Reviews

We Must Not Think of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein

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yankeebk's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.75

kelseymcg20's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

rmarcin's review against another edition

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4.0

Heartbreaking account of the Jewish people in Poland who were forced from their homes to move to the Warsaw ghetto. During this time, Adam Paskow, a widower, is asked to take testimony from people to preserve the experience of living in the ghetto for history to remember them. He agrees, and he takes interviews of his young students to whom he is teaching English.
When he is moved to the ghetto, he is put in an apartment with two families. One of the mothers in the apartment, Sala, and Adam become friendly and fall in love. Adam desperately misses his deceased wife, who was Catholic, but takes comfort in Sala's arms.
As Adam attempts to escape the ghetto, he has to make a heart-wrenching decision on who to save. This is a book that will stay with me a long time. It is based on true events and was inspired by a true project.

sweil05's review

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dark emotional 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

lady_whistle_down's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

emmasbookishself's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

“Although separated by language, continents, and decades, I did my best to hear, and to share, what they could not shout out to the world.”

This is a work of fiction but it’s based on the historical events surrounding the Oneg Shabbat Archives which contained a collection of diary entries that were found buried in a milk can in the Warsaw Ghetto after its destruction.

I expected to feel very emotional while reading this book- and don’t get me wrong the subject matter is very heavy, but I found the characters lacked depth and I didn’t feel as strongly connected to them. I did enjoy the diary entities that were included as part of the storyline and I do feel that keeping record of history as it’s happening around us is an important thing.

The story is incredibly notable, and sheds light and education on an important event that happened during WWll.

If you enjoy historical fiction that mixes very personal and touching diary entries, I’d highly recommend this one.