“One does evil enough when one does nothing good.”

I have to say that you should definitely be prepared for a somewhat heavy historical fiction before going into When We Were Brave. Just like you would expect from a WW2 novel set in Nazi Germany, it showed the hardships that people experienced as well as the precious few moments that were a result of appreciating the precious seconds that were rare and kind of far between during those times.

This was in general just a heartfelt, and long, journey. I have seen people comparing When We Were Brav to The Nightingale and I have to say that I see where they are coming from.

Listening to stories from the point of different jewish people that had different takes on what was happening was interesting to read, as When We Were Brave is comprised of mainly 3 stories. The characters in the first two stories were engaging and easy to get attached to but, to be honest, it started to lose my interest at some parts towards the end.

However, the familial relationships made me fall in love so fast and were so well written (especially with the second story of the mother and son trying to escape the Nazis). It was relatable for me personally and that was the story that really hooked me the most that I just had to drop everything and listen. If you aren’t a character driven person the plot of this is more than enough to keep you engrossed as it is quite intense and emotional.

The themes were absolutely amazing! Which is an aspect that I always expect to be strong with historical fiction novels and I am very happy to say that I was not let down.

It's heartbreaking. It's inspiring. What more could you ask for? I absolutely loved the Karla M. Jay's writing style for the most part and the narrator did a great job of translating that into the audiobook. There weren't any fancy sound effects or music but that did not hinder my enjoyment at all. I actually thought the narration itself was entrancing which suited the story perfectly

All in all, I agree with everyone that this was an amazing historical WW2 fiction and there is no doubt that you are going to love this if the genre comes within your reading taste.