Blog Tour Review: The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman

Hey everyone!
Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman, and I am excited to be sharing my review with you all.

A massive thank you to @The_WriteReads for allowing me to be a part of the tour.

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Book Blurb:

Samuel Val is blessed with a loving family and a tight-knit community in his Jewish village of Khruvina. He dreams of becoming Khruvina’s Rabbi, but his dreams are crushed when his family is slaughtered by Nazi Officer Viktor Naden, the Beast of Belorussia.

With Samuel left as Khruvina’s only survivor, he joins the anti-Nazi resistance group known as the Black Foxes. Determined to avenge his family, he swears to hunt down and destroy Viktor Naden. Samuel’s mission of vengeance, however, is put on hold when he is forced to escort a Jewish refugee to a safehouse operated by Black Fox Ten, a high-ranked member of the resistance.

While on his mission to save a life, Samuel discovers that the Beast of Belorussia might be closer than he thought. All at once, Samuel is given the chance to destroy Viktor Naden…but the cost will be high.

Will Samuel sell his soul for vengeance?

Award-winning author Elyse Hoffman offers a heart-breaking and thought-provoking WW2 story.

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My Review:

The Vengeance of Samuel Val begins in the most heartbreaking of ways. Samuel’s experience as a child of hearing his family, friends, and entire community burn at the hands of the Nazi’s (specifically the officer in command, Victor Naden, the Beast of Belorussia) is absolutely devastating, and was enough to bring you to tears. The worst part is that it was a regular occurrence for Jewish communities during WWII.

The story then moves on to Samuel being a little older, the sole survivor of the horrors in Khruvina, he has now joined the anit-Nazi resistance group, the Black Foxes. Through his work with the Black Foxes, he is determined to find and destroy Naden. This is where Samuel’s story overlaps with the story of Amos and Franz, characters previous introduced to us in Fracture (REVIEW HERE). Samuel is tasked with getting Amos to safety.

There are lots of discussions on opposing views, acceptance of others, and much more throughout this story, and when Samuel’s task leads him straight to Naden, Samuel is struck with a moral dilemma, and quickly has to decide what sort of person he wants to be.

The final lines of the book set you up perfectly for the next book in the series, and I can not wait to see how things play out from here. Despite only being just over 100 pages, this book really packs a punch, but I never expected anything different.

Elyse Hoffman has such a unique approach to WWII historical fiction, but that’s what I love most about her books. She doesn’t flinch or shy away from the reality and horrors of that time, instead she shows them in all of their unforgivable ways. However, she also opts for some quite controversial storylines, and it certainly makes her books stand out.

I think that Elyse is massively underrated. I love her writing style, and her books are fantastic. She’s definitely one of my favourite historical fiction authors, and I can not wait to see what her next book has in store for us.

I give The Vengeance if Samuel Val a 5 star rating!

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About The Author:

YOU CAN FIND ELYSE HERE:
Website, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads

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