kbaxter21's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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
4.25
karimorton33's review against another edition
5.0
Historical fiction about women’s experiences is always of interest to me. While the book was about a hard subject, I found it easy to read and enjoyed getting to know each character. (Read for Condo Book Club)
kcoccia's review against another edition
3.0
I was expecting a little more out of it than I got but it wasn't bad.
katreadsalot's review against another edition
3.0
This book felt as though it should be one of those great books - but the subject matter was not exactly what I was looking for. I thought the portrayal of Herta was very interesting, and I enjoyed Caroline and Kasia's stories as well.
tiffyb's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
4 stars(?)⭐️
This was a GOOD book! Everyone loves a WWII book, and this one was no exception. The writing was simple, not noticeable, but in a good way. It wasn’t eloquent but also wasn’t stilted. Scattered throughout were quotable truths and statements, words of inspiration and strength. The story itself causes you to wish you had a way to do something powerful and meaningful in the world. I loved that Lilac Girls brings to light some previously untold stories about the concentration camps and “the rabbits”. You could feel the author’s passion for sharing these rich and heartbreaking tales.
I would note that this book stares some brutal history in the face. It feels like it should come with a warning because there were at least three scenes that caused physical reactions in me.
The reasons Lilac Girls isn’t a five-star book for me are these- (a couple of spoilers included in these reasons)
1. Lilac girls slows down to a crawl about 65% through. I still was interested, but the story became progressively less compelling and slower paced after the war ends. One example of how slow it gets is a chapter around 90% that describes a wedding in great detail- the entire wedding party and what they all wore, all the traditions practiced during and after the ceremony, and everyone’s feelings. This was especially boring considering that the love story of the happy couple is entirely skipped over, and we literally know nothing about the groom (additionally, the book has already covered ANOTHER wedding, also in great detail. So the traditions are being repeated for a second time!!)
2. Dr. Greta. She simply isn’t written hatefully enough. You know that what she does is horrible, but she not a character that you truly dislike. She’s almost written as morally neutral. In the beginning, it seems that the author was aiming to humanize her and make her seem like a sympathetic character, but then we skip over her good-to-evil arc with little to no explanation of why she chose to stay and perform the killings and experiments. Furthermore, her narrative just petters out and never shows up again. I would have been interested to see how she experienced prison, why she was let go, how she started her new life, and her response to meeting Kasia. Im not sure of the author’s intention, but I don’t understand writing a truly evil character as neutral: either make a serious effort to show us why we should feel sympathy or else make them as evil as possible! And finish out her story if you’re going to have her as one of the narrators!
2. Caroline is SUCH an inspiring person, but her chapters are written in such a way that you occasionally wonder why she’s in the story until very close to the end. Her love story feels distracting at times, undermining who she was as a woman, and at other times just a bit flat. You don’t really understand why she makes ANY of the decisions she made in that relationship. Start to finish. In the same vein as my last point, it seemed that the author wasn’t sure what to do with the story- make Caroline lovesick, unfettered, and desperate; or upstanding, cold, and unmoveable? The author’s epilogue/postscript did a better job of showing Caroline’s incredible character than the entire book.
3. Most of Kasia’s decisions after escaping the concentration camp felt off. Again, was the author showing Kasia move on with her life and encourage others to do so, or was she having her be bogged down in fear and anger? I wondered why she stayed in Poland, especially with her dad and step mom, and also why she didn’t do anything to fight back if she was so angry. It feels that Kasia was maybe the literary combination of several real-life women.
When I finished the book, the authors note highlighted what was real and what wasn’t. It seemed to me that the parts based on the real story were the parts that were written well. The author’s passion was poured into those narratives, but the stories that were fiction seemed to be the areas of the book that dragged or didn’t click for me.
I think overall, the author of Lilac Girls is presenting a realistic view of people- some aren’t quite good or bad, some make decisions that aren’t logical, some waste their lives with anger they don’t act upon. This is why I didn’t rate the book lower in spite of spending much of the book slightly puzzled. But I do think the author could benefit from finding a way to make it clear that she is intentional with these nuances (meaning that I couldn’t tell for sure if she MEANT to write the stories this way).
Overall, Lilac Girls was a times painful and at times inspiring. I was riveted and I had no desire to do anything except return to reading until i finished. I learned so much and loved the sections at the end, telling the true history of these women (and I was also so touched that the author was able to tell the story that these women tried to tell themselves- and were ignored and turned away). Since I enjoyed reading it so much, I really can’t give it less than four stars, but I do find myself a bit hesitant to do so, given the reasons above.
((Also petty PS, but I hate the cover and it DOES NOT match what in contained inside!! I avoided this book for so long bc of it!!))
This was a GOOD book! Everyone loves a WWII book, and this one was no exception. The writing was simple, not noticeable, but in a good way. It wasn’t eloquent but also wasn’t stilted. Scattered throughout were quotable truths and statements, words of inspiration and strength. The story itself causes you to wish you had a way to do something powerful and meaningful in the world. I loved that Lilac Girls brings to light some previously untold stories about the concentration camps and “the rabbits”. You could feel the author’s passion for sharing these rich and heartbreaking tales.
