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Misfit's Reviews > Lilac Girls
Lilac Girls (Lilac Girls, #1)
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This story is about three different women, two of whom were real-life characters according to the author's notes, the third (a prisoner at the all female prison camp Ravensbrück). Caroline Ferriday is the first narrator, Kasia (a young Polish girl) and finally the notorious Herta Oberheuser (don't read up on her experiments at meal time). The setting is mainly during the years of WWII, but the later third or so take place some years afterward.
Typically such a subject matter would have me gripped to the book and bawling my eyes out at the gross inhumanity of the experiments the women at the camp were forced to endure, but this just didn't grab me. I can't understand why a fascinating, albeit graphic, bit of history can be put into a novel that in the end became increasingly tedious. I don't know if it was the alternating third person narratives (admittedly not a method I'm terribly fond of), or just flat characters/characterization, but I just didn't care about any of them, not even Kasia and her fellow prisoners. Caroline's narrative went on and on about her pretty dresses, charities parties and all that name dropping, and then there's the romantic element with no chemistry. In the end, I just didn't care and began to skim, and it went on too long for before tying things up and moving on.
Sorry, but apparently I am in the minority and see this getting a lot of favorable reviews, but due to the slowness of the story reaching it's resolution, unlikeable characters (and really, Herta should have been a lot more unlikeable), and one too many social party and pretty dress for Caroline, I just can't rate this higher. YMMV.
Typically such a subject matter would have me gripped to the book and bawling my eyes out at the gross inhumanity of the experiments the women at the camp were forced to endure, but this just didn't grab me. I can't understand why a fascinating, albeit graphic, bit of history can be put into a novel that in the end became increasingly tedious. I don't know if it was the alternating third person narratives (admittedly not a method I'm terribly fond of), or just flat characters/characterization, but I just didn't care about any of them, not even Kasia and her fellow prisoners. Caroline's narrative went on and on about her pretty dresses, charities parties and all that name dropping, and then there's the romantic element with no chemistry. In the end, I just didn't care and began to skim, and it went on too long for before tying things up and moving on.
Sorry, but apparently I am in the minority and see this getting a lot of favorable reviews, but due to the slowness of the story reaching it's resolution, unlikeable characters (and really, Herta should have been a lot more unlikeable), and one too many social party and pretty dress for Caroline, I just can't rate this higher. YMMV.
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Reading Progress
January 15, 2016
– Shelved
January 15, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read-amazon-vine
January 15, 2016
– Shelved as:
wwii
January 24, 2016
–
Started Reading
January 24, 2016
–
0.21%
"The only ominous sign from the direction of Europe was the scent of slack water wafting off the East River."
page
1
January 24, 2016
–
3.29%
"Manhattan society is like a solar system with its own order. A single woman dining with a married man is enough to throw planets out of alignment."
page
16
January 26, 2016
–
28.54%
"Our new home, Block 32, was much larger than the quarantine block."
page
139
January 30, 2016
–
43.53%
"If we stop operating on them, they'll stop suffering. Gebhardt just uses us to do his dirty work."
page
212
January 30, 2016
–
48.25%
"What is that smell outside?
page
235
They've built a crematorium. Furnaces.
"
February 6, 2016
–
62.22%
"The war in Europe was over.
page
303
Now if I could say the same for the book :/
"
February 7, 2016
–
84.19%
"Really, that was overkill on the name dropping fancy New York party."
page
410
February 7, 2016
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89.73%
"Hard to believe that such a horrific footnote in history and the abuses these women suffered at the hands of the Nazis can be made so boring..."
page
437
February 7, 2016
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Finished Reading
September 11, 2022
–
59.55%
"I hereby place you under arrest for war crimes against humanity."
page
290
Comments Showing 1-50 of 269 (269 new)
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MomToKippy
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Feb 07, 2016 06:39PM
Are you rating this as well?
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MomToKippy wrote: "Are you rating this as well?"Whoops.
MomToKippy wrote: "Oh thanks, I was just so curious."Thanks for letting me know.
I'm about 40% into this book and I'm feeling the EXACT same way right now :/
Sarah wrote: "I'm about 40% into this book and I'm feeling the EXACT same way right now :/"Glad to know I'm not alone :)
I am at 90% and struggling a bit also. I won't go as low as two stars, but surely, surely not five. Too much product placement; how many times can we work in the brand Bergdorf Goodman? Are there any other department stores in the USA? I have a DRC and so it's very unusual for me to feel so snarky. There are aspects here that have merit and that I have not seen in other Holocaust memoirs, and I will put them in my review. But I also have to say that anytime an author has to rely too heavily on famous actors from a particular time period, it is a sign they are having difficulty with character development and need a crutch. So you are not alone. I will probably land on 3 stars unless the ending is really stellar.
