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A review by kbbroday
Fracture by Elyse Hoffman
4.0
This book has ruined me. And I am not completely sure if it’s a good or bad thing yet
.
What made me want to read it was that it was LGBTQ+ and I am a Jew who had relatives die in the Holocaust. I had never read a book that had talked about what it was like for gay people during the holocaust. I definitely liked that this book could possibly shed a light on that especially since everything I have read is about the obvious: what the holocaust was like for Jews. But no one talks about the other minorities or the other reasons Nazi’s gave to commit murder. So when I started reading, I was excited and a bit hesitant since this is a very touchy subject for me.
I am very happy that I read this. Watching Franz and Amos find each other again and see them just start right where they left off was wonderful. It was very clear that they cared about each other even when they were kids. Even after 10 years apart, they cared deeply for each other. Franz showing his loyalty to Amos by lying to his comrades within the first few seconds of seeing him again made that obvious.
When they finally took the leap and kissed, I felt my heart flutter for them and as their relationship changed into lovers their dialogues made me giggle. But watching Franz wrestle with his beliefs and question everything he had been told was difficult for me. I found myself egging him on hoping he’d realize the truth about the lies he’d been told. But it was beautifully written and shown as he was quite literally breaking in two.
The author truly wrote a beautiful book about brokenness, love, and loyalty. It was raw and intriguing.
The realistic ending (not the epilogue) was the thing that really hit me in the gut. I desperately wanted to see a fairytale ending that only a book can give but I know that the ache I felt after realizing that that was the end meant that this book was good. Only the best books can pull your emotions in every direction. I laughed, I worried, I gasped in shock, felt connected, had butterflies, and felt an ache in my stomach. It has been a long time since a book did this to me. Do not deprive yourself of this book.
Only thing that turned me off was the amount of times “the Jew” or “the Jewish man” was used as a descriptor for Amos. This was a limited third person POV focusing on the conscience of Franz, an SS soldier, so I understand him thinking that way but at the same time it’s clear that to Franz, Amos was different. So the narrator constantly referring to Amos as “the Jew” felt a bit weird and repetitive. I remember thinking, “I get it, he’s Jewish.”
I also was slightly turned off by the cover but I usually prefer illustrations. I felt that the cover gave off the feeling of one of those books that you were required to read in high school. I don’t think it lives up to the wonderful story that it holds. I felt hesitant to read it because the cover made me scared that it was going to be dry, strictly factual, and gloomy.
.
What made me want to read it was that it was LGBTQ+ and I am a Jew who had relatives die in the Holocaust. I had never read a book that had talked about what it was like for gay people during the holocaust. I definitely liked that this book could possibly shed a light on that especially since everything I have read is about the obvious: what the holocaust was like for Jews. But no one talks about the other minorities or the other reasons Nazi’s gave to commit murder. So when I started reading, I was excited and a bit hesitant since this is a very touchy subject for me.
I am very happy that I read this. Watching Franz and Amos find each other again and see them just start right where they left off was wonderful. It was very clear that they cared about each other even when they were kids. Even after 10 years apart, they cared deeply for each other. Franz showing his loyalty to Amos by lying to his comrades within the first few seconds of seeing him again made that obvious.
When they finally took the leap and kissed, I felt my heart flutter for them and as their relationship changed into lovers their dialogues made me giggle. But watching Franz wrestle with his beliefs and question everything he had been told was difficult for me. I found myself egging him on hoping he’d realize the truth about the lies he’d been told. But it was beautifully written and shown as he was quite literally breaking in two.
The author truly wrote a beautiful book about brokenness, love, and loyalty. It was raw and intriguing.
The realistic ending (not the epilogue) was the thing that really hit me in the gut. I desperately wanted to see a fairytale ending that only a book can give but I know that the ache I felt after realizing that that was the end meant that this book was good. Only the best books can pull your emotions in every direction. I laughed, I worried, I gasped in shock, felt connected, had butterflies, and felt an ache in my stomach. It has been a long time since a book did this to me. Do not deprive yourself of this book.
Only thing that turned me off was the amount of times “the Jew” or “the Jewish man” was used as a descriptor for Amos. This was a limited third person POV focusing on the conscience of Franz, an SS soldier, so I understand him thinking that way but at the same time it’s clear that to Franz, Amos was different. So the narrator constantly referring to Amos as “the Jew” felt a bit weird and repetitive. I remember thinking, “I get it, he’s Jewish.”
I also was slightly turned off by the cover but I usually prefer illustrations. I felt that the cover gave off the feeling of one of those books that you were required to read in high school. I don’t think it lives up to the wonderful story that it holds. I felt hesitant to read it because the cover made me scared that it was going to be dry, strictly factual, and gloomy.