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jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars.
Orly had an idyllic childhood living in Austria with her older brother and her parents. Her father plays viola in the Vienna philharmonic and her mom is an opera singer. Orly spends most of her time with her neighbor Anneliese. The two girls make up stories about a make-believe country occupied by rabbits who drive carrot-mobiles. As WWII looms, Orly's family faces discrimination and harassment because they are Jewish. Some of this harassment comes from Anneliese's parents, though Ana still tries to help Orly. Orly's brother escapes over the border into Switzerland and Orly and her parents secure visas to Bolivia. Orly is 10 when she moves with her parents to Vienna. Life in Bolivia is a culture shock for the family and Orly's mother is not the same. She refuses to sing or even hum. Orly makes some friends and becomes adept at speaking Spanish. However, she yearns for her best friend Anneliese.
This book was an emotional roller coaster. As a reader, you want the best for Orly and her family but know that there will be heart ache. We all know that bad things happened during World War II, particularly to Jewish people. This story takes a slightly different take on the WWII story by following a refugee family to South America. It was interesting seeing their experiences in such a different place. They moved from the very metropolitan Vienna to the mountain-top city of La Paz, where there is no philharmonic and no opera. There are other Jewish refugees there so they do have some sense of community.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2020 Challenge Task #19: A book by or about a refugee
I won a copy of this book from a GoodReads giveaway.
Orly had an idyllic childhood living in Austria with her older brother and her parents. Her father plays viola in the Vienna philharmonic and her mom is an opera singer. Orly spends most of her time with her neighbor Anneliese. The two girls make up stories about a make-believe country occupied by rabbits who drive carrot-mobiles. As WWII looms, Orly's family faces discrimination and harassment because they are Jewish. Some of this harassment comes from Anneliese's parents, though Ana still tries to help Orly. Orly's brother escapes over the border into Switzerland and Orly and her parents secure visas to Bolivia. Orly is 10 when she moves with her parents to Vienna. Life in Bolivia is a culture shock for the family and Orly's mother is not the same. She refuses to sing or even hum. Orly makes some friends and becomes adept at speaking Spanish. However, she yearns for her best friend Anneliese.
This book was an emotional roller coaster. As a reader, you want the best for Orly and her family but know that there will be heart ache. We all know that bad things happened during World War II, particularly to Jewish people. This story takes a slightly different take on the WWII story by following a refugee family to South America. It was interesting seeing their experiences in such a different place. They moved from the very metropolitan Vienna to the mountain-top city of La Paz, where there is no philharmonic and no opera. There are other Jewish refugees there so they do have some sense of community.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2020 Challenge Task #19: A book by or about a refugee
I won a copy of this book from a GoodReads giveaway.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
From the first time I heard that Bolivia was one of the countries that offered visas to Jews trying to escape Nazi repression in the 1930s, I wondered how that had worked out. Remote, at 12,000 feet, politically precarious and not known for culture, how did these erudite Europeans fare? This is what Exile Music is about.
Orly's parents are musicians and they move in the world of orchestras, opera, and Viennese cafes. It's magic until they can no longer be employed, are moved to the ghetto. Willi, Orly's brother, has already vanished into Switzerland to avoid being sent to a labor camp. They manage to get visas for Bolivia, but must leave everyone else behind, including Orly's dear friend Annaliese, whom she has already realized she may desire as more than a friend.
Now they're in Bolivia, where there's no air, it's dirty, they may have to work as farm laborers, and everything is very strange. News takes months to arrive, if it does at all. What sort of community will they create, if they create one at all?
Jennifer Steil has written a taut, imaginative novel of loss and discovery. I was completely pulled in and reveled in Orly's surprising sense of adventure, her growth, her daring exploration of who she is. A marvelous book.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Orly's parents are musicians and they move in the world of orchestras, opera, and Viennese cafes. It's magic until they can no longer be employed, are moved to the ghetto. Willi, Orly's brother, has already vanished into Switzerland to avoid being sent to a labor camp. They manage to get visas for Bolivia, but must leave everyone else behind, including Orly's dear friend Annaliese, whom she has already realized she may desire as more than a friend.
Now they're in Bolivia, where there's no air, it's dirty, they may have to work as farm laborers, and everything is very strange. News takes months to arrive, if it does at all. What sort of community will they create, if they create one at all?
Jennifer Steil has written a taut, imaginative novel of loss and discovery. I was completely pulled in and reveled in Orly's surprising sense of adventure, her growth, her daring exploration of who she is. A marvelous book.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
geo81's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
3.0
keltreads's review against another edition
5.0
top-tier
incredibly immersive, very vivid descriptions, introduces/develops characters really well, and just one overall very impactful story from WWII era and fleeing the Nazis
incredibly immersive, very vivid descriptions, introduces/develops characters really well, and just one overall very impactful story from WWII era and fleeing the Nazis
rseykora's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
xishangal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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? No
5.0
Beautifully written. A fascinating story based on history I was unaware of
julia0000's review against another edition
4.0
It’s beautifully written, though the beginning is emotionally quite heavy and the ending is a bit rushed. It is a coming of age story with wlw elements set during and after Holocaust.
cdsy's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
abbie_'s review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Antisemitism, Vomit, Genocide, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, War, Murder, Suicide, and Hate crime