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livbucherwurm's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
locket1981's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.0
I struggled with this book in several places. The story was so sad and I can’t even begin to imagine living like this but the book was a tough read I’m not sure why either which is so frustrating. I couldn’t bring my to like these characters at all under the storyline the characters were hard to like.
daffy1's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoy reading this as it started out quite good then as it went on it slowed a bit in the story. Plus it jump around the characters a lot. But overall it was a good read
beccorbett89's review against another edition
3.0
For me, The Light at the End of the Day was a good book. It was very nearly a great book, but there were just a couple of things that, in my opinion, stopped the book from flowing as it could have and made it, at times, slow to get through.
I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. Despite many of them being flawed, I found them relatable and believable. The trouble with this was, I wanted to know them more. There were a lot of characters and I felt that very few of them were explored and explained adequately. I found myself forgetting who was who at times. Many of my favourite characters just disappeared until they were briefly mentioned again at the end. I wanted more from and about many of the personalities in the story.
I loved the setting/s which were so far removed from anything I've experienced. Despite this, though, I did find the frequent place and time hopping a bit difficult to keep up with at times and regularly found myself flipping back to remember what year I had been in in relation to the section I was about to begin.
I also felt that there were a few occasions where the build up to a certain event/change/moment was insufficient. There was often a lot of talking about what seemed like fairly unimportant parts of the story and then something fairly major would happen, seemingly out of nowhere (or maybe I'm just not good at picking up on subtle hints?!). I felt as though more build up would have made the story and characters more compelling.
Despite the above comments, however, I was so impressed by the originality of this story. It is truly unlike anything I've ever read before. I would certainly recommend it to lovers of historical fiction (though I would perhaps warn them of the few faults).
Many thanks to the author, Better Reading and Harper Collins for allowing me a sneak peek preview in exchange for my honest review.
I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. Despite many of them being flawed, I found them relatable and believable. The trouble with this was, I wanted to know them more. There were a lot of characters and I felt that very few of them were explored and explained adequately. I found myself forgetting who was who at times. Many of my favourite characters just disappeared until they were briefly mentioned again at the end. I wanted more from and about many of the personalities in the story.
I loved the setting/s which were so far removed from anything I've experienced. Despite this, though, I did find the frequent place and time hopping a bit difficult to keep up with at times and regularly found myself flipping back to remember what year I had been in in relation to the section I was about to begin.
I also felt that there were a few occasions where the build up to a certain event/change/moment was insufficient. There was often a lot of talking about what seemed like fairly unimportant parts of the story and then something fairly major would happen, seemingly out of nowhere (or maybe I'm just not good at picking up on subtle hints?!). I felt as though more build up would have made the story and characters more compelling.
Despite the above comments, however, I was so impressed by the originality of this story. It is truly unlike anything I've ever read before. I would certainly recommend it to lovers of historical fiction (though I would perhaps warn them of the few faults).
Many thanks to the author, Better Reading and Harper Collins for allowing me a sneak peek preview in exchange for my honest review.
lexielory's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
mimipoppins's review against another edition
1.0
This is a genre I normally love, and I was looking forward to this one, but I just didn’t like it. I felt the writing was a bit disjointed and big events just happened without any explanation... for example I didn’t understand the relationship between Adam and his wife and his French lover. Nor did I feel any chemistry between Karolina and Józef, all of a sudden, she was in love with him. I really didn’t connect with any of the characters and I think for this reason I found it hard to remember who was who, and had to keep reading back to remember what was going on. The pace of the book was a bit slow for me, I found I had read 40% and we were still in Kraków and only now was the painting finished. I struggled to get through this one and if it hadn’t been for a Better Reading Review, I don’t think I would have finished. A positive of the book was how the Polish Jews ended up in the labour camps, this part of the book was interesting and well written, but it wasn’t enough to make me like the book anymore.
readingwithcake's review against another edition
3.0
Okay I begin with my only negative opinion on the writing style. When we had the POV of the mother and we would randomly we have the conscious of the neighbour? It was bizarre. It happens throughout the entire book where we would randomly get a line about what the neighbour, Janina, was thinking. There just needed to be more cohesiveness in the text. That one negative aside, I commend the author on capturing the feelings of disbelief, hysteria, horror, the list of emotions could go on, that would have been felt by those who in labour and concentration camps across Europe.
