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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Well, this was a terrible conglomeration of infidelity, hidden letters, domestic abuse, the Holocaust, and a dying father all rolled into one book that I absolutely would have DNF'd if I could. I did not intentionally read two books about the Holocaust back to back, unfortunately both book clubs I am in happened to pick a Holocaust book this month (the other book was [b:The Tattooist of Auschwitz|38359036|The Tattooist of Auschwitz (The Tattooist of Auschwitz, #1)|Heather Morris|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525962117l/38359036._SY75_.jpg|56940861]). And out of the two I would recommend reading neither, but I would kind of recommend burning this one.
Spoiler book summary:
Spoiler book summary:
Spoiler
A woman who unbeknownst to her was being drugged by her abusive supervillain-esqe husband escaped from him in order to find and care for her dying father, then finds some hidden letters in her deceased mother's closet that turn out to be from her father's mistress that were written while she was held in concentration camps and who turns out to be the woman's actual mother in a big reveal that you could see from a mile away. Oh and throw in some 'rabbit girls' who were experimented on in the Ravensbruck concentration camp as a backdrop for the mistress's story along with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in the woman's story because why not? And then oddly choose to make the book title The Rabbit Girls when this book is really in no way about them at all and does their story the least justice.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think this book tried to tell too many different stories at once and didn't succeed with any of them. Also, I don't know why it's called The Rabbit Girls. It is not about the Rabbit Girls. The Rabbit Girls are only tangentially related to one of the plots. It's like if you called Gone with the Wind "The Slaves."
The Rabbit Girls | Anna Ellory
The Rabbit Girls is a haunting and romantic novel about Miriam who discovers secret letters hidden in the hem of a second world war prison camp uniform. Written from the view-point of both father and daughter in 1944 and 1989, you start to see how the affects of the second world war carved people’s futures and determined what is most important - survival, love and family. Blood, or not.
Miriam’s father Henryk is dying and as she sorts through his belongings she discovers his ties to Nazi Germany. It’s worth mentioning that the book has a Strong Nazi Germany thread that compliments but doesn’t overwhelm with deep regergitated history. So if you’re worried that this is a lesson in academic history, don’t worry, it’s not.
I really enjoyed the inclusion of characters in the ‘present day’ where the Berlin wall had been demolished - the book could have focused purely on what Miriam discovering about the past, but it showed her current-day demons which gave the book added depth and provided some emotional contrast and bought the struggles and suffering from 1944 and 1989 into focus. Miriam often compared her struggles with those experiencing Nazi Germany which to her showed a great contrast in the human ability to survive. However, I felt that it highlighted the isolation and loneliness of Miriam’s struggles as she was going through her present day issues alone.
Saying this - the storyline around Miriam’s distressing relationship could have resolved itself sooner. It went on a bit and left me wanting to hear more about the history as it seems to be a more mysterious and engaging part of the story.
I was also slightly disappointed in the selfless loyalty of Miriam's mother at the beginning of the book - it holds such interesting characters I expected more of a fight or perhaps more depth from her but perhaps that’s me projecting my own values onto the societal indifference's in 1944.
I did really enjoy reading the book. I wanted to know what happened and I was rooting for the characters. I liked them. The pure strength and determination of Frieda, the romance and passion from Henryk; and honesty, self-belief and resilience of Miriam.
The introduction to the rabbit girls is a highly emotive part of the story that I didn’t really know about from history books. I could read a whole book about this - Anna Ellory, take note. It only really takes up 20% of the book so perhaps the title is a bit fantastic. Regardless. Great book.
The Rabbit Girls is a haunting and romantic novel about Miriam who discovers secret letters hidden in the hem of a second world war prison camp uniform. Written from the view-point of both father and daughter in 1944 and 1989, you start to see how the affects of the second world war carved people’s futures and determined what is most important - survival, love and family. Blood, or not.
Miriam’s father Henryk is dying and as she sorts through his belongings she discovers his ties to Nazi Germany. It’s worth mentioning that the book has a Strong Nazi Germany thread that compliments but doesn’t overwhelm with deep regergitated history. So if you’re worried that this is a lesson in academic history, don’t worry, it’s not.
I really enjoyed the inclusion of characters in the ‘present day’ where the Berlin wall had been demolished - the book could have focused purely on what Miriam discovering about the past, but it showed her current-day demons which gave the book added depth and provided some emotional contrast and bought the struggles and suffering from 1944 and 1989 into focus. Miriam often compared her struggles with those experiencing Nazi Germany which to her showed a great contrast in the human ability to survive. However, I felt that it highlighted the isolation and loneliness of Miriam’s struggles as she was going through her present day issues alone.
Saying this - the storyline around Miriam’s distressing relationship could have resolved itself sooner. It went on a bit and left me wanting to hear more about the history as it seems to be a more mysterious and engaging part of the story.
I was also slightly disappointed in the selfless loyalty of Miriam's mother at the beginning of the book - it holds such interesting characters I expected more of a fight or perhaps more depth from her but perhaps that’s me projecting my own values onto the societal indifference's in 1944.
I did really enjoy reading the book. I wanted to know what happened and I was rooting for the characters. I liked them. The pure strength and determination of Frieda, the romance and passion from Henryk; and honesty, self-belief and resilience of Miriam.
The introduction to the rabbit girls is a highly emotive part of the story that I didn’t really know about from history books. I could read a whole book about this - Anna Ellory, take note. It only really takes up 20% of the book so perhaps the title is a bit fantastic. Regardless. Great book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The novel briefly touches on the Rabbit Girls, those women who were horrifically experimented on in Ravensbrück. It was a discombobulated mess of mental illness, domestic abuse, infidelity, and confusing, unreliable narrators. I just felt like the title is completely misleading.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, War
I was so engrossed and so horrified by this book at the same time that I literally could not put it down. Not only was I consumed by the stories of Frieda and the Rabbit Girls, but I was equally horrified and engaged in Miriam’s story.
Stunning! Difficult to get into at the beginning but once the scene is set the story takes off. Deeply emotional and often disturbing. Well worth the time taken to read.
I had a hard time getting into this one. It is well-written, but the author throws a lot at you. I have to be in the right headspace to tackle historical fiction, especially WWII historical fiction, but some of the additional plots of this book made it feel even more overwhelming.
Beginning in Berlin in 1989 and flashing back to the second World War this book tells the story of Miriam, Henryk, and Frieda. A story of hope surviving in the darkest of times with history, emotional tugs, and some unexpected twists, made for a book that was hard to put down.