Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke is the sequel to Prisoner of Night and Fog. The genre is historical fiction set in the world war two period. Read my review of book one to see why I recommend it.
Anne Blankman has delivered a fantastic sequel to a fantastic start to a series. Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke begins about a year after Gretchen and Daniel escape to England in search of sanctuary from the Whitestones. We learn of harsh injuries inflicted on Daniel's cousin back in Germany and how Daniel does not hesitate to get the first train back to Germany. He does this partly due to loyalty and love for his family but also due to his need to do something worthwhile. Something useful. Unfortunately though this also sends Gretchen spiraling back to Germany to face old faces she thought she'd never have to see again.
This final installment of Blankman's duology focuses around Hitler's enabling law. This was a law Hitler wished to pass after the Reichstag fire which meant he could pass any law he wished without the approval from the Reichstag or even President Hindenburg. Daniel and Gretchen want to make sure that this does not happen but unfortunately history can't be rewritten. We readers know that this law is passed yet still root for our protagonists. We want them so desperately to put a halt to Hitler's plans yet we know this is impossible. We know the ending of this story and the best we can hope for is Gretchen and Daniel to be okay. Yet still we dare to hope because they dared to hope.
The Germany presented in Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke is even more terrifying than before and I was petrified of the Germany shown to me in Prisoner of Night and Fog. It is hard for me to comprehend that people, actual people had to live through this Germany. It is a scene that should only be reserved for a dystopian fiction novel because I cannot believe it. Anne Blankman does a great job of portraying Germany in such a way. Most other novels in which I have read set in this time period have taken place outside Germany and it was so interesting to see one set inside Germany in the early days before the war.
The ending I think was very realistic and well thought out by Anne Blankman. It shows how it just isn't possible for two people to save everything and everyone despite how determined they may be. It does also show that these two people will never give up. I would really like a third book in this series or even a short story just to see what happened to the characters however I understand and like how Blankman left the book.
Therefore I would once again really recommend that you read this duology especially if you are studying history as useful facts are delivered well in a story that will have you rooting for the protagonists.
I don't know what I can say about Prisoner of Night and Fog that will portray accurately how much this book is worth reading. I have so many thoughts and feeling about this piece of writing which I hope to convey to you through this review.
This book tells the truth. The truth of a horrific time period and the point of view is so different from other historical fiction novels set in the Nazi Germany era.
So do you want to know what it's about?
Our protagonist is a girl called Gretchen who considers Hitler her 'Uncle Dolf'. Her family has high privileges due to her fathers sacrifice. He took a bullet for Hitler during the Munich Putsch and due to this, our protagonist views Hitler as her father figure but then she meets Daniel, a Jewish reporter.
This summary of such does not do this book justice. I feel that this is a book that everyone should read to see how easy it is to become indoctrinated or brainwashed even. Our protagonist has been brought up with Hitler's anti-Semitic ideas being whispered in her ear from all angles. Her father, her mother and her brother believed that Hitler's every word was truth. She was even exposed to Hitler himself as he was considered a family friend. Because of this I can tell you that Prisoner of Night and Fog was at times, an extremely uncomfortable book to read. We disagree solely with our protagonists twisted views and it is impossible for us to comprehend these opinions. It is as if the author is telling us a joke that falls flat on its face.
Anne Blankman provides us with a truly harrowing read and expresses Germany as other-worldly and to be frank quite terrifying. This book is set in the very early years of Hitler in which few were interested in Hitler and few took his ideas seriously. His ideas only came to be more popular when the Great Depression in the US struck in the early 1930s. This impacted Germany in the sense that unemployment averages rose in an already weak economy. The German people wanted someone to blame and Hitler provided that someone.
There is only one historical issue I can pick out from Prisoner of Night and Fog is the fact that Hitler is already referred to as Fuhrer yet from my own knowledge and understanding I'm led to believe that Hitler did not resume this title until the death of President Hindenburg in 1934. Apart from this Anne Blankman's knowledge is, from what I can see, flawless and the way in which she weaves fact with fiction is truly commendable. I really enjoyed the fact that where possible Blankman included real people as characters in her novel. It really adds to the realism I think Blankman wants to portray and provides us readers with a vivid picture of what life was like during this time.
If you haven't already then I would love for you, reading this to get yourself a copy of this book. I was so excited for reading this book and it made it straight to the top of my tbr pile. It did not disappoint and I turned the pages so fast the book disappeared in all but a day. It will keep you on the edge of your seat as you will Gretchen to open up her mind and her heart to expand her very narrow minded view.
You probably came here for a lovely little answer on why I never bothered with historical fiction. That is what it says it the title after all. To be honest with you though there is only one very short answer which is the fact that I just don't know. It was actually extremely stupid of me to overlook historical fiction considering history is one of my favourite subjects in school.
So now I find myself asking, why did I not think historical fiction might be for me? Still I can't give you an answer but at the very least I have come to the conclusion that I will not look past it any longer.
What drew my attention to the historical genre after all this time, you ask? After being a book lover practically all my life, why now? Well, it all started with one simple video. It sparked my interest you see. It was a video of a BookTuber discussing her favourite historical reads. How I ended up watching this particular video is a little fuzzy but I'm super glad I did because she recommended some really great stuff.
As a result, I can now that I am the very proud owner of two novels set in the world war two time period. These books are none other than Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman and All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
I flew through both these books and I would recommend them to anyone. In fact I would recommend them to you reading this. These books provide an insight into World War Two and the effects it had on different people everywhere. Both books provided the attitudes and opinions of the time representing the period as accurately as a work of fiction can. They truly provide us with a snippet of history and represent great significance.
In future I will read more historical fiction as to further educate myself about the past. As well as being educational and informative historical books are believe it or not designed for entertainment. Yes, some hold a bigger message but the authors aim will likely be to provide information in an interesting way.
So let me know, do you read historical fiction? If not, would you consider reading some now?
