Usually I like historical fiction especially when it involves women's stories. However, this book didn't quite work for me. There were several passages that I thought just couldn't be right. Plus, the timing of key events always seemed to occur with just minutes from a more positive outcome.

Natasha is one year older than her sister Lisa but Lisa seems more daring. They both live with their parents, grandparents and a younger brother in a large apartment in Kiev, Ukraine. Lisa is engaged to be married to her long time boyfriend, Alexei, and the book opens with the sisters and Alexei coming back from an appointment with the person making the wedding dress. Kiev is expecting the Germans to arrive any minute and everyone is worried. Suddenly the tanks and trucks are there and the Germans have taken over management of the city. Food is in short supply and lines form at any shop that might have something to sell. Radios have to be turned in by any Russian ethnics so Natasha and her grandmother set out to deliver theirs.On their way home they are stopped by a German officer in a deserted park. The German makes an advance on Natasha and her grandmother attacks him. In response the officer fires his gun at the older woman and then holds his gun on Natasha.She is convinced he is going to kill both of them but, instead, the officer is killed by a soldier who is with the German forces but is Hungarian. Mark helps Natasha get her grandmother home and leaves them outside their apartment building. No one saw the encounter and so when the Germans look for people to prosecute for the officer's killing they can't find anyone. They then take young men at random and hang them in the same park where the killings take place. Unfortunately, one of the young men they take is Alexei. Lisa is hearbroken and angry at Natasha for not turning Mark in. But Mark and Natasha have fallen in love and spend any moment they can steal to be together. Meanwhile, Natasha's best friend who is Jewish was rounded up with all the other Jews in the city and taken to Baba Yar where they were executed en masse. The story continues with more deaths and increasing restrictions and families being torn apart. Then, at the end, after the Germans are forced to retreat by the Red Army, miraculous events reunite loved ones.

Not a terrible book but not one I would really recommend. It's too bad because there aren't a lot of books about the effects of the war in Ukraine. ( )

Oh my gosh, I was literally CRYING through the last 20 pages of this book! The ending simply pulled out all the stops, leaving me so bittersweetly content about finishing this novel. It’s funny too, because up until the end, the book had been tracking at a 3-star for me as “liked it”, but didn’t quite pop over to 4-star “really liked it”. I’ll do my fellow readers the courtesy of not ruining the ending by mentioning just why I cried through the end, but I will say that the conclusion of “Sisters of War” added that something extra I was looking for and is definitely worth adding an extra star.

*A big thank you to Lana Kortchik, HarperCollins Publishers/HQ Digital, and NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.*

“Sisters of War” is a good, solid tale that I enjoyed. The characters feel very real and believable – in fact there is one in particular for whom I’m still feeling badly, even now – several hours after finishing the novel. The setting for this book was interesting as well. The majority of WWII novels I’ve come across take place in England or France or sometimes the U.S. This one takes place in Kiev, Ukraine, and is written by an author who actually grew up in Ukraine and Russia until moving to Australia as a preteen. The authenticity of Lana Kortchik’s writing, based on personal and family knowledge of that part of the world distinctly shines through. Kortchik also read dozens of memoirs and diaries of the Kiev survivors in preparation for the novel – true stories written by women who put their lives at risk documenting the Germans’ activities, which gave the storylines a strong factual base.

The story in “Sisters of War” starts out in the early 1940’s in Kiev, which has been under Soviet rule for over 20 years. Germans have been bombing the city and eventually bring Kiev under Nazi occupation, not leaving for over two years when the Soviet Red Army finally frees the city. The slice of time Kortchik chose for her novel framed the events well, making for an impactful read. As you can imagine with a WWII tale, there are many losses and heartbreaking experiences, but there is also love and hope, new life, and the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people. As our heroine Natasha reflects, “(T)heir lives… would forever be touched by war, but not broken. Never broken.”

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The positive reviews that this book got have me a bit confused. It was one of the most depressing books about war that I have ever read. That means it was certainly one of the most realistic portrayals of war I have ever read. Kudos to the author on that aspect.

However, the love story and the Disney-esque endings to the different threads of the story were absurd and the relationships between the sisters didn't really ring true.

This is a re-print and at .99 cents (Amazon on Kindle) price makes this a bargain just to read the descriptions of what life was like in Kiev (Kyiv) during this time.

*ARC supplied by the publisher. ( )