Reviews with content warning for Death - The Forest of Vanishing Stars

I have three different opinions of this book. The beginning was meh, the middle I liked, and the ending I really liked. So I landed on that I liked this book.

This is a part of WWII history I have not read before. Set in the forest of Eastern Europe, Yona is a young woman who was stolen from her wealthy German parents at a young age and raised in the wilderness. After her defacto mother figure dies, she comes across some Jews fleeing the Nazis and feels the tug to help them survive. I found this premise fascinating. But the back story of Yona felt stilted and I didn't feel connected to her as a character. Once she met the Jews she was trying to save I started to like her more but still I felt that I was lacking a connection to her character. In the end she became more fleshed out and I began to understand her more. Now, I know that the connection to her character progressing like this over the novel is in fact probably a writing choice and acts as symbolism for the growth of the character, but it made me feel disconnected and it was hard to keep reading in the beginning.

The author's note at the end was perhaps the most fascinating part of the book, but I was missing that spark of authenticity until I read that author's note. I think more of that feeling could have been infused in the story.

*Shallow quibble. This title and the cover do not fit this book at all. Great title, but does not work for this book.

Content Warnings

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Kristin Harmel does it again. She is quickly becoming a must-read author for me.

I absolutely loved this story of Yona and I felt so many different emotions. As someone who even hates camping, I am fascinated by someone's ability to survive and thrive in the wilderness. It took me a solid 70-80 pages for the book to pick up. But once Yona reached adulthood I didn't want to put the book down.

Historical fiction is my comfort genre and it was nice to get lost in this story. Every time you thought you knew what was going to happen there were twists and turns right until the very end. I can't wait to read more of Harmel's books!

Content Warnings