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dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, War
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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:
No
This was such an interesting read. I don't personally read books written in verse format... like ever actually. But it made the story feel so much more lyrical. A young girl discovers she can see the ghost boy in an abandoned Jewish cemetary and you're taken along a story that often dives into the history of the Holocaust in Prague and how it's scars are still very much prevalent in modern day. The relationship of Ilana and the ghost Benjamin was so sweet and the ending was a bittersweet one for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was cute I guess. I hate the formatting because it's not poetry. If it was I might've liked it a little more, but whenever I see books written like this I think wow a bunch of trees died for nothing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking
Moderate: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A nice read. Prague, jews, ghosts, strong female character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, War
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
A beautiful book full of heartbreak and hope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Antisemitism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, War
Minor: Gun violence, Gaslighting
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
No
This is what it’s like to be Jewish
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it.
I’m always walking on bones.
rating: 4.5
a melancholic but moving story about a young latina jewish girl who spends her summer in a ghost story. i was impressed by how even through verse prose, r.m. romero was able to cover a variety of themes, from the frustrations of adolescence, the fears and tribulations of immigrant families, the despair of post-wwii europe for european jews, and horrors of legends.
This is a cemetery,
I realize.
And I don’t think anyone remembers
it’s here.
Anyone
except
for
me.
romero moves seamlessly between moments of discovery, sorrow, isolation, and even joy. her writing paints a vivid scene and imbues much personality into our protagonist, ilana.
Having a ghost
is like having a cat.
They wander where they like
and won’t come
when you call.
Prague believes in magic.
Prague believes in itself.
(I wish
I could be more like Prague.)
this was my first book from romero and i was quite impressed. there is a whimsical is eerie feel to her stories that i enjoyed and look forward to reading more of.
Because that’s the other part
of being a Jew in Europe—
each step I take
is in defiance of everyone
who didn’t want me here.
The final girl survives
because she can be
just as ruthless
as the monster
who wants
to destroy her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, War
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Grief, Abandonment, War
It's not a light read, because of the discussion of generational trauma related to both being Jewish and immigrants, as well as for having a monster that preys on kids. But it was beautifully written and also poetic in a way that makes you feel exactly all the magic of the city and the story itself.
I promise I’m not one of those adults that complain when books for teens read as books for teens— I knew this was a young adult book, but it felt younger than I thought it would be. I think it’s probably because the main character is very naive and trusting, and because even though the story takes place over a lot of days, it’s written in a fast paced way that makes the romantic storyline feel more insta love or superficial than it’s supposed to be.
Content Warnings: death, antisemitism, genocide, war, violence, child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping/man tricking kids into going home with him, confinement.
I promise I’m not one of those adults that complain when books for teens read as books for teens— I knew this was a young adult book, but it felt younger than I thought it would be. I think it’s probably because the main character is very naive and trusting, and because even though the story takes place over a lot of days, it’s written in a fast paced way that makes the romantic storyline feel more insta love or superficial than it’s supposed to be.
Content Warnings: death, antisemitism, genocide, war, violence, child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping/man tricking kids into going home with him, confinement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, War
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death
Minor: Antisemitism
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This talks a lot about WW2, anti-semitism and child death. I didn’t expect this from a magical realism book, which is on me for not checking content and trigger warnings. It still took away from my reading pleasure.
It was an interesting prose and way of telling the story. Very romantic and very YA.
It was an interesting prose and way of telling the story. Very romantic and very YA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Antisemitism, Gaslighting
Moderate: War