such a good story with a mix of my favorite things: history, fantasy, and mystery 

Great book! Ignited my love of historical fiction! What a fantastic story. I loved getting lost in this story and the story within the story: Whisperwood. I haven't read an emotional story in probably a year, and I forgot about the heartache that comes with reading. The flashbacks of Hazel and Flora's youth was fantastically written. I found myself feeling really sad whenever we saw Hazel and Flora's mom. The mystery component was great, I could have stayed up for hours reading on sometimes at night. I was impressed with the inclusion of Peggy. At first, I thought the inclusion of her character would confuse me but I think she was necessary for the plot. I loved seeing Hazel's character development and her transformation. She was incredibly dynamic and it was satisfying to see her evolution driven by her own choices. The irony of Operation Pied Piper in 1939 being named after a German fairy tale where an individual leads children to their deaths is chilling. On a deeper level, I found the lessons of living with grief, keeping hope, and forgiveness really touching and thought provoking. I love when a historical fiction book can propel you into further research and this book did that for me. -0.25 because the dialogue was too deep and confusing at times.