4.53 AVERAGE

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Wow what a book. The honesty and brutality of this story just breaks my heart but we all need to read about these horrors to ensure that we never let this happen again. It’s a horrific story and we can never really say we understand it unless we were there but the beautiful and painful way Edith writes about her life and family and the hope and love she found after such unimaginable horror is just captivating and this book will break you but is is fascinating read.

I think this book is actually my favorite I’ve read this year. I love the way she told her story and emphasized that we always have a choice in our happiness no matter our circumstances. I also loved the beautiful love story that’s told. The fact that it was a true story brought tears to my eyes.
challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

This is a memoir by Dr Edith Eva Eger, a prominent psychiatrist and Holocausts survivor. Edith was a competitive gymnast and dancer who was cut from the Olympic team because she was Jewish. At the age of 16 she was imprisoned in Auschwitz where hours after her parents were killed she was forced to dance for Josef Mengele. In the book, she documents the horrors she and her sister endure to survive and then shares how she moves from victim to survivor in the years after the war.

Eger uses examples from patients she has worked with during her career to highlight how we can embrace the possibilities of life through our choices.

I found the narrative compelling but at times felt she had painted several dots without fully connecting them.
informative inspiring medium-paced
challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

“The only place where we can exercise our freedom of choice is in the present.” 

In her memoir, Dr. Edith Eger recounts her experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust - having lived through time in Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and the
Death March. She has gone on to use her own experiences with PTSD to help others as a psychologist. This was a beautifully written memoir. By weaving together her own life experiences with the lessons she learned while working with her patients, Dr. Eger’s memoir is inspiring and challenges the reader to reflect on their own life and the choices we all have. 

“Here you are! In the sacred present. I can’t heal you—or anyone—but I can celebrate your choice to dismantle the prison in your mind, brick by brick. You can’t change what happened, you can’t change what you did or what was done to you. But you can choose how you live now. My precious, you can choose to be free.” 

“Time doesn't heal. It’s what you do with the time. Healing is possible when we choose to take responsibility, when we choose to take risks, and finally, when we choose to release the wound, to let go of the past or the grief.”

“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.”


5 stars

Survivors don’t have time to ask, “Why me?” For survivors, the only relevant question is, “What now?”

if we are to evolve instead of revolve, it’s time to take action now.

As long as you live, there’s the risk that you might suffer more. There’s also the opportunity to find a way to suffer less, to choose happiness, which requires taking responsibility for yourself.



a beautiful, tragic memior

not really sure how to review non fiction soooo I'll keep this short

i never read non fiction, so im surprised by how much i loved this.
edith is a great role model!! she doesnt let her past define her, but instead, uses it to grow stronger, and help others. the fact that this is a true story is so sad. it opened my eyes to what holocaust was really like, rather than what fictional novels say. i didnt realize there was a ya version until i finished this, though. its called [b:The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice|207293831|The Ballerina of Auschwitz Young Adult Edition of The Choice|Edith Eger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1717183661l/207293831._SX50_.jpg|213364349].
definetly a must read for everyone!!

Tremendo, sobrecogedor y potente. Mucho más de lo que esperaba encontrar y me alegro mucho por esta elección para el club de lectura