An entertaining, very well-written piece of historical fiction. 4/5. 
 This is a very interesting, well-written book. There are many reasons why its impressive: 
 - Almost the entire book is a series of fictional letters written by at least ten different characters. And yet, each first-person voice is distinct. You can easily distinguish between the characters whose unique personalities all shine through in the way they express themselves in writing. 
 - Not only are they singular, but the majority of the voices are highly likeable. You warm quickly to the members of the Literary Society and their various foibles. 
 - There is not a scrap of fat on this book. It's quite short at just under 250 pages, but I didn't feel it was a page too long or short. It's the perfect length. This is becoming such a rarity among the books I read, I felt the need to mention it! 
 - The book tells various stories about what it was like to live on Guernsey during the Second World War when the island was occupied by German forces. I knew very little about this subject before, and I thought it was handled sensitively and provided fascinating insights into the islanders' different reactions to their predicament. 
 - While there are some sombre moments (this is a book about WWII, I don't think anyone would want it to be an out-and-out comedy), there are also a few moments which made me smile. Particularly the accounts of one of the characters dumping her boyfriends - very funny :-) 
 - The book has managed to succeed and win world-wide acclaim despite having one of the most cumbersome titles I have ever come across! I still struggle to remember it and only managed to read it because I kept seeing it pop up on various blogs and I had the sense to put it on my Goodreads TBR. 
 So why haven't you given it 5/5 stars? 
 I've struggled to come up with solid reasons why I haven't given this 5 stars. I can only say that while I liked the book very much, I didn't love it. Perhaps I didn't develop a sufficiently strong attachment to Juliet, the book's main narrator? [SPOILER] Or maybe it was because the character who is the so-called "centre" or heart of the story - Elizabeth - remains absent? And I suppose I didn't find it truly gripping or consuming... 
 However, 4/5 is still very good! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction - you're sure to enjoy it.