Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Night by Elie Wiesel

95 reviews

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I didn't realize going into this that it was nonfiction, and that the author was only 15 during these events. There are no words that are adequate enough to describe what happened to Elie Wiesel. I can't believe I've never read this before, and I also can't believe how long this tiny book feels. How can so much unimaginable suffering be contained in something so small? 

This book will haunt me, and everyone should read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Deportation, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Torture, and Death

Minor: Pedophilia and Trafficking

readandfindout's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

On first read in 2017: 5 stars. I think what stood out the most to me while reading this was the raw honesty of Wiesel's experience. We don't just see the external brutality of concentration camps; we also get to see how it impacts who the victims became as people, how their inner dialogue changed.

He doesn't skate over his doubts in the mercy of God, his inner voice occasionally urging him to leave his father to be rid of the burden of anyone but himself.

This is not a romanticized perspective on the Holocaust. This is from the view of someone who lived it.

2023 reread: 4.25 stars

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Torture, Death, Violence, and War

amongthestars's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Hate crime, War, Emotional abuse, and Grief

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Antisemitism, Blood, Murder, Torture, Violence, Body shaming, War, Genocide, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Slavery

matidareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Violence, Racism, Death of parent, Child death, Body horror, and Death

queerloras's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Murder, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Trafficking, War, Child death, Deportation, Genocide, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Adult/minor relationship

book_reader_lover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

5.0

Wow! I finished this last night and had to take a minute with my emotions. I read this in one day. I think everyone in the world needs to read this book. There is so much hate out there. 

This book is a true witness account of what happened during the Holocaust to one young boy. I cried. What he witnessed and saw is unbelievable. I don't know that I could be as strong as he was. 

I think if everyone read this book, then maybe things would change. History shouldn't be hid, it should be put out there, where hopefully we learn from it and don't repeat it. The way this world is now, I am afraid we are going to repeat some terrible things from our past. I pray we don't.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Genocide, Child death, and Death

Minor: Deportation

onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Genocide, and Child death

rhilberg's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Murder

Moderate: Deportation, Grief, and Child death

124smilehd's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.75

I remember reading this book in high school and not being as interested because it was something I had to read. Rereading this as an adult has made a whirl of a diffrence. My copy had the preface, forward from the original french publication, and speech from the Nobel prize award which gave me so much more context and insight. It also helped me delve into further research about the topic and Wiesel himself.

The story itself is a dark and honest recount of a boy who survived the holocaust and it shows the progression of his lost of hope, faith and even humanity. By his own admission, by the end when his

father dies

he feels nothing but relief, just as others before him had abandoned loved ones in order to keep themselves alive. As a reader you can't help but feel the heartbreak as he breaks both from internal and external tortures.

The book is beautifully written, with phrases that I will never forget and will probably keep me thinking for years to come. This is thanks to the tremendous skill of his wife, Marion Wiesel, who is the translator of this edition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Genocide, Antisemitism, Violence, War, Gore, Child death, Death, Police brutality, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical content and Deportation