Wow - there were a ton of big themes tackled in this book: unethical experimentation on children, mistreatment of orphans in general, the Holocaust, euthanasia, same sex relationships in a time period even less accepting of that than we are now, body image...among others. I mean that's a lot of heavy topics. But for all that, and for all the hopelessness present in each of those, this book really left me feeling like there is a bright spot in the future if we keep our hope of finding it alive. The goodness that is absent in some people in present in abundance in others and if we work to be one of those people, we can surround ourselves with other people like ourselves and fight the evil that's out there. Rachel was a complex primary character - finding herself as she struggled to survive and fit in, learning from betrayals and mistakes. I loved the way her relationship with her brother was written. It was such a real relationship in their circumstances, no sugar coating, but no absence of love all the same. Her reactions to Dr. Solomon's reappearance in her life were similarly real, she didn't hold back and was true to her own feelings, her own pain, but pulled herself back from the edge just in time - something I think many people can empathize with. We are all people, with faults, and look for those to blame for our pain, deserving or not (perhaps deserving in this case, but revenge isn't the answer all the same). Naomi's part, her relationship with Rachel, was a beautiful bright spot in the story, a beacon shining to the reader to tell them that something better was out there, keeping our hope alive that Rachel could find it again. The telling of the story from alternating past and present perspectives kept the pacing perfectly and helped reveal the past story, to explain the current time, in just the right way. This was a quick read, but still so deep and full. Lovely.