For those of you looking for an emotionally gut-wrenching read that will leave you in a mess of tears, this is the series for you.
What’s it About?
No one knows when it will end or if it will ever end. It seems like the whole world is in fire and nothing is going to put out the flames.
The promise to go on.
Another two years at war and coming into winter with scarcely any rations to be had, Evelyn and Henry along with everyone they know and love deal the pains of starvation. With the birth of their second child approaching, the couple celebrates with apprehension. Not knowing how much longer the war will last, they also live in fear—fear of the Germans and fear of death. Can they survive? Or will the end of the war come a little too late?
The promise to come home.
After swearing off the notion of ever returning home to Guernsey, Amelia continues her education and lands an internship for a up and coming newspaper. With her life finally laid out before her, fate decides to throw her another devastating blow, shattering her world into pieces. Can she overcome what the war has taken from her? And will an unexpected trip back home, a place she never thought she’d go, be exactly what she needs? Or will it only lead her to more heartbreak and loss?
Two sisters. Two promises. One bloody war that changes their lives forever.
First Impressions
Every once in a blue moon, I can sympathize with the desire to be in a sad or melancholy mood. It can be hard to explain to people, but sometimes you just wanna listen to a sad song, or watch a depressing move to get the tears flowing. Something like The Notebook, or The Land Before Time that will leave you a gasping mess of tears. However, I can’t say I’ve ever craved that same thing when it comes to a book. Sure, maybe I’ll be mid-read and come across a sad scene that will leave me in tears, and I can appreciate the emotional impact it can lend to the story as a whole. But I can’t say I’ve ever sought out a book or series that I know would be primarily sad like I might with a song or movie, probably because with a book you know you’ll be dealing with it for days, or even weeks. Therefore, whenever I do come across a read that is overwhelmingly sad, it can actually result in it being tricky to want to pick up, and you almost have to force yourself to read it. This was sort of my overall journey with this series. It’s a saga of love, family and friends, but it’s also about how all of that is torn apart by the ravages of war. Ultimately, it can only somewhat be patch-worked back together at the end.
The End is Near
Time has been such an important part of this entire series from the get-go. In the first two books our characters constantly wondered how much time was left in this terrible war: weeks, months, years, or was this their new normal? We as the reader always knew there were years of arduous occupation and turmoil still to come. This third book sort of presents us with the opposite. The bulk of the story takes place in the autumn of 1944, and with every turn of the page I kept whispering under my breath, “Just a few more months, don’t give up now. You can make it!” Some do…and some don’t. And cue the tears. This series then transports us to the end of the war and we see where our characters have ended up following the conclusion of the events form the past six years. We even come full circle back to how the series kicked off, with some of our characters standing on the docks of Guernsey together, which is where they first said goodbye all the way back at the start of book one.
While I could appreciate the poetic beauty of having the series come completely full circle, unfortunately I can’t say I was thrilled with how everything else came together at the end. It’s a bit hard to describe without giving away too many spoilers, but essentially what some of our characters spent the last 2-3 books convincing us of was completely flipped on its head in the last half or so of this final novel. Some may argue that the characters were just trying to convince themselves all this time that something wasn’t true, but it honestly didn’t really feel that way when were in the thick of the story. I guess I couldn’t help but feel that after all of this forward momentum, some of our lead characters ultimately ended up back where they started, and it was such a quick and almost jarring 180 degree turn of events that I wasn’t 100% convinced they ended up where they belonged. Or perhaps they did, but we simply didn’t get enough description to justify this turn.
*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*
Series: The Promises Between Us, book 3. This was the final book in the series.
Final Impressions: This was an interesting and unique saga, but consider yourself warned that it is an emotionally devastating read. Reading book one will put you on the path where you need to see the series through to the end. You’ll fall in love with and subsequently mourn a slew of characters along the way. Ultimately I can’t say I was pleased with how the series all came together by the end, but it was certainly a journey to get there which will keep you guessing and crying from start to finish.
Smut Level: Any sexually suggestive scenes all fade to black.
Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. 191 Pages.
Romance Novels for the Beach 