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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This book was barely enjoyable. I started reading it because it was supposed to be a historical fiction about the Rabbit Girls during WWII. Unfortunately, this is not accurate. The author tries to fit too many genres in one book, making it busy an unenjoyable. The plot jumps around quite a bit, which is usually not a problem, but in this case the story became confusing at points and predictable throughout.
A book I was unable to put down. Horrifying and heartbreaking, yet I am unable to look away. The entwining of Henryck's and Miriam's stories, with Freida always hovering as a presence at the periphery, was lovely. I've read quite widely about the Shoah* so I was already familiar with the medical experiments that prisoners suffered through. This was a vivid depiction of what it might have been like for the people who endured this. For a first novel this was beautifully written. Wrenching but worth picking up.
* the Hebrew term for the Holocaust
* the Hebrew term for the Holocaust
Wow! A moving story of strength, love, and endurance. It took a few chapters to get used to the writing style....I think the beginning was written in passive voice or SOMETHING. However, the story hooked me almost right away. Miriam’s dangerous relationship gradually gets revealed throughout the book as she discovers more and more about what happened to her father’s lover during the war. After finding a series of letters in the lining of a dirty grey striped uniform from a WWII concentration camp, she is determined to find out what happened to this mysterious woman before her father dies.
The two storylines are woven together very well that one storyline enhanced the other. The connection Miriam has with this mysterious woman who wrote the letters grows as Miriam deals with her own domestic abuse. She was trapped in a violent and abusive marriage for twenty years and the story of the Rabbit Girls gives her the strength and courage to stand up to him. This was a hard book to read, but I just couldn’t put it down. I was able to guess the ending about 60% into the book, but it was so well done that I’m not even mad. I’m usually a little hesitant to read books about the Holocaust because if it’s not done well, then it just undermines the experience of so many people....then I just get angry.
However, this is one of my favorites. Anna Ellory does not hold back and really captured the fear, anguish, anxiety, and horror that people were forced to endure. Bravo. I was very wary of the author’s attempt to compare the storyline of Nazi’s abusing prisoners to a husband abusing his wife, but for me, it worked out well and it was clear that Miriam wasn’t trying to express that what she was going through was anything like what the camp prisoners went through. This could have easily destroyed the whole story, but I felt like it was separated well enough not to be a comparison. This truly was Miriam’s story of escaping her abusive husband, and she stumble upon the letters. In real life, people have to deal with many different struggles at once. People do not just have one thing happen at a time. She was able to gain strength from the experience of Freida.
The title being The Rabbit Girls is pretty misleading because the story wasn’t centered around ‘The Rabbit Girls’ or the Holocaust. It was centered around Miriam....the ending reveals that Miriam’s own story starts there at the camp, so the two storylines are really one big storyline. I just think the title is misleading.
The two storylines are woven together very well that one storyline enhanced the other. The connection Miriam has with this mysterious woman who wrote the letters grows as Miriam deals with her own domestic abuse. She was trapped in a violent and abusive marriage for twenty years and the story of the Rabbit Girls gives her the strength and courage to stand up to him. This was a hard book to read, but I just couldn’t put it down. I was able to guess the ending about 60% into the book, but it was so well done that I’m not even mad. I’m usually a little hesitant to read books about the Holocaust because if it’s not done well, then it just undermines the experience of so many people....then I just get angry.
However, this is one of my favorites. Anna Ellory does not hold back and really captured the fear, anguish, anxiety, and horror that people were forced to endure. Bravo. I was very wary of the author’s attempt to compare the storyline of Nazi’s abusing prisoners to a husband abusing his wife, but for me, it worked out well and it was clear that Miriam wasn’t trying to express that what she was going through was anything like what the camp prisoners went through. This could have easily destroyed the whole story, but I felt like it was separated well enough not to be a comparison. This truly was Miriam’s story of escaping her abusive husband, and she stumble upon the letters. In real life, people have to deal with many different struggles at once. People do not just have one thing happen at a time. She was able to gain strength from the experience of Freida.
The title being The Rabbit Girls is pretty misleading because the story wasn’t centered around ‘The Rabbit Girls’ or the Holocaust. It was centered around Miriam....the ending reveals that Miriam’s own story starts there at the camp, so the two storylines are really one big storyline. I just think the title is misleading.
Que dizer? Estava muito entusiasmada para começar está leitura. Muito mesmo, mas confesso que não foi um livro fácil de ler. Porquê? Porque muito ficou por contar! A autora tenta pegar na história de Henryk, Miriam a sua filha e fá-lo contando a história de Auschwitz e a queda do muro de Berlim. E como se não bastasse adiciona a violência doméstica a toda esta história. Por isso achei muita história condensada e com tanto por contar. Percebo que a autora procurou focar-se em Miriam e o seu pai mas a história das cartas podia ser bem mais explorada, das “coelhas”, das suas histórias... mas não. No final ao terminar fiquei com aquele sentimento de que nos falta parte da história tanto de Frieda como de Miriam... e de todas as mulheres do livro.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Started slowly but got better as it went along. I didn’t enjoy Miriam’s chapters when they focused on her current situation but the letters were intriguing.
2.5 stars
It's super difficult to review this book.
You must know there are trigger warnings for domestic violence and sexual assault.
At the beggining I wasn't very eager to continue, the chapters narrated from Miriam's POV were'nt engaging, I mostly didn't like the narration in those. The parts narrated by Henryk were more bearable, but as soon as I learn about his infidelity, I hated him so much, but I mostly hate when infidelity is portrayed in a book, so don't take that hate too seriously.
Learning a little about the Rabbit Girls was interesting, here's to one more thing I didn't know about the holocaust. The letters Frieda wrotewere my favorite part, the letters and Eva.
And talking about Holocaust, there are much better books than this one if you want to read historical fiction about it.
This read was raw, I certainly suffered while reading, specialy the chapters where Axel was present.
From some point, the ending was very predictable, but I liked it either way.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book. It's not one of my favorites, but I think there are some remarkable aspects on it. I liked to see how Miriam grew through it and how she finally took the reins of her life.
It's super difficult to review this book.
You must know there are trigger warnings for domestic violence and sexual assault.
At the beggining I wasn't very eager to continue, the chapters narrated from Miriam's POV were'nt engaging, I mostly didn't like the narration in those. The parts narrated by Henryk were more bearable, but as soon as I learn about his infidelity, I hated him so much, but I mostly hate when infidelity is portrayed in a book, so don't take that hate too seriously.
Learning a little about the Rabbit Girls was interesting, here's to one more thing I didn't know about the holocaust. The letters Frieda wrotewere my favorite part, the letters and Eva.
And talking about Holocaust, there are much better books than this one if you want to read historical fiction about it.
This read was raw, I certainly suffered while reading, specialy the chapters where Axel was present.
From some point, the ending was very predictable, but I liked it either way.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book. It's not one of my favorites, but I think there are some remarkable aspects on it. I liked to see how Miriam grew through it and how she finally took the reins of her life.
OK for a first effort
It wasn’t a bad book, but there was a LOT of plot. I feel like the author tried to tell so many stories that she wasn’t able to develop any of them fully. The ending seemed like she was unsure of where to go next.
It wasn’t a bad book, but there was a LOT of plot. I feel like the author tried to tell so many stories that she wasn’t able to develop any of them fully. The ending seemed like she was unsure of where to go next.
slow-paced