To Die Beautiful: Book Review
Some books are written just for you, or at least it feels that way. To Die Beautiful, Buzzy Jackson's debut novel, felt as though it was written specifically for readers like me. Full of spirit and action-packed, To Die Beautiful tells a fictionalized story of real-life WWII heroine, Hannie Schaft. This new novel is so compelling you won't be able to put it down, I guarantee it!
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Quick Look
- WWII historical fiction
- resistance story
- action-packed
- Holocaust subplot
- unbelievably good debut novel
Pub Date: April 25, 2023
Thank you @Duttonbooks for the gift of this magnificent new historical fiction!
Publisher's Synopsis
A gripping and timely debut novel by award-winning writer Buzzy Jackson, based on the true story of Hannie Schaft: a heroic young Dutch woman who joined the Resistance in Holland during World War II and became one of the Nazis' most wanted women
Hannie Schaft, a shy law student living in Nazi-occupied Holland, never dreamed of being a fighter. But when the lives of Hannie's two Jewish best friends are threatened in new and terrifying ways, she realizes she can no longer ignore the insidious rise of fascism in her country. Driven by moral outrage, Hannie becomes an armed member of the Dutch Resistance movement.
Hannie discovers her own untapped ferocity--wearing lipstick and heels to lure powerful Nazis close and assassinate them at point-blank range, bombing munitions factories, and becoming such a threat that Adolf Hitler himself dubs her the Girl with Red Hair. While humanity collapses around her, Hannie finds a chosen family of friends within the Resistance and falls in love with a dashing fellow resistor at a tremendous cost. Her greatest weapon is her determination to stay human (blijf altijd menselijk) . . . a promise increasingly difficult to keep.
To Die Beautiful is an unputdownable novel of love, loyalty, and the limits we confront when our deepest values are tested, told with the emotional resonance of meticulously researched history.
My Review
If you've been following me for a while then you already know 𝘐 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘞𝘞𝘐𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, particularly resistance fiction. And if it's up to me, the more action the better. To Die Beautiful takes you by the hand in the first pages and doesn't let go until the bitter end. I was compulsively turning pages the entire time I read this book.
Sabotage, undercover activity, spies, and operatives all make for the most fun resistance fiction in my opinion. And Buzzy Jackson's debut novel has it all! This book is perfect for any historical fiction lover who isn't afraid of violence, wants a little romance with their action, and needs to see a woman take ownership of her story.
In my opinion, Hannie is the epitome of a wartime hero, risking her life to save those she loves and to fight for what she believes is right. I adore strong female protagonists, so Jackson found her ideal reader in me. The character development in this novel rivaled Code Name Helene, my all-time favorite WWII fiction. It also reminded me of Angels of the Resistance, my favorite read of 2022. I was hanging on every word of the whole book, eager to see what happened next and who betrayed who!
My Review
If you love WWII fiction, then you MUST read To Die Beautiful. I knew almost instantly that this book would be on my Best WWII Fiction list, as well as my Best of 2023 list. The fact that this is a debut novel is mindboggling if you ask me. I cannot wait to see what Buzzy Jackson does next!
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