I really enjoyed this different take on World War II and the Holocaust, and even with the issues, I’m interested in reading more from Kristin Harmel. Some of the other positive elements kept me going, but it still impacted my experience overall. Yona saving people was great, but I didn’t feel super connected with her.Īnd the book dragged a lot, pacing wise. I did struggle to connect the characters somewhat. I didn’t expect it at first, but it worked out pretty well. So, by contrast, I really liked the way the Eastern European wilderness setting was realized through textual descriptions.Īnd in some ways, I did enjoy the connection to folklore, with some light mystical elements. I feel like I’ve read more World War II fiction set in Western Europe. The setting is well-realized and immersive. Kristin Harmel clearly knows her stuff about World War II and the Holocaust, from her family history to the number of sources she cited in her research while working on this book. The Forest of Vanishing Stars is an objectively good book that worked for me in some ways, but didn’t work in others. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. Inspired by incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, and suffused with the journey-from-the-wilderness elements that made Where the Crawdads Sing a worldwide phenomenon, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author whose writing has been hailed as “sweeping and magnificent” (Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author), “immersive and evocative” ( Publishers Weekly), and “gripping” ( Tampa Bay Times). But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest-and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation.
Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. The New York Times bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” ( P eople ) The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis-until a secret from her past threatens everything.Īfter being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies.
Indie Next List pick for July 2021 * Parade “Best Books of Summer” pick * Real Simple summer reading pick * SheReads “Best WWII Fiction of Summer 2021” pick
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