All We Left Behind follows the story of Hayden and Chidori as they explore their feelings for each other amidst the implications of World War II. Chidori faces the hardships of Japanese Canadians as they are looked down upon and eventually interned. Hayden is desperate to do whatever it takes to hold on to Chidori, which includes volunteering to fight in hopes of ending the war.

This novel spans the time period of 1941-1945 and is told mainly from Hayden's perspective as he goes off to war and eventually becomes a POW, with snippets of Chidori's perspective via her diary entries. The novel jumps back and forth between the time around the Japanese evacuation of 1941 and 1944-45. I think I would've much preferred to hear more of Chidori's perspective, but ultimately found both perspectives quite immature and at times overly dramatic. As a result, I didn't necessarily found myself attached to either character, which took away from the enjoyment of the overall plot.

WWII Historical Fiction is my go to genre and maybe that has made me a bit critical about each new book I read within the genre. I definitely enjoyed the plot here and found it rather unique in a world where many WWII novels feel the same; however, the narrative style puts this at three stars in my mind.

Note: I received an advance digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.