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Such a good book. It told a story of the lives of the liberated after World War 2 which is something that is often forgotten. It was a honest story with mystery and confusion that kept me hooked the whole time. I would 100% recommend especially if you like historical fiction.

This book broke me.

This year has been the year of the 5 star audiobook for me, and this was another great addition to the collection. This was a really powerful story of a Holocaust survivor trying to recover from the unimaginable trauma of losing much of her family to concentration camps, searching for her younger brother, and learning to live and love again after liberation. The writing and narration brought Zofia‘s pain and confusion but also her hope to life.

I am not usually one for historical fiction, but this was done really well. It focuses on the aftermath of the war and the liberation of the camps, which is different from a lot of other books about this time period. The ending was really smartly done to and ended up catching me by surprise, which is a rarity and was really nice. #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Mid-reading this one right now. Such a different take on the aftermath of World War II. Still reading it, and will post when I get to the end but I wanted to post my #bookspin for spooky October season!

Excellent YA historical fiction. Zofia has survived Nazi concentration camps, but with the war over, she needs to find her younger brother Abek. Hesse shows readers UN refugee camps and the PTSD that a survivor would experience. https://cannonballread.com/2021/06/they-went-left-elcicco/

Oh my. Such a good book, as good as a book about a Holocaust survivor can be. Beautifully written.
A young Polish woman surviving Birkenau. After spending time in a hospital after liberation she is finally able to go in search of her younger brother. Her memory isn‘t always what she thinks it is. In a Displaced Persons camp she meets people that change her life again. Slowly she allows herself to remember the gaps in her memory.

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I have no clue why I thought it would be a good idea to read this book. But I did. It is haunting and beautiful and sad and hopeful and just wrong that this was even able to be written. Brief synopsis, a young woman is released from the Nazi concentration camps and starts traveling to find her young brother. I don‘t know how people read these books regularly.

#wwii #nazi #jewish #heartbreaking #knittingwhilereading #audiobook

I barely read anything about the life after WWII, so this was something very different than what I read. It's also interesting seeing how PTSD can affect a person. This was an emotional read and has that mystery aspect too. #ya #historical

After wwii, a girl goes looking for her brother and what‘s left of her family. She struggles with her memory.

���������� ◼� WOW....here‘s the link to my Goodreads review. I am still at a loss for words. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3412818959 #litsylove

Yeah, my September book haul was pretty massive. This isn‘t even everything! So much for self-control!

I‘ll try to do better this month. 🙂

Wow what a phenomenal story, it's a historical story about what occurs after the Holocaust and what it looks like to start over after the atrocious horrendous and evil events that happened. What does a new life look like? Who does it involve? Who deserves forgiveness .. a beautiful amazing story, well Narrated as an audiobook.

Another Monica Hesse winner (author of American Fire and The Girl in the Blue Coat)! Many authors write about the Holocaust/WW2 but few research the aftermath of its concentration camp survivors. This HF novel plumbs the depth of morality and memory in post war lives. So good. Recommend 💖

A devastating first chapter about a girl who has just been liberated from a camp and knows the only family member she may have left alive it's her little brother. We like to think the trauma ensued during WW2 ended once those who survived were let free. This book seems so far like our will be seen important portrayal of the grief experienced by those left behind. This quote is within the first few pages 💔

1st 5 star read of the year. I can‘t even put into words what I feel after reading this heartbreaking book. Zofia has been liberated from a concentration camp and all she wants to do is find her brother. But as she looks for him she is having a hard time knowing if what she remembers and feels are memories of her brother or dreams. I can‘t imagine living through this horrible time in our world history. But one thing Zofia never gave up!

My reading partner & I just finished this remarkable book. It begins in a hospital, post liberation of a concentration camp where a young woman is struggling to recover physically & mentally- having trouble deciding which “memoriesâ€� are real and which are imagined out of trauma. She is searching for her little brother, having lost the rest of her family to Nazi terror. It‘s a story of sadness and hope, of the past and new of beginnings. â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�

I had surgery today (bilateral salpingectomy) and the nurse was laughing at me because as soon as they wheeled me into recovery I was reaching for my book. It is an excellent book, but idk how she expected me to just lay there while I had a book to read! I‘m back home and Anthony is taking good care of me. 🥰

My used bookstore haul from The Dusty Bookshelf in Lawrence, KS. I‘ve read The Things They Carried, but I wanted a physical copy on my shelf. The Hesse wasn‘t even on my radar- I picked it up because I‘ve read and loved her before so I was pleased to see once I got home today that it is an ARC and not out until April 2020...and it‘s about a Holocaust survivor trying to reunite with her brother post war, so I had to start that one first. ♥ï¸�♥ï¸�♥ï¸