Hidden Among the Stars

by Melanie Dobson

"The year is 1938, and as Hitler's troops sweep into Vienna, Austrian Max Dornbach promises to help his Jewish friends hide their most valuable possessions from the Nazis, smuggling them to his family's summer estate near the picturesque village of Hallstatt. He enlists the help of Annika Knopf, his childhood friend and the caretaker's daughter, who is eager to help the man she's loved her entire life. But when Max also brings Luzia Weiss, a young Jewish woman, to hide at the castle, it complicates Annika's feelings and puts their entire plan-even their very lives-in jeopardy. Especially when the Nazis come to scour the estate and find both Luzia and the treasure gone. Eighty years later, Callie Randall is mostly content with her quiet life, running a bookstore with her sister and reaching out into the world through her blog. Then she finds a cryptic list in an old edition of Bambi that connects her to Annika's story . . . and maybe to the long-buried story of a dear friend. As she digs into the past, Callie must risk venturing outside the safe world she's built for a chance at answers, adventure, and maybe even new love." -- back cover

• ISBN10: 1496417321
• ISBN13: 9781496417329
• Publish Date: 4 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tyndale House Publishers
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Thank you to Tyndale for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review

Hidden Among the Stars follows two separate timelines a 1938 timeline in Austria and a present day timeline in America. What ends up connecting these two timelines is a book that shows up in
Callie's bookshop and her quest to try and find its original owner because of the writing inside of it.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I loved how this explored a lesser talked about part of history when it comes to fiction books (at least the ones I've read during this period in time). This book talks about Austria and how the war went for its people, and also how the lakes were used to hide treasures by the nazi's and how it's people hide treasures of their own in the woods to keep them safe from the Nazi's. It was so nice to see that part of history explored in a fiction book and why it was important and how it is important to find those items now in order to reunite them with any family member that originally owned them.
As for the two timelines we follow with present-day and 1938 Vienna the way they ended up being connected was one I was not expecting. I liked that I was surprised by the thing that ended up connecting the two time periods together.
Annika, Max, and Luzia while all young adults during the war ended up having to make very adult decisions because of the war. The way they handled things was so selfless in the end and I enjoyed reading about this time period the most and the lengths they all went to in order to protect each other.
For the present-day time period I liked it, but I didn't love it as much as I did the 1938 time period. Callie was an enjoyable character and I liked how she always wanted to reunite books to their originally owner if possible. Her and her sisters relationship was one that is so refreshing to see and I loved how connected she was with her sister's kids. Learning about a bookshop is always fun as well.

[phyllish]

Hidden Among the Stars by Melanie Dobson

A compelling novel of sacrifice and trust

My rating is 4.5 stars

I loved the way children’s stories were threaded throughout the book. As a co-owner of a children’s bookstore and as the real live Story Girl, Callie was intimately acquainted with this genre. Her philosophy about the importance of being selective about the books that children read is one that I appreciate and wholeheartedly agree with. Comparing the types of books to various kinds of food was very clever. Are the books you read healthy, are they like a junk food diet, or are they simply poison?

Hidden Among the Stars was very rich and compelling. While it dealt with some of the atrocities against the Jewish people, it was handled very tactfully and carefully so that it was not gruesome or depressing. Very few details were given of any violent acts.

I appreciated the way that Max loved Luzi so deeply that he was willing to sacrifice for her. Despite the fact that she did not encourage him at all, he continued to pursue her and watch over her to the best of his ability. In addition to that, he was not influenced by his father’s cold heart and just knew that what the Nazis were doing was wrong.

Callie needed to face her fears. She had been hurt deeply, first by her parents, and then by her fiancé. As a result, she closed herself off from adventure and spent her life with her sister’s family and at the bookstore but never branched off beyond that. When she was challenged to travel, it took almost more than she thought she could give to get her onto the airplane.

There were many rich insights from the Scriptures. Insights about the nature of God filled the pages as well. As the characters struggled with questions about how a good God could allow such terrible things to happen, they discovered truths that helped them to deal with their pain.


This review was originally posted on Among the Reads

I was given a free copy of this item. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.