The Brothers of Auschwitz

 

4/5
It was a brutal read. It will stay with me a long time. The brothers asked questions that I always wanted to know and they voiced their opinion. From the belief in God to why so many did not rise up.

It’s amazing what the siblings went through and I liked they did not end it when the war ended and the camps were liberated. I had tears several times, after they were saved. Truly heartbreaking what they went through afterwards as well. Why were there no mental help ?? So many dealing with so much.

What I did not like and took me some time to get used to, was the cadence of the book. The words did not flow well. Once I got used to that, it was much better. There also interjected words that were maybe sounds that didn’t always match what was going On in the book. Don’t know if it was the translation or just how the brothers remembered it.

If you can get passed the writing, I would recommend this book. What made it more heartbreaking is that it is a true story. A story that needs to be told, remembered, and learned from. Not to be repeated.

I wanted to add some more here, I thought it was great to hear from a Jews point of view why no one stood up and over took the guards. They were in the millions and the SSmen we not, when I read the answer from his point of view, I still wondered why. He was true about the Germans took away the ability to think, and dehumanized them. At that point in time all they could think about way finding something to eat. The Germans knew what they were doing without a doubt. I know there were resistance groups fighting back but imagine if the all fought back when the were all together in huge groups, before the starvation, before the dehumanizing. Yes, Germans had guns, but the were out numbered, by thousands.

An Anonymous Girl

 

4/5
I have to say I really liked this one. The authors did a great job of creating the perfect cat and mouse. I flipping pages and had to finish last night. Just when I thought I had it all figured out they threw a curve. Loved it.

I felt this was better then The Wife Between Us. I wanted to yell at Jess and pull my hair out for some of the not so bright moves she makes but applauded her in the end. She used what she learned to her advantage. Definitely recommend.

What I liked is that it was not a completely off the rails type of book but one that lead you to the end some of the other book from the past. Seems books have shifted some to become more exciting. Not all books need that, and this was one of those. Just enough twists and turns without being overly done. Well written.

The Night Portrait

 

4/5
First I want to say I did like the book. It just didn’t live up to they hype it was given. In my opinion. It was enjoyable and pretty easy read. But I lacked the up and down of a good book. It was enjoyable but seemed lacking.

I did like the dual story line. Would have liked to see some characters development. I did like the characters for the most part. Would have liked to learn more about them. There had to be more to Edith. I

I did like the fact that I was interested enough to actually look up some of the history involved in this book. Hans Frank, The Butcher of Poland who was executed in Nuremberg. Not a nice guy at all. The. the “Lady with Ermine” that was well done. When I looked up Cecilia’s portrait it listed the only four portraits painted by Da Vinci. One of them being the Mona Lisa, Lady with Ermine. Interestingly he paint a portrait of another mistress of the Duke’s Lucrezia Crivelli. Which is very interesting since she was also in the book. Ginevra de' Benci who is the only one in the public view in America. This I found and enjoyed. The author did her research as well as has some creative storytelling.

I did enjoy the book just missed the bumping road. It kept me interested and it was a pretty fast read.