DNF I didn't want to do this. I freaking loved The Future of Another Timeline, by this same author, but I couldn't read Autonomous and I can't read thiDNF I didn't want to do this. I freaking loved The Future of Another Timeline, by this same author, but I couldn't read Autonomous and I can't read this one either. There's just something about it that's like trying to mix oil and water. I don't think it's anything against the author's writing style, I think it's entirely my own problem, but I just need to not read this. I tried! I will give Newitz's non-fiction book about the four civilizations a try, but for now, I'm gonna say they are hit or miss for me. (Also this was the first book I tried to read for the 2023 Read Harder challenge. It was for #14, Read a book with under 500 Goodreads ratings. I don't know if I'll complete that part of the challenge now, but I will try!)...more
No one is allowed to talk to me about bravery EVER AGAIN unless they've read this book first. It should be required reading for everyone. I *can't belNo one is allowed to talk to me about bravery EVER AGAIN unless they've read this book first. It should be required reading for everyone. I *can't believe I knew nothing of these stories before reading this, and I am SO grateful that I entered the giveaway for this, thinking, "I probably won't read it unless someone gives it to me for free," and then WON, because yeah, I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise, and that would be a crime against my own soul.
We all know the Holocaust was bad. Obviously. But I often avoid reading about it because it is SO sad and so uncomfortable. So some of the details in this book took me by surprise in their honesty and stark brutality. That's why I started this review with the sentence I started it with. The stakes were dire, dangerous AF, and seemingly insurmountable. And yet, the women (and others) who stood in the face of these horrid conditions were able to continually do so, as made evident by this book. I can't even fathom the fear and the courage. In some instances, these young women and girls (some of them were under the age of 18) would hide weaponry in their bodies or in innocuous things they carried (like bread or shopping bags) WHILE ON THE TRAIN with Nazis or Gestapo. Sometimes, they would jump off trains to concentration camps and figure out a way to get back, after avoiding pursuit from their captors. Sometimes, they would endure horrific torture and still live to continue the rebellion in any way possible. This book is both riveting to read and difficult to keep going in because the trauma is real, and it's hard to keep reading about the atrocities. But it's so worth it, because now I have knowledge and understanding that I didn't have before, and a great respect for these fighters who existed in real life and who history barely remembers. I can take their message with me and use it when I need to channel bravery and justice. The book also includes a frank discussion of what happened after the war, including the positive and negative feelings of the survivors, and the positive and negative ways in which they were viewed in their communities and societies. Some of it will really piss you off (but that's not the author's fault, that's history).
The only issues I have with the book are actually issues I think I have with the publisher and not the author. For one thing, the binding is cheap. I could feel the spine separating under my hands as I read, and it's a brand new book! For another thing, I caught a few typos, and I wonder what kind of editor Batalion had. Lastly, I think someone gave Batalion bad advice. The narration follows a LOT of different women's storylines throughout the 1940s, and it is SO confusing. I couldn't remember who was who (other than Renia), when we jumped from story to story. I would really have liked to just follow one person's story at a time, until the culminating chapters, which did do a good job of tying everyone's experiences together.
*I totally CAN believe it because MEN, ugh....more
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