The Sound of Munich

Students Across the Seven Seas

by Suzanne Nelson

Siena Bernstein is leaving her yoga mat behind for a semester of study abroad in Munich. She’s thrilled with the prospect of a German adventure (her horoscope is encouraging as well), but she hopes to make more than just her dreams come true while she’s there. Siena’s dad, who passed away when she was a baby, kept a "Carpe Diem" list—sort of his top-ten adventurous things to do. He completed all but one of the tasks—going to Germany to thank the man who helped smuggle his family past the Berlin Wall. Amidst her adventures in biergartens, Alpine skiing, and a rigorous course load, Siena is on a quest to complete her father’s list. But she’s also set on having the best possible time while she tries. With the help of two new best buds and a handsome RA in her dorm, she’ll surely succeed.

Genres: Young Adult, Travel, Romance, Fiction, Germany, Chick Lit, Contemporary

211 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2006

About the author

When she was in kindergarten, Suzanne Nelson jotted down in a school keepsake album that she wanted to be a “riter.” Though she clearly had issues with spelling, she persisted, composing cryptic poems about rainbows, fairies, mud, and even "Star Wars" in spiral notebooks all through elementary school. When she was seventeen, she filled four journals with her handwritten first novel, titled “The Dream Keeper.” To escape her chores, she often lied to her parents about what time her shift started at the local fast food joint so that she could spend an extra hour writing in the parking lot in her mom’s faded Buick. Her first published novel was The Sound of Munich, followed by Heart and Salsa, The Ghoul Next Door, Cake Pop Crush, and Dead in the Water. She is a shameless fan of “The Sound of Music,” Hershey’s kisses, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen, and can often be caught daydreaming of romping about gothic castles in lovely Victorian gowns. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in Southern California, attended college in Texas, and spent eight years as a children’s book editor in New York City. She now lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her family.

Reviews

[Prajakta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this so long ago but still remember it to be it was an amazing book. It's such a lovely break from the action packed fantasy or distopian books I read so often. Truly, a rom-com and "chick flick" in a book. Definitely worth a read.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I liked learning about Germany, but I wanted more from the romance. Also, why wouldn’t Siena turn in Briana for plagiarism? Was there no consequence for that??? It was hard to believe none of the teachers were able to figure out that Briana was cheating when her papers were taken literally word for word from textbooks. So yeah, the lack of comeuppance was really unsatisfying. My favorite moment was when Siena met Peter, the man who helped her grandparents and father escape Germany. It was a pretty powerful moment.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last Students Across the Seven Seas that my library has, so it's kind of bittersweet. I don't know when/how I'm gonna read the others. I wanted to read this before the end of the year.

Idk much about the Berlin Wall, ok more like next to nothing. I had no idea people were smuggled in cars and left East Berlin to head for the west, and then get passage to America.
I also didn't know much of Munich was leveled during World War II and some of it was rebuilt to look original, from hundreds of years ago.

I didn't like that when Briana said she could get VIP tickets to a club, Stefan's neck turned red and then when her and her friends were talking to him, he was laughing and looked like he enjoyed their attention.

It's so cool the Glockenspiel clock plays a royal Bavarian wedding, with a bride and groom at a table and dancers, or coopers. They were the first people dancing in the street after the Black Plague was over to let others know it was safe to come out.

The Residenz has art that the Nazis stole during World War Two. They cut them from their frames and hid them but were returned after the war
One room held things reportedly from the holy land, like bones of saints and two infants from when King Herod ordered all firstborn sons killed, hoping to kill Jesus.

Some of this was a little mature, like how preservatives mean condoms in German. And the maypole in historic times was a fertility symbol in rites of spring.

The buttergrog, German spices apple cider sounds good, and the ancient trade route, Romantic Road, sounded really cool.
I had no idea Augsburg was the center of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation.
I looked up pics as I read of different things mentioned, like Neuschwanstein Castle and Marienbrucke bridge with the view of the castle.
The Sound of Music tour sounds fun!

In the beginning, it seemed like Foster liked Siena, so I was disappointed he asked someone out like she's been pushing him to do.

