(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I think this must be the third or fourth book I’ve read about probably the most awful time in human history. I found this book particularly intriguing, since the game of chess is normally considered a leisure activity… and, of course, things would have been very different in the death camps.

The atmosphere in Auschwitz came across quite intensely, in my opinion. There were some horrific details provided, but it was a terrible, awful time. I could fully understand the prisoners’ need to survive, even going so far as to turn on each other. That people could do those kind of horrific things to others is a terrifying thought and I can only hope that humans will pay attention to the lessons of history.

I did find the book to be rather jarring when it kept switching between the different time frames. It was much more so when some parts of the book were in present tense, while the rest was in past.

It was interesting that I could see traces of humanity in some of the characters who had originally come across as villains. Although I got a bit confused with the descriptions of the moves in the chess games, it was interesting to see it became a true focus point of the… culture (for lack of a better world) in Auschwitz. What I also found interesting was that the camp itself came across almost as a living entity at times.

The interactions between Paul, Emil and Willi in the future were fairly interesting. It was good to see how much Paul had changed and I felt it was easy to empathise with him. I also found it really easy to empathise with Emil. It was easier later on to empathise with Willi – I found it particularly interesting how both he and Emil evolved and changed through the course of the book and the conversations they had with each other.

There were very few emotions other than horror and disgust and sadness raised in me while I was reading this book, but it did affect me on quite an emotional level. I don’t think I’ll be reading this book again… but for one about forgiveness and friendship in the midst of horrible actions, I felt it was worth reading.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I have to say, I had some very mixed feelings about this book. I really liked the sound of it from the blurb… but as I was reading it, I struggled a lot to connect emotionally with Acelynn. It didn’t really help that there were continual references to how beautiful she was and how every man would stare at her. (There’s nothing wrong with having an attractive character, but it doesn’t need to stated repeatedly in the narrative and by the other characters).

I thought the mythos was quite interesting, but parts of it seemed a little bit random and I would have liked to see a bit more expansion. The romance aspects were interesting and the hero was a fairly original one. Unfortunately, I felt that the romance moved far too quickly and there wasn’t enough time spent developing the relationship before the inevitable confession. (And there was quite a bit of contradiction later on that I didn’t really understand).

I would have liked to see some more bits about the relationship between Cain and Abel. There’s very little background provided and I was disappointed that there were no questions asked about the history.

It was interesting to learn more about how Lilith created her creatures and how she used living beings as the basis… though I was a bit confused with the whole thing about the unicorns. It was interesting to see Lilith and Acelynn interact together and I felt that Acelynn’s feelings about Lilith were handled realistically.

I think I would have liked to see Acelynn appear as less of a Mary Sue – I couldn’t get behind the character because of all those traits she had. I think if the romance had been developed more, I would have liked the book better.

I wasn’t too keen on the ending, either. I don’t think I’ll be reading the next book in this series, at least as it stands right now.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers and will contain content not suitable for younger people).

So… I went from reading a book about the Holocaust to reading one containing sexual abuse. Not exactly light reading, but the former is one we should never forget and the latter is a problem that exists in reality.

There were parts of this book that were really difficult to read. A whole town like the one detailed in this book probably does really exist and the fact that it is something that has a major basis in reality was, I think, why it was so difficult to read.

I found Dawn to be an interesting character, but although she was a strong person, I actually found her difficult to relate to at times. A lot of the scenes were just told through dialogue, with passages of time skipped over in the next paragraph. And because there was so much dialogue, I found myself being told about things it would have been better off to see. (One of the characters apparently has a drinking problem, but it’s mostly just talked about, rather than seen).

I did enjoy reading about Dawn’s relationship with her mother and it was good to see that Dawn was affected by things that had happened in the past. I was a bit disappointed in Tripper’s character, I have to say – and also disappointed not to see more of his parents, who it seems Dawn has no interactions with after what happens to her. I felt the thread with them was kind of left hanging.

Some of the supporting characters, particularly the female teenagers, were interesting… but although the word ‘like’ is used in popular culture by teenage characters, I cringed at one line that had it every other word. It read more like a spoof/joke line… which it apparently wasn’t.

I did also find it interesting to read about Dawn’s coping mechanisms and it was good to see her as a strong lead. Unfortunately, the part where the book shifts to first person was really difficult to read and, I felt, unnecessary.

I think this book is worth reading, since it does deal with horrible issues in a more sensitive way. I did feel there wasn’t a whole lot of foreshadowing and I’m not sure I’ll read it again… but I thought it was worth reading the first time.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book to be a particularly hard-hitting read. It isn’t the first one I’ve read which details the Holocaust, but it’s currently the first one I’ve read that’s set so far in the future.

I found the idea of this book being about the last survivor of the Holocaust a particularly intriguing one. It was interesting to see that so many people had so thoroughly convinced themselves that the Holocaust never happened, especially since it’s known that there are people nowadays who think it’s a lie. Then again, there are people who don’t think humans really went to the moon. There was one quote in this book that drew a smile from me. Note that I might not be recalling the comments exactly, but this is the general gist:

‘Eighty-two percent of Americans believe the Holocaust never happened.”

“Were you aware that half of Americans believe we never went to the moon?”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

It is sad that I can see people turning a blind eye to the atrocities of the past. How can we learn from history’s mistakes if we try to pretend those mistakes never happened? I thought the author showed that theme particularly well.

I thought it was good that the author included flashbacks to Jack’s life. I did feel, at times in the flashbacks, that Jacob came across as an older child. His pattern of speech didn’t really seem like a four-year-old’s to me. At the same time, it was interesting to see the awful horror as he experienced it.

Another thing I found interesting to read was other people’s reasonings behind their views. I definitely didn’t agree with any of those, but the fact that the workings of their mind was shown helped me to see a bit deeper into their minds than I would normally with villains.

I also liked seeing about the leaps in technology and the fact that e-readers had all but replaced actual books was interesting, too. But I especially liked the way messages were left. And I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Jack during parts of the book, especially considering how many of the others spoke to him just because he chose not to stay silent any longer.

I personally don’t think we should forget the terrible things in the past, because I think that history is full of lessons that humanity shouldn’t ignore. Just because you don’t like something, that doesn’t mean it never happened.