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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Grief, War, Abandonment, Death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Child death, and Confinement
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The book was slow. It was the first time that I have ever noted the similarity between the stories of apocalyptic zombie survival, and those of refugees. There is a lot of cross country wandering.. hoping you are going in the right direction, not knowing if anyone you run into is going to be friend or foe, not knowing if you will find food or shelter, and coming up with a Plan to hold a ragtag bunch of travelers, of different ages and backgrounds, together long enough that they might get someplace safe.
This is the second story I have read recently with a blind girl in a world war. It was hard to read this book and not be occasionally reminded of "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. This is also because in both stories there is a viewpoint of a German soldier as counterpoint to what is going on with those fleeing. The depiction of the main German character is interestingly unsympathetic, as he turns out to be a jumped up coward, universally disliked by his fellows, and radiating hot waves of obsessive, sociopathic Incel Energy. I'm sure this jab is a lot more meta, than useful for building the story, but he is certainly a part of this book that I won't forget in a hurry.
The story was ..ok. I didn't dislike it, but it's not something that would bob to the top of my recommendations list.
Graphic: War, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Blood, Bullying, Sexual violence, Hate crime, and Animal cruelty
mdavis26's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Rape, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
katrinaburch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's sad, I've read a lot and studied a lot of World War 2 history and I've never heard of this disaster! So I'm glad Sepetys used it.
Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Hate crime, Pregnancy, War, and Death
Minor: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gore, Violence, Child death, Blood, and Bullying
aphrochilds's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit
romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well.
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Racial slurs and Misogyny
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, War, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Gore, Blood, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Ableism, War, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Rape, Medical content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Antisemitism
Death during child birthamberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Violence, Grief, Deportation, Death of parent, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, War, Physical abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Murder, Child abuse, Body horror, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
rbudd24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: War, Child death, Blood, Death, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Suicide