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directorpurry's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death
Minor: War and Genocide
themargherita_s's review against another edition
4.0
It's not a light read, because of the discussion of generational trauma related to both being Jewish and immigrants, as well as for having a monster that preys on kids. But it was beautifully written and also poetic in a way that makes you feel exactly all the magic of the city and the story itself.
I promise I’m not one of those adults that complain when books for teens read as books for teens— I knew this was a young adult book, but it felt younger than I thought it would be. I think it’s probably because the main character is very naive and trusting, and because even though the story takes place over a lot of days, it’s written in a fast paced way that makes the romantic storyline feel more insta love or superficial than it’s supposed to be.
Content Warnings: death, antisemitism, genocide, war, violence, child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping/man tricking kids into going home with him, confinement.
I promise I’m not one of those adults that complain when books for teens read as books for teens— I knew this was a young adult book, but it felt younger than I thought it would be. I think it’s probably because the main character is very naive and trusting, and because even though the story takes place over a lot of days, it’s written in a fast paced way that makes the romantic storyline feel more insta love or superficial than it’s supposed to be.
Content Warnings: death, antisemitism, genocide, war, violence, child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping/man tricking kids into going home with him, confinement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault, Confinement, Kidnapping, and War
stephanielee's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
I was recommended this book and did not pay attention ahead of time that it is written in prose. But I loved it. The story, the characters, the history, all of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Genocide
Moderate: Child death and War
ammah's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: War and Genocide
readingwithkaitlyn's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, War, and Violence
preciouslittleingenue's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Finished this in pretty much one sitting. It went very fast and the writing was not my favorite. I feel like I could take a shot every time the author used “like a fist” as a metaphor and gotten pretty wasted. This was very obviously a YA novel so I’ll blame it’s simplicity on that.
The thematic metaphors were very strong. I was VERY struck by the graveyard of children’s shoes in the Black House. Super deliberate Holocaust reference that wasn’t too heavy handed. Even just the fact that Wasserman was German preying on a Jewish cemetery. You don’t need to squint to see the parallel but it’s not beating me over the head either. My favorite culmination of these parallels was Ilana’s “my people will always outlive you.” Because she doesn’t just mean her descendants will last longer than his single lifetime. She means every violent act against her people, every attempt to eliminate the Jews…has always and will always fail. They will outlive every attempt to remove them as a people from the world. I found that really beautiful.
It was such a brief work that I didn’t really feel the love connection between Ilana and Benjamin, but they’re also only sixteen. I don’t know, I just wasn’t that devastated when they were separated forever by his crossing over. But at the end of the day, the crafting of the narrative and it’s parallels was pretty expert, even if language and characterization was not. This was a great quick/short read for me to use to desperately reach my 2022 reading goal as December rapidly approaches.
OH. EDIT. Because I forgot to mention how much I loathed the audiobook narrator. Her German accent was actually painful to sit through. And her delivery of certain phrases was so cringeworthy. Maybe I’d have cared more about the characters and felt more connection between them if she wasn’t so awful.
The thematic metaphors were very strong. I was VERY struck by the graveyard of children’s shoes in the Black House. Super deliberate Holocaust reference that wasn’t too heavy handed. Even just the fact that Wasserman was German preying on a Jewish cemetery. You don’t need to squint to see the parallel but it’s not beating me over the head either. My favorite culmination of these parallels was Ilana’s “my people will always outlive you.” Because she doesn’t just mean her descendants will last longer than his single lifetime. She means every violent act against her people, every attempt to eliminate the Jews…has always and will always fail. They will outlive every attempt to remove them as a people from the world. I found that really beautiful.
It was such a brief work that I didn’t really feel the love connection between Ilana and Benjamin, but they’re also only sixteen. I don’t know, I just wasn’t that devastated when they were separated forever by his crossing over. But at the end of the day, the crafting of the narrative and it’s parallels was pretty expert, even if language and characterization was not. This was a great quick/short read for me to use to desperately reach my 2022 reading goal as December rapidly approaches.
OH. EDIT. Because I forgot to mention how much I loathed the audiobook narrator. Her German accent was actually painful to sit through. And her delivery of certain phrases was so cringeworthy. Maybe I’d have cared more about the characters and felt more connection between them if she wasn’t so awful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Child death, War, and Genocide
bookishaddictions's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
I snagged this beauty via @libby.app after finding this in the poetry category. I’m not huge on poetry, but I really enjoyed following along as Iliana explored Prague. Romero explores the identity struggles faced by Jewish Latinx people, especially as individuals like Iliana are still trying to heal from the multi-generational trauma. I loved the way Romero emphasized the beauty of music and of Iliana’s love for Hebrew traditions, as these were critical parts of who she is. The love shared between Iliana and other characters also added to the magic of the story, though I’ll acknowledge the ghosts helped with that one too. I would definitely recommend this story to others, and I’m hoping to snag a copy for my class library! 🎻
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Genocide
Minor: War
sarasreadingnook's review
4.0
Haunting, entrancing, and so poetic.
Absolutely beautiful story of a biracial Jewish girl who is sent away to stay with her aunt in Prague. I was soon hooked after reading the first chapter and read this book late at night finding it difficult to put down.
Ilana is torn between pursuing her parent’s wishes of having a stable career, for example in the sciences or medicine, and becoming a violinist. While she’s in Prague, she learns about a forgotten Jewish ancestry, encounters a ghost name Benjamin and also a man with no shadow, Rudolf Wassermann and is compelled to know their stories.
The book stresses the importance of remembering our history. Quick and impactful read - I recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetic storytelling and is intrigued by the synopsis.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a review copy. All opinions are my own.
Absolutely beautiful story of a biracial Jewish girl who is sent away to stay with her aunt in Prague. I was soon hooked after reading the first chapter and read this book late at night finding it difficult to put down.
Ilana is torn between pursuing her parent’s wishes of having a stable career, for example in the sciences or medicine, and becoming a violinist. While she’s in Prague, she learns about a forgotten Jewish ancestry, encounters a ghost name Benjamin and also a man with no shadow, Rudolf Wassermann and is compelled to know their stories.
The book stresses the importance of remembering our history. Quick and impactful read - I recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetic storytelling and is intrigued by the synopsis.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a review copy. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Antisemitism, and Genocide
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Violence, and Antisemitism
rebyreadsandwrites's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Violence, and War
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