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leslieklein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Antisemitism, and War
lindsaybarrows'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
4.0
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism and War
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
rynicolereads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Kidnapping and War
preciouslittleingenue's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, and War
bookishaddictions'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
Moderate: Child death and Genocide
Minor: War
sarasreadingnook's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely beautiful story of a biracial Jewish girl who is sent away to stay with her aunt in Prague. I was soon hooked after reading the first chapter and read this book late at night finding it difficult to put down.
Ilana is torn between pursuing her parent’s wishes of having a stable career, for example in the sciences or medicine, and becoming a violinist. While she’s in Prague, she learns about a forgotten Jewish ancestry, encounters a ghost name Benjamin and also a man with no shadow, Rudolf Wassermann and is compelled to know their stories.
The book stresses the importance of remembering our history. Quick and impactful read - I recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetic storytelling and is intrigued by the synopsis.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a review copy. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, and War
rebyreadsandwrites's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and War
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Antisemitism
Minor: War
betweentheshelves'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
4.0
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!
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Antisemitism
Minor: War