Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

20 reviews

klbaughn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I read the authors other book, the tattooist of auschwitz and knew I had to learn more about Cilka. I was expecting that the author interviewed Cilka and was slightly disappointed to find out that most of the story is fiction, although based on the general life path of Cilka. Despite this, it was a page turner and a beautiful story.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Child death

jade_allkins's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional informative sad 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? No

3.25

Title: Cilka's Journey
Author: Heather Morris
Series: The Tattooist of Auschwitz, #2
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: October 1 2019

T H R E E • W O R D S

Heartbreaking • Triumphant • Well Researched

📖 S Y N O P S I S

At the age of sixteen, Cilka was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. While there she catches the eye of one of the commandants and is given special living arrangements to ensure she's available to him as needed. Upon liberation, Cilka is charged with collaboration for sleeping with the enemy, and is sentenced to fifteen years in Siberian prison camp. Based on a true story, it is a story of survival and determination, of friendship and love in the face of such atrocities.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Having met Cilka in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a book I absolutely loved, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book. It may have been my expectations but I felt a bit let down. I'll start out by saying Heather Morris' research of the Siberian Gulags was extremely well done. This is an aspect of WWII that I knew very little about, and I appreciate learning about it. Cilka's character is truly a strong and inspiring woman, her courage and determination in the face of such horrific circumstances are what makes this book emotional. However, I did feel myself questioning what was fiction and what wasn't, because throughout this book fact and fiction are weaved together.

With that said, the subject matter was compelling, but I felt as though the author faltered in the execution. There just wasn't anything that stood out for me. And at time it even felt as though the author was looking to add shock value. While I normally enjoy alternating timeline narratives, this one wasn't as strong for me.

Overall, Cilka's Journey was an unsettling and difficult read due to content, and I wanted to love it, but it ended up just being okay for me. This is a follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz however it could just as easily be read as a standalone.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• WWII historical fiction fans
• readers looking to learn about post-WWII camps

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"'Hannah,' Olga says sharply, 'finding a little hope in the darkness is not a weakness.'" 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction and Pregnancy

stillbirth

alvenb00's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Heater Morris tells the amazing stories of survivors and she does a great job capturing the pain and reality of what happened during and after WWII.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Child death

neelamds's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I read this book out of respect for the people this and The Tattooist of Auschwitz are written about, however Morris' writing style does not do their tales justice at all. This was a quick read and the content meant that it was sad, but it was easy to tell that this had been mostly fabricated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, and Genocide

Moderate: Torture, Sexual violence, and Child death

bexh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Vomit

saramschacht's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Rape, and Sexual assault

lucys_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

waterbridge147's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Such a horrible and terrifying topic has been written so beautifully and respectfully. Very thought provoking 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

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.