Pairing Chen up with someone was corny. Everyone being in love and finding someone isn't realistic and you don't have to pair everyone off with someone.

Siena was different from other characters, into astrology, horoscopes, yoga, aromatherapy, feng shui, auras, positive energy, reincarnation.

To me, Siena had a lack of regard for Stefan's job in entertaining the idea of having a fling with him. To her it wouldn't be much risk, but for an RA to be seeing a student, it could cost him his job. Which she didn't seem to care about. Especially since Stefan said the job is paying for his classes at university.

The Wall cut off a lot of communication between east and west Germany.
Dachau was the first concentration camp in Germany during World War II. The sign at the entrance said ARBIT MACHT FREI, "work makes one free."

When Stefan comforts her at the Dachau crematorium, Briana comes out and sees them together and Stefan immediately pulls away and stands up. I didn't like that at all.

One character said they were in Martin Luther's country, home of the Lutheran church.
Fireworks off of Heidelberg Schloss sounds amazing; I looked up pictures of it. It's stunning.

When he kissed her, I was glad he had liked her the whole time but wanted an explanation about Briana. What was up with his behavior towards her?!

I liked hearing of Prince Friedrich the Fifth building the Elizabethan Gate for his Scottish wife, Elizabeth Stuart. They married even though her mother disapproved, and had 13 children.
It was said to be built overnight as a birthday surprise to her. There were creatures carved into it, and they say Friedrich promised Elizabeth one kiss for every creature she found on the gate.

It was a good lesson at the part where she was worrying what to wear to meet Peter, and realized she never cared what people thought of her clothing before, and wasn't gonna fake who she was when this was the time it was most important for her to be herself.

Some people escaped through a tunnel dug from the west at an old bakery to outhouses in the east.
Peter wore a Soviet uniform his wife sewed him to help him pass the border. In the car he used to smuggle them in, he modified the fuel tank to make it smaller so her family could fit under the hood, where they rode for four hours.

I didn't like how she gave Peter the original copy Anna gave her of the photo taken of her dad and grandparents with the statue of library in the background. At least make a copy! And then she didn't even get a picture of her and Peter together.

I liked how she wrote the date she met with Peter on her dad's Carpe Diem list.

This is what I don't like about these books: it's not really an HEA, & definitely not the forever kind of love.
'If she'd been able to stay in Germany longer than just another few weeks, he could've maybe been the start of something resembling a real, honest-to-goodness boyfriend. But that was one whopping if--an if she knew would never turn into a reality.'

'She wasn't a believer in long-distance things--they were way too restrictive to suit her style. It would never work. Plus, Stefan needed this job, and she didn't want to be the cause of his losing it, especially since she couldn't say for sure that they had any kind of real future.'

Briana seeing them kissing in his car outside the dorm was so annoying.
Stefan's amazement at finding out Briana had the hots for him, when Siena tells him, was eye-roll worthy. How could he not know?! But it was funny he said she's not his type and that she's "high-nuisance woman."

Siena realizing Briana was photocopying pages was too sudden.
Although I liked that it saved Stefan's job, I didn't like how they were going to keep quiet about Briana cheating, so she wouldn't tell on her and Stefan.

'If it was meant to happen, the greater powers at work in the universe would make sure that it did...someday. She knew better than to question timing. Who knew? Maybe in their next lives...For now, she was just glad she had a few great days with Stefan--no regrets. If that was all it ever came to, that would be enough.'
No it wouldn't!! How is that enough?!

Munich has a "feng shui" tour.
Bock auf means "go for it."
I've seen the Brandenburg Gate, but didn't know the name or that it was in Berlin; with the chariot on top.
Checkpoint Charlie was where western military forces and foreign tourists had to be checked out before going to East Berlin.
Tunnel 57 was where people escaped. 57 people made it to freedom.
The death strip was where the old electrically charger border fence ran,& the grassy area nearby was there 170 people were killed trying to escape. Border guards were ordered to shoot to kill. The longest part of the wall left is the East Side Gallery.
The Fruhlingsfest, or Spring Festival, for the May Day celebration sounds fun.

