Book Review Prisoner Of Night & Fo

Original author: Anne Blankman

THE LOWDOWN:

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her “uncle” Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf’s, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can’t stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can’t help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she’s been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she’s always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

FIRST IMPRESSION:

Gretchen Muller peered through the car’s rain-spotted windshield.
—ARC paperback edition

SNAPSHOT:

In this engrossing tale, readers are pulled into teenage Gretchen’s world of mystery, murder, and political intrigue as the veil of innocence slowly unfurls from her eyes. The catalyst comes partly through the men in her life and new to her life—the Nazi leader and adoptive uncle Adolf Hitler, her violent and psychopathic brother Reinhart, the intelligent and curious Jewish reporter Daniel, and the Englishman boarder and psychologist Doctor Whitestone.

While at first some readers might be uncomfortable with how positively Gretchen sees Hitler, her thoughts on Uncle Dolf morph steadily and seamlessly, from the man who protected her family and who kisses the backs of her hands to a man of peculiar convictions and desires. She learns often in hard ways that people are not always what they appear. Daniel, handsome and oftentimes bitter, is a Jew but unlike what Hitler espouses he is capable of emotions, lives only in a small modest apartment with his cousins, and cares enough to want to solve the mystery of her father’s death—a murder he has been told. Gretchen’s frightening brother and Uncle Dolf share secrets and personality traits which are more terrible still, as she studies psychology in secret with Doctor Whitestone. Even her view of her beloved father becomes mired by her awakening into adulthood.

So infrequently are such tales of pre-WWII Germany told, particularly for YA crowd. It is especially impressive to see Gretchen slowly awaken to Hitler’s machinations, her judgment at first as clouded as the next National Socialist who followed Hitler’s cries for more jobs and stability for the common people—as the Nazis started as a Worker’s Union.

Those who prefer less history in their fiction may feel overwhelmed by the vast amounts of well-researched information on the page—but the delightfully complex characters will shine regardless.

Appropriate for ages 14+. Some strong language. Intense situations, racism, sexism, violence against women, assault, murder, and off-screen animal cruelty.

Deals with self-identity, responsibility, trust and respect, family, mental health, and loss of innocence.

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