Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

6 reviews

bmhafelein78's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Torture, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, and Rape

lottie1803's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Ranking based on interpretation of events as mostly fiction. This is a very hard book to rate and review, based on both the harrowing historical content and the personal feelings of those connected to the real individual. Still, a very compelling and powerful story that does highlight the under-appreciated experiences of sexual violence in genocide. I found the writing style and characters a significant improvement on the first book. Cecilia does suffer from a bit of Main Character Syndrome, but in the context of her world and trauma, it’s understandable. The stories are linked, but not completely necessary to read them together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child death, Confinement, Death, Deportation, Drug abuse, Slavery, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Bullying, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

tarahmanning's review against another edition

inspiring 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? No

4.0

 The moment I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz, I knew I had to get my hands on Cilka’s Journey. This book is like a secret diary that reveals the next chapter of Cilka's life after her liberation from Auschwitz. What should have been a time of giving thanks has turned into the next chapter of her nightmare.

The author's note gives us a sneak peek into the making of this masterpiece - a beautiful patchwork quilt of stories woven from various sources. Heather Morris spoke to people who knew Cilka, read diaries and journals of people who were in Vorkuta gulag in Siberia at the same time she was, and even studied photographs to capture the essence of that time.

Heather Morris is a magician, weaving stories that let us experience the hardships that these people faced, the inhumane conditions they lived in, and how they persevered through it all. Cilka's story is a testament to the human spirit, her unselfishness, and her passion for helping others, even when she had nothing to give. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, Genocide, Rape, and Emotional abuse

crystalmartillo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.25

This is a great book that shows the strength it took for Cilka to endure Auschwitz, and imprisonment after being released from Auschwitz. It’s very emotional and hard to image what it must have been like to go through such traumatic life events. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infertility, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, and Torture

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide attempt, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Grief, Gore, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Medical trauma, Blood, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Infertility, Hate crime, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Medical content, Body horror, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Rape

ravensandlace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

Anytime I read a book relating to the Holocaust or the Soivet Gulags, I feel a myraid of emotions. Oftentimes, I can only read books about these topics once every couple of months because they are rough to read. There is a lot of violence in these books and sometimes I can’t stomach that there are some truly cruel and evil people in this world. But I think reading these kinds of books are important.

Onto the actual review. This book was absolutely amazing and I quickly devoured it. Cilka was so amazing and I had nothing but the utmost respect for her. To survive in a concentration camp and then be sent to a gulag where her suffering didn’t end there, I don't know how she didn’t just give up. She had so much strength in her. I was blown away by her willingness and drive to survive.  

This book was incredibly heartbreaking and there are a lot of graphic scenes of a variety of different things. There is one scene in particular involving rape that happens in the first 100 pages or so. It’s not super graphic but it happens quite a bit. The first time I read, I was shocked and it took quite a bit out of me, if I’m being honest. I had to go pet Shelby (my dog) so I could be in a better headspace for the rest of the book. It’s not an easy book to read but it’s worth it. Exercise self care while reading this book. 

Overall, I could go on and on about this book but it’s best to be experienced yourself. Note that while this is a companion book to the first book, I recommend reading the first book as events are mentioned in this book that happened in the first. You won’t be super confused if you end up reading this book first, but some context might be lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

This is about a young woman's journey, trying to live through the Soviet Gulags. These were horrible places to live in and often times, death happened.