Reviews by Category: Historical Fiction

Alex & Eliza, by Melissa de la Cruz, tells the story of Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler’s
romance. Set in the late eighteenth century, Eliza is the daughter of a high standing family that
has lost most of their money. She meets Alexander, a poor young soldier from the West Indies,
at her family’s ball. The two immediately disagree and separate as enemies. As one of three
oldest daughters, it is Eliza’s duty to bring her family back to its former legacy by marrying rich.

Sula is the child of a small town in Ohio, of a complicated family past, of racial inequality,
of motherhood, and of a burning desire to see the world for herself. Years after an abrupt
disappearance from her childhood hometown, Sula returns and meets her former best friend -
Nel. Their lives have been so different since their separation, yet they meet once again and
immediately reconnect. However, their vastly different lives will lead to unique consequences for

The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, is a creative imagining of the Civil
War. Whitehead takes the concept of the Underground Railroad, which is ironically visualized as
a real railroad that runs under America. The novel follows a young slave, Cora, after her
mother’s escape from their plantation. After years of torment and abuse, Cora and a new slave,
Caesar, escape the plantation and make their way North by underground trains. Throughout her

Liesel Meminger’s life changes after her brother dies and she moves in with a foster family.
This book covers her adventures with her best friend, her struggles and a secret she had to
keep. From the point of view of the narrator Death, Liesel experiences Germany during World
War II and steals books to read thus becoming “The Book Thief”.

Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a touchingly
bittersweet novel about young, forbidden love in the 1950s. Lily Hu is a
Chinese American teenager living in San Francisco in the midst of the Red-
Scare panic of 1954. One day, she starts talking with her classmate, Kath
Miller, and feels a spark of true connection between them. Their
relationship starts to blossom through the course of the novel as they

The Blood of Flowers displays a young girl, unnamed and desperate for marriage
However, fate seemed to have other plans as her father injures himself and soon falls sick. Days
go by as the girl and her mother aid to her father’s sickness but it does not do well, as he falls
dead within the arms of his wife. Stricken by poverty and grief, the girl and her mother have no
choice but to reach out to her mother’s long lost brother, who was a rich carpet maker in the rich

Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare, loosely based on Scottish history. It follows
Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth on their trials of prophecy. The Macbeth’s deal with a
self-fulling prophesy of gaining and loosing power as foretold by the staple three witches.
Personally I believe that Macbeth is an important piece of literature. Its historical impacts and
influences made it an important piece of work at the time, and it still has reference to today. But

I’ve read Chloe Gong’s previous duology, but I wasn’t aware she was coming out with a new
book with the same setting and (roughly) same characters. After seeing multiple reviews of this
book on Goodreads and having it recommended to me by a friend, I was eager to read it.
There are spoilers for her original duology (These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends).

I have never heard about the story of Wilhelm Gustloff. I think that this story talks about a very
important event in history that we should all know about. And this book fantastically incorporated the
story of Wilhelm Gustloff in this historical fiction novel. The author shows you such diverse, different,
characters that are so unique and love able. The book describes the tragedies that happened in one of
many of the heartbreaking events that happened in World War 2. This book rotates between several