The Pact: The Blood Sisters Book One by Roberta Kagan

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

Austria 1929

When three little girls—Anna, Bernie, and Elica—make a pact to be blood sisters for life, they believe nothing can come between them.

Anna is from an affluent Jewish family, while Bernie and Elica are from poor Austrian families who barely make ends meet. As they get older, their social differences become all too real.

With infectious Jew-hate-laden rhetoric from Nazi Germany spreading into Austria, it is only a matter of time before their bond of friendship gets severely tested.

my thoughts:

I love coming-of-age stories, especially when it revolves around friendships. The Pact by Roberta Kagan is the first in her new series, The Blood Sisters. And, it is terrific!

It's 1929 in Austria. Anna, Bernie, and Elica are little girls who decide to make a blood oath - a pact - to always help each other out. The three girls are all different - religion, social standing, and economically. And yet, they manage to form a friendship that blossoms and grows as they get older. A fourth girl named Dagna bullies her way into the group. As the girls get older, their differences begin to stand out more and more. Especially with the growing hate rhetoric towards Jewish people. Life is becoming dangerous and scary. Soon, it is 1940 and these young ladies are starting to realize what their 'pact' really means and how it can affect them in big ways they had never foreseen. 

Kagan has written a fantastic story about friendship, sisterhood, and what it means to grow up. She includes historical elements, events, and descriptions to help build the tension and the backdrop for the story. The characters she's created are relatable, flawed, and unlikeable at times. And, the story itself is riveting. I found myself stuck in straightaway and eager to find out what would happen to these girls as the world around them began to change in unimaginable ways. What a great book!

I would happily recommend The Pact by Robert Kagan to fans of Kagan and to anyone looking for their next great read. I know I can't wait to read the next book in the series. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

The Pact

Just finished reading this Picoult book and am not sure how I really feel about it. The Pact is called a love story, and centers on two teenagers, Emily and Chris. Both children and their families have been friends with each other for about 18 years (since the Golds (Emily's family) moved in next door to the Hartes(Chris' family) ). Each family has watched this young couple grow into each other and become completely attached to one another in a way that expands beyond young love. However, both families are devastated by a phone call they each receive in the middle of the night concerning their children. Once at the hospital, the Golds find out that their daughter Emily is dead and the Harte's find their son to be the remaining survivor of a suicide pact. Soon we are thrust into the middle of an investigation into the murder of Emily Gold and the trial of Chris Harte. Along the way we flash back to moments from the past that show us the types of people that Chris and Emily have grown up to be and the ways in which their undying love towards one another has affected their lives. The parents of both children are at a loss to comprehend how this idea of suicide could even have been entertained by their children. Clinging to the past and what they believe to be true, both sets of parents attempt to deal with the grief of their losses (Emily, friendship, family, marriage, etc.) in their own ways. In the end we find out that Emily was sexually abused as a child and that her feelings towards Chris were love, but more like sister/brother love. She did not want to marry Chris and be with him in such an intimate way any longer and longed for freedom. However, upon finding out she is pregnant she decides that the only way to handle the situation is to commit suicide (so that she can escape from her unhappy life). Emily gets Chris to agree to borrow one of his father's guns and to be there with her when she ends her life - Chris agrees to do as Emily wishes, in the hopes of stopping her from killing herself. In the end Chris realizes that Emily's pain is too much for her to bear and so he decides that he will help her by pulling the trigger, yet he cannot bring himself to do it and so Emily presses her fingers atop of Chris' and the gun goes off and she dies, while he faints away. Chris is found not guilty and is released from prison. The Gold's move away and the Harte's remain a family. Emily of course remains in Chris' heart. The End. Okay, so it sounds like an interesting read, but for some reason I just can't place it as a good read. The Pact is filled with serious issues that are heartbreaking to read about and Picoult does a fine job addressing them. The writing is simple and the plot engrossing. However, I'm feeling mixed about this book - part of me likes it, but another part of me can't quite grasp what about it I liked. Oh well, I'll chalk it up to another book off of my TBR list and get on with my reading.
For a lighter read I am now about 1/4 way through Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella and I'll be picking up Sense and Sensibility afterward. Must get on with those challenges. Until the next post - Happy Reading!!