Reviews

This is a YA book that I read to find out if/when I should suggest my kids read it. It takes place in Germany before and during WWII. The story is about a girl who loses her family and is taken in as a foster child by a poor family in a hardscrabble town outside Munich. It deals with the rise of Nazism, the persecution of the Jews, and later the bombings during the war. Guess what--it's pretty sad! But then again the girl is able to find some good in life through reading and later writing books. What could have been a sappy triumph of the human spirit story is fortunately treated unsentimentally and originally. However, the writing is at times quite sloppy (could be the fault of the translation) and self-indulgent; I especially hate the spoilers a la Kite Runner, e.g. "Little did he know that he would be dead within a month." I hate that sh*t! But it's better the the aforementioned Kite Runner--much less formulaic. I'll let my kids read it if they want around 13 or so.

nym_dragneel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

wytte's review against another edition

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3.0

I have very mixed feelings about this book so let's just leave it at 3 stars

annegillette's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

felix_benjamin's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

jillyclaire23's review

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5.0

I read this a long time ago but it still sticks in my brain. Of course I wasn’t expecting to love a book narrated by death itself, but it was the most empathetic and vibrant storytelling so I was sucked in. There is an element of morbid curiosity to reading this book, but also a deep sense of humanity. I still remember how tactile and vivid every setting (specifically the sky) was—I have specific images in my head to this day, like the boiling soup sky. Beautiful, innovative writing. The first novel I read outside of school that I couldn’t put down.

clvalles's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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