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fromjuliereads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
**Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.**
Generally, historical fiction is not a genre that I venture into. I studied history for my minor in my degree, and my focus was on the World Wars, the Holocaust, and the Russian Revolution and following. I think for those topics, I tend to have a harder time accepting fictional accounts when I have read so many nonfiction memoirs and writings about experiences during those times. I say all of this as a preface, because I think it really does affect my reading of historical fiction in so many ways.
I really liked that the premise for this story came from an actual experience, where Jews had to survive by hiding in the sewers. I like that Jenoff changed the location, and fully appreciated the descriptions of Krakow. I could see some of the streets and the main square that I had walked years ago when I was there, and the walk down into the Jewish quarter, the castle. All of it. The descriptions made it easy to picture in your mind where the characters were in the city.
There were many moments that touched on the reality and tragedy of that time in history, especially in countries in eastern Europe. How different people were affected, the things that they saw and experienced, the numerous people who were lost. And how so much of what the Nazis were doing was kept secret. I also liked the integration of a resistance into the story. That was one of the quotes that I actually wrote down from the book: "Because when people look back on the history of this time, at what happened, they should see that we tried to do something." It was a really powerful quote to include, and it was interesting seeing the timing of the quote in comparison to what came next for the characters and the story.
I did find that at the beginning there were some facts and things about the circumstances, setting up for the story, that became a bit repetitive. There were also some other places that could have been edited down.
My biggest criticism, however, is the character development. There are two main characters, Sadie and Ella. And then there are numerous side characters, including Sadie's parents, Pawel, Pan Rosenburg, Saul, the grandmother, Krys, Ana Lucia, Kara, and others. I found that the majority of the characters are not developed fully though, and I had a really hard time with the characters. Ella was the most developed character with a steady personality. Her decisions were to character, and she was the only character I really felt like we got a good grasp on. Sadie was seemingly the main character along with Ella, but I had an incredibly hard time with her character. Both girls are supposed to be 18-19 through the novel. While I can sympathize that Sadie was in an incredibly difficult, trying, and tragic situation, her character was not developed fully. For that age, she was making incredibly selfish decisions, and doing so many things that put herself and the others around her in danger - and not in a good way. It almost seemed like she had no sense of self-preservation, which seemed very unrealistic to me for someone in her situation. She seemed to oscillate between acting like someone incredibly sure of herself, an adult who made smart and conscientious decisions, to a young child who yelled about things in the sewers that echoed and who couldn't make a decision at all, going back and forth between agreeing with someone's decision and then crying and disagreeing with it. I found it so incredibly hard to put the two personalities together into one character. Her character development just didn't work for me in so many ways.
And then there is the ending. While I understand what the author was trying to do, I found it a bit confusing with the change in the formatting for the chapters, and I struggled with the ending. I liked the full circle from the beginning of the book, but the way that it was ended felt a little loosely done to me. I can't quite explain it without getting into full spoilers, which I don't like to write spoilers in my reviews. I think the point was to make you think the story had ended one way, when in fact it twisted to end a way you hadn't expected. And I can appreciate the attempt - but it really didn't work for me. I wasn't looking for a twist at the end. I think it could have been wrapped up in a different way that would have left things more satisfactory.
But that is all just my opinion.
Also, side note. The evil step mother? Really? I understand why it was relevant to the storyline, but I thought we had kind of moved past that trope...
Anyways, this book could be a good read for anyone who likes historical fiction centering around the Holocaust.
Generally, historical fiction is not a genre that I venture into. I studied history for my minor in my degree, and my focus was on the World Wars, the Holocaust, and the Russian Revolution and following. I think for those topics, I tend to have a harder time accepting fictional accounts when I have read so many nonfiction memoirs and writings about experiences during those times. I say all of this as a preface, because I think it really does affect my reading of historical fiction in so many ways.
I really liked that the premise for this story came from an actual experience, where Jews had to survive by hiding in the sewers. I like that Jenoff changed the location, and fully appreciated the descriptions of Krakow. I could see some of the streets and the main square that I had walked years ago when I was there, and the walk down into the Jewish quarter, the castle. All of it. The descriptions made it easy to picture in your mind where the characters were in the city.
There were many moments that touched on the reality and tragedy of that time in history, especially in countries in eastern Europe. How different people were affected, the things that they saw and experienced, the numerous people who were lost. And how so much of what the Nazis were doing was kept secret. I also liked the integration of a resistance into the story. That was one of the quotes that I actually wrote down from the book: "Because when people look back on the history of this time, at what happened, they should see that we tried to do something." It was a really powerful quote to include, and it was interesting seeing the timing of the quote in comparison to what came next for the characters and the story.
I did find that at the beginning there were some facts and things about the circumstances, setting up for the story, that became a bit repetitive. There were also some other places that could have been edited down.
My biggest criticism, however, is the character development. There are two main characters, Sadie and Ella. And then there are numerous side characters, including Sadie's parents, Pawel, Pan Rosenburg, Saul, the grandmother, Krys, Ana Lucia, Kara, and others. I found that the majority of the characters are not developed fully though, and I had a really hard time with the characters. Ella was the most developed character with a steady personality. Her decisions were to character, and she was the only character I really felt like we got a good grasp on. Sadie was seemingly the main character along with Ella, but I had an incredibly hard time with her character. Both girls are supposed to be 18-19 through the novel. While I can sympathize that Sadie was in an incredibly difficult, trying, and tragic situation, her character was not developed fully. For that age, she was making incredibly selfish decisions, and doing so many things that put herself and the others around her in danger - and not in a good way. It almost seemed like she had no sense of self-preservation, which seemed very unrealistic to me for someone in her situation. She seemed to oscillate between acting like someone incredibly sure of herself, an adult who made smart and conscientious decisions, to a young child who yelled about things in the sewers that echoed and who couldn't make a decision at all, going back and forth between agreeing with someone's decision and then crying and disagreeing with it. I found it so incredibly hard to put the two personalities together into one character. Her character development just didn't work for me in so many ways.
And then there is the ending. While I understand what the author was trying to do, I found it a bit confusing with the change in the formatting for the chapters, and I struggled with the ending. I liked the full circle from the beginning of the book, but the way that it was ended felt a little loosely done to me. I can't quite explain it without getting into full spoilers, which I don't like to write spoilers in my reviews. I think the point was to make you think the story had ended one way, when in fact it twisted to end a way you hadn't expected. And I can appreciate the attempt - but it really didn't work for me. I wasn't looking for a twist at the end. I think it could have been wrapped up in a different way that would have left things more satisfactory.
But that is all just my opinion.
Also, side note. The evil step mother? Really? I understand why it was relevant to the storyline, but I thought we had kind of moved past that trope...
Anyways, this book could be a good read for anyone who likes historical fiction centering around the Holocaust.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical content
drowning; I also want to add that the author compares the themes in her novel to the pandemic in her Acknowledgements - which felt like a loose comparison of living in a sewer during the Holocaust to the pandemic. It did make me feel uncomfortable, so just putting that out there in case...