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Last Stop Klindenspiel

by Marta Tandori

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2231,026,098 (4.6)None
Combining the survival instincts made famous in The Hunger Games with the intensity of The Book Thief, Last Stop Klindenspiel is a tightrope of horrors that will make anyone think twice about running away to join the circus...It's been eight years since the Second World War has ended - long enough for people to forgive and forget - but feelings of hate run deep in Norway against people like fifteen-year-old Katya Holberg and her family. Separated from her father when the Allies liberated Poland, Katya and the rest of her family are sent to an internment camp in Oslo where they're eventually rescued by a Norwegian war hero. After four tumultuous years together, he brutally murders her sister, forcing Katya and her mother to seek refuge with her grandmother in faraway Droeback where Katya's mother is murdered by villagers soon after their arrival. Fearing for her safety, Katya's grandmother sends her to Klindenspiel, the only circus of its kind in Europe, where all of the performers are children. Once there, Katya quickly learns that all of the young performers share her terrible secret, making them more like her than she could ever have imagined. Things become complicated when Klindenspiel's artistic director pairs Katya with Aleks, a good-looking but secretive seventeen-year-old, who's skilled in acrobatics and dance. Curious about, and attracted to her new partner, Katya secretly follows him one night and learns the horrible truth behind Klindenspiel's magic. With the curtains about to rise on Klindenspiel's newest show, Katya and Aleks must give the performance of a lifetime - both on and off the stage - because their lives, and those of their fellow performers, are depending on it.… (more)
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*I received this book for an honest review from the author.*
Where do I begin? I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was nervous at first reading this because I was thinking it would be a lot more history oriented, but the amount of history in the book was perfect. I enjoyed Marta Tandori’s writing style so very much. Everything flowed together so well and it kept me intrigued as I turned each page (well as I my Kindle turned the page).
Each and every paragraph added more and more into the book. I do not think there was a paragraph that was there and had no importance. You know how in some books there are pages/chapters that are there just for fillers – not in Last Stop Klindenspiel. Each paragraph was perfect and I think that’s why I enjoyed this book so much. I learned so much throughout the first few chapters and I liked that. I didn’t have to wait for it to get good…it started off that way.
The book had me on my toes – I never knew where it was going to go. Surprise after surprise hidden among many of the pages (although I predicted one of them). There is loads of heart-break, struggle, angst, and death…but there is also love, desire, happiness, and relief. I loved how there were so many emotions throughout the book and it kept my heart going on so many roller-coasters.
I was on the fence about whether to rate the book with just 4.5 or move it on up to a five. The only read I wanted to bring it down is because I wanted more and the other books that go along with this book do not seem to give me the more that I want. But, then I thought, I am judging on this book and this book alone and I immediately chose the 5 stars. ( )
  erica_novelink | May 5, 2015 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
What a touching read! Katya went through so much in her life with her mother being a Norwegian and her father, a Nazi! Would she eventualy find peace? Who was Karel Bauer and Ivan Jaworski? What happened to all the stolen art and money? Were war criminals involved? After reading this, you will know all the answers! ( )
  lubazuck | Jan 30, 2015 |
Evil comes in many forms, and Kate Stanton has seen it all.

What happens to the Lebensborn Children, the product of Hitler’s perfect race after the war was over? Ask Katya Holberg, or I should say, Kate Stanton. Born to a beautiful Norwegian mother, Sonja, and Karl, a high ranking officer for the Third Reich, Katya’s life is destroyed the day the allies liberate the concentration camp that Katya’s father runs. Life is now a living hell, and one by one, Katya loses everything and everyone she loves tragically until she ends up a captive of Klindenspiel.

Katya has no idea what happened to her father; her mother died brutally, her body desecrated, after doing everything she could to make sure her daughters were safe, and her precious little sister Lilly, beaten to death before her eyes. Hoping to find safety living with her grandmother in Norway was a lost cause. To her grandmother’s neighbors, Katya represented evil, and threats were made against both their lives. Because of the acrobatic training Katya had received from her mother, her grandmother decides that the safest place for her is Klindenspiel, known to the public as the elite school for students gifted enough to be circus stars. To outsiders, the children are happy and well taken care of; but to Katya, it is not much better than the internment camp of times past. Even now she fears that there is no one in whom she can trust. Katya’s talent as a contortionist leads her to the top of class, making her the female star attraction, which puts in a position she wants nothing of. Afraid to trust anyone, what kind of future will Katya have, if any? Everyday a new evil knocks on her door, until the day her past crushes the door down.

This book is a great wake up call for today’s youth; my niece thinks the world is going to end because the battery died on her mp3 player. Though filled with horrific representations of what these children went through, it is no more graphic than Hunger Games, and I feel sends a much better message. Youth or adult – it is well worth the read. Look for the rest of the Kate Stanton series at Amazon. Great job, again, Marta Tandori!! ( )
  CarolTilson | Nov 11, 2014 |
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Combining the survival instincts made famous in The Hunger Games with the intensity of The Book Thief, Last Stop Klindenspiel is a tightrope of horrors that will make anyone think twice about running away to join the circus...It's been eight years since the Second World War has ended - long enough for people to forgive and forget - but feelings of hate run deep in Norway against people like fifteen-year-old Katya Holberg and her family. Separated from her father when the Allies liberated Poland, Katya and the rest of her family are sent to an internment camp in Oslo where they're eventually rescued by a Norwegian war hero. After four tumultuous years together, he brutally murders her sister, forcing Katya and her mother to seek refuge with her grandmother in faraway Droeback where Katya's mother is murdered by villagers soon after their arrival. Fearing for her safety, Katya's grandmother sends her to Klindenspiel, the only circus of its kind in Europe, where all of the performers are children. Once there, Katya quickly learns that all of the young performers share her terrible secret, making them more like her than she could ever have imagined. Things become complicated when Klindenspiel's artistic director pairs Katya with Aleks, a good-looking but secretive seventeen-year-old, who's skilled in acrobatics and dance. Curious about, and attracted to her new partner, Katya secretly follows him one night and learns the horrible truth behind Klindenspiel's magic. With the curtains about to rise on Klindenspiel's newest show, Katya and Aleks must give the performance of a lifetime - both on and off the stage - because their lives, and those of their fellow performers, are depending on it.

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