I would note that this book stares some brutal history in the face. It feels like it should come with a warning because there were at least three scenes that caused physical reactions in me.
The reasons Lilac Girls isn’t a five-star book for me are these- (a couple of spoilers included in these reasons)
1. Lilac girls slows down to a crawl about 65% through. I still was interested, but the story became progressively less compelling and slower paced after the war ends. One example of how slow it gets is a chapter around 90% that describes a wedding in great detail- the entire wedding party and what they all wore, all the traditions practiced during and after the ceremony, and everyone’s feelings. This was especially boring considering that the love story of the happy couple is entirely skipped over, and we literally know nothing about the groom (additionally, the book has already covered ANOTHER wedding, also in great detail. So the traditions are being repeated for a second time!!)
2. Dr. Greta. She simply isn’t written hatefully enough. You know that what she does is horrible, but she not a character that you truly dislike. She’s almost written as morally neutral. In the beginning, it seems that the author was aiming to humanize her and make her seem like a sympathetic character, but then we skip over her good-to-evil arc with little to no explanation of why she chose to stay and perform the killings and experiments. Furthermore, her narrative just petters out and never shows up again. I would have been interested to see how she experienced prison, why she was let go, how she started her new life, and her response to meeting Kasia. Im not sure of the author’s intention, but I don’t understand writing a truly evil character as neutral: either make a serious effort to show us why we should feel sympathy or else make them as evil as possible! And finish out her story if you’re going to have her as one of the narrators!
2. Caroline is SUCH an inspiring person, but her chapters are written in such a way that you occasionally wonder why she’s in the story until very close to the end. Her love story feels distracting at times, undermining who she was as a woman, and at other times just a bit flat. You don’t really understand why she makes ANY of the decisions she made in that relationship. Start to finish. In the same vein as my last point, it seemed that the author wasn’t sure what to do with the story- make Caroline lovesick, unfettered, and desperate; or upstanding, cold, and unmoveable? The author’s epilogue/postscript did a better job of showing Caroline’s incredible character than the entire book.
3. Most of Kasia’s decisions after escaping the concentration camp felt off. Again, was the author showing Kasia move on with her life and encourage others to do so, or was she having her be bogged down in fear and anger? I wondered why she stayed in Poland, especially with her dad and step mom, and also why she didn’t do anything to fight back if she was so angry. It feels that Kasia was maybe the literary combination of several real-life women.
When I finished the book, the authors note highlighted what was real and what wasn’t. It seemed to me that the parts based on the real story were the parts that were written well. The author’s passion was poured into those narratives, but the stories that were fiction seemed to be the areas of the book that dragged or didn’t click for me.
I think overall, the author of Lilac Girls is presenting a realistic view of people- some aren’t quite good or bad, some make decisions that aren’t logical, some waste their lives with anger they don’t act upon. This is why I didn’t rate the book lower in spite of spending much of the book slightly puzzled. But I do think the author could benefit from finding a way to make it clear that she is intentional with these nuances (meaning that I couldn’t tell for sure if she MEANT to write the stories this way).
Overall, Lilac Girls was a times painful and at times inspiring. I was riveted and I had no desire to do anything except return to reading until i finished. I learned so much and loved the sections at the end, telling the true history of these women (and I was also so touched that the author was able to tell the story that these women tried to tell themselves- and were ignored and turned away). Since I enjoyed reading it so much, I really can’t give it less than four stars, but I do find myself a bit hesitant to do so, given the reasons above.
((Also petty PS, but I hate the cover and it DOES NOT match what in contained inside!! I avoided this book for so long bc of it!!))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Confinement, Deportation, Excrement, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Violence, and War
tarabrynn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
lfordham9's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
marshmallowbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I give this 3.5 stars. It's a fictionalized account of the all too real "Rabbit Girls" of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Told from three points of view, two of which are real people involved in these events, this novel covers a lot of ground, and quite a time frame: from years leading up to the war through more than a decade beyond. More of the story could be told that way, which I appreciated as a reminder that the stories of war and its atrocities didn't end with liberation.
Hearing the story from three very different perspectives (American, Polish, and German) really gave depth to the story and the events going on. I knocked down my rating a bit because I didn't like at at one point, maybe 2/3 of the way through, one of the perspectives drops out completely. I think that hearing from that person more could have been really interesting.
Another reason I dropped the rating a bit is because things slowed down for me in the middle, almost the point that I didn't finish. Instead of stopping, I sped up the audio a bit and powered through, and I'm glad I did. I think what got to me was, because of the amount of time that is covered in the book, for some stretches it seemed like everything was glossed over and barely mentioned. Of course that's necessary to speed things along and get to where more information can be shared. But it also means there was an entire section that seemed to have not point or climax or anything, just getting from A to B. During those sections, since there was nothing happening, the story flat-lined for a bit in my opinion.
