Amazing how one person and one thing can affect many others, and if you are in the right place at the wrong time, that does the trick too. I felt as if I were in wartime America and Japan, and the way it all came together was wonderful. Heart wrenching and well written. ( )

En esta novela épica, evocadora y emocionante, la joven Yoshi Kobayashi, de quince años de edad, se dirige hacia su casa una noche de marzo de 1945 cuando los bombarderos norteamericanos inundan con napalm la ciudad de Tokio, en un ataque que deja cien mil muertos en pocas horas y media ciudad en ruinas y sepultada bajo las cenizas.
En los días siguientes, Yoshi verá que su antigua vida se difumina de tal modo que le resulta irreconocible, y se sumirá en un mundo marcado por la destrucción que deberá compartir con aquellos que se consideran enemigos: Cam, un piloto de un bombardero derribado tomado prisionero por el ejército de Japón, Anton, un arquitecto de talento que ayudó a la modernización de Tokio antes de la guerra -aunque ahora está acusado de destruirla- y Billy, un soldado de las fuerzas de ocupación que llega a la ciudad con un oscuro secreto.

It took a while for this book to get my attention, but as I did not know anything about the WWII fire bombing of Japanese cities I decided to stick with it. I had heard the horror stories about Dresden but had no idea that not had the US Army done the same in Japan but on a considerably larger scale (dozens of cities) with immense loss of civilian lives, but all dwarfed by the nuclear bombs.

And the one scary note that suggests that this fire bombing was not done out of necessity (US needs to end the war) but that it was done to show how important the air force was to the US war effort is rather chilling. ( )

I have not read much historical fiction set during WWII. Not sure if I have shied away due to a lack of interest in the era, or for some other reason. I'm happy to say that Jennifer's book has opened my eyes to the possibility of great historical novels set during the time period.

This book did a great job of making me care about its characters and there lies its strength. Each character is well written and I found myself completely immersed in their stories, almost like I was there.

The historical and technical aspects of the book are well researched and phenomenal. The part of the book following Cam and his experiences in the fighter plane were so vivid and exciting, I found myself holding my breath...waiting to read the outcome. Completely edge of seat!

I really enjoyed Jennifer's writing and will definitely be checking out her previous novel, The Painter from Shanghai. I will also look forward to her future works. If you're looking for a great book set during WWII, I highly recommend The Gods of Heavenly Punishment. ( )

The story is set during the years 1935-1962 and follows characters that are connected to each other.We meet a Czech architect and his son who will be a photographer, a Japanese architect and his wife and daughter, and American pilot who joins the war and leaves his newly married wife in America.

The book shows both sides in the war between US and Japan. I have never read a book about the war from Japanese point of view so that was interesting. We get a clear view how Japan changed from what it was before the war and what happened there.

At first it felt like there was lot of POV’s but it became fascinating to learn how all these people were connected to each other in some time in their lives. I especially enjoyed seeing Cam being a pilot during the bombings and how he felt about what was going to happen.

Often the chapters would jump years ahead but thankfully it was told in the beginning of new chapter that where we were and in what year. While it didn’t confuse me much, that would be my only complaint I have about the book. Sometimes there would be years between I wanted to know what happened during those years to some of the characters.

This was a great and emotional book and I’m so glad I read it. I’m looking forward reading more from this author! ( )