The Wartime Chocolate Maker – ARC Book Review

Poland, 1943. I inhale the rich caramel scent as I carefully tuck a folded slip of paper under the delicate chocolates. My heart races as the door opens, and I lock eyes with my childhood sweetheart. If he found one of the secret messages hidden in every box of my creations, my life and my family would be in terrible danger…

Working in her father’s chocolate factory, Kasia risks her life every day hiding notes vital to the Polish resistance in the carefully packaged boxes. The information tucked beneath the truffles is crucial to freeing her country and her family from the Nazis. But each of her recipes is sent out under the watchful eyes of her boss, Sebastian—the man who broke her heart.

She has never been able to reconcile the kind, sweet boy she once adored with the man now allied with the Germans. Yet the more time she spends around him, the more he seems to hint at sympathizing with the resistance. And the risk of revealing everything to him seems to shrink day by day.

Until one coded message hidden among the rich chocolate makes her fear for her mother and brother’s lives. And though she’s on the factory floor with a group of fellow resistance women, she can’t let on what she knows. Because her network has been betrayed.

As she searches the faces of those closest to her for any sign of guilt, her eyes meet Sebastian’s, full of care and concern. With time running out, Kasia wonders if she can trust him with this deadly secret? Or are the soldiers already on their way to arrest her?

This sweeping World War 2 historical novel will have you utterly gripped and on the edge of your seat. Fans of The Nightingale, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and Kelly Rimmer will love this completely addictive and emotional read.

I haven’t read a historical fiction in a while and so it was good to be reading historical fiction once again. The Wartime Chocolate Maker is a historical fiction, based during WWII the time when Germans were occupying Poland in 1943 and the work of the Polish resistance movement.

Kasia is half-German half Polish. When her father died, Kasia inherited his chocolate making factory. She has to work alongside Sebastien who was actually her father’s trusted aide and who harbors feelings towards Kasia. But Kasia is interested in Felek, who is involved in the Polish Resistance Movement and through him, Kasia gets involved in the resistance movement as well. The story is about Kasia”s romance with Felek and Felek’s sacrifice to resist against the German occupation in Poland.

This was a very moving story. I do like the small romance that brewed between Kasia and Felek in the story. And as someone in the reviews mentioned, there might be some inconsistencies with the actual account of what happened in real. For example, no one knew the existence of Auschwitz until the Soviets liberated the camp in January 1945 and so the prisoners mentioning about Auschwitz was a bit inaccurate. And even though Kasia maybe half German, I read that even Polish people struggled to live comfortably during the Nazi occupation in Poland. The title of the book is Chocolate Maker and I thought I missed some point about Chocolate in the story. I am not sure if this was based on a real life account or maybe fictional although I would have more enjoyed the book if this was based on a true story.

This was a great historical read and the writing was great but could have done some more research so would have made the whole story realistic. Overall 4 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.