Hearing the story from three very different perspectives (American, Polish, and German) really gave depth to the story and the events going on. I knocked down my rating a bit because I didn't like at at one point, maybe 2/3 of the way through, one of the perspectives drops out completely. I think that hearing from that person more could have been really interesting.
Another reason I dropped the rating a bit is because things slowed down for me in the middle, almost the point that I didn't finish. Instead of stopping, I sped up the audio a bit and powered through, and I'm glad I did. I think what got to me was, because of the amount of time that is covered in the book, for some stretches it seemed like everything was glossed over and barely mentioned. Of course that's necessary to speed things along and get to where more information can be shared. But it also means there was an entire section that seemed to have not point or climax or anything, just getting from A to B. During those sections, since there was nothing happening, the story flat-lined for a bit in my opinion.
karaklos's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed Lilac Girls very much (not a very good title in my opinion as lilacs are only referenced in the last pages of the book and are not meaningful to the story). The book tells the story of three women during the nazi-regime of WWII and beyond: 1) Caroline: a former broadway star and NY socialite with relentless dedication to charitable causes 2) Kasia, a Polish girl caught doing underground work and sent to a concentration camp 3) Herta, a German physician sent to work at the the same concentration camp. We learn about each of their lives, their families, and their feelings about Hitler. The story moves to the horrors of the concentration camp. While this was very difficult to read, I was glad to have the knowledge of what happened to the “rabbits”. The book then moves beyond the war and to Caroline’s amazing efforts to help these women.
There were a few things that led me to give this a 4 rating instead of a 5. First, Caroline’s high-society friends don’t mesh well with her true nature. I was annoyed reading about high fashion and actresses. I’d like to think that the real Caroline had more depth to her. Second, some of the story is wrapped up a little too neatly to believe. Caroline searches for her lover’s child in an orphanage and almost immediately finds her. Herta is so repulsed by the work she will need to do at the concentration camp at first but immediately seems to get over it and become cold and deranged. Zuzanna has an incurable cancer and is refused the trip to the US. Caroline finds a way to bring her to the US anyway and she is cured. Lastly, there was a scene where Herta is raped by her uncle and it’s kind of swept under the rug...no analysis or flashback to it and it’s impact on her psyche. I think more analysis of Herta (and less Paul the boyfriend storyline) would have been better.
There were a few things that led me to give this a 4 rating instead of a 5. First, Caroline’s high-society friends don’t mesh well with her true nature. I was annoyed reading about high fashion and actresses. I’d like to think that the real Caroline had more depth to her. Second, some of the story is wrapped up a little too neatly to believe. Caroline searches for her lover’s child in an orphanage and almost immediately finds her. Herta is so repulsed by the work she will need to do at the concentration camp at first but immediately seems to get over it and become cold and deranged. Zuzanna has an incurable cancer and is refused the trip to the US. Caroline finds a way to bring her to the US anyway and she is cured. Lastly, there was a scene where Herta is raped by her uncle and it’s kind of swept under the rug...no analysis or flashback to it and it’s impact on her psyche. I think more analysis of Herta (and less Paul the boyfriend storyline) would have been better.
rrickman33's review against another edition
5.0
This is my favorite WWII book to date. Lilac Girls spans two decades from 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland, to 1959 through the eyes of 3 women. Caroline Ferriday, a socialite in NYC famed for her charity work; Kasia, a Polish woman who ends up at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp; and Dr. Herta Oberhauser from Düsseldorf, Germany. While Caroline and Herta were real, Kasia and her sister Kuzanna are loosely based on Nina Ivanska and her sister.
I really enjoyed the chapters from Caroline and Kasia and how they eventually intertwined. Herta, who was obviously brainwashed and desensitized by the Third Reich, served as a doctor at the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Her perspective, while sometimes difficult to read, was very well done and probably close to how she really rationalized everything.
Herta was one of the doctors to experiment on Kasia and Kuzanna, who became known as the Ravensbrück rabbits. Herta faced her fate at the Nuremberg trials, something I've read about many times in my research ethics courses. I ended up doing a deep dive, as usual, into her and the experiments she did on the prisoners using sulfonamide.
Highly, can't say that enough, recommend this book to all. It was very historically accurate and educational while also being warm and sweet. This book tells the tale of love, family, and overcoming trauma.
I really enjoyed the chapters from Caroline and Kasia and how they eventually intertwined. Herta, who was obviously brainwashed and desensitized by the Third Reich, served as a doctor at the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Her perspective, while sometimes difficult to read, was very well done and probably close to how she really rationalized everything.
Herta was one of the doctors to experiment on Kasia and Kuzanna, who became known as the Ravensbrück rabbits. Herta faced her fate at the Nuremberg trials, something I've read about many times in my research ethics courses. I ended up doing a deep dive, as usual, into her and the experiments she did on the prisoners using sulfonamide.
Highly, can't say that enough, recommend this book to all. It was very historically accurate and educational while also being warm and sweet. This book tells the tale of love, family, and overcoming trauma.