The May Queen contest, where girls are paired with professional folk dancers, and they have to keep spinning around the men while they jump, stomp and slap their feet sounded cute. Whichever girl lasted longest with her partner became May queen
It was a little corny that Siena beat everyone else in the contest.
And then the May Queen has to bestow a kiss on the victory climber, the first to climb a maypole.
And then corny when Stefan joined, and of course won, so she had to kiss him. Even though it was cute and I love stuff like that, and how he won so no one else would get a kiss from her.

The Old Spanish Days Fiesta in a Santa Barbara sounds fun.

It's sweet how Stefan made photo albums for every student of their time in Germany.
I couldn't believe her and Stefan couldn't find a private moment to say goodbye, so that all they had was him giving her the photo album, and a hug and saying "you know if I could've, we would have had more." I didn't know what exactly that meant, more memories, more time? And for her that was enough. Wth kind of ending is that?
I like that Stefan included a picture of himself, his phone number and address saying, 'so that when you come back to Germany next time, you'll still recognize me. I hope it won't be too long from now.'
She said she probably wouldn't make it to Germany anytime soon. This was killing me.
It was cute how it ended with her creating her own Carpe Diem list; Siena Bernstein's Carpe Diem List. It makes me wanna make my own!

How could you not squeeze in a goodbye later that night after the dinner or the next morning?!?
I thought it was weird how in the beginning she didn't tell her mom about her dad's Carpe Diem list. Or how her mom wouldn't know, when it was in the box of her dad's belongings. It was also an oversight not to include her telling her mom about the list and why she went to Germany and how she met the man that saved her family.
But her mom did seen absent and forgetful and I wondered if she'd even care. Her German heritage didn't seem important to her mom. But I would liked her reaction included.
And to see her reunited with her friends again. I swore that Foster liked Siena; I thought that was why he hadn't asked anyone out. Then when Foster said he wasn't telling who it was til she said yes, I thought for a wild second it was their friend Lizzie he liked. If they reunite at the end of the book, and he didn't like Siena, then idk what the point was about him having to ask someone out. It wasn't relevant to the story.

These books are so lacking on romance. I won't miss that about them. Although I do wish my library had the whole set. The romance took a while to lift off, managed to get airborne for a little while, and then stalled and had to return back to the airport. I don't like that these don't have HEA's as far as romance goes.
Im glad I'm done with the last one, but a little sad that it's the last one my library has. This stood out among the series, that's for sure. It was deeper and more meaningful than the rest. And an easy, quick read.
I like that there wasn't any/much drama. Just the little bits with Briana, and thankfully there wasn't much there.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know there's a new trend of Y2K nostalgia going around and how gen Z wanted to grow up in the early 2000's. Sure, we had some fun television and pop culture moments, but some fashion and cringey catchphrases don't need to be pulled out of the closet. This Students Across Seven Series is painfully early 2000's and it becomes more apparent the further I venture through the collection. I thought The Sound of Munich was my least favorite, but then I read Up Over Down Under last month. I spoke too soon. The Sound of Munich features a dumb teen who wins Germany as her prize in the foreign exchange program. I'm still a little blurry over the rage I felt from the Aussie book, but I remember this German heroine was just as frustrating. She was a hippy dippy California girl who didn't really read the room with eye-rolling catchphrases and a heavy emphasis on horoscopes. I personally don't buy into astrology and think they're vaguely worded enough to justify mean actions.



Despite my theme of disdaining these protagonists in this series, I always like learning about the different countries. I've learned about Japan, Sweden, China, Germany, and a girl raising hell on the Gold Coast of Australia. I liked learning the history, monuments, and important cultural moments in Germany in between the stupid plights of the heroine. I even liked the special subplot of finishing her late father's list and finding the old man who helped him escape during the World War 1. I'm really trying to curb my bratty bookish tendencies, but I had an awful time reading this book. The heroine was insufferable, but at least she didn't wind up in handcuffs like her Aussie counterpart. Fingers crossed that the future heroines will be much more palatable in my upcoming reading.

[lovelyandliterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sound of Munich by Suzanne Nelson is chick lit at its best. It’s part of the S.A.S.S. (Students Across the Seven Seas) series which is all about a female teenage protagonist studying abroad in a foreign country and the trials, challenges and romance that goes with it. I have read a few of the books from this series in the past and this one was right in line – it definitely did not disappoint. The Sound of Munich follows seventeen-year-old Siena, a bohemian Cali girl who’s heading to Germany to find the last person on her late father’s carpe diem list. Without spoiling too much, this book is packed with some adventure (the trials of finding the man who smuggled her father and her grandparents out of Germany back when the wall was up), friendship (the two girls she befriends over in Germany and her friends back home whcih she keeps in touch with over email) and a romantic interest (her RA in the program). Unlike many of the SASS books, the romance in this book is more bittersweet — it doesn’t work out for her in the end and is more realistic to everyday life.

In the end, this book was well-written, accurate and a quick read. I would give it 4/5 stars — I really enjoyed it but is by no means the next great novel of the 21st century.

[Nita (ecobookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I live in Germany and am familiar with Munich and some of the other destinations described, so it was cool to see it from that perspective. There were some inaccuracies that made me wonder how much research the author did (Lebenhaus isn't a word, dorms are called Wohnhaus... and sharing an actual room is not a thing for students in Germany!) but overall it didn't disrupt my enjoyment of the book much. And a lot of the history and destinations (and food) were interesting and informative to read about. I liked the main character, Siena: she's a hippie who goes with the flow and enjoys adventure but is also pragmatic. I also liked the mix of romance, studies, female friendship and discovery in the book, as well as Siena's mission to find the man who helped her grandparents and dad escape from East Germany. That part was more touching than I thought it would be, it was a beautiful moment. I also liked that the romance was fairly realistic for something on a limited timeline, and that Siena had a sensible approach to it. If you go in with reasonable expectations for a YA book, you'll enjoy this one!

[Genesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, but the lingo/speech was so out of date that I couldn’t take it seriously. No one talks like that in real life, but oh well. Just a silly little teen book.

[dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ✩ cute but not without its flaws. i had a good time!

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book, I believe, in the 6th grade and remember absolutely loving it. However, with that being said, I couldn't specifically remember the plot line nor the reasons why my 12-year old self got so giddy reading it, so I thought I'd buy the novel on Amazon and refresh my now 17-year old self (which btw, is Siena's age in the book).


In terms of the positives of this book, there were a good handful:

Honestly, when I decided to re-read The Sound of Munich -five years later- I expected it feel a lot like a book aimed towards a pre-teen audience. However, to my surprise, the subtle profanity and dirty-jokes here were endless. I was so surprised how I missed them as a kid! Definitely an awesome highlight!

Additionally, I'm a sucker for girl-goes-to-europe-and-meets-guy romance novels. So, inevitably, this book met the standards fairly well. I mean, though it definitely was no Stephanie Perkins, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that it was a pretty decent cutesy-romance novel.


So in terms of the bad, there were also some things worth mentioning:

Like I said, I read this book in the 6th grade with a totally different perspective. So, despite the relatability to Sienna's character and subtle dirty-jokes, it's still kind of difficult to appreciate this book five years later with a different mindset. I guess you could kind of compare it to re-watching old shows you used to watch as a kid. You enjoy it, but the connection and genuine appreciation you had years ago, isn't really present anymore.

That being said, some of the writing also was kind of a disappointment. I wished Siena and Stefan had more moments together explore their relationship. One scene I remembered perfectly well before re-reading this book was when they were outside the club and kissed. I remembered how cute and giddy that chapter made me feel as a kid. However, now, I felt that that scene felt extremely too short and dull.

I also think that the ending was a bit superficial; with Siena going back and Stefan "waiting" for her. Though he didn't explicitly state he was going to wait for her, the possibility of them reuniting and reliving everything over again just feels like a lost cause. Let's face it: Siena is going to go home and live her senior year like any American normal girl, while Stefan is going live in Europe and eventually meet someone else. They'll both still treasure their time together in Germany, but that's just as far as it goes.

*sighs bittersweetly*

Lol I think reading this five years later has got analyzing the story a bit too much. But then again, I have no regrets. This book was on from my childhood and I'll always appreciate it! Honestly, who knows? Might just even buy another book from the series just to see how it goes.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Story is Alive with the Sound of Munich-Alicia H.

