Good first novel. Sucks you in from the start, as you warm to the main character immediately.
There is some doubt as to who is/are the bad guy/guys, but ultimately for me it was an easy choice.
I hope there will be a "book 2"
This story casts Astrid, a budding actress, suddenly exposed to the atrocities of a horrific war and follows her journey for revenge. On the other side, Brigit Malaya is on her own path to navigate through a male dominated army to a senior position against the odds and to stop Astrid. Both women show the morality depths that humans perhaps are willing to justify in the name of war and their own individual causes.
Two women find themselves on opposite sides of a brutal war. Astrid was a confident young budding film actress, but her world gets ripped apart by a bomb attack. She enrols in her army in a senior position and becomes an undercover assassin. Malaya is an enemy officer who has to endure wicked, demoralizing tests to prove she’s as good as any man in her army to achieve her promotion to general. Both women are aware of each other, their bond is beyond enemies. I love the story building of each character, feeling their pain and determination to win. I can feel the chemical reaction between them and their desire for each other.
'Astrid book1: War changes people' will be exhibited at the London Book Fair 18-20th April 2023