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: Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, and War
Moderate: Excrement, Medical content, and Suicide
Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Grief
leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition
- 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: Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Vomit, War, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Sexual harassment
siobhanlh's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Torture, Suicide, Grief, Antisemitism, and Hate crime
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
The idea of using books for a sense of escape or normality even at the very worst moments of humanity is incredibly humbling. And the "living books" on offer come so close to creating beauty in this bleak landscape. That there are more books on offer than the physical ones in Dita's meagre library, thanks to the vivid memories of some of the teachers and their retellings of popular stories. It's astonishing the lengths adults (and older children like Dita) would go to in order to give the younger prisoners opportunities and education.
Of course the emotion is so raw throughout, as the dates and the number of dead are all taken from accurate records. It's a really difficult book but gives as much information as it can about what happened to all of the people mentioned after the events of the story. The biographies at the end are fascinating - in particular it was astonishing to me how long Joseph Mengele was able to evade capture and live a relatively normal life, after the atrocities he committed and oversaw. I think because of all that it's an important book for keeping stories alive for all the victims, whether they survived or not.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Genocide, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, War, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Murder, Hate crime, and Deportation
chronicallyplotting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
You know a book is amazing when you become invested and feel at times as if you are with the characters. I cried, I found myself gasping when things were revealed, I had to put my cheez-its down because i couldn’t eat while some parts where explained. This is a must read for everyone. History repeats itself, and education is a powerful weapon; the Nazis’ knew this and tried to destroy knowledge and truth.
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
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: Antisemitism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
lauramcc7'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, War, Racism, Murder, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Excrement, Homophobia, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, and Suicide
delz'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Excrement, Hate crime, Murder, and War
mjwilliamson'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Excrement, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Racial slurs
llewellareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Child death, Excrement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Torture, and Suicide
Minor: Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Ableism, and Pregnancy