“Herr Schwalm,” she said. “My name is Siena Bernstein. I think you might have known my grandparents. (Nelson, 150)” This story is about a young teenage girl who travels to Munich for a semester to learn about her dad’s life, while there she meets a handsome German guy, and makes plenty of friends that help her through the semester. Nelson’s The Sound of Munich intrigues me with its heartwarming story and unique style.

The book The Sound of Munich displays a variety of different characters and settings that adds to the plot and experience of reading the book. Many different characters were displayed in the book and they were all believable because they went through real things and bittersweet times, that we humans can relate to. There is one main character and 3 background characters that add to the book, by helping Siena along in her journey in Germany. Siena, the main character, is an easy going bohemian Cali girl. She is very interested in her dad's past and wants to complete his bucket list that he never got to finish. Siena's two friends in Germany, Meg and Chen, are completely different. Meg is a very talkative, country girl that likes everyone, and Chen is a very smart girl that likes everything organized. Siena's love interest in the book, Stefan, is a very tall, brown haired, blue eyed older boy that is in charge of Siena and her friends while they have their semester in Germany. These characters help to add to the dynamic of the book by making them all diverse.
The setting in the book The Sound of Munich plays a very important part in the book. The setting is very important because the person and heritage Siena is trying to find out about is in Germany. The author really helps to portray the setting by providing descriptive quotes about how the Market Plaza looks or the little houses they pass while driving by. The author tries to portray the story in a quiet part of Munich where all the kids are studying abroad.
The plot was written very well and has its ups and downs and relates to real life. The story is about a young teenager, Siena who is going to study abroad in Germany for a semester. While there, she wants to use her free time to learn more about her dad and complete the last thing on his bucket list. Along the way, she meets two totally opposite friends that help her to pass her classes and finish what she came for. She'll also meet a boy named Stefan, that's her love interest but is off limits because he is her RA while staying in Germany. So, in the end, will Siena finish her dead father's bucket list in time, date the handsome RA, and pass her classes?

This book has many connections you can make with it, many on a personal level, and historical events that have gone on in the past. One text to text connection I made was The Sound of Munich can be related to The Book Theif because they are both based upon and talk about disasters that went on in Germany. They both also have a love interest in the book, and both books show reality and not happily ever after. One historical event that is explained is Siena's father crossing the Berlin wall and how dangerous it was with all the shootings and bombings going on. Another couple famous things that are mentioned are different castles and the Market Plaza that Siena and her friends visit. One way I can relate to this book on a personal level is my ancestors and relatives came from Germany, it was cool to learn about some historical events they may have gone through in a fictional book. I could also relate to trying to find out more about someone you have never met and how hard it is. I never knew my one set of grandparents.

I like how the author wrote the book, but I think it would be cool if it was told totally by the narrator. The way the author wrote the book is by letting the reader know Siena's feelings but not anyone else's. I think it would be cool if we could know everyone's feelings, so I could get a better look at what type of person they are. Author's "voice" or how he wrote the book is cool though. I do like how it is written like it is from the 2000s, especially because of the slang and terms used. Overall I did really like the book but I wish the book could have been more balanced at times, in the middle of the story, everything started to go slow, and towards the end of the book, everything was happening too fast. One second Siena was meeting Peter and the next she was boarding the plane to go back to America. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a heartwarming tale with a little bit of romance, and if you like to learn about history while reading, this the book for you. I would overall give this book a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars because of the way it is written and the inconsistencies in the tempo of the book.

[Lüdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is garbage. There's German errors almost every time German is used, cultural inaccuracies, contrived plot and characters, a ridiculous historical inaccuracy that Google could clear up in a second, but it was still enjoyable because sometimes bad books are and because I miss Germany so so much

[Marit Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over all, I found the book sweet but the characters incomplete and the times a bit dated. That said it contains one of the best lines I've read in recent memory "Hypocrisy makes a great blindfold." This quote alone makes reading the book worth it, especially in our current political environment.

[Laura M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve loved this series when I was younger and I still do. These books make me wish I could study abroad but these books bring me close enough. However, it’s still your classic cheesy tourist falls for the RA. It was cute and an easy read.

