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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
The Doctor's Daughter is the story of a "Privileged family" and a pair of Jewish siblings sent to the Auschwitz concenteration camp in Nazi occupied Poland.
For me, all World War 2 books share a theme of horror filled emotional journey which held true for this one as well. The details about the lives in concenteration camps and how easily Nazi shed their humanity to torture all these souls always gives me chills. And for this particular book, it was all the more horrifying considering both siblings were mere children when they were brought into the camps and the things they go through is bound to make anyone's heart ache.
Sofia and her mother on the other hand do everything they can to help these people in any and every way but their options are limited and eyes on them 24 x 7 doesn't make it any easier. I could understand where Freidrich was coming from when he accepted the position but it didn't make me any less frustrated. Obviously, it's easy for us to say what someone should have done while reading about it but only the people who truly survived those times know why they did what they did.
The romanic element in here though was not something I typically look for in these books and it felt to me like the author was trying to give it all a positive spin by. It certainly seemed a bit misplaced to me tbh.
For me, all World War 2 books share a theme of horror filled emotional journey which held true for this one as well. The details about the lives in concenteration camps and how easily Nazi shed their humanity to torture all these souls always gives me chills. And for this particular book, it was all the more horrifying considering both siblings were mere children when they were brought into the camps and the things they go through is bound to make anyone's heart ache.
Sofia and her mother on the other hand do everything they can to help these people in any and every way but their options are limited and eyes on them 24 x 7 doesn't make it any easier. I could understand where Freidrich was coming from when he accepted the position but it didn't make me any less frustrated. Obviously, it's easy for us to say what someone should have done while reading about it but only the people who truly survived those times know why they did what they did.
The romanic element in here though was not something I typically look for in these books and it felt to me like the author was trying to give it all a positive spin by
Spoiler
making us have a happy ending for Isaac, Sophia, Olivia and Lena which I don't think people really got during the Holocaust.
3.5 stars rounding up. A WW2 novel about Auschwitz and a family determined to help in any way they can. There is a side love story which helps lighten the heavy subject matter.
In the midst of WWII, Sofia struggles to remain true to her virtues. Her father, a Protestant doctor working for the SS, does everything in his power to keep his Jewish wife and daughter safe. His religion and status help his family stay alive but Sofia can no longer stand and watch her fellow Jews be murdered. She knows she must do something. When she meets Isaac, a young man forced to work at a concentration camp hear her home, she realizes this could be her chance. She must risk everything for what is right.
Author Shari J Ryan had me on a deep and powerful emotional rollercoaster with this heart-tugging novel. We follow Sofia's inner battle between obeying her father's wishes to stay safe and longing to help those in need. She knows putting her thoughts into action could mean the end of her life, as well as her loved ones, too. Siblings Isaac and Olivia try to stay together while fighting for their very lives. Their struggles between giving up and staying hopeful are difficult to read, knowing abuse like this was very real at the hands of the Nazis. One critique I had was the pacing was not as smooth as it could have been. The large jumps in time could have been filled in with more detail and story as this is a fairly quick read. Overall, though, the suspense throughout and touching ending combined made for a great historical fiction book that would make a fantastic movie!
Author Shari J Ryan had me on a deep and powerful emotional rollercoaster with this heart-tugging novel. We follow Sofia's inner battle between obeying her father's wishes to stay safe and longing to help those in need. She knows putting her thoughts into action could mean the end of her life, as well as her loved ones, too. Siblings Isaac and Olivia try to stay together while fighting for their very lives. Their struggles between giving up and staying hopeful are difficult to read, knowing abuse like this was very real at the hands of the Nazis. One critique I had was the pacing was not as smooth as it could have been. The large jumps in time could have been filled in with more detail and story as this is a fairly quick read. Overall, though, the suspense throughout and touching ending combined made for a great historical fiction book that would make a fantastic movie!