Official Review: Vanished in Berlin by Gry Finsnes

Lovely_Loreley · Post by **Lovely_Loreley** » 13 Sep 2016, 15:04

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Vanished in Berlin" by Gry Finsnes.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Vanished in Berlin is the story of two young musicians, the Norwegian Ellen Langmo and her German boyfriend/fiancé, Friedrich Kohl. The two are living in Norway together with Ellen’s family when the Nazis invade in April of 1940. They go into hiding, traveling from town to town, sometimes being separated for days or weeks on end. The book is split between two story-lines: that of the young couple’s flight and hiding from the German invaders in Norway, and that of Ellen some months later, traveling through Vienna and Berlin in hopes of continuing her piano education and figuring out how and why Friedrich has disappeared.

I quite enjoyed the story that unfolded over the course of the novel. Switching between the two timelines kept the story interesting, and also kept me guessing as to exactly when and how Friedrich actually disappeared. Much of the situation was veiled in mystery, so that my hypotheses about the course of events had to be modified after nearly every chapter!

The changing scenery and varied ways in which people interacted throughout the novel were also thoroughly enjoyable. Seeing how different people in Norway treated Friedrich after they found out he was German was at times both touching and saddening, and made me smile at the thought of how bad situations sometimes bring out the best in people. It amazed me at some points, when certain Norwegians, hiding from the German soldiers, willingly let Friedrich (a stranger) into their homes to share their food and offer him a bed for the night.

Although the substance of the story was wonderful and captivating, it could have been so much better. English is not the author’s first language, and while Ms. Finsnes does write very well, some of her phrasing is a bit awkward and confusing, such as when long conversations do not periodically include the names of the speakers or when long chunks of text are devoted to dry background information that draws the reader away from the story itself. I was also pulled out of the story at some points just because of how suddenly plot twists were introduced. There was nothing wrong with the plot twists themselves, but they were introduced in the middle of a passage or a dialogue, almost as though the reader was expected to already know that such a thing was going to happen.

I’ve settled on giving the book 3 out of 4 stars because I really did enjoy the story-line despite the drawbacks mentioned above. The author would probably benefit from editing with a native English speaker just to clean up some of the passages and let the story shine through. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, war stories, or tales of enduring love. Vanished in Berlin is the first book of a trilogy, and I definitely think I’ll be looking at the next book when it gets published.

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Vanished in Berlin
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lily_kh87 · Post by **lily_kh87** » 28 Sep 2016, 15:42

I faced this problem before; reading for a writer that English is not his first language, sometimes you feel that the author is not able to communicate with the reader in the best way. Great review by the way.

Lauren M · Post by **Lauren M** » 28 Sep 2016, 17:47

Great review! This sounds like my kind of book with dueling time lines.

lane_vespertine · Post by **lane_vespertine** » 03 Oct 2016, 00:53

Good job! I appreciate how difficult it is to give legit criticism to a book (or film, or anything) without detracting from the overall positive vibe.
Very well done!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 03 Oct 2016, 04:00

Sounds like a very interesting book. I specially like the mystery part of the story and I would very much like to know what really happened

. Great job on the review.

Elaine5 · Post by **Elaine5** » 03 Oct 2016, 04:17

Good job on to he review. Sounds like it was tough go to settle on a rating. It's very positive praise to say that you'll be continuing with the trilogy. It sounds like a good book.