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kablitt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
liz_ross's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
"Everyone affected by war, captivity or aggression reacts differently, and away from it people might try to guess how they would act, or react, in the circumstances. But they do not really know."
There are already so many, many books about WWII. So many books about Auschwitz, about its horrors and what the prisoners there went through. Stories of courage, of survival. And love, because love can be found even in the darkest and cruelest places. But they are still not enough, they will never be enough. Because no matter how many books about that time exist, they will never be enough to remeber every single soul that was tortured, destroyed, broken during that time. There will always be stories, people that will be forgotten, no matter how hard people try to find them. Stories of courage, survival and love that will never be remembered, that we will never know about.
Cilka's story is one of them. We will never know everything about her, we will never really now her story because she never got the chance to tell it herself. Morris did an amazing work, which I admire, searching for all those informations about her, about everything she went through. But this story is still not Cilka's. There are parts missing, parts that didn't happen exactly like it's described in this book. And yet, isn't it better to have this story, even if incomplete and probably not that accurate, than do not have her story at all? I believe it is, because even if the story isn't exactly like this, we have enough here to see Cilka as she was. A fighter, a survivor, a courageous person who lived a life no one deserves. Cilka's Journey is a story of courage, sacrifice and love that uncovers some of the most terrible mistakes that were made once the war was over.
Cilka chose to live, to survive in Auschwitz. Cilka chose to do not give up, to keep fighting, believing that one day the nightmare would be over and she would be free. No one can blame her, or anyone living under such cruel conditions, for doing what is needed to survive. And yet, once the war was over, the USSR looked at her and decided that she should be punished for wanting to live. She was raped again and again, but all the militars saw was someone who slept with the enemy. And because of that she was punished, sent to the coldest place on the face of Earth, from one hell to another. She was punished for being raped. And we would be stupid to think she was the only one. Many like Cilka suffered a destiny like her's, were punished for wanting to live.
That's one of the things that touched me the most. That after surviving in a place like Auschwitz, Cilka still had to pay for doing so. It wasn't the pnly one that touched me, though, and through the book I found many things, little details that touched me. The courage of all those women, the little sacrifices they were willing to do for each other. Those are the things that touched me and that make this story so beautiful.
But to be honest, I can't say that I appreciated this book since the beginning. However, it is not the book' fault. It's mine. When I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka was one of the characters I couldn't connect with. She hadn't enough development. I do not really blame Morris for that, because after all it was Lale's story and he didn't really know Cilka during that time and what she went through to offer Morris enough details. But, when I opened this book, the idea I had from Cilka was one of a character that I couldn't connect with. And then I discovered that unlike Lale's story, Cilka's wasn't told by her, that it relied the most in documents Morris could find. And no one can truly believe that official documents will ever make justice to all the horrors those people in the Gulag went through.
And the result was me refusing to allow myself to even try to connect with Cilka. I simply didn't want to connect with a character that was meant to be a real person but without really being her (if that makes any sense). And because of that, everything I was reading even if touching, wasn't affecting me as it should, because I didn't connect with Cilka. I needed days to reach the 50% mark because of that. And then an event that happened near that mark and that didn't have the impact it should made me realize how stupid I was being. I was stopping myself from enjoying the book. So I took a deep breath and restarted the book. But this time I made an effort to forget that Cilka was not really Cilka, I told myself it didn't matter. And Cilka became real, the story became much more touching and heartbreaking. Things started to matter. And I started actually enjoying the reading. And in one day I read the entire book. Finally I was seeing Cilka as I believe that Morris wanted the readers to see her - not as one single woman but as a personification of all the women who suffered a destiny similar to Cilka's. She and the friends she made were not just people but a way for us to see different ways to survive in a place meant to kill you, different forms of courage and sacrifice.
The only complain I really have is the same I found in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. This story is meant to be based on real events and real people. So, please stop offering me love at first sight romances. It really doesn't work like that and even if it is undeniably beautiful to see that love can survive and exist even in places like Auschwitz and the Gulag, they make me cringe just to think about them. That's not how love works!
Overall, this book is definetly an emotional reading that has the power to make us see how unfair some of Auschwitz survivors were treated. But more than that, it is a story of friendship and courage that makes sure that one more survivor is remembered.
"She is just surviving. There is no one way to do it."
