Review: From Sand and Ash

From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was lovely, as I expected it would be. It ticks all of the boxes: Historical fiction. Forbidden love. War. Family. Secrets. Resolution.

Eva and Angelo grew up together as brother and sister. She's an Italian Jew, and he's an American Catholic, but none of that mattered until the war broke out. We journey with them over the years, seeing Eva and Angelo take separate paths but still remain connected. Until the atrocities of WWII turn everyone's lives upside down. Like I said, lovely. Close to 5 star territory for me. It felt like it should be a tremendous tear-jerker, and there were heart-wrenching parts, but I felt it was just slightly sanitized for the audience. I wanted more realism on what was happening to the Jews. Hit us in the face with it, Amy. We know it happened. It was absolutely awful. But it felt uneven in places. Sometimes I felt I was reading novel for young adults, and other times I felt I was reading the gritty, ugly war-torn novel aimed for adult audiences. I wanted to have a good cry, but left only depressed and a little angry.

Still, it is lovely writing with interesting, complex characters. 4 stars.

View all my reviews