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enobong's Reviews (492)
As part two of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey follows Cecilia Klein in the aftermath of her liberation from Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Union. Cecilia Klein or Cilka Klein survived Auschwitz by enduring constant rape and abuse at the hands of two senior officers who made her the head of Block 25, a block in which women were reassigned on their way to the gas chambers to keep her and what they were doing to her hidden away. As punishment for her 'role' in the concentration camp, Cilka is sentenced to 15 years in a Soviet work camp in the heart of Siberia and this book is a fictionalised account of her experiences there.
One of the things I loved about The Tattooist of Auschwitz was how the lives of others who endured the cruelties of Auschwitz-Birkenau were incorporated into the love story of Lale and Gita. One character whose story I wanted to know more of was Cilka's and Heather Morris writes in her author notes at the end of this book that the majority of the letters she received after publishing The Tattooist related to Cilka and what happened to her.
The idea that Cilka was punished as a co-conspirator for being raped by her captors is sickening. And hers is just one of the many stories of women punished for their abuse or left to carry the guilt of an injustice enacted against them. Although fictionalised, this is a true story of a real person who suffered many of the things written about in the novel with embellishments here and there and a dash of artistic license thrown in for good measure.
I am grateful to Heather Morris for first bringing me the story of Lale and Gita and secondly for bringing me the story of Cilka. I listened to The Tattooist on audiobook and therefore had a much different response to that than I did to this book. Morris's use of short simple sentences written in the present tense with the feel of stage directions or directorial notes worked in audiobook form as it keeps the listener actively engaged in the story. It, unfortunately, didn't quite work for me in the written form. The content of the story was almost good enough to carry itself. However, with the writing style, I ended up feeling like I was reading the author notes and chapter outlines and not the finished text.
As a plot device, I also struggled with how every single man Cilka seemed to come in contact with fell in love with her. That irked me.
This is a powerful and important story but ultimately I enjoyed reading the notes on the text at the end more than the actual novel and I wonder if it would have been better as a research historical book rather than a fictionalised novel.
One of the things I loved about The Tattooist of Auschwitz was how the lives of others who endured the cruelties of Auschwitz-Birkenau were incorporated into the love story of Lale and Gita. One character whose story I wanted to know more of was Cilka's and Heather Morris writes in her author notes at the end of this book that the majority of the letters she received after publishing The Tattooist related to Cilka and what happened to her.
The idea that Cilka was punished as a co-conspirator for being raped by her captors is sickening. And hers is just one of the many stories of women punished for their abuse or left to carry the guilt of an injustice enacted against them. Although fictionalised, this is a true story of a real person who suffered many of the things written about in the novel with embellishments here and there and a dash of artistic license thrown in for good measure.
I am grateful to Heather Morris for first bringing me the story of Lale and Gita and secondly for bringing me the story of Cilka. I listened to The Tattooist on audiobook and therefore had a much different response to that than I did to this book. Morris's use of short simple sentences written in the present tense with the feel of stage directions or directorial notes worked in audiobook form as it keeps the listener actively engaged in the story. It, unfortunately, didn't quite work for me in the written form. The content of the story was almost good enough to carry itself. However, with the writing style, I ended up feeling like I was reading the author notes and chapter outlines and not the finished text.
As a plot device, I also struggled with how every single man Cilka seemed to come in contact with fell in love with her. That irked me.
This is a powerful and important story but ultimately I enjoyed reading the notes on the text at the end more than the actual novel and I wonder if it would have been better as a research historical book rather than a fictionalised novel.
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Navaeh Levitz is part white Jewish and part black and has never felt like a whole person. As a white-passing biracial child, she has just always accepted that she doesn't fit in anywhere. When her parents' marriage unravels, Navaeh is forced into the depths of both sides of her identity and can either choose to continue battling to be accepted or all embrace all the magic in her heritage.
If you like books by Angie Thomas or Elizabeth Acevedo, then you should read this book. I know the readalikes are usually put at the end of a review but I thought I'd get them out of the way here.
Color Me In is a character-focused novel truly written for a Young Adult demographic. The conflicting inner-dialogue, the friendships, the high-school drama and the unrelenting need to fit in left me cringing and wanting to shake some sense in Navaeh. This book touches on identity, racial tension, religion, friendship, love and family and a part of me stopped and wondered if there was too much being included but actually no, I don't think there is. All these themes and ideas are interwoven with one another to create the whole. If you think about it, all the other things are interwoven to create our identities and often times it's not a conclusion we reach but a lesson we are constantly learning. I think Diaz has illustrated that well.
I'm a hopeless optimistic so I always want even the worst characters to have a redemptive arc and that doesn't always happen in this book but then it doesn't always happen in real life. However, many of the 'bad' characters, like Samuel and Abby, lacked the multidimensions woven into the 'good' characters such as Stevie and Jordan.
But the MVP and the character that makes this book an ultimate winner for me is Navaeh. Which is only right as she is the protagonist. Navaeh is loosely based on Diaz and this is clear in her character development. I both want to shake her and hug her. She is selfish and careless and self-involved but which teenager isn't? (How many adults aren't like that either?) But she grows, she changes, she finds her magic.
I hope this is a book that many teenagers out there read and are inspired to find their magic.
If you like books by Angie Thomas or Elizabeth Acevedo, then you should read this book. I know the readalikes are usually put at the end of a review but I thought I'd get them out of the way here.
Color Me In is a character-focused novel truly written for a Young Adult demographic. The conflicting inner-dialogue, the friendships, the high-school drama and the unrelenting need to fit in left me cringing and wanting to shake some sense in Navaeh. This book touches on identity, racial tension, religion, friendship, love and family and a part of me stopped and wondered if there was too much being included but actually no, I don't think there is. All these themes and ideas are interwoven with one another to create the whole. If you think about it, all the other things are interwoven to create our identities and often times it's not a conclusion we reach but a lesson we are constantly learning. I think Diaz has illustrated that well.
I'm a hopeless optimistic so I always want even the worst characters to have a redemptive arc and that doesn't always happen in this book but then it doesn't always happen in real life. However, many of the 'bad' characters, like Samuel and Abby, lacked the multidimensions woven into the 'good' characters such as Stevie and Jordan.
But the MVP and the character that makes this book an ultimate winner for me is Navaeh. Which is only right as she is the protagonist. Navaeh is loosely based on Diaz and this is clear in her character development. I both want to shake her and hug her. She is selfish and careless and self-involved but which teenager isn't? (How many adults aren't like that either?) But she grows, she changes, she finds her magic.
I hope this is a book that many teenagers out there read and are inspired to find their magic.
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