There are already so many, many books about WWII. So many books about Auschwitz, about its horrors and what the prisoners there went through. Stories of courage, of survival. And love, because love can be found even in the darkest and cruelest places. But they are still not enough, they will never be enough. Because no matter how many books about that time exist, they will never be enough to remeber every single soul that was tortured, destroyed, broken during that time. There will always be stories, people that will be forgotten, no matter how hard people try to find them. Stories of courage, survival and love that will never be remembered, that we will never know about.
Cilka's story is one of them. We will never know everything about her, we will never really now her story because she never got the chance to tell it herself. Morris did an amazing work, which I admire, searching for all those informations about her, about everything she went through. But this story is still not Cilka's. There are parts missing, parts that didn't happen exactly like it's described in this book. And yet, isn't it better to have this story, even if incomplete and probably not that accurate, than do not have her story at all? I believe it is, because even if the story isn't exactly like this, we have enough here to see Cilka as she was. A fighter, a survivor, a courageous person who lived a life no one deserves. Cilka's Journey is a story of courage, sacrifice and love that uncovers some of the most terrible mistakes that were made once the war was over.
Cilka chose to live, to survive in Auschwitz. Cilka chose to do not give up, to keep fighting, believing that one day the nightmare would be over and she would be free. No one can blame her, or anyone living under such cruel conditions, for doing what is needed to survive. And yet, once the war was over, the USSR looked at her and decided that she should be punished for wanting to live. She was raped again and again, but all the militars saw was someone who slept with the enemy. And because of that she was punished, sent to the coldest place on the face of Earth, from one hell to another. She was punished for being raped. And we would be stupid to think she was the only one. Many like Cilka suffered a destiny like her's, were punished for wanting to live.
That's one of the things that touched me the most. That after surviving in a place like Auschwitz, Cilka still had to pay for doing so. It wasn't the pnly one that touched me, though, and through the book I found many things, little details that touched me. The courage of all those women, the little sacrifices they were willing to do for each other. Those are the things that touched me and that make this story so beautiful.
But to be honest, I can't say that I appreciated this book since the beginning. However, it is not the book' fault. It's mine. When I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka was one of the characters I couldn't connect with. She hadn't enough development. I do not really blame Morris for that, because after all it was Lale's story and he didn't really know Cilka during that time and what she went through to offer Morris enough details. But, when I opened this book, the idea I had from Cilka was one of a character that I couldn't connect with. And then I discovered that unlike Lale's story, Cilka's wasn't told by her, that it relied the most in documents Morris could find. And no one can truly believe that official documents will ever make justice to all the horrors those people in the Gulag went through.
And the result was me refusing to allow myself to even try to connect with Cilka. I simply didn't want to connect with a character that was meant to be a real person but without really being her (if that makes any sense). And because of that, everything I was reading even if touching, wasn't affecting me as it should, because I didn't connect with Cilka. I needed days to reach the 50% mark because of that. And then an event that happened near that mark and that didn't have the impact it should made me realize how stupid I was being. I was stopping myself from enjoying the book. So I took a deep breath and restarted the book. But this time I made an effort to forget that Cilka was not really Cilka, I told myself it didn't matter. And Cilka became real, the story became much more touching and heartbreaking. Things started to matter. And I started actually enjoying the reading. And in one day I read the entire book. Finally I was seeing Cilka as I believe that Morris wanted the readers to see her - not as one single woman but as a personification of all the women who suffered a destiny similar to Cilka's. She and the friends she made were not just people but a way for us to see different ways to survive in a place meant to kill you, different forms of courage and sacrifice.
The only complain I really have is the same I found in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. This story is meant to be based on real events and real people. So, please stop offering me love at first sight romances. It really doesn't work like that and even if it is undeniably beautiful to see that love can survive and exist even in places like Auschwitz and the Gulag, they make me cringe just to think about them. That's not how love works!
Overall, this book is definetly an emotional reading that has the power to make us see how unfair some of Auschwitz survivors were treated. But more than that, it is a story of friendship and courage that makes sure that one more survivor is remembered.
"She is just surviving. There is no one way to do it."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: War and Pregnancy
punnypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
I read this book cover to cover in less than 12 hours, it is so gripping. I highly recommend anything written by Heather Morris
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Body shaming, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
lucys_library's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
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