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jennrocca's review against another edition
1.0
Tried and gave up. This book was too depressing, too hopeless. I finally just asked to hear the ending from a friend. I was relieved to know so that I didn't have to bother reading any more.
Other people seem to like it. But not for me.
Other people seem to like it. But not for me.
missyjohnson's review
3.0
the first half of this book was really good. maybe even 4 star level. then it fell into melodrama. what a disappointment. Julia's irrational and impulsive behavior was a little hard to swallow. No one can tell me that they didn't know the name of the baby WAY before it was revealed. oh please the Lucy ploy was lame.
aotora's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
2.0
I finally got around to reading this book.. and it was disappointing. I mean the story was good - it's yet another Holocaust story but this one tells us about the Jews that were rounded up and deported from Paris- mainly children that shouldn't even be deported. So far so good - the main character is Sarah, the girl who locks her brother in a cupboard thinking that they will come back the next day because her parents choose to not tell her the horrible truth - parallel to her story we get another one from an American woman who is writting an article about the round up and learning about what happened and about Sarah whose family lived in the house she inherited from her husband's grandma. Sarah escapes and goes back, only to find that her brother died in the cupboard and she later commits suicide out of guilt - but after that the books focuses to the other main character and it just loses the thread. It's no longer really interesting and I didn't really care for it after we find out that Sarah died. It was all right but it had a chance to tell an interesting story but it instead chose to go and tell a boring one about a woman and her obnoxious husband trying to find out what happened whilst dealing with marital problems.
sandiet's review against another edition
5.0
A very sad fictional novel about the true story of thousands of Jewish families who were arrested in Paris in 1942, held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver outside the city and then sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. For the first half of the book the story is told using 2 different voices; Sarah is 12 when her and her family are taken to Vel d’Hiv and the second voice is Julia, a journalist assigned to write a story covering the 60th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv roundups. This book was educational because I had never heard of this particular episode in history, but also very sad because over 4,000 children and their families were taken to their deaths.
catbrigand's review against another edition
1.0
Great premise. Shame about the prose and half the plot.
tashaseegmiller's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this book up and simply could not bring myself to put it down. I was shocked, saddened, hopeful and crushed several times and finally proud and satisfied. I simply couldn't ask for more from a book.
utahmomreads's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for my book club this month and it will be an interesting discussion.