The Girl Who Survived – ARC Book Review

Germany, 1941: “We live together, or we die together.” A novel that will stay with you forever, The Girl Who Survived tells the inspiring true story of Ilse Stein, a German Jew who was imprisoned in a ghetto––and who fell in love with the man she was supposed to loathe.

For eighteen-year-old Ilse life is unrecognizable. A year ago, she wasn’t forced to wear a star on her clothes. A year ago, her parents were alive, not yet killed by their own countrymen. A year ago, she had her freedom.

Now, at the break of dawn, she steps off the cattle train into a Minsk ghetto. This is Ilse’s new home: trapped by barbed wire, surrounded by SS guards she is forbidden to look in the eye, with no choice but to trade the last of her belongings for scraps of food. Sentenced for the crime of simply existing, she doesn’t expect to live past the summer.

Yet the prisoners in the ghetto refuse to give up––the underground resistance is plotting their escape. Ilse’s first act of defiance is smuggling from the munitions factory, slipping bullets into the lining of her pockets.

But this is just the beginning… When Ilse meets Wilhem, a local SS administrative officer, she never dreams that her greatest rebellion will be falling for him. Wilhem promises that she will survive, even if the cost is his life. But in a world of such danger, daring to love is the most dangerous risk of all…

Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Choice, and Orphan Train will be completely gripped by this heartbreaking tale. Based on a true story, this powerful novel shows that love is stronger than terror, and that when life takes everything from you, death is not to be feared…

No. of pages:- 316 pages

Date published:- will be published on 7th September 2021

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Historical Fiction

Rating:-

Ellie Midwood has become one of my favorite authors in historical fiction genre!

“We live together, or we die together.”

Plot :- The Girl Who Survived is based on true events, about the lives of Ilse Stein, a German Jew and Wilhelm an SS administrative officer. Ilse’s life turned upside down when she and her family were sent to Minsk ghetto. She becomes friends with Lisa, a Soviet Jew and starts working for Wilhem. She was supposed to hate him but in the end, a romantic relationship develops between the two and Ilse gets involved in supplying ammunition to the partisan groups.

Good Things:- As usual, Ellie’s writing is mesmerizing and captivating and knows how to make the reader get into the story. I was so hooked into the writing that I couldn’t even put the book down! As usual, any Holocaust stories that are based on true stories will make me emotional and this book was one of the emotional reads. The story is told from Ilse’s point of view and her raw emotions, feelings seemed all too real. When one reads this book, it’s like you couldn’t believe that these things did happen in real life–the brutal things. The author must have done tremendous research on this story so kudos to the author! I have heard many stories about how the Nazis treated Russians with brutality so here also, we get a peek at how Soviets were treated. Some parts were heartbreaking to read.

I also liked the slow-budding romance between Ilse and Wilhelm. If you know the history behind the Nazis, the romance between Jews and Germans is forbidden so as a reader, I was worried that someone might find out about their relationship! The ending was so emotional but I wish I know what really happened to Ilse and Wilhelm in the end–the story ends in the year in 1943.

There is literally nothing I didn’t like about this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.