[Made._.Moiselle]

Bought this second hand online and got fooled by the blurb. This is the perfect example of why some YA books should not be read by grown ups. I naively thought I'd learn about Munich but not really. Oh and I cringed when I read ARBIT MACHT FREI.

[Perlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firmly fluffy beach reach. This was in a stack of books that an adorable garage-bookstore owner pressed on me as part of a sizeable lot of freebies. It's a cute YA story that is predictable, but has some surprisingly touching moments.

[Lulu]

I received this book as a gift from my best friend on my 17th birthday. My love for the German language and culture began after reading this novel.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my tita brought me book for christmas. I already like this book make me enjoy.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. It seemed like this author actually tried to make this something more than just a waste of time.

[Raquel Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

slow start but sweet quick story

[Erika Reieru · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: Siena's determination in the book to finish something meaningful for her dad was heartwarming. Though her father died when she was a baby she wanted to honor his memory by finishing the final task on his Carpe Diem List. This final goal was to find and thank Peter Schwalm, a man who had helped smuggle him and his family past the Berlin Wall, risking everything. This one task on her father's list was the entire reason Siena wanted to go to Germany. One interesting moment towards the end of the book was when Siera and Stefan's relationship, if you can even call it that, was tested when Briana saw them kiss. This event triggered a possible threat to both of their positions in the S.A.S.S program because of the possibility of Briana telling the administration about their relationship. Since Siena is studying abroad in Germany I got to read about some cool places and learn about some of Germany's culture and history, which is exciting and even inspiring.

Cons: This story started off very slowly, taking pages to describe short moments, but then the middle and end are very fast yet exciting. It took several pages to describe Siena and her encounters at the airport and the debacle of her missing luggage, though it was a short, dull part of her life and story. Even though the love interest between Siena and Stefan was cute and amusing at some points, it was overall unnecessary and predictable. The forbidden love idea has been overdone way too many times as it is, so reading about another situation like it was kind of overkill.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to people who are interested in a sweet and heartwarming story. Like many other stories, while in the process of doing something for someone else, in this case her father, Siena is able to find out more about herself and grow as a person. It is interesting to read and fun to hear about a personal story that was related to a troubling time in history, because I enjoy history. I find history more real and emotional when you get to experience something from a person's perspective during that time, and even though this is fictional there are many stories like this about other people who escaped Germany.

[Lindsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The setting of this book (Germany) is interesting and makes a nice addition to the series. I wouldn't have minded keeping it in my collection.

HOWEVER -

Re-reading this series as an adult, this may be my least favorite entry in the entire series, both for the main character's personality and for some of the author's story-telling choices. Honestly, I couldn't even make myself finish this one. The main character is VERY crunchy, including spreading anti-science propaganda ("Presevatives in chewing gum stay in your system for decades"!), but also takes it very much to an "I'm not like *other* girls" place; she is extremely judgemental throughout the book of a girl who *gasp* wears makeup, proclaims herself healthier than others for not having grown up eating sausage (but she's totes joking), etc. etc. That isn't even the worst part.

The worst part comes when the students go on a trip to visit Dachau. Now, I understand that this book was written for a certain age level, and is closing in on 20 years old. But I don't believe either is an excuse for the visit and the trip home from it to mostly boil down to yet another "Is he interested or not??" scene and subsequent teenage friend group dissection of it. And the MC's main take-away from the actual visit, before it gets overshadowed, is "Yes, bad things happened, but good things happened, too! ~Universal balance!~"

Absolutely unreal. Either - A. write the scene and give it some meaning, or B. DON'T HAVE THEM VISIT A CONCENTRATION CAMP. IF the author was trying to make commentary on teens being shallow and self-absorbed, she did it poorly. Regardless, I don't think that's a valid criticism considering how many adults ~also seem to hate learning or thinking of others. The scene just does not work on any level. I cannot fathom what the author could have been thinking by writing it the way she did.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

And we're off to Munich, where yoga-happy, California-girl Siena is spending a semester...and maybe, just maybe, finding the man who helped her father escape post-war Germany.

