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oceanwriter'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual harassment
grandslamdenny'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Excrement, and Medical content
Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexism, Grief, and Sexual harassment
leila_reads_too_much's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual harassment and Pandemic/Epidemic
calamitywindpetal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
Minor: War
ems_rxlibrary'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? No
4.5
Dita and her mother were a couple of the prisoners in Block 31 in Auschwitz. This block in particular was set up to try and fool the world that these camps were not death camps, so the children had a barrack where they would go every day and play with the other children. Even though it was forbidden, some books were smuggled in and it became Dita’s job to protect and hide them.
I was hooked from the foreword, honestly. The author told Dita before they parted, “Everyone knows about the largest library in the world. But I am going to write about the smallest library in the world and its librarian.”
I could tell how much time and effort this author put into researching this novel.
I did feel like the novel suffered a little from the shifting POVs. Sometimes it was from one paragraph to the next with no break to let you know that we were shifting to another POV, so it was easy to get lost at times, but it was still worth it.
This book made my list of must read books about the holocaust! So good. If you are a lover of historical fiction and a lover of books, I can’t imagine that you won’t like this.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
fenouil's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War
enmcurrie'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? It's complicated
5.0
What was so emotive about this book is how of all these poor people (from children to elderly), in the most dire and horrific of circumstances, could find happiness in the smallest of things. I also loved the message that humans simply surviving is not enough, and that we need things like literature to keep humanity alive, hence why 8 old and tattered books in a place as awful as Aushwitz-Birkenau was so important. It was incredibly sad and heart-wrenching throughout, and hard to read at times. The vivid imagery of the concentration camps and the novel’s use of free indirect speech allowing you into the other characters’ thought processes made it incredibly compelling, and knowing that so many of them don’t end up with the freedom they deserve is the worst part. I think it’s a wonderful read and all of the characters were great, but Dita will most definitely stay with me for a long time. I’m very glad she could tell her story, she’s truly remarkable. The ending was beautiful. It left you feeling incredibly sad for all the loss Dita had faced, but incredibly relieved and content that she achieved all that she did.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicide
juliannem'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child death, Torture, Excrement, and Sexual harassment