Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The German Girl

I just finished this and I am STRESSED. I made my partner listen to me vent about this whole book. It's so good and I NEEDED to talk about it. I don't normally actually cry when I read. This book BROKE me.

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lazyowl's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Told mostly from the perspective of 12 year old Hannah, which unfortunately did not resonate well with me. I think I would have been more interested in the story had it been told from the mother's perspective. However, I don't regret reading, there was interesting elements, particularly those historical elements that are true to history that I previously wasn't aware of.

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britnidudley's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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emsartorius's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

"Is man God's mistake, or God man's mistake?" No, think about this statement for a second. Is man a mistake made by God, or is God a mistake made by man? Because when it boils down to it, genocides and the Holocaust are idealized as a "cleansing of ideas" and/or racial cleansing aimed to create "physical perfection", size, color & to achieve "purity" as discussed heavily in this book. Who gave man the choice to decide what was good and pure and acceptable and what was not? And why are these ideologies so heavily reliant on religion? Why hide behind your god to excuse and execute hate and cruelty and violence?
.
This book opens with a gut punching declaration that reads "I was almost twelve years old when I decided to kill my parents."
Before we get into any philosophical thoughts, I'll tell you the synopsis of this book:

Hannah Rosenthal woke up one morning in the spring of 1939 to find that her charmed life had been completely shattered. Germany was on the brink of war, and all she & her best friend Leo could do was depend on each other . Hope appeared in the form of the SS St Louis transatlantic line offering Jews safe passage out of Germany. But soon ominous rumors from Cuba undermined the passengers' fragile sense of safety. From one day to the next, the ship that was their salvation seemed likely to become their doom. What do you believe in and hope for when your own country rejects you and no other country can take you in?

This story is told in a dual POV. Hannah (1939) and Anna Rosen( a descendant of Hannah from the year 2014). Through the two main characters, the author ties together the events of World war II (1939-1945), the Cuban revolution (1959) and the September 11 attacks (2001).

I picked this book on a whim because of that first line but this has been a profound and harrowing read based on true events. It reminds me of the poem 'Home' by Warshan Shire which in part reads

..." you have to understand
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land."

Go read that powerful poem. It discusses the refugee crisis.I recommend reading this book too. History should never be forgotten, no matter how difficult is to discuss. It will help foster empathy and kindness.

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