*Received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own*
This review is so hard to write. The story is unbelievable. Sad, horendous, but full of hope and love, just like the Tattooist was.
I loved reading Cilka's story - it is such an important part of history that is not told in many books. Not her story personally, but that of women and how they were treated and degraded not just during the WW2 but after. The note of the author afterwards, that so many women kept the secrets of their sexual abuse in those horendous camps is just unbelievable. I'm sad, and disappointed with people who would judge such women.
That said, why can't I give this book a higher rating. I was really really disappointed in the writing. It felt very detached. It is written in third outside person, not from the perspective of the MC herself. It's always she is feeling this, Cilka is acting this way, etc etc. It almost felt like the feelings of the character had to be explained, not explored in a beautiful writing. The feelings that are so obvious were not reactive, they were factoids in the story. It just took away for me from the character and the story. The afterword was more beautifully written than the whole book. It almost felt like a report. Even the conversations seemed very clip and almost like a translation. There's something lost and missing.
I really don't want to make anyone not read the story. It is such an important one - it's part of history, even if it's somewhat fictional. There's a lot of truth to it, and everyone needs to know the abuse these people had to go through even after the war was over. The Soviet rule wasn't any better, and it is just as important to know that part of history too.
This review is so hard to write. The story is unbelievable. Sad, horendous, but full of hope and love, just like the Tattooist was.
I loved reading Cilka's story - it is such an important part of history that is not told in many books. Not her story personally, but that of women and how they were treated and degraded not just during the WW2 but after. The note of the author afterwards, that so many women kept the secrets of their sexual abuse in those horendous camps is just unbelievable. I'm sad, and disappointed with people who would judge such women.
That said, why can't I give this book a higher rating. I was really really disappointed in the writing. It felt very detached. It is written in third outside person, not from the perspective of the MC herself. It's always she is feeling this, Cilka is acting this way, etc etc. It almost felt like the feelings of the character had to be explained, not explored in a beautiful writing. The feelings that are so obvious were not reactive, they were factoids in the story. It just took away for me from the character and the story. The afterword was more beautifully written than the whole book. It almost felt like a report. Even the conversations seemed very clip and almost like a translation. There's something lost and missing.
I really don't want to make anyone not read the story. It is such an important one - it's part of history, even if it's somewhat fictional. There's a lot of truth to it, and everyone needs to know the abuse these people had to go through even after the war was over. The Soviet rule wasn't any better, and it is just as important to know that part of history too.