Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

33 reviews

leah_152's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

If you don't feel like your hearts been run over by a tank & is slowly being reinflated again after reading this, you need a reality check.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Antisemitism

kablitt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

cozybones's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Racism, Rape, and Sexual harassment

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

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

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

jitskevddoes's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Xenophobia

thebookwormandbinx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

danni_chambers67's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I loved the book. It was emotional and inspiring. It was a look on the effect of WW2 and the holocaust that I hadn't ever read or personally heard about.

It was certainly heart-breaking hearing what she had to go through. And I thought the writer did really well job of portraying everything and making you feel for not only the main character but also many of the side characters. I thought it was wonderfully written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Drug abuse