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shannonredwine8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Death, War, Grief, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent
lawbooks600's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Score: Seven points out of ten.
So. It's not clear why I decided to hold this book off for so long, putting delay after delay, but now only a few days ago, I picked it up, cracked it open, and read this. I have a statement though, historical books tend to be a hit or miss, since the last outstanding ones were I Must Betray You and Words on Fire. I read those months ago. But! Afterwards, I read a string of dissatisfying books so I desperately wanted an enjoyable one. This was it. On the plus side, it's based on a true story during World War II. It starts with the main character Stefania Podgórska, or Stefania for short, and she lives in Poland during the war, I wouldn't want to live in that time considering the circumstances, I noticed the book had a unique attribute going for it, it sometimes can jump from time to time, making this book non-linear. Stefania sometimes uses pseudoynms or false names like Fusia but for simplicity's sake, I'll still call her Stefania, now that I said that she is working for another family called the Diamants even though they are Jewish, and she is Catholic. Not many pages afterwards, the Germans arrive and occupy the town of Przemysl leaving Stefania and her sister Helena by themselves, and the way the author wrote this was immersive and compelling, no wonder this got a Western Australian Young Readers' Book Award this year, unfortunately this is the only book from this author my library has so I can't read any more books from her yet, if they do get more books from her, I'd gladly read them. From this point on, Stefania must make some choices for herself, so first she hides a Jew from the Germans inside her attic (because of reasons...) then she hides twelve more, I never felt at ease when reading this since the author wrote this with so much suspense and tension, and Stefania shared my feelings since she was also living uneasily which led up to the climax and I won't spoil it but it's not anticlimactic (I'm looking at you, fizzling out books...) and it's also a high note. Wow.
Graphic: War, Blood, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
Full trigger warnings: War themes, World War Two, fire, blood depiction, antisemitism, gun and military violencekayladaila's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The protagonist of The Light in Hidden Places is a Christian Pole who hides 13 Jewish people during the Holocaust. This is her story, and the Jews become a plot device to further that story, rather than its focal point. Throughout the novel, Stefania refers to the people she is hiding as “my thirteen,” removing any individual identity they have outside of how it relates to the nonJewish protagonist. These characters are truly hidden from the readers unless Stefania needs one of them.
It is also evident that Sharon Cameron did quite a bit of research on everything Polish, but very little Jewish. At the beginning of the story, Stefania is taken in by a Jewish family and learns some Yiddish. Later on, she tries to provide the people she is hiding with a small Hanukkah celebration, she refers to a Hanukkah lamp. Not a menorah, not a hanukiah. It’s clear which culture Cameron paid attention to.
I’d like to reiterate that if this was Stefania Podgorska’s nonfiction story, I would not have had these issues. It’s only with a fictionalized retelling, where the author could have made an effort to create three-dimensional Jewish characters and actively chose not to, that I take issue.
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Infertility, Murder, Religious bigotry, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Death of parent, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
loverofvenus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Genocide, Antisemitism, War, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Alcohol, Abandonment, Gun violence, Stalking, Grief, Death, Confinement, and Child abuse
Minor: Torture, Gore, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
kalin_grace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and War
elisweets's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I absolutely loved the writing.
Stefania’s and her groups story is so sad but brave, and I’m happy it was told in such a way.
Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, and Violence
Minor: Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Medical content