Reviews

Skönhetens väg by Thomas Andersson, Martha Hall Kelly

bjhenning's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator for Herta was sort of bland and robotic sounding. It also bothered me how once the various characters were interacting, whoever the narrator was the woman doing that whole chapter... so this means that during Caroline’s chapter the same narrator did Caroline and Kasha’s voice (instead of having the narrator for Kasha do Kasha’s voice). A minor, yet distracting, issue with the audio version.

The story was dry in some parts and I really think some parts could have been better - I found Caroline’s story quite boring and very different from the other two women.

Good story overall, but not one that wowed me.

alese's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

peskydor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

4.25

ivytodd's review against another edition

5.0

A different take on WWII historical fiction that was deeply riveting and incredibly moving. The author was able to paint this story based on real events in a way that was very immersing and captivating. The characters’ development was so strong and portrayed their inner turmoil and personal devastation in ways that jumped off the pages. Excited to read more Martha Hall Kelly books after experiencing her amazing writing style.

muirk128's review against another edition

4.0

Super engrossing! I found myself completely drawn into the characters, hopeful for their eventual happiness. After reading the afterward notes, I do think the author's attempt to balance historical and fiction may have stymied the storyline at times.

emmycrab's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

mandareads1's review against another edition

5.0

A wonderful book but a very hard and emotional read. knowing the story of the real Dr Herta Oberhauser and the awful things she did to the prisoners at Ravensbrück made it so real that I felt sick when reading her parts of the story. I’m glad I read it, but now I need to read something a little lighter.

katko123's review against another edition

1.0

It´s a terrible book! How on earth this has so many stars it´s just beyond me. I listened to audiobook which has just awful pronunciacion. I am Polish national and have to honestly say that lots of details are simply wrong, names arent always polish too. If you want to use foreign names and places, phrases even, make sure that you know how to pronaunce them! There´s enough Polish people all over the world to simply ask for help, to ask to clarify details and to hire them to read the polish part in the audiobook!
For me it was impossible to listen, gave up after 60%, torture.
Story itself is bad too....

missreaderaddict's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

pamela_xo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? N/A

4.0