Shadow of the West

Shadow of the West: A Story of Divided Berlin by Sarah Brotherhood Chapman is a heartfelt and unique coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of Cold War-era Berlin. The novel weaves together the stories of Kate, a new student at Berlin American High School in West Berlin, and siblings Michael and Anika, who are living on the other side of the Berlin Wall in East Berlin.

Chapman's personal experience as the daughter of a diplomat and a teenager in West Berlin shines through in her writing, creating an authentic and immersive world. The romance between Kate and her love interest is appropriately complicated and adds an emotional depth to the story.

However, I do wish that there were more direct comparisons between life in East and West Berlin, such as the living conditions in Kate and Anika's respective homes. Additionally, while the villainous characters added necessary conflict to the plot, they were almost cartoonish in their level of villainy.

Overall, Shadow of the West is a well-crafted and engaging story with relatable characters and an important message about the power of love and courage. It is a great choice for both young and adult readers.
3.9/5 rounded up to 4.

This is a tough yet incredible read. The author did an amazing job of making you feel all the emotions of the characters. At times I had to put the book down because I was scared. In fact, I went to the end of the book to see what happened before I could go further. It seemed like parts of this book were an autobiography because they felt so real. The scenes in East Berlin made me hyper aware and worried. The fact that Brittney Briner (in 2022) was detained in Russia brought home the reality that your rights in other countries is determined by the rules of that country. It can be very scary.
But please don’t let that stop you from reading this book. I would give it 10 stars if I could. I have talked to so many people about this book and can’t stop thinking about it. It is a teen book and is written that way. It is powerful and wonderful.
Kudos to the author. Thank you for writing this book.
Enjoy!

Shadow of the West: A Story by Divided Berlin by Sarah Brotherhood Chapman is set in Berlin during the cold war when it was divided by a wall. The one part of this book follows Kate, a diplomat's daughter, in West Berlin through her cross-country running career as part of school, her friendship with Amy and her love for Will. At the same time, we learn about life in the East through Michael and Anika, who live a hard life that only worsens when Anika gets raped and is expected to give birth to a child she will have to give up. When Kate and her friends from the West meet Michael and Anika in the East, we are faced with a story of love, bravery and fear as we are informed of the many dark secrets.

I absolutely loved this book which is a great read for young adults. The Berlin wall is a part of history which, in my opinion, is being forgotten but this book both educates and entertains the reader by providing the history of the wall during the cold war and life on the two sides whilst following the dramatic stories of the characters. This book is made even more interesting having read that the author herself was a diplomat's daughter who spent time in Berlin. The fact that this book was based on a true story further makes it incredible. This book is also incredibly gripping, particularly at the end, and has really kept me up late at night taking me on an emotional rollercoaster.

I have recently started learning German and at the time of writing, I am celebrating my streak of 50 days of learning German. I loved this book also because although it is written in English, there are the occasional German phrases and I found great joy in being able to read, understand, translate and comprehend German. However, although my basic German skills did come in handy, there were some phrases which required the use of my Kindle's translating ability and so this may make a challenging read for someone who does not speak or understand German and does not have access to a translator.

There is only one thing I can criticise in this book, and this is an extremely petty thing to criticise as other than this it is an incredible book. At one stage in the book Chapman writes "the kneipe with the best wurst and beer in all of Deutschland". Kneipe is German for Bar, Wurst is German for Sausage and Deutschland is German for Germany. However, Beer is just written in English rather than the German Bier. Therefore, in this sentence, the use of German is rather inconsistent which is a bit of a shame, but nevertheless, not a major criticism if a criticism at all!

Altogether, I must rate this book 5 stars as it is outstanding and likely one of the best books I have read all year. It is incredibly gripping and exciting, it has kept me up late at night, it has had me on the edge of my seat and it has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster. I cannot recommend this book enough for any reader and anyone who loves history as this is a unique method of educating individuals about history through fiction. I would very much look forward to a follow-up book to this to see how Katie is getting on and look forward to Chapman's further publications in the future. I would like to say a massive thank you to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in return for an honest book review.