Like others have said, I don't read very much from this genre because it absolutely breaks my heart to do so. However, I wanted to read this first look because of how much I've heard about the previous one, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and I never want to forget the horrors that women, in particular, like Cilka experienced. I read this without having read the first book, but I would definitely pick up a copy of that before reading the full book of Cilka's Journey.