Emotional Holocaust fiction about friendship and family
I read a lot of historical fiction about the Holocaust and WWII so I feel like I have pretty much seen it all. But here Reit gave me something new - he showed me new places, new fates and new themes. For a debut novel this was very strong and I am looking forward to reading more from Reit in the future.
👍 What I Liked 👍
Atypical: Like I said, I read a lot of historical fiction about the Holocaust and by far most of them have some sort of romantic angle or romance at the centre of the story. Sure, there was a bit of romance here, but it was only a drop in the bucket. The central themes here are friendship and family which really spoke to me. Another atypical thing about this story was the places it took place. Most of the book takes place in the transit camp Westerbork, a place I had actually never heard of before. It was really great to get to explore a new, unknown part of the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Real life: I was really excited to read the Author's note and find out, that several of the people in this book were actually real, historical people. That is always a really great touch and it made me want to learn more about them.
Emotions: I cried while reading this book. I cry a lot at many different things, but a book that can make me cry is always a hit. It means that the characters, the plot and the circumstances are getting to me and have affected me in some way. That is the beauty of reading if you ask me.
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review