Scan barcode
tiffyb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
This was a GOOD book! Everyone loves a WWII book, and this one was no exception. The writing was simple, not noticeable, but in a good way. It wasn’t eloquent but also wasn’t stilted. Scattered throughout were quotable truths and statements, words of inspiration and strength. The story itself causes you to wish you had a way to do something powerful and meaningful in the world. I loved that Lilac Girls brings to light some previously untold stories about the concentration camps and “the rabbits”. You could feel the author’s passion for sharing these rich and heartbreaking tales.
I would note that this book stares some brutal history in the face. It feels like it should come with a warning because there were at least three scenes that caused physical reactions in me.
The reasons Lilac Girls isn’t a five-star book for me are these- (a couple of spoilers included in these reasons)
1. Lilac girls slows down to a crawl about 65% through. I still was interested, but the story became progressively less compelling and slower paced after the war ends. One example of how slow it gets is a chapter around 90% that describes a wedding in great detail- the entire wedding party and what they all wore, all the traditions practiced during and after the ceremony, and everyone’s feelings. This was especially boring considering that the love story of the happy couple is entirely skipped over, and we literally know nothing about the groom (additionally, the book has already covered ANOTHER wedding, also in great detail. So the traditions are being repeated for a second time!!)
2. Dr. Greta. She simply isn’t written hatefully enough. You know that what she does is horrible, but she not a character that you truly dislike. She’s almost written as morally neutral. In the beginning, it seems that the author was aiming to humanize her and make her seem like a sympathetic character, but then we skip over her good-to-evil arc with little to no explanation of why she chose to stay and perform the killings and experiments. Furthermore, her narrative just petters out and never shows up again. I would have been interested to see how she experienced prison, why she was let go, how she started her new life, and her response to meeting Kasia. Im not sure of the author’s intention, but I don’t understand writing a truly evil character as neutral: either make a serious effort to show us why we should feel sympathy or else make them as evil as possible! And finish out her story if you’re going to have her as one of the narrators!
2. Caroline is SUCH an inspiring person, but her chapters are written in such a way that you occasionally wonder why she’s in the story until very close to the end. Her love story feels distracting at times, undermining who she was as a woman, and at other times just a bit flat. You don’t really understand why she makes ANY of the decisions she made in that relationship. Start to finish. In the same vein as my last point, it seemed that the author wasn’t sure what to do with the story- make Caroline lovesick, unfettered, and desperate; or upstanding, cold, and unmoveable? The author’s epilogue/postscript did a better job of showing Caroline’s incredible character than the entire book.
3. Most of Kasia’s decisions after escaping the concentration camp felt off. Again, was the author showing Kasia move on with her life and encourage others to do so, or was she having her be bogged down in fear and anger? I wondered why she stayed in Poland, especially with her dad and step mom, and also why she didn’t do anything to fight back if she was so angry. It feels that Kasia was maybe the literary combination of several real-life women.
When I finished the book, the authors note highlighted what was real and what wasn’t. It seemed to me that the parts based on the real story were the parts that were written well. The author’s passion was poured into those narratives, but the stories that were fiction seemed to be the areas of the book that dragged or didn’t click for me.
I think overall, the author of Lilac Girls is presenting a realistic view of people- some aren’t quite good or bad, some make decisions that aren’t logical, some waste their lives with anger they don’t act upon. This is why I didn’t rate the book lower in spite of spending much of the book slightly puzzled. But I do think the author could benefit from finding a way to make it clear that she is intentional with these nuances (meaning that I couldn’t tell for sure if she MEANT to write the stories this way).
Overall, Lilac Girls was a times painful and at times inspiring. I was riveted and I had no desire to do anything except return to reading until i finished. I learned so much and loved the sections at the end, telling the true history of these women (and I was also so touched that the author was able to tell the story that these women tried to tell themselves- and were ignored and turned away). Since I enjoyed reading it so much, I really can’t give it less than four stars, but I do find myself a bit hesitant to do so, given the reasons above.
((Also petty PS, but I hate the cover and it DOES NOT match what in contained inside!! I avoided this book for so long bc of it!!))
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Deportation
jdonner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
meg_elyse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Deportation
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Colonisation
annahnoyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War
thegirlwhoreadsbooks13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War
caroline_hutchison's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
saliwali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
mnatale100's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Genocide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and War
nicole1832's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The three point of views interested me at first, but by the end of the book, I was only interested in one of them. Caroline's socialite life felt vapid compared to the hardships Kasia went through, and reading about Herta became uncomfortable by the latter part of the book. I had a hard time understanding how Caroline's and Herta's POVs justified their presence in the context of the overall story, which was at its heart really about Kasia. (Side note: the cover of this book is *very* misleading. It implies that the three POV characters eventually become friends. That is very much not the case.)
The book seems to want to be an examination of the emotions of these three women, but it always seemed to back away when things got most interesting. This was clearest in Herta's POV - she went from being horrified at what was happening at the camps to being complicit in it at what felt like breakneck speed. I understand not wanting to delve into a Nazi's POV, but if you're not going to fully explore it, why bother giving her a POV at all?
Meanwhile, Caroline's behavior and attitudes toward her romance arc were hard to understand. Her arc became frustrating to read toward the end and ultimately felt unnecessary. And Kasia had problems with PTSD and anger later in life that were glossed over and ultimately resolved in a way that felt insultingly simplified.
On top of all that, the writing felt trite and amateurish, easy to read but ultimately failing to create any kind of mood. (And this book had some of the dullest hetero romances possible.)
I was interested in the first half, simply because WWII stories, and stories about the horrors of the concentration camps, will always be powerful. But the importance of the historical subject matter is really all the book has going for it, in my opinion.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, War, and Injury/Injury detail
katethealmostgreat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Infertility, Racial slurs, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Takes place during and around the holocaust