The Taster by V.S. Alexander – 323 pages
Book Blurb:
In early 1943, Magda Ritter’s parents send her to relatives in Bavaria, hoping to keep her safe from the Allied bombs strafing Berlin. Young German women are expected to do their duty–working for the Reich or marrying to produce strong, healthy children. After an interview with the civil service, Magda is assigned to the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat. Only after weeks of training does she learn her assignment: she will be one of several young women tasting the Fuhrer’s food, offering herself in sacrifice to keep him from being poisoned. Perched high in the Bavarian Alps, the Berghof seems worlds away from the realities of battle. Though terrified at first, Magda gradually becomes used to her dangerous occupation–though she knows better than to voice her misgivings about the war. But her love for a conspirator within the SS, and her growing awareness of the Reich’s atrocities, draw Magda into a plot that will test her wits and loyalty in a quest for safety, freedom, and ultimately, vengeance.
My Review: 3.5 stars
The Taster is the the story of a young German woman who is recruited to become a “taster” during WWII. What is taster? It’s someone who must taste all the food given to Hitler before he eats it himself to ensure it is not poisoned. This gave the reader a good look behind enemy lines. Many WWII novels focus on Germans who were in support of the Reich, or the minorities who were affected by the Nazi regime. This book is told from a different perspective. Magda, the main protagonist, is in this position as a means of survival, not because she supports the Reich. That being said, she’s not necessarily against the Reich and Hitler, she just wants her life to go back to how it was before Germany became a war torn country.
The plot itself is engaging and I liked Magda as a character, however I don’t think the book lives up to its potential. The writing itself is somewhat distant, with a lot of long-winded descriptions that tell instead of show. There also aren’t a lot of surprises or suspenseful events that take place. It’s a pretty linear story with no twists that aren’t quickly resolved. I often had to suspend my belief with some of the events that occurred. It seemed that everything that could possibly happen to Magda, did happen to Magda. Almost as if the author couldn’t decide which plot points she wanted to incorporate, so she just incorporated them all. The ending was hard to wrap my head around because it was almost too much. I still gave this book 3.5 stars because I did learn a lot about the inner-workings of the Reich and still became engaged in the novel.
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