If I Were You by Lynn Austin Review

 Hello Friends :)

Back in July, I had done a Christmas in July themed week on my blog that was a lot of fun.

If you remember, the last book review I shared as part of Christmas in July was The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin, and you can find that review here.

I didn't realize when I first picked it up, that it was actually a companion novel to her earlier release, If I Were You.

I ended up going back and reading that one before I finished Wish Book Christmas, and it seemed fitting to review it all for you today.

If I Were You by Lynn Austin:

Source: Libby App

Publisher: Tyndale House

Publication Date: June 2nd, 2020

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

From bestselling and eight-time Christy Award-winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve's secrets--and the complicated history of their friendship--to the surface.

1940. Eve and Audrey have been as different as two friends can be since the day they met at Wellingford Hall, where Eve's mother served as a lady's maid for Audrey's mother. As young women, those differences become a polarizing force . . . until a greater threat--Nazi invasion--reunites them. With London facing relentless bombardment, Audrey and Eve join the fight as ambulance drivers, battling constant danger together. An American stationed in England brings dreams of a brighter future for Audrey, and the collapse of the class system gives Eve hope for a future with Audrey's brother. But in the wake of devastating loss, both women must make life-altering decisions that will set in motion a web of lies and push them both to the breaking point long after the last bomb has fallen.

This sweeping story transports readers to one of the most challenging eras of history to explore the deep, abiding power of faith and friendship to overcome more than we ever thought possible.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I've been hearing great things about Lynn Austin's books for quite sometime, and yet this is actually the first one I've ever read. I ended up requesting her Christmas release The Wish Book Christmas from NetGalley, not realizing it was a companion novel to this story at the time. When I realized this, I decided to go back and read this one first, and wow am I glad I did! I read a lot of World War Two fiction, as it's one of my favorite time periods for historical fiction, and yet this book was truly unlike anything I've read before.

Told in both Eve and Audrey's viewpoints through several different years, If I Were You is a poignant, heart wrenching story that causes that reader to ask themselves what they would have done in situations that seem black and white from the outside looking in, but maybe wouldn't be so if you were the one experiencing it. Follow along on these two lady's journey, who had vastly different upbringings, and are facing the aftermath of one of the most horrific times in the world's history with drastically different opportunities.

It took me quite a while to sympathize with either Audrey or Eve, but they both managed to win me over by the end of the story, and I loved Henry and Bobby and their childlike innocence's. This book doesn't sugarcoat the grim realities of World War Two, and it felt both authentic and realistic throughout the entire story. I know a lot of people weren't a fan of the ending, but I personally loved it. I especially appreciated the faith connection, and the way everything it tied together with the story of the Good Shepherd. 

The only thing that kept this from being a five star read for me is that it took me a long time to warm up to the character's, and I struggled to want to read about their selfish decisions for quite awhile during the story.

Overall, I loved it, and it's companion novel The Wish Book Christmas. I highly recommend picking up both, and I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author in the future.

Final Rating: 4/5.

Thanks for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.