Alex Cabe reviewed Chocolate Cake with Hitler by Emma Craigie
Well researched, but had pacing problems.
This was a great concept for a book and very well-researched, but I think it had pacing problems and the end.
It's difficult to write from the point of view of a child and I think this book mostly pulls it off. One thing that worked very well for me was Helga's conflicted and evolving feelings toward Hitler. She's naturally repulsed as a small child and, because of her upbringing and propaganda, talks herself into a more positive view as an adolescent.
My biggest problem was pacing. The chapters in the bunker started to get rushed and perfunctory toward the end. I thought it was ramping up for a big scene on May 1, but that wound up being mostly off page, so kind of an anticlimax.
I thought the parallels with Snow White worked very well.
Credit for delivering on the title, the narrator did …
This was a great concept for a book and very well-researched, but I think it had pacing problems and the end.
It's difficult to write from the point of view of a child and I think this book mostly pulls it off. One thing that worked very well for me was Helga's conflicted and evolving feelings toward Hitler. She's naturally repulsed as a small child and, because of her upbringing and propaganda, talks herself into a more positive view as an adolescent.
My biggest problem was pacing. The chapters in the bunker started to get rushed and perfunctory toward the end. I thought it was ramping up for a big scene on May 1, but that wound up being mostly off page, so kind of an anticlimax.
I thought the parallels with Snow White worked very well.
Credit for delivering on the title, the narrator did in fact have chocolate cake with Hitler several times.
I'd be interested in reading the author's other book about the bunker next April.