A review by chaser24
From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I will be thinking about this book for weeks, no doubt.   It was a captivating inspirational story about hope, basically, but touching deeply on, and exposing, so much more.   Belief systems, morals, character, fear, determination, loyalty, trust, hatred, faith, the list goes on.  It is heartbreaking, yet joyful.   I have been to the Museum of Tolerance in Southern California, which moved me tremendously;  I have listened to talks from Holocaust survivors, which also touched every depth of being, but now, after reading this book, and knowing the factual basis of the events (read the epilogue) I am a cauldron of emotion beyond description.  I felt the pain and the fear, I cried and laughed with the characters, I hated with them at a depth I didn't know existed, and I loved with them---this is a beautifully written accounting of the atrocities committed and the goodness of mankind, side-by-side.   My new favorite author, I must read another one of her books.  DO IT!