Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

41 reviews

nicoles_books_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book killed me harder than the tattooist I think I was because of all the horrific things that happened to children. The story telling was amazing in this book,recommended read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Child death, Death, and Genocide

gemstone's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Child death, Racism, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, and Physical abuse

Moderate: War, Confinement, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia and Trafficking

oliviawalker's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism and Genocide

lauren_e_d's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was captivating. It was emotional, strong, and a testament to the people and the strength they had in the holocaust. I loved seeing all the different stories and how they ended, even if it was not how I hoped. It was a fascinating new view on the holocaust and it was even better and emotional knowing it was true. The character changes were slightly confusing at times, but overall awesome. This book was amazing, heartbreaking, strong, emotional, and powerful. Definitely recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and War

bruunaalonso's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

great book!! had no hopes for it, surprised me positively:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, War, Violence, Torture, Murder, Gun violence, Genocide, Excrement, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Child death

alyssa_simard's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book has been very hyped and I understand why. It hits so many emotional notes and you can't help but love Dita and the other characters. I like how we hear so many perspectives including those from the Nazi side whose actions are humanised but not excused.

I could tell that this was based on real experiences as it felt deeply personal with all of the different details and threads.

WWII fiction is a slightly oversaturated genre but this stands out as one of the best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Confinement and Death of parent

juliannem's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Torture, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Child death

valeriabee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

 I never understood the desire to be entertained by people's traumas? This book is based on the life of Dita Kraus, and the author took some artistic liberties by fictionalizing parts of her story. For this reason, it is hard to tell what is true and what is not. I have seen people complain that the narration lacks emotion or passion, but I don't see why that emotion needs to be exaggerated when you're dealing with the genocide of a people. Despite being uncertain about the accuracy of the details, I found the book to be honest. You get the sense of dejection, anger, fear, hopelessness, helplessness, rebellion, and perseverance from the prisoners of Auschwitz. The book is honest about deception, it is honest about the desire to be hopeful, the desire to escape, the desire to survive. There were disturbing moments when you realize some prisoners would take advantage of the more vulnerable for their own survival. At the end of the day, they were all desperate to survive. 

I saw someone on GoodReads that they prefer this novel to The Diary of a Young Girl because they found Young Girl to be boring. It is icky to me to desire entertainment from a book about such terrible traumas. I was moved by the honesty of the narrative, independent of the accuracy. It is not five stars because the weird limbo between reality and fiction confuses the narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, and Torture

antoniarachael28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse