When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin // Revell Reads Review

 

Munich, 1938. Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent as determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession as she is to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country--or worse. If she fails to truthfully report on major stories, she'll never be able to give a voice to the oppressed--and wake up the folks back home.

In another part of the city, American graduate student Peter Lang is working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party--to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.

 

 

 

 My Review

WWII has always been a time period I've been fascinated with, but these days even more so. In reading about the lives of the people in Germany, real and fictional, I find inspiration and help to form my own decisions. I'm encouraged by their courage and find myself resonating with their struggles. 

Evelyn and Peter were excellent characters. Peter has a past experience which at first has him blinded to what the Nazis are. He appreciates their order and control, not realizing what the price is for that order and control. He has to wrestle with the balance of freedom and order. Evelyn is on the other side, but she also has to maintain a balance because she has to make the world aware of what is going on in Germany without offending Germany or alerting them to what she is doing. When Peter and Evelyn start working together to get information to the papers, that's when the exciting stuff starts to happen. The "climax" is longer and much different than many books. Sort of "cat and mouse". Peter and Evelyn also have a very unique way of relating to and interacting with each other. Again, they were great characters.

Without spoiling, I will say that I felt so bad for Peter and what he experienced. What a nasty shock! I can't imagine and yet in a smaller what I can. Peter ended up being very heroic and sacrificial but because it's a story, everything worked itself out in the end :) I would say that I connected the most to Peter, but I also found myself resonating with some of Evelyn's thoughts and decisions as well.

I don't often feel like I've learned or grown from fiction and I rarely mark up a fiction book, but both things happened while reading this story. One final note, I loved from the moment I saw this book how it looked like it was a black and white cover except for her red hat and that is such a deliberate decision and I love it!!! I don't often see covers that have such detail tied into the story.

Many thanks to Revell for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own and a favorable review was not required.