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bethusery's review
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This was a great book. It was tough to read, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, and Death
lostintheplot's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Rape and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent
romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
4.25
Okay okay okay. So much to say here. This book absolutely wrecked me. But I loved it.
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well. he dies
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well.
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Racial slurs and Misogyny
froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Just… deeply okay
Het is oprecht knap om een oorlogsboek te schrijven waarbij ik bijna niets voel voor elk personage 😭
Het is oprecht knap om een oorlogsboek te schrijven waarbij ik bijna niets voel voor elk personage 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, War, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
zezeki's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
avadesiree's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, and War
jkmeineke's review against another edition
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Probably the saddest book I've ever read with the most unlikable character I've ever read. An important piece of literature and a book that will stick with me forever, but it's haunting (which I think the author was going for...)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and War
emily_koopmann's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, War, Xenophobia, Death, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Medical content
arlingtonchamberofgay's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Child death, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Trafficking and Medical content
Minor: Rape