This book was an enjoyable summer read, but it isn't exactly a brilliant work of literature. The perspective of everyday female resiliency in wartime was inspiring, and there is undeniable intrigue around WWII that makes it the perfect setting for tragi-romances (whose charms I can't pretend to be immune to). However, that's about where it stopped for me. Perhaps my mistake was reading All the Light We Cannot See first, which was chock full of knock-your-socks-off prose and multi-dimensional, complicated characters, both of which were missing in Hannah's cliche and jarringly modern narration and stock characters, especially through the first half of the novel. 
 I can't say I wasn't moved, though ((view spoiler)[I found myself tearing up at Sarah's death and when Ari was separated from Vianne at the end. Those kids got to me. (hide spoiler)]) And I think it is always important to examine humankind's capacity for both unimaginable cruelty and overwhelming love. So, it comes with my recommendation, just not my proclamation of literary mastery.