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nasab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn’t think I would love it this much! It reminded me of why I love historical fiction! The characters aren’t real, but the experience is! This is a story I’ll be thinking about for a long time. I’m just surprised that I’ve never heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff, despite it being the deadliest disaster in maritime history. I’m glad Ruta Sepetys is contributing to its recognition.
War is ugly. Some use it as an excuse for their horrible actions, but most people just want to live peacefully with their families and loved ones and don’t care about politics. It saddens me that innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, war isn’t something in the past; it’s still affecting many innocent people in Gaza right this moment. الله يرفع عنهم وينصرهم.
I can’t bring myself to talk about the plot and characters because I’m still processing it, and it’s making me so sad.
Joana the nurse. Florian the artist. Emilia the selfless. Heinz the shoe poet. Ingrid the blind. Klaus the wandering boy. Halinka the baby. Eva the sorry giant. And last and definitely least, Alfred the idiot.
I'm feeling so many emotions right now that I can't put into words. It's a sign of a 5-star read.
Minor: Child death, Racism, Abandonment, Rape, War, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Blood, and Pregnancy
antonebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Child death, Xenophobia, War, Sexual violence, and Death
Moderate: Rape
sarahlove6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Minor: War, Murder, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Animal death, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Vomit, and Genocide
penguin96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, War, Racism, and Death
taracloudclark's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, War, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Rape, Child abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Hate crime, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty
aphrochilds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit
romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well.
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Racial slurs and Misogyny
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Violence, Grief, Deportation, Death of parent, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, War, Physical abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Murder, Child abuse, Body horror, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
allyssa30's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Racism, Deportation, War, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
kylajaynebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Murder, Racism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Genocide, Gore, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Vomit, and War