Thank you, Elisabeth Hobbes, NetGalley, and HarperCollinsUk for the opportunity to read this book! It will release on August 5th, 2022.

I absolutely adored Elisabeth Hobbes’s previous novel, Daughter of the Sea. While I am really particular about World War II novels, I just had to pick up Daughters of Paris. This one begins before the German invasion of France with two girls, Colette and Fleur becoming best friends but are from two totally different backgrounds. Colette comes from a wealthy family, with a doting father but a disconnected mother. Fleur’s parents have passed away and now she lives with her aunt who is the housekeeper for Colette’s family. But then the war comes to France and their lives change. Colette and Fleur have grown apart but now they have to band together to survive. It turns out that they have it easier than others. Fleur is not willing to go down without a fight and joins the Resistance, but it means that their lives will be filled with danger.

So in terms of World War II novels, it isn’t the best. This book fell prey to romancing the war. However, I did absolutely love the aspects of friendship and courage. At first, I could not stand Colette and pretty much all of the characters except for Fleur. But the one thing that Elisabeth Hobbes does so well is character development. I won’t lie, Colette and Sebastian’s relationship didn’t affect me. However, I was so invested in Laurent and Fleur’s relationship. They were both so dedicated to helping others and France. That came first and they made smart decisions, unlike Colette and Sebastian. But she can definitely write a scene. I could picture myself in Paris. I was completely immersed and felt every emotion.

I can’t lie the Resistance movement within Paris is what interested me the most. I plan to look more into it as I studied Jewish Forest Camps in college. To make a difference, all it takes is one person. Like this book, every person is a link in a chain.