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brookey8888's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was fine. Not what I was expecting. I enjoyed the first hundred pages(except the writing style). Then we lose a narrative part that I was enjoying way more. We started just focusing on Julie and how she felt about the things that happened and her stupid husband. Honestly while I was reading I had plot points that would have made this better and when they didn’t happen and it was just about Julia I was disappointed. That being said I am happy I read this because I honestly didn’t really know that these events took place in France.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, War, Suicide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Police brutality, Abortion, Antisemitism, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Infertility, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, and Confinement
kiahsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Genocide, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Child death, and Confinement
Moderate: Miscarriage, War, Suicide, Infertility, Murder, Death of parent, and Infidelity
katsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
“Zakhor. Al Tichkah. Remember. Never forget.”
“How was it possible that entire lives could change, could be destroyed, and that streets and buildings remained the same"
“The eyes of a woman in the face of a ten-year-old girl.”
"...It's not easy to bring back the past. There are unpleasant surprises. The truth is harder than ignorance”
I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first time I read it. Sarah's perspective was definitely more compelling than Julia's. It absolutely breaks your heart. Be ready to have your heart literally ripped out. I thought the writing was fairly good. It kept me engaged and interested which is surprising because I remembered one of the major impactful moments of the novel. However, I was really surprised because that moment happened about 60% of the way through the novel. I think it speaks to the weakness of Julia's perspective that I couldn't recall much about it. In fact, by the last 50 pages or so, I was just really hoping things would wrap up. While I found Julia's POV interesting, it wasn't nearly as impactful or compelling as Sarah's. Really, I think the fact that Julia and Sarah's stories were told next to each other made Julia's seem superfluous and pale in comparison. For context, I recognize and really appreciate the commentary about France's role in the Holocaust. Often in history, they are painted as victims because of the ocupation but that completely dismisses the active role the French government and French police took in rounding up as many Jews as they could and deporting them to concentration camps and the underlying systemic Anti-Semitism that made it easy to do so. And unlike Germany, this is not a history that is actively talked about and taught. The author made it clear that most French people are woefully uninformed and apathetic to the role their country played in the extermination of French Jews. So I can see the parallel the author was drawing to Julia and her apathy to her husband while at the same time being so invested in telling Sarah's story. I appreciated the dissonance and how it complicated the character. However, I still felt like Julia was so focused on what she wanted out of the story of the Vel d'hiv and how it would serve her. She flew across the Atlantic twice to pursue the story and just surprised the families with no thought to how it would affect any of them. She was so concerned with making sure her family was forgiven that it felt like she dehumanized the victims in a different way. Like they only served the purpose of giving her own life purpose. I'm not sure any of these ramblings make sense but overall, I enjoyed most of my time reading this book and would probably reccomend.
“How was it possible that entire lives could change, could be destroyed, and that streets and buildings remained the same"
“The eyes of a woman in the face of a ten-year-old girl.”
"...It's not easy to bring back the past. There are unpleasant surprises. The truth is harder than ignorance”
I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first time I read it. Sarah's perspective was definitely more compelling than Julia's. It absolutely breaks your heart. Be ready to have your heart literally ripped out. I thought the writing was fairly good. It kept me engaged and interested which is surprising because I remembered one of the major impactful moments of the novel. However, I was really surprised because that moment happened about 60% of the way through the novel. I think it speaks to the weakness of Julia's perspective that I couldn't recall much about it. In fact, by the last 50 pages or so, I was just really hoping things would wrap up. While I found Julia's POV interesting, it wasn't nearly as impactful or compelling as Sarah's. Really, I think the fact that Julia and Sarah's stories were told next to each other made Julia's seem superfluous and pale in comparison. For context, I recognize and really appreciate the commentary about France's role in the Holocaust. Often in history, they are painted as victims because of the ocupation but that completely dismisses the active role the French government and French police took in rounding up as many Jews as they could and deporting them to concentration camps and the underlying systemic Anti-Semitism that made it easy to do so. And unlike Germany, this is not a history that is actively talked about and taught. The author made it clear that most French people are woefully uninformed and apathetic to the role their country played in the extermination of French Jews. So I can see the parallel the author was drawing to Julia and her apathy to her husband while at the same time being so invested in telling Sarah's story. I appreciated the dissonance and how it complicated the character. However, I still felt like Julia was so focused on what she wanted out of the story of the Vel d'hiv and how it would serve her. She flew across the Atlantic twice to pursue the story and just surprised the families with no thought to how it would affect any of them. She was so concerned with making sure her family was forgiven that it felt like she dehumanized the victims in a different way. Like they only served the purpose of giving her own life purpose. I'm not sure any of these ramblings make sense but overall, I enjoyed most of my time reading this book and would probably reccomend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Suicide
spacerkip's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
You know that tumblr post that's like "I hate adult fiction - everyone's getting a divorce."
Yeah.
Sarah's story was interesting, and for a book that was supposedly about her, I really, really wish more time was spent in her perspective than the French soap-opera we got in Julia's chapters. I did not care about this journalist or her jerk of a husband, and yet. And yet. Fortunately, the writing was simplistic and bland enough that I was able to get through it all in a few sittings. Why anyone would cheapen a horrific event like the Holocaust with shallow, modern-day drivel is beyond me.
Yeah.
Sarah's story was interesting, and for a book that was supposedly about her, I really, really wish more time was spent in her perspective than the French soap-opera we got in Julia's chapters. I did not care about this journalist or her jerk of a husband, and yet. And yet. Fortunately, the writing was simplistic and bland enough that I was able to get through it all in a few sittings. Why anyone would cheapen a horrific event like the Holocaust with shallow, modern-day drivel is beyond me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Racism
Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, Cursing, Excrement, Infertility, and Infidelity
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