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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I have been diving in and out of this book for a while just because I have been so busy...
But MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS the twist at the end just made the wait and the confusion so worth it!
Throughout it switches between Lilie's story and Krysta's and I just could not work out the significance. It had my empathising with both characters throughout as well as lovely Benjamin and Daniel! (We all need a Daniel in our lives!). But I did not guess the end or how it all comes together AT ALL. Granville does a brilliant job of distracting you from the truth by throwing magic in your face... you end up feeling exactly like Krysta; naive, innocent and almost completely oblivious to reality!
Nothing could have prepared me for how this ended. But it was a perfect tying together of the two stories and so perfectly crafted. Definitely a very clever psychological thriller!
The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because there were certain points in the book where it got a little confused and distracted, I guess that was the nature of the story but I would have enjoyed more clues and suspense!
But MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS the twist at the end just made the wait and the confusion so worth it!
Throughout it switches between Lilie's story and Krysta's and I just could not work out the significance. It had my empathising with both characters throughout as well as lovely Benjamin and Daniel! (We all need a Daniel in our lives!). But I did not guess the end or how it all comes together AT ALL. Granville does a brilliant job of distracting you from the truth by throwing magic in your face... you end up feeling exactly like Krysta; naive, innocent and almost completely oblivious to reality!
Nothing could have prepared me for how this ended. But it was a perfect tying together of the two stories and so perfectly crafted. Definitely a very clever psychological thriller!
The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because there were certain points in the book where it got a little confused and distracted, I guess that was the nature of the story but I would have enjoyed more clues and suspense!
At first I found this book a little confusing - it wove between the two tales in a broken, juddering fashion at first. However, as soon as it became apparent they were connected, two tellings of a complicated, more terrifying story, it was a much easier read.
This is a dark narrative, using fairy tales and allegories to explore the Third Reich and it's rise to power. Its about a young girl whose father works in a "zoo for sick people" that turns out to be a concentration camp. How, after his death, she finds herself at the mercy of those who were supposed to protect her, thrown to the wolves, seeking solace amongst the poor Jewish women and children interned in the camp. Finally, you follow her and a young boy's magical escape, as fantasy and reality blur together in a swirling mass.
A clever, well written book for anyone interested in fables and Jewish literature.
This is a dark narrative, using fairy tales and allegories to explore the Third Reich and it's rise to power. Its about a young girl whose father works in a "zoo for sick people" that turns out to be a concentration camp. How, after his death, she finds herself at the mercy of those who were supposed to protect her, thrown to the wolves, seeking solace amongst the poor Jewish women and children interned in the camp. Finally, you follow her and a young boy's magical escape, as fantasy and reality blur together in a swirling mass.
A clever, well written book for anyone interested in fables and Jewish literature.
nightmarish fairy tale that wraps in on itself, becoming real life, but also remaining a fairy tale.
I really liked this book. However, I did not like the ending. I wish it would have been more. I felt like the entire book was leading up to something, and that something was not what I wanted it to be. It didn't pack the punch I was looking for. But very obviously a wonderful book.
Wenn ich von einem Buch höre, das Märchen, Magischen Realismus und die Nazizeit in sich vereint, habe ich meine ganz eigenen Vorstellungen. Gruselig muss es werden, die Nazis sind die bösen Wölfe, ein charismatischer Offizier vielleicht der Rattenfänger und zwei jüdische Kinder die hungernden Hänsel und Gretel. Ganz so erzählt Eliza Granville ihre Geschichte nicht. Die Märchen spielen eine schaurige Nebenrolle, es geht aber nie so weit, dass ich sie mit der Realität verwechselt habe. Die ist so gruselig wie es die Nazizeit eben war. Besonders gut fand ich die Beobachtungen durch die Augen eines ahnungslosen Kindes: Papa hat einen Menschenzoo, alle tragen schwarze Winkel auf den Uniformen. Da wird vieles nicht genau benannt und trotzdem wusste ich genau, was gemeint ist.
Die Geschichte besteht aus zwei Handlungssträngen, die am Ende eher unspektakulär zusammenlaufen. Ich habe nicht vorausgesehen wie sie zusammenhängen, aber die Lösung hatte für mich keinen Aha-Effekt, sie hat das bisher Gelesene in kein neues Licht gerückt und vieles eher überflüssig erscheinen lassen. Generell fand ich Josefs Handlungsstrang viel langweiliger als Krystas. Und selbst an Krysta bin ich nicht richtig nahe rangekommen.
Objektiv gesehen weder inhaltlich noch technisch ein schlechtes Buch. Persönlich hat es mich leider trotzdem eher gelangweilt.