Who am I kidding? It's YA fluff; of course she finds him. But it's a sweet story, and Siena is pretty likable. It was a sad, sad day when she chose studying over socializing, she says (147), but despite her inability to keep her head tied on, she's not a birdbrain -- just scatterbrained. She's rational about The Boy, for one, and not going to gouge another girl's eyes out just because she's interested as well. Loved her use of 'foxymoron' ('all looks, no substance'), and the other exchange students are fun -- "We haven't even started the semester yet and you're plotting subversive activities," Chen said. "Impressive. Stupid, but impressive" (43). Although -- Chen's a surname, yes? Didn't authors learn their lesson from the Cho Chang debacle?

The author does pack lots of cultural stuff in for the characters (including a Sound of Music tour...and a discussion about the feminism, or not, of the movie), which, in especially in this series, I appreciate. Not sure why the students aren't supposed to leave the city on their own but it's perfectly okay for them to stay out until the wee hours of the morning, though. Or how nobody notices when they do leave. Or how Siena manages to go from stumbling over the simplest German words to apparently fluent German in, what, ten weeks?

But hey. It was fun. The next one on my list is by the same author, so I'm hopeful that it'll be a decent read too.


More general look at the series here.

[Istiningdyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reread for me. Though the first time I read it in another edition.
This book is probably the second time I read Suzanne Nelson (?). I like this one better than the other one, Heart & Salsa. The main character in this book is actually more likable. Sienna has her flaws, still her character is pretty realistic for a laid back kind-of-hippie teenager. Sienna's destination is Germany. No holocaust back story here. This time, it's about the Berlin Wall and freedom. Sienna's father's story is touching and all. But I find it weird that Sienna could find Peter Schwalm, the man who saved her father and grandparents, easily while her grandfather spent several years with no luck of finding him.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Munich, obviously from the title, I really enjoyed this installment in the S.A.S.S. series :D There was of course the token romance subplot, but the main plot actually had a lot of depth - Sienna wanting to find the man who helped smuggle her father (now deceased) and grandparents out of East Berlin in the 1960s. Of course she does eventually manage to track him down, as expected, but the meeting is way more moving than it is just a cliche happy ending. There's a lot more serious historical stuff in this book that really makes it well worth a read.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siena is on her way to Germany from California to study for 3 months. She is hoping to learn more about her father's family, and to finish his Carpe Diem list. Her father died in a car accident before he could locate Peter, the man who smuggled him and his parents out of East Berlin. Siena makes some new friends who help her make the stars align so she can complete her dream and maybe find love on the way . . .

[Siena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first chose this book because the protagonist has the same name as me. (Very rare.) I loved the whole story of falling in love with a culture. Siena starts out a total foreigner, and she leaves a true German. This book really captures the essence of the people. I liked the who theme of exploring your heritage thing too. The whole meeting with Peter was heartwarming. All in all, it was a fabulous book that made me want to travel more!

[Dini Novita Sari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ceritanya seru aja, tetapi agak kecewa dengan blurb-nya yang bilang misi utamanya untuk menuntaskan daftar terakhir yang ingin dicapai ayahnya, hal itu malah kurang dieksplor. Untuk cerita dewasa muda, yang ketangkap seseruannya, konfliknya kurang tajam. Yah bacaan santailah nggak perlu mikir or menguras emosi banget, hehe.
Lalu terjemahan secara keseluruhan enak dibaca, tapi ada beberapa bagian yang aneh. Dan secara editan masih kurang rapi banget. Not making a note, though. :)

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fluffy; didn't evoke Munich at all to me, though it's clear the author knows Munich and other parts of Germany well, so maybe my single week there didn't give me the full experience. I liked how much of a fantasy this was with the perfect roommates and perfect romance and unredeemably annoying Mean Girl and all problems resolved (which even made me a little teary: long lost family, Berlin Wall, etc). The aura-reading protagonist was a joke, but, well, whatever.

[Aasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heres another to this series i liked this story too. its a bout a girl named siena who goes to germany to find out more about her fathers past and while there meets a really cute guy who she falls in love with but he is one of the advisers and there for is off limits even though he is 2 years older than her. this one is really good full of romance and adventure.