Scan barcode
riri_r's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 !
I mean I enjoyed the last 100 or so pages more than the entire book.
The setting is nice and we got to know alot about Amedea and her mother, HOWEVER , we didn't get enough information about the rest . There is also alot of unsolved questions like we didn't know what happened to her mother and sister , if Rupert ever went back on missions , if the kinders returned to their families and so on .
I really like Danielle's other works and I picked this one hoping to get the historical fiction I was hoping for but I was thoroughly disappointed .
I mean I enjoyed the last 100 or so pages more than the entire book.
The setting is nice and we got to know alot about Amedea and her mother, HOWEVER , we didn't get enough information about the rest . There is also alot of unsolved questions like we didn't know what happened to her mother and sister , if Rupert ever went back on missions , if the kinders returned to their families and so on .
I really like Danielle's other works and I picked this one hoping to get the historical fiction I was hoping for but I was thoroughly disappointed .
michelle_ltc's review against another edition
2.0
Had the potential to be great but poorly written, in my opinion. Depicts life for a half-Jewish family during the Holocaust.
muneerawael's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
3.75
laurencarstensen's review against another edition
2.0
Oh I have opinions. I picked this book up because it was advertised as historical fiction-ish. The first 180 pages were absolutely grating to read. Like nails on a chalk board. It was such a cliche love story and it made me sick. Love at first sight, pretty but smart, shunned by families because of love. It was awful. 0/5. Then over halfway through we FINALLY get into WWII material. I could stomach this part, however it was so poorly written and redundant. It made the female character seem so spineless and wishywashy when I know that’s not how she was meant to come off. I don’t know which of Danielle Steele’s ghost writers wrote this but they should consider a different profession.
booklover4887's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- 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
5.0
emmahayes99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Really liked this one from the beginning, I loved Beata and Antoine’s story and then after his death Beata’s mother making contact again. Beata and Daphne get taken away by the SS, and from there we follow Amadea as she eventually gets caught and taken to Thereseinstadt which was all interesting as well. The story was engaging the whole way through, even with the slightly predictable ending but no complaints there really.
If I’m honest, I think the ending was rushed. I understand getting across the message that so many lives were taken and disappeared in the holocaust, but the fact that we didn’t learn anything about what happened to Beata and Daphne doesn’t seem right since we followed Beata for half the book before that point. I didn’t like the writing style in the sense that I found there was a lot of repetition to really drill certain points in, which I didn’t appreciate but saw past because I enjoyed the story. Also a little frustrating how often we’re reminded that every man Amadea interacted with fell in love with her - she was beautiful and they were all shocked that she was a nun, we get it😂 but again I could look past that.
I also just wish there was a bit more packing out in details, for example Amadea clearly loved Jean Yves but we didn’t get to learn much about him and their time together, it was all very fleeting and sometimes we were skipping over half a year in about two sentences.
Overall, I did really like the story and the history involved, but it did feel rushed in parts and I feel we were owed more information at the end about the outcome and what actually happened to the people that we spent the first half of the book with
If I’m honest, I think the ending was rushed. I understand getting across the message that so many lives were taken and disappeared in the holocaust, but the fact that we didn’t learn anything about what happened to Beata and Daphne doesn’t seem right since we followed Beata for half the book before that point. I didn’t like the writing style in the sense that I found there was a lot of repetition to really drill certain points in, which I didn’t appreciate but saw past because I enjoyed the story. Also a little frustrating how often we’re reminded that every man Amadea interacted with fell in love with her - she was beautiful and they were all shocked that she was a nun, we get it😂 but again I could look past that.
I also just wish there was a bit more packing out in details, for example Amadea clearly loved Jean Yves but we didn’t get to learn much about him and their time together, it was all very fleeting and sometimes we were skipping over half a year in about two sentences.
Overall, I did really like the story and the history involved, but it did feel rushed in parts and I feel we were owed more information at the end about the outcome and what actually happened to the people that we spent the first half of the book with
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and War
rebelbelle13's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first Danielle Steel I've read in years. This probably wasn't the best one to reintroduce myself to the author, but it's been sitting on my TBR shelf for the longest time, and I've been eyeing the cover. I usually go into Steel's work blind, not having read the synopsis on the back or even knowing the protagonist's names. I love the way she builds out her characters. She spends the first several chapters fleshing them out and giving them extensive backstories- so when life-changing events begin to happen, you completely understand how they react and handle things. Beata, the main character for the first half of this book, is no different. She is headstrong and smart, and does what she wants. When she falls in love, she goes for it and doesn't look back. I loved her story- all of her ups, and her eventual downs. Beata and Antoine's story was beautiful and tragic, and my heart was full, and yet broken for them.
I was not prepared for the second half of this book, which quickly delved into convent life, concentration camps and resistance fighting. We simply stopped following Beata, and the attention swapped to Amadea. It felt awfully disjointed- almost as though they were two short stories just stitched together. We were never told what happened to Beata and Daphne. We can surely guess, but there is no closure there at all, and it's frustrating.
It was good, but just not enough for me. The story should have been longer.
I was not prepared for the second half of this book, which quickly delved into convent life, concentration camps and resistance fighting. We simply stopped following Beata, and the attention swapped to Amadea. It felt awfully disjointed- almost as though they were two short stories just stitched together. We were never told what happened to Beata and Daphne. We can surely guess, but there is no closure there at all, and it's frustrating.
It was good, but just not enough for me. The story should have been longer.
ltarwater's review against another edition
5.0
I did this one as an audio and loved it. Not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it , but it was a good audio! The only thing I was disappointed in was not knowing what happened to Beatta and Daphne, although I guess one figures it out by the lack of mentioning them again.
oleangranny's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of the book was good but not written as well as I expected. Danielle Steele is better than this.
capellacutiexoxo's review against another edition
5.0
4.90 stars. Lol. Just wish a few things had been more concretely resolved by the end but I did love the story.