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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Didn’t enjoy it at first, but it picked up. Found it moving, was left unresolved and not necessarily completely happy, which was good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, Murder
A young woman in 1960s Germany learns hard truths about her country and her own family while working as translator at a war crimes trial. An unusual take on a well-worn topic, with a protagonist who shows personal growth.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This had the potential to be interesting ... too bad it wasn't. The first 3/4 of the books dragged and the last 1/4 felt boring. The book had potential - it's about the trials in Germany where a lot of high ranking SS officers get their punishment. The main character Eva is asked to join the trials because they need a German Polish transator and she knows the language. Throughout the trial she discovers that her own parents were involved, they also lived in the Auschwitz and her father was the cook for Nazis. She doesn't exactly forgive them by the end of the book but at least we learn why they were so against her translating on the trials. Her sister copes with trauma by eating a ton of food and by poisoning the babies she works with at the hospital with cholera, so she can then save them and be thanked - one of the doctors discoveres that but instead of reporting her or helping her seek help he marries her and they move away to another town - that felt so wrong on so many levels. The only character I cared about was David, but it turns out that he was lying part way through the book and he is assumed dead before the end - I wish that Eva and David ended up together by the end because I hated jorgen with passion and I didn't find myself rooting for them at all - so when they are together again at the end of the book instead of going ooh finally I am so happy for them I found myself cringing and groaning because I loathed this man - he is controlling and constantly jealous and speaking in her name, he goes behind her back and demands that they remove her from the trials and he is just generally a weird guy - granted we learn about some of the trauma that caused that towards the end of the book but I didn't really find myself caring, I didn't really care about any of the characters in fact even the victims because they are barely in the story. Overall, one of my if not my least favourite book about holocaust.
A história em si é boa, mas a personagem principal é fracamente desenvolvida, não gostei do seu percurso na história e não consegui criar empatia com ela. Além disso, o final é fraco e sem sentido, deixando coisas em aberto que não se entendem. As personagens secundárias também podiam ser bastante melhores e vários aspetos podiam ser muito melhor esclarecidos.
Ainda assim, é uma leitura emocionante e crua, tendo em conta o tema do livro, deixando-nos angustiados.
Ainda assim, é uma leitura emocionante e crua, tendo em conta o tema do livro, deixando-nos angustiados.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Eva Bruhns is a young German woman working as a translator. Her life changes when she take up a post as translator for the Auschwitz Trials in Frankfurt. At the same time she is in a burgeoning relationship with Jurgen, a wealthy man who wants her to bend to his will in what she should and should not do.
There is a third storyline involving her sister Annegret which whilst very interesting has little relevance to the main story line unless it is commenting on character and how it develops. It is this that made the book 4 rather than 5 stars as I felt it didn't really have a place in the novel. I felt the Author would have been bette placed developing Eva's moral questions
It is hard to write a review for this book without giving away the factors that make it surprising, complex and filled with raw emotion. I felt it had a lot to make the reader think and I will remember it for a long time
There is a third storyline involving her sister Annegret which whilst very interesting has little relevance to the main story line unless it is commenting on character and how it develops. It is this that made the book 4 rather than 5 stars as I felt it didn't really have a place in the novel. I felt the Author would have been bette placed developing Eva's moral questions
It is hard to write a review for this book without giving away the factors that make it surprising, complex and filled with raw emotion. I felt it had a lot to make the reader think and I will remember it for a long time
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced