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livlostinstereo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book is so beautifully written. Alice Hoffman has a way of telling heartbreaking stories without detracting from the subject. In this case, she utilized Jewish folklore to weave a story about the Holocaust; all done without diluting the atrocities and hardships of those who lived through this horrific period in human history. There are fantastical elements, but the root of the story remains the same: love and survival and the difficult choices many Jewish families faces in Nazi-occupied France. Hoffman again provides a master class on character development and weaving stories together.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Torture, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
cocacolor's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is an important book that reads like something that's two-thirds fairy tale and one-third history text, both genres that miss the depth of character that fiction readers are used to. Reviewers praise the humanity of this novel, but it seems to me that there's very little humanity at all: the characters are all pure of heart and action, more like archetypes than people, the world around them is unrelentingly, factually, evil, and there's very little in between, which is where I would say humanity lives. As a fairy tale and history text, it doesn't allow us to savor the moments when Hoffman's plotting shines; Ava's stratagem to keep Azriel away from Lea, in the last chapter, reads more like a dream than a thriller. The writing is extremely beautiful and the history vivid; this would probably work best for fans Paulo Coelho's writing style and a certain kind of teenager reader.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and Deportation
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Police brutality, and War
Minor: Child death
nicoleanthony's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
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