it.
• 
  Rebecca Hill

  Oh goodness. As a mother, there were parts of this story that infuriated me, but like our main heroine, I would go to the ends of the earth to protect my babies. As the second great war is beginning, there are many with sympathies toward what the Germans are doing - but there is a lot in this story that is going to draw at your heartstrings. It was a hard, but amazing read, and I could not put this one down! Perfect for a weekend at the beach! 
• 
  Carol Mageean

  enjoyed this historical novel set during the Liverpool.blitz.during WW2. I liked the way it transported you through the different ages and relationships all threaded through the novel with ease lots of emotion and believable tale
• 
  Janice Richardson

  The German Messenger is an immersive read. It is hard to put down as the reader quickly becomes invested in the protagonist's life. Plot twists keep drawing one into the story.
  History and WW2 readers will enjoy this author's work.
  
• 
  Karen Norman

  I had high hopes for this book as it had an intriguing storyline however I found it disjointed and the characters strangely 2 dimensional. I had no strong feeling about any of them which made the reading a bit plodding and a chore hence only 3 stars
• 
  Kerrific Kerr

  A different sort of story. I wish I would have been more sucked in by the characters. Just not exactly my writing style.
• 
  Anne Robinson

  I found the book interesting with a few flaws. The plot was set in the early weeks and months of WWII, in Liverpool. I had no idea that the area was so heavily bombed and, really, I should have known because Liverpool was a very important port and so was a target for German bombers. The best parts of the book were the excellent and evocative sections about the effects of the bombing raids on the people and buildings. How the whole feel of the area could change overnight with collapsed buildings and homeless people.
  
  The writing of the main characters was less successful, to my mind. I found some aspects of their actions and personalities unreal and jarring. The plot was generally interesting enough to hold my attention. I did enjoy the book and may try more by this author in the future.
• 
  Ronald

  Ruth, a journalist, and a volunteer to help others during the continuing bombings in Liverpool, gets to know Anthony, a warden, another wartime position. Over time they develop a relationship - but she has secrets and he has a dislike for journalists. The German Messenger has romance, drama and the horrors of war, but more than that, the book describes in so much detail, what it is like living amidst destruction of one's home and community, seeing the loss of life, lack of food, people who no longer have homes to live in. As one reads this book, think about the people of Ukraine and the tremendous losses they are suffering and how they too are affected by the present-day realities of war. I recommend this book to the reader.
• 
  Tanya Hunter-Robinson

  Thank you to @hqstories for letting me be a part of the blog tour for this title. This story is set in the city of Liverpool, and I didn’t have much knowledge about the terrible bombing they suffered during the war and the roles the locals played in supporting others and trying to keep everyone safe. The main character is Ruth, a strong, capable and brave woman who would sacrifice her principles to save her son and her journey through this book clear. Historical fiction is always my preferred genre and I feel like I’ve read a lot, and for me, this one fell a little short for me, I’m not entirely sure, it just didn’t grab me as much as usual.