Wow! What a powerful book. I hate to have to add a few warnings to it because I honestly would love everyone to take the time to read this story.

Warning mature subject matter. This book contains scenes of violence, torture, rape, explicit language and hate crimes.

If you follow my reviews, you know I don't normally veer towards historical fiction. I decided to take the plunge. I chose an amazing book to wet my feet with.

Society has begun to forget the atrocities of the past. This book is a wake up call - we can never let history repeat itself.

The reader follows Emilia an innocent german born jewish girl from the age of 19 through her life in concentration camps. What happens to her isn't for the faint hearted. Her sheer will to survive is compelling and drove me to read the entire novel in one sitting.

I particularly like the way the book continues after the fall of Hitler and the tables are turned. Hate brings out the worst in everyone.

I'm not an expert in this time period, but there are a few lines which may not ring authentic, they however do not interfere with the enjoyment of the writing or the underlying message.

Recommended read for all mature audience! A full 5 stars! ( )

The darkest days in the history of Nazi Germany through a woman’s eyes

Reading about the atrocities during WW11 is never an easy read. Of course Emilia story is severe and at times even horrific nevertheless it is compelling account of a life under the Nazi regime. This is a fiction where the author has poetic license and uses it quite well, focusing only on the Nazi atrocities.

This powerful story takes us on a journey of lost innocence, hardening hearts and finding love as we follow a young girl wishing for a normal life, only to be sent to a concentration camp, finally liberated at the end of the war and a few years later finding peace. Emilia tells the darkest tale honestly drawing us into her harrowing life, a life that countless victims were subject to. What a nightmare she tells, page after page of horror: rape, abuse, sadistic handlers at every corner. All the while this young woman was desperately trying to survive. The description of what was done on the population in the camps is very graphic and will undeniably touch the reader’s emotions. Of course this book is sad and hard but the story is so well-written without any fluff and long prose and is said with such frankness and raw emotions that I found it very hard to pause and stay away from this wonderful story of survival for too long. Excellent.

I received this ARC for review from the Publisher Ellie Midwood via Netgalleys ( )