Maxine (Booklover Catlady)'s Reviews > About People

Well, this was something very different from what I’ve read lately and I really liked it a lot. It is set in Germany during the COVID pandemic and has an awesome bunch of very interesting and unusual characters who make this book so brilliant. It’s not easy to have all characters be very distinctive from each other, it’s achieved here.

This is my first time reading anything from Germanys number one Author but definitely not the last. Dora and her dog are desperate to escape the city life of Berlin and especially her annoying vocal boyfriend and his rants on the pandemic and everything else under the sun. She escapes to a very small country town called Bracken where she has bought an old house on a big block of land.

Pretty quickly we meet key characters, firstly her next door neighbour who announces himself as the village Nazi. Not what you expect at all. Dora takes this in her stride and over time a fascinating dynamic occurs between the two. I can’t mention much about that as it will ruin the entire book but nothing is as it seems. Other characters quickly enter her world and I actually loved every single one of them. Juli knows how to bring characters to life and has created a book that challenges stereotypes.

The book is full with so much from opposing views on many issues, biases, judgements, misconceptions and more. It’s absolutely fascinating. Ultimately though this is about people, kindness, acceptance and friendship. It’s a story and a half. I’m struggling to say much more as it’s one of those that you don’t want to give a lot away on. I felt much emotion reading it from laughter to sadness. The ending broke my heart. Very powerful.

Dora works as an advertising copywriter and ends up of course working from home due to the pandemic. The Author very cleverly incorporates brilliant concepts and ideas that come from Dora’s imagination but they also relate to events going on. I had a lot of genuine smiles reading it. I loved many characters especially a young girl who worms her way into Dora’s world and heart (and her dog is mad for this child too). Her story is very powerful and moving. Even the dog is a huge character!

The reveal! Oh my God, I was stunned and cannot express how clever this writer is. You won’t see it coming and it changes so much, the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place.This is very much a book about why we should never assume, never judge a book by its cover and the power of always having an open mind. The book is filled with so much good stuff. Absolutely hooked me in and I couldn’t put it down.

I really do not understand the reviews that describe this book in a really negative light, to be honest I think the point has been missed.So don’t let those put you off please. This is a book about human nature and what we value most in life. I highly recommend this. My review has not done it justice as I don’t want to throw in any spoilers. 4 solid stars. If you are wanting something different to read this will do the job nicely. Very clever penmanship and I can see why Juli is a bestselling German writer. I am eager to read more from her immediately.
Sadly though this is her only book so far translated into English.

Thanks to World Editions for my ARC via NetGalley.