Die Geschichte besteht aus zwei Handlungssträngen, die am Ende eher unspektakulär zusammenlaufen. Ich habe nicht vorausgesehen wie sie zusammenhängen, aber die Lösung hatte für mich keinen Aha-Effekt, sie hat das bisher Gelesene in kein neues Licht gerückt und vieles eher überflüssig erscheinen lassen. Generell fand ich Josefs Handlungsstrang viel langweiliger als Krystas. Und selbst an Krysta bin ich nicht richtig nahe rangekommen.
Objektiv gesehen weder inhaltlich noch technisch ein schlechtes Buch. Persönlich hat es mich leider trotzdem eher gelangweilt.
A well written historical fiction set between two time periods. It's a story about the power of storytelling.
I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed the entire premise of the book but there are well enough gripes for me to give this an average 6/10 rating.
This story manages two major things: having a good plot and having every single character be unlikeable. Every character. Growth? Amicability? What's that?
Granville didn't do a good job of making me sympathise with the two main girls unfortunately.
Krysta is the poster child of insolence and doesn't really get any better than that so you'll have to deal with that for her entire plot line. Lillie is a little better only because she expresses less and is viewed through a third person perspective whereas Krysta is first person. Literally everyone else is horrible for the sake of being horrible. Don't really get that part.
The writing style was captivating only just. It does get confusing especially during sequences of action. If the character is turning a doorknob the paragraph might go off topic as the character reminisces about brass cleaning or something. There's also a significant amount of metaphors during Krysta's POV because she's a child and describes things not entirely as they are. The bad part is that her metaphors don't always hit and I don't know what she's referring to.
This book is quite dark, as one would expect of anything with nazis. It's got about every phobia and -ism you can think of -- anti semitism, misogyny, racism, ageism, classism, homophobia, transphobia etc. etc. So if that is something you really don't want to deal with I'd advise you to put this back on the shelf.
There's one MAJOR problem with the writing style and it's the constant insertion of German (and Polish and Swedish etc). It happens constantly and I'd understand if it's German words that English has borrowed or whatever like "Baumkuchen" or "Heil Hitler" but it's not. It's just whatever Granville feels like. There's no rhyme or reason and it's, for the lack of a better description, shitty communication skills. It disrupts the flow entirely and adds nothing to the story 99% of the time. I can read German and Swedish and even I was put off. You don't have to say "Schmiss" instead of "scar" Granville, that's just fucking absurd.
Anyway the plot is good enough to make you stick it out to the end. I can't really describe it for fear of spoilers but it gets really good when you start to find the hints on why Lillie and Krysta have related stories. It's small details scattered about that you'll get if you followed close enough and I like how well that was handled.
Overall 3/5 stars. Solid enough if you're into that dark history stuff.
I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed the entire premise of the book but there are well enough gripes for me to give this an average 6/10 rating.
This story manages two major things: having a good plot and having every single character be unlikeable. Every character. Growth? Amicability? What's that?
Granville didn't do a good job of making me sympathise with the two main girls unfortunately.
Krysta is the poster child of insolence and doesn't really get any better than that so you'll have to deal with that for her entire plot line. Lillie is a little better only because she expresses less and is viewed through a third person perspective whereas Krysta is first person. Literally everyone else is horrible for the sake of being horrible. Don't really get that part.
The writing style was captivating only just. It does get confusing especially during sequences of action. If the character is turning a doorknob the paragraph might go off topic as the character reminisces about brass cleaning or something. There's also a significant amount of metaphors during Krysta's POV because she's a child and describes things not entirely as they are. The bad part is that her metaphors don't always hit and I don't know what she's referring to.
This book is quite dark, as one would expect of anything with nazis. It's got about every phobia and -ism you can think of -- anti semitism, misogyny, racism, ageism, classism, homophobia, transphobia etc. etc. So if that is something you really don't want to deal with I'd advise you to put this back on the shelf.
There's one MAJOR problem with the writing style and it's the constant insertion of German (and Polish and Swedish etc). It happens constantly and I'd understand if it's German words that English has borrowed or whatever like "Baumkuchen" or "Heil Hitler" but it's not. It's just whatever Granville feels like. There's no rhyme or reason and it's, for the lack of a better description, shitty communication skills. It disrupts the flow entirely and adds nothing to the story 99% of the time. I can read German and Swedish and even I was put off. You don't have to say "Schmiss" instead of "scar" Granville, that's just fucking absurd.
Anyway the plot is good enough to make you stick it out to the end. I can't really describe it for fear of spoilers but it gets really good when you start to find the hints on why Lillie and Krysta have related stories. It's small details scattered about that you'll get if you followed close enough and I like how well that was handled.
Overall 3/5 stars. Solid enough if you're into that dark history stuff.
Beautifully written, fascinating and horrifying. I loved this book.
I had such high expectations, and none were met, at all. AT ALL.
I didn't really know what I was getting into when I picked up this book. The ending that explains how the two narratives are connected left me feeling cheated.