Buddy Reads discussion

Say your thoughts :)

No spoiler tags required.

Has anyone started yet? I am doing the audio book and on Chapter 2...pretty heavy from the get go!

I m going to start it today

I just finished chapter 7 today. I have to say, I love the writing style, how it flows easily from day to day.

Stories that take place during World War II and about the concentration camps always affect me deeply, this one being a true story, even more so. I cannot begin to imagine the extent of the horrors that went on there. I am just so taken aback by the extreme cruelty and lack of compassion a human being is even capable of displaying as seen in the Nazi soldiers, contrasted by the complete selflessness of Lale's fellow prisoners, nursing him back to health, risking their own lives. The two extremes are worth noticing, that even in the face of evil one can strive to do good.
I'm glad there is romance in this story to soften the sting of the trauma. Lale and Gita are so cute. His affection for her is so pure and sweet.

I agree with Kelly, stories about the Holocaust are truly heartbreaking and not easily shaken off.
Heather wrote so intimately that it was very difficult for me to distance myself from the reading. I could not stop thinking about it and then googled key figures in the Holocaust.

As for the main characters, I can not imagine finding love under such gruesome imprisonment. I would have futilely busied myself with plans to get out of camp. Remarkably, Lale and Gita found it and used it as an anchor against the Nazi’s brutality.

I agree with the sentiments above...reading about the Holocaust is so hard but i think it is good to understand other peoples struggles as we may go thru our own during life.

I don't know how you fall in love in that situation i hope it works out.

Chapter 2:
Aron is dead? Just killed him for telling Lale was gone? Or is he with the kapo?
And how old was Lale when he was taken?

Chapter 3:
I hate them all. It’s not easy to imagine what people have been through. And here we are, crying over childish things. We need to read non-fiction more.

Chapter 5:
It must have felt like a small haven in that hell. I hope they survived together.

Chapters 1-7:
I accidently read the prologue and then I just had to read the rest. It’s horrible. It’s terrible what they have all gone through. How crazy is it when you realise that they are not just characters but actual people who suffered and survived all that hell?
On the other hand, I do enjoy the book (not in a happy way) and I think the writing is very good.

I agree, it’s horrifying what they had to go through. Especially as people are just killed for no reason at all. These people are being tortured on a daily basis and have to worry about being killed for doing nothing at all. Lale is amazing and I love that he is so caring and sweet even when there’s all this terrible stuff going on. And not just towards Gita, but towards his fellow prisoners.

I agree. Lale was a good person. Every one was being killed for no reason and at and he still risked it for others. It would've meant his death if he got caught and still he kept helping others.
And others helped each other too. In the small ways that they could.