Phong Do Do itibaren Llangian, Pwllheli, Gwynedd LL53, UK itibaren Llangian, Pwllheli, Gwynedd LL53, UK

Such skillful writing - - highly recommended

Shazam-non stop action. I really could not put it down. Todd and Viola, so many things go wrong. They are the bravest characters, so young and unseasoned they keep trying falling and getting back up. This place is not what they had dreamed of. It is full of cowards, back stabbers, and liars. Who do they trust, which side is t he right one ? Many choices are made many are wrong, but they never fail each other. Ends with a cliffhanger.

This is one of those books I've come to think of as the Everything Is Illuminated sub-genre: we've reached the time that the generation of kids whose grandparents were Holocaust victims are writing books about it and they all have a similar theme of survival (obvs) and of history and narrative-- the importance of telling a story in order to define oneself, one's culture, and one's experience. This novel has a lot of delightful elements and several instantly compelling characters. It manages to weave together 3 different narrators telling 3 different stories very well. I figured out the essential plot twist early on, but the experience of being led there was still enjoyable and surprising. I do think, however, that a 4th narrator introduced late in the book to lead to the reveal was unnecessary and a bit of a cheat so as to keep the reader in the dark a little longer, which I think made the ending less compelling than it should have been. Also, I felt that the final pages introduced another "twist" that was not fully explained or explored, leaving the reader confused just when he or she should be enjoying the final emotional moments. Overall, the journey was worth the somewhat shaky ending and I think that the author successfully explored the concepts she set for herself.

Great and underappreciated.