I’ve been excited about this book since I found it back in the winter. This book is about a team of mismatch individuals who are given the task to write a Nazi propaganda bomb that will sway the people of Belgium. While “pretending” to write the paper, the team actually writes a fake edition of the paper poking fun at the Nazi. I was surprised to find out that this is based on a true story, though the author twists it in her own way. It was a phenomenal book, easy read (once you got into the groove of who the players were). It was remarkable that the paper, from start to finish, only took place in 21 days! Through all the twists and turns and everything going wrong for all the right reasons, this book sheds light on a little known event during WWII. I will highly recommend this book for anyone looking for an amazing story, human interaction and a believe that things will always turnout the right way. ( )

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Brussels, 1943. Twelve-year-old street orphan Helene survives by living as a boy and selling copies of the country’s most popular newspaper, Le Soir, now turned into Nazi propaganda. Helene’s entire world changes when she befriends a rogue journalist, Marc Aubrion, who draws her into a secret network publishing dissident underground newspapers.

Aubrion’s unbridled creativity and linguistic genius attract the attention of August Wolff, a high-ranking Nazi official tasked with swaying public opinion against the Allies. Wolff captures Aubrion and his comrades and gives them an impossible choice: use the newspaper to paint the Allies as monsters, or be killed. Faced with no decision at all, Aubrion has a brilliant idea: they will pretend to do the Nazis’ bidding, but instead they will publish a fake edition of Le Soir that pokes fun at Hitler and Stalin—giving power back to the Belgians by daring to laugh in the face of their oppressors.

The ventriloquists have agreed to die for a joke, and they have only eighteen days to tell it.

Told with dazzling scope, taut prose and devastating emotion, The Ventriloquists illuminates the extraordinary acts of courage by ordinary people forgotten by history—unlikely heroes who went to extreme lengths to orchestrate the most stunning feat of journalism in modern history.

This was a great concept with poor execution. The book is far longer than necessary, some basic history facts are incorrect (America in WWII), and the chapters are short with strange point of view choices. All of these issues would have been easily solved by a decent editor. ( )

Enjoyed reading this novel. It took me longer to read than I wanted but I very much would read it again. ( )

In 1943 Brussels, the Nazis have taken over. Helene is 12 years old. She's an orphan who survives by disguising herself as boy. She sells newspapers. Her life changes when she is drawn into a secret underground network that publishes dissident anti-nazi news. When a high-ranking Nazi officer discovers the group, he demands that they print pro-Nazi propaganda or face death. The group decides to pretend to comply, while actually publishing satire against the Nazi occupation.

While I enjoyed the characters, the history and the premise of people willing to risk their lives to fool the Nazis and resist occupation....this book was a difficult read for me. I just couldn't seem to connect with the story. I'm not sure what caused the disconnect though. The book is well written. The characters are complex. The plot is good. I just....didn't really like this book. I think it's just a case of not every story is for every reader. I enjoy WWII history, both non-fiction and historical fiction. I just didn't get sucked into this story. I read every word.....but it just wasn't a story for me.

I would definitely read more by this author. And I might pick this book up again in the future and see if I like it better after a second read.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Harlequin via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

The Ventriloquists is one of those books I'll find myself pushing on people. It reads well and wrestles with difficult, worthwhile ideas. The novel is based on historical fact: a group of resistance members in Nazi-occupied Belgium are being forced to produced a special issue of a newspaper that will serve as propaganda. Instead, they launch a crazy plot to produce a paper satirizing the Nazi occupation—knowing that taking on this project will probably result in their deaths. The cast of characters is varied (though they're all satisfyingly brilliant in their different ways), the dialogue reads as genuine, and the twists in the plot build up into a crazy sort of "Resistance Air Castle." Having read this book, I want to read more about the history it's based on. The author provides clear notes at the end about the extent to which characters and events in the novel are based on real life. Her additions may vary somewhat from history, but they make for great reading. ( )