Book Review: Tamar

I downloaded Tamar by Mal Peet for my Kindle when it was the daily deal a while ago, and finished it while we were in Winnipeg. It is apparently a YA (young adult) novel but I wouldn't have classified it as such if it weren't for the forced/awkward romance between two of the characters. I rather liked this book (minus the previously mention romance)-but since I am on the lazy side I am not writing a full review. Sorry. I promise I will get back to proper reviews....at some point.

"A thrilling and moving story about love, betrayal and belonging. When Tamar's grandfather, an intensely private man, falls from a balcony to his death, he leaves behind a box with Tamar's name on it. For a long time Tamar refuses even to think about it...until one hot June day she opens it to reveal a series of clues and hidden messages from her grandfather. She and her cousin Johannes follow the clues and discover that her name also belonged to someone else over half a century before; someone involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland during the Second World War. As she pieces together the mystery her grandfather left behind, another Tamar's story is unravelled; a story of passionate love, jealousy and tragedy played out amongst the daily fear and horror of war.;By the author of "Keeper", winner of the 2004 Branford-Boase award.;Written with such detailed historical and emotional sweep, this novel will stay with you long after you've turned the last page and is bound to attract child and adult readership." Taken from here.

I find anything most perspectives on the Holocaust fascinating and Tamar was no exception, I liked how the book went back and forth between the granddaughter's perspective and back to her grandfather's experience during the war. I was not expecting the book to end the way it did, but thought Peet did an excellent job!