The Night Sparrow by Shelly Sanders (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Title:  The Night Sparrow

Author:  Shelly Sanders

Narrated by:  Gilli Messer

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Length: Approximately10 hours and 26 minutes

Source: Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial for the review copy of physical book copy of The Night Sparrow by Shelly Sanders.  Thank-you to NetGalley for the audiobook and e-book review copies.

What genres that you are looking forward to reading this year?  I am enjoying reading lots of historical fiction.

Elena Bruskina is a university student studying German in the Soviet Union when it is invaded by Nazis.  She is Jewish and she and her family are forced into the Minsk ghetto.  After her family is killed, she escapes and vows to get revenge.  She joins an all-female sniper unit in Moscow.  She eventually also becomes redeployed as German translator searching for Hitler.  Will Elena make it through the war, and will she make a difference?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Author Shelly Sanders used facts from real life Soviet women snipers and interpreters to write the story.  Each chapter starts with a real quote from the women that served.

·       This story really showed the horrors of war.

·       It was disturbing to learn about “front line wives” where Soviet soldiers would pick a woman to be their front-line wife even if they didn’t want to be.  These women were ostracized when they returned home.

·       Soviets were the first to discover the Eagle’s Nest.  Elena is there to witness the horrors and to help prove that Hitler is indeed dead.

·       There were unique difficulties as Elena is Jewish and witnesses the murder of her family and other Jews because of their Jewish heritage.  The Soviets didn’t identify groups there were as denial that the Nazis were targeting and killing Jews.

·       The book tries to walk a fine line to say that Elena understands that the actions that the Soviet government takes towards its people and that Soviet soldiers take on German citizens are not ethical or good.

·       I’m not sure about the time shifts in this novel.  The narrative centered on one person, Elena, but it told the story through showing different points of time during the war. It would flash from the ending of the war to the beginning when Elena was first training. I don’t think this added to the story.  It made things more confusing.  I would have liked it better if the story was just told straight through from the beginning of the war to the end.  To be honest, it made me not care as much about some of the other characters as I knew they would die.  This may have been more confusing listening to the audiobook versus reading the physical book.

·       There is a great detailed author’s note at the end of the novel as well as a very thorough bibliography. 

·       The audiobook narrator was engaging.

 Overall, The Night Sparrow by Shelly Sanders is an intriguing historical fiction novel that focuses on the little-known story of female Soviet snippers and interpreters.