It was interesting to read a story written about a Jewish Polish family who essentially buried their head in the sand when the events leading up to WW2 were occurring and they still didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of their situation until towards the end of the book. There would have been families like this in Europe, the ones who didn’t flee when things started to get bad for Jews in Germany after 1933, the ones who stuck around even after Germany invaded and they knew about the pogroms occurring within Germany. So I really liked this aspect of reading the book, however with that being said I found it really hard to connect with Anna, the mother, who was so dismissive of the people who helped her and seemed so ungrateful. I guess she was grappling with her new reality of being a refugee and not the wealthy lady she was in Krakow but it did annoy me throughout and I found I didn’t connect with her character at all. Also her daughter was such a brat. I think it did capture the absolute hysteria that the Jews, Poles, Gypsies and other people felt who were taken to various camps over Europe during WW2. We see the family go to a camp in Russia, as this was a common occurrence in areas occupied by the Soviets to take Poles and Jewish people to camps. However, as mentioned earlier, I wasn’t able to connect with the family this storyline followed due to their characters being portrayed the way they were.
I felt the ending was super rushed as well and wanted more detail about the years we didn’t get. The ending was sad but also beautiful ( read it and it makes sense why I say beautiful) and showed the reality of the camps, German and Russian alike.
It was interesting to read a story written about a Jewish Polish family who essentially buried their head in the sand when the events leading up to WW2 were occurring and they still didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of their situation until towards the end of the book. There would have been families like this in Europe, the ones who didn’t flee when things started to get bad for Jews in Germany after 1933, the ones who stuck around even after Germany invaded and they knew about the pogroms occurring within Germany. So I really liked this aspect of reading the book, however with that being said I found it really hard to connect with Anna, the mother, who was so dismissive of the people who helped her and seemed so ungrateful. I guess she was grappling with her new reality of being a refugee and not the wealthy lady she was in Krakow but it did annoy me throughout and I found I didn’t connect with her character at all. Also her daughter was such a brat. I think it did capture the absolute hysteria that the Jews, Poles, Gypsies and other people felt who were taken to various camps over Europe during WW2. We see the family go to a camp in Russia, as this was a common occurrence in areas occupied by the Soviets to take Poles and Jewish people to camps. However, as mentioned earlier, I wasn’t able to connect with the family this storyline followed due to their characters being portrayed the way they were.
I felt the ending was super rushed as well and wanted more detail about the years we didn’t get. The ending was sad but also beautiful ( read it and it makes sense why I say beautiful) and showed the reality of the camps, German and Russian alike.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘Are you leaving?’
The novel opens in Kraków, Poland in 1939. Jewish families are starting to leave. By the time the wealthy Oderfeldt family decides to flee, it is too late for them to travel together, too late for them to take their possessions. Of all the possessions they must leave behind, Alicia’s most prized possession is a painting. It is a portrait of her that her father commissioned, painted by Jozef Pienta. The family: parents Adam and Anna, sisters Karolina and Alicia, are separated by the war.
Anna, Karolina, and Alicia travel together, trying to find refuge and safety. Their life of luxury in Kraków becomes a distant memory. After the war ends, Alicia wants to recover the painting.
There are several characters with different stories in this novel and, sadly, not all endings are happy. Once I started reading, I found it difficult to put the novel down. The contrasts between the Odefeldt’s life in Kraków and the indignities and horrors of war, the courage shown by Anna, Karolina and Alicia. The significance of the painting to Alicia, and the journey to find it and reconnect with others is the heart of the story. Recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
#BRPreview
The novel opens in Kraków, Poland in 1939. Jewish families are starting to leave. By the time the wealthy Oderfeldt family decides to flee, it is too late for them to travel together, too late for them to take their possessions. Of all the possessions they must leave behind, Alicia’s most prized possession is a painting. It is a portrait of her that her father commissioned, painted by Jozef Pienta. The family: parents Adam and Anna, sisters Karolina and Alicia, are separated by the war.
Anna, Karolina, and Alicia travel together, trying to find refuge and safety. Their life of luxury in Kraków becomes a distant memory. After the war ends, Alicia wants to recover the painting.
There are several characters with different stories in this novel and, sadly, not all endings are happy. Once I started reading, I found it difficult to put the novel down. The contrasts between the Odefeldt’s life in Kraków and the indignities and horrors of war, the courage shown by Anna, Karolina and Alicia. The significance of the painting to Alicia, and the journey to find it and reconnect with others is the heart of the story. Recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
#BRPreview
annecasually's review
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5