A review by jess_mango
The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

4.0

After being raised in the woods of Eastern Europe by an old woman Jerusza, who is not her mother, Yona finds herself alone after her guardian dies. It's the days of World War II and she comes across groups of Jews fleeing Nazis. She helps these people to survive in the wilderness and forms connections with them. Yona learns more about her own past and who she wants to be. She learns that she was kidnapped from a wealthy German family when she was a young girl, though Jerusza raised her to know Jewish traditions. Yona, therefore, identifies more as Jewish than as German.

This is a coming-of-age story about a young woman learning more about herself while helping others around her survive the atrocities of war. Yona is an admirable protagonist. The novel is based on true tales of Jews surviving in the woods of Poland during World War II. This was definitely an interesting read.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!