6

Characters:
Joana, Latvian, nurse with papers identifying her as medical staff
Emilia, 15, pregnant polish girl who fled from a farm, has been sexually abused
Florian, 17/18, Prussian, worked for an art collector and quickly realized that he was helping the Nazis steal art after this realization he stole the main piece of Hitlers most beloved collection the "Amber Room"
Alfred, German, was physically not considered to be good enough for the Hitler Jugend, after they needed to come back to every man out of desperation he was made a sailor, reads "Mein Kampf" and is completely consumed by the words of Hitler, thinking he was someone special which he was not

Themes: WW2, war, love, loss, hope, sexual abuse, sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, survival

Cover:
Dust jacket: picture of the sea with a lifesaver and the dark ominous sky in the background
Book: dark blue

Author: never read before definitely want to read more

Setting: Ostpreußen, Gotenhafen

POV: 3rd person quickly alternating between the four main characters

Liked: perspectives, background story, characters, plot
Did not like: /

It's 1:26 am and I'm crying, I think this is an important story and message and it should be read by many people. Because we cannot dare to forget the past. This would be the greatest insult to everyone who did and did not survive. I'm very upset that I did not know about this although WW2 is a very very large part of our school education here in Germany. My grandparents will surely not forget that they have to spend their time afraid and huddled up in bunkers instead of their school. I really like hearing them talk about that time although it makes me and them sad. I think it is very important that it will not be forgotten once the people who lived through this are not here anymore. Okay, now I'm crying even more...