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Reviews tagging 'War'
Le lilas ne refleurit qu'après un hiver rigoureux by Martha Hall Kelly
38 reviews
emilyrollande's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
pagesfromhome's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
There were moments of this book that were completely shining and did an incredible job of transporting and teaching me, but unfortunately, so much of it read like the author had wanted to write a non-fiction book but instead wrote a fiction one. There were three POVs, all of which could have had a single book to themselves, and it spanned almost 20 years in these characters' lives (from just as WWII was starting to just before 1960), meaning that you had to fly through sections of their lives in mere sentences to try to get through it all. But it still felt like the story dragged through other sections so it was simultaneously fast and slow.
It also felt like every character was written with the same style and voice so, while the dialogue and how they literally spoke to other characters separated them, everything else just felt like it was written in the same, rather flat tone despite the vast differences between each character's experience and the use of first-person narration.
I think a story that only covered Caroline's or Kasia's lives would have been far more impactful, or even one dedicated to Herta's although she was despicable, would have been a more stable way to tackle the story of Ravensbruck. That said, this is a challenging story to take on and the author clearly took time and care to tell the story.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Rape and Self harm
bookishauntie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I felt that the author tried a bit too hard to give the doctor a voice that one could empathize with although I read it as being someone who embraced the nazi ideology wholeheartedly. I found the perspective disturbing and wish it were simply not included.
Other than that it was an interesting read with interesting characters.
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
tiffyb'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? N/A
4.25
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!!))
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Deportation
jdonner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
annahnoyes'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: Confinement, Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War
carissa230's review against another edition
Graphic: War
rachelbetters99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Self harm and Sexism
thegirlwhoreadsbooks13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War
caroline_hutchison's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail