Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

When one speaks of Nazism, one generally speaks of the impact on the victims: Jews, citizens of occupied countries, etc., never, or very rarely, does one speak of the impact of Nazism on the German people. This in a way is understandable, since Hitler did not come to power by a coup d'état, but by the broad will of the people, and therefore one tends to think that those who brought it on themselves cannot be victims. In fact, titles such as 'Hitler's Willing Executioners' and 'Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil' give a fairly good account of the attitude of the German people, indoctrinated by the regime to the point of no longer distinguishing good from evil. Moreover, the current, growing popularity of populist political movements makes one realise how easily the will of the people can lead to the bottom of the abyss. From this point of view, 'The Vanishing Sky', about the unravelling of a middle-class German family in the final days of the Second World War, is particularly important in its calm yet stark description of the fate of each of its members as the dreaded Americans approach. In addition to what I consider to be an important historical and documentary value, this is a very well-written book in terms of its descriptions and psychological insight into the characters.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing, and the author L. Annette Binder.
I am always interested to read WW2 historical fiction, and I am enjoying the recent increase in novels focused on the story from the German point of view.
'The Vanishing Sky' is an emotional story told from the perspectives of a Mother, Father, and their two sons as they deal with the fallout of the end of the war, and from decisions made by a few powerful men in cities far away from their beliefs and how they live their ordinary lives. It is heartbreaking in the way it focuses on the overwhelming futility of the whole war, and the sheer volume of loss on both sides. "They've wrecked the world, these men, and still they're not done. They'd take the sky if they could."
Beautifully written, but a little slow at times. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I found this book to be profoundly moving. It is a story about loss. War has terrible consequences. The author made a difficult choice by asking us to universally sympathize with loss, no matter which side of a conflict we were on. A son is a son, and a mother is a mother, and a wife is a wife; the universal language is love, and war destroys all.

This was quite a depressing, but I suspect accurate tale of life in Germany towards the end of the war. Bombing, little food and emotionally and physically damaged individuals. A searing and honest description of life during this period.

A really interesting story about a German family towards the end of World War 2. A fascinating read which seems raw and honest.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a heartbreaking story of how war affects ordinary lives and its effects on all members of a German family in 1945.

Etta is the mother of the family, increasingly left alone to deal with her husband's ill-health, her elder son's trauma after being discharged from the war, and missing her younger son who is lost between the Hitler Youth, an escape and the aftermath of heavy bombing.

The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, and the story shows the huge scale of the tragedy of the Second World War brought down to the impact on each individual. There are so many touching details and so many individual stories across the book, you can't failed to be moved by the sadness of it all.

Sobering account of a German family in 1945, torn apart by the War. Ella, the mum is trying to hold what remains of her family together. Her husband, a once respected ex-teacher is suffering from dementia. Her eldest son Max has been away at war and newly returns, a changed and damaged man; and her youngest teenage son is living at a Hitler youth camp in another part of Germany. It’s the story of a woman trying to find a new normality in the aftermath of German firestorms, defeat and trauma, and damage to her family.

Both of the sons’ stories are harrowing and the firestorms which occurred in Germany are described in horrifying detail, the ages of the only Germans left in the country to defend their cities, shocking; 11 year olds through to the elderly. Although a ‘trendy’ genre at the moment (I think it took a while for publishers to acknowledge we could consider and mourn for the ‘other side’s’ trauma), this book is powerful and moving, well written but also stark and desolate. A superb read.