ritareadstrash's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"This is what it's like to be Jewish
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it."
-The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
When I tell you, there are at least a dozen quotes like this that made me pause my reading to really mentally and emotionally digest what I read.
I'm not one to pull quotes, but it was a struggle to choose just one this time. I landed on this one because my heart squeezes when I think 6 horrors we walk on daily.
It's so hard to find the words to explain how this book hurt my heart, but also kept a continuous thread of hope the entire time. I think being in verse really drives this story, too. To top it off, this is an own voices author, which adds so much emotion to the story.
I don't know how I stumbled upon this book. I don't remember if I placed a hold or randomly picked it up, but it's one of the best decisions I've made this year.
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it."
-The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
When I tell you, there are at least a dozen quotes like this that made me pause my reading to really mentally and emotionally digest what I read.
I'm not one to pull quotes, but it was a struggle to choose just one this time. I landed on this one because my heart squeezes when I think 6 horrors we walk on daily.
It's so hard to find the words to explain how this book hurt my heart, but also kept a continuous thread of hope the entire time. I think being in verse really drives this story, too. To top it off, this is an own voices author, which adds so much emotion to the story.
I don't know how I stumbled upon this book. I don't remember if I placed a hold or randomly picked it up, but it's one of the best decisions I've made this year.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Antisemitism
lindsaybarrows's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism and War
readingwithkaitlyn's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, War, and Violence
rynicolereads's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping and War
preciouslittleingenue's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Finished this in pretty much one sitting. It went very fast and the writing was not my favorite. I feel like I could take a shot every time the author used “like a fist” as a metaphor and gotten pretty wasted. This was very obviously a YA novel so I’ll blame it’s simplicity on that.
The thematic metaphors were very strong. I was VERY struck by the graveyard of children’s shoes in the Black House. Super deliberate Holocaust reference that wasn’t too heavy handed. Even just the fact that Wasserman was German preying on a Jewish cemetery. You don’t need to squint to see the parallel but it’s not beating me over the head either. My favorite culmination of these parallels was Ilana’s “my people will always outlive you.” Because she doesn’t just mean her descendants will last longer than his single lifetime. She means every violent act against her people, every attempt to eliminate the Jews…has always and will always fail. They will outlive every attempt to remove them as a people from the world. I found that really beautiful.
It was such a brief work that I didn’t really feel the love connection between Ilana and Benjamin, but they’re also only sixteen. I don’t know, I just wasn’t that devastated when they were separated forever by his crossing over. But at the end of the day, the crafting of the narrative and it’s parallels was pretty expert, even if language and characterization was not. This was a great quick/short read for me to use to desperately reach my 2022 reading goal as December rapidly approaches.
OH. EDIT. Because I forgot to mention how much I loathed the audiobook narrator. Her German accent was actually painful to sit through. And her delivery of certain phrases was so cringeworthy. Maybe I’d have cared more about the characters and felt more connection between them if she wasn’t so awful.
The thematic metaphors were very strong. I was VERY struck by the graveyard of children’s shoes in the Black House. Super deliberate Holocaust reference that wasn’t too heavy handed. Even just the fact that Wasserman was German preying on a Jewish cemetery. You don’t need to squint to see the parallel but it’s not beating me over the head either. My favorite culmination of these parallels was Ilana’s “my people will always outlive you.” Because she doesn’t just mean her descendants will last longer than his single lifetime. She means every violent act against her people, every attempt to eliminate the Jews…has always and will always fail. They will outlive every attempt to remove them as a people from the world. I found that really beautiful.
It was such a brief work that I didn’t really feel the love connection between Ilana and Benjamin, but they’re also only sixteen. I don’t know, I just wasn’t that devastated when they were separated forever by his crossing over. But at the end of the day, the crafting of the narrative and it’s parallels was pretty expert, even if language and characterization was not. This was a great quick/short read for me to use to desperately reach my 2022 reading goal as December rapidly approaches.
OH. EDIT. Because I forgot to mention how much I loathed the audiobook narrator. Her German accent was actually painful to sit through. And her delivery of certain phrases was so cringeworthy. Maybe I’d have cared more about the characters and felt more connection between them if she wasn’t so awful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Child death, War, and Genocide
bookishjaybird's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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? No
5.0
I want to thank NetGalley and PeachTree Teen Publishing for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
I genuinely am not sure where to start with this book other than I absolutely loved it so much.
I’m generally not a fan of novels that are inverse because it’s just a hard format for me to follow, but I started this and I couldn’t put it down. The story was so beautiful and made me cry several times, especially the last few chapters.
I so so loved Ilana and Benjamin and their relationship. I thought the cleaning of the cemetery and them bonding over that and their Jewishness was beautiful, even if it was heartbreaking that Ben was a ghost.
If I went on, this review would get extremely repetitive because all I can say about this book is that it was so so beautiful. The story, the message, the artwork, the ending, every single thing. If I had to nitpick ANYTHING, I wish there had been a more closed ending with her family and friends, but that’s just because I like more closed ended books.
Other than that, this book is possibly my favorite that I’ve read of the entire year and I want to recommend it to any and everyone.
I genuinely am not sure where to start with this book other than I absolutely loved it so much.
I’m generally not a fan of novels that are inverse because it’s just a hard format for me to follow, but I started this and I couldn’t put it down. The story was so beautiful and made me cry several times, especially the last few chapters.
I so so loved Ilana and Benjamin and their relationship. I thought the cleaning of the cemetery and them bonding over that and their Jewishness was beautiful, even if it was heartbreaking that Ben was a ghost.
If I went on, this review would get extremely repetitive because all I can say about this book is that it was so so beautiful. The story, the message, the artwork, the ending, every single thing. If I had to nitpick ANYTHING, I wish there had been a more closed ending with her family and friends, but that’s just because I like more closed ended books.
Other than that, this book is possibly my favorite that I’ve read of the entire year and I want to recommend it to any and everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, and Antisemitism
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Violence, and Antisemitism
rebyreadsandwrites's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Violence, and War
acornell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, and Child death
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
This fantasy novel in verse weaves magical realism, hitting on the dark history of Prague and the Nazi invasion. Becasue of that, it deals with a lot of Jewish trauma, and Ilana helps to the ghosts to work through that and fight against the monsters that kept them trapped.
At first, the story was a bit difficult to get into as it moves slowly right at the beginning. But, once Ilana meets Benjamin she's opened to the world of ghosts. The way Romero weaves this mythology into the world worked really well and made the story interesting to read.
Apparently, 2022 is the year of Jewish YA fantasy, and so far, I ahve been here for it. Let's keep them coming!
At first, the story was a bit difficult to get into as it moves slowly right at the beginning. But, once Ilana meets Benjamin she's opened to the world of ghosts. The way Romero weaves this mythology into the world worked really well and made the story interesting to read.
Apparently, 2022 is the year of Jewish YA fantasy, and so far, I ahve been here for it. Let's keep them coming!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, and Death
Minor: War