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sarakomo 's review for:
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
by Heather Morris
2021: An incredible true story that is poorly written and underdeveloped.
Morris originally wrote this tale as a screenplay (this is even mentioned in the book) and that fact is just painfully obvious. The sentences are short and declarative, as if a list of bullet points were inexpertly turned into prose. There is such little character development, that it felt like I was reading the outline for a script, as opposed to a published novel. It also reads like it's at a fifth grade reading level; even with the main premise of the story, details about the camps are kept to a very minimum.
Perhaps the lower reading level actually is part of the reason behind the book's widespread popularity. It's a very interesting take on the true historical fiction genre (although the crowning jewel for me is still [b:What Is the What|4952|What Is the What|Dave Eggers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328837457l/4952._SX50_.jpg|3271214].) I agree with some of the critiques of this story–the inclusion of penicillin was particularly jarring and removed me from the world of the narrative. And don't even get me started on the soccer game, the whole scene of which I almost skipped entirely.
Overall, I would put this book as an okay introduction to what life might have been like at a concentration camp during the Holocaust, but a superficial recounting of events, rather than a developed novel.
Morris originally wrote this tale as a screenplay (this is even mentioned in the book) and that fact is just painfully obvious. The sentences are short and declarative, as if a list of bullet points were inexpertly turned into prose. There is such little character development, that it felt like I was reading the outline for a script, as opposed to a published novel. It also reads like it's at a fifth grade reading level; even with the main premise of the story, details about the camps are kept to a very minimum.
Perhaps the lower reading level actually is part of the reason behind the book's widespread popularity. It's a very interesting take on the true historical fiction genre (although the crowning jewel for me is still [b:What Is the What|4952|What Is the What|Dave Eggers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328837457l/4952._SX50_.jpg|3271214].) I agree with some of the critiques of this story–the inclusion of penicillin was particularly jarring and removed me from the world of the narrative. And don't even get me started on the soccer game, the whole scene of which I almost skipped entirely.
Overall, I would put this book as an okay introduction to what life might have been like at a concentration camp during the Holocaust, but a superficial recounting of events, rather than a developed novel.