Donna wrote: "I am at 90% and struggling a bit also. I won't go as low as two stars, but surely, surely not five. Too much product placement; how many times can we work in the brand Bergdorf Goodman? Are there a..."Couldn't agree more. There are times I wonder on some of these books it's a case of the Emperor's clothes and peeps love it because we're told we're going to love it.
Right. So I gave it 3.5, and the thing that drove it that high really was Herta. I didn't believe Caroline or Kasia, but I came away feeling as if Herta was subtly depicted, and it takes a certain kind of courage to depict a Nazi doc using first person, and a certain skill to do it without them appearing caricatured. Also, there are younger folk out there than I am who haven't read a zillion Holocaust stories, and the topic has merit now that the vets have died off and there are deniers out there trying to reshape history. But given the level of promotion, I was overall disappointed. Also had really hoped the resistance was going to be more heavily featured, which the teaser suggests. But this is a first novel; the next will likely be stronger, esp. if author can leave her ad background behind her.
Donna wrote: "Right. So I gave it 3.5, and the thing that drove it that high really was Herta. I didn't believe Caroline or Kasia, but I came away feeling as if Herta was subtly depicted, and it takes a certain ..."Unfortunate the editors don't take a stronger hand, like with the ad stuff.
Misfit wrote: "Donna wrote: "I am at 90% and struggling a bit also. I won't go as low as two stars, but surely, surely not five. Too much product placement; how many times can we work in the brand Bergdorf Goodma..."That's exactly how I feel about this. It's a WW2 Holocaust novel, so I feel like people assume they HAVE to love it.
Sarah wrote: "Misfit wrote: "Donna wrote: "I am at 90% and struggling a bit also. I won't go as low as two stars, but surely, surely not five. Too much product placement; how many times can we work in the brand ..."There are certain books that we sheeple are supposed to love because we're told we're supposed to love them.
But it's waiting for me at the library!
CLM wrote: "But it's waiting for me at the library!"Good luck and let us know what you think.
I scanned the reviews hoping to find someone else who didn't think this book was worthy of 5 stars. I also feel that the characters didn't grip you and I dreaded each of Caroline's chapters. She was a well to due debutante with not a lot to offer to the story. The book continues well after the war and could have been much shorter at that point. I love historical fiction and was hoping I'd add this to my "read again" pile but sadly I will not.
Katie wrote: "I scanned the reviews hoping to find someone else who didn't think this book was worthy of 5 stars. I also feel that the characters didn't grip you and I dreaded each of Caroline's chapters. She wa..."It was so meh, I'm sorry I requested an ARC with a review obligation instead of waiting for library. Then I can just walk away after a few chapters.
Ladies, I do agree that the characters were not as well developed as I would have liked. And the cover was pretty as well as pretty misleading. I do however, appreciate the author’s research and for keeping some of the key factual details authentic. For example, the plight of the Ravensbrück Rabbits post war. There was in fact a philanthropic program to help with their postwar well-being, both physical and mental. A story about their plight did appear in the article "The Ladies Depart," by Norman Cousins, in the Friends Journal of 8 August 1959. I will still give it a 4 or 4.5 for historical facts.
I am almost done. Disappointing. It just seems to drag. Seriously? How many more foreign phrases can you throw in? I get it, the author knows French.
PacaLipstick wrote: "I am almost done. Disappointing. It just seems to drag. Seriously? How many more foreign phrases can you throw in? I get it, the author knows French."I need a like button for that comment :)
You guys are so right! >"That's exactly how I feel about this. It's a WW2 Holocaust novel, so I feel like people assume they HAVE to love it." and "There are certain books that we sheeple are supposed to love because we're told we're supposed to love them."
cough cough The Nightingale cough cough
MomToKippy wrote: "You guys are so right! >"That's exactly how I feel about this. It's a WW2 Holocaust novel, so I feel like people assume they HAVE to love it." and "There are certain books that we sheeple are supp..."
Sheeple gotta (sic) be sheeple.
I'm about 70 pages into this book and had to put it down because of boredom. I love WWII books, but so far this isn't clicking.
I can't wait for this to be over. It moves along at a snail's pace,and I can't summon up much feeling for the characters. From all the rave reviews I thought this would be unputdownable. Wrong!
Darlene wrote: "I can't wait for this to be over. It moves along at a snail's pace,and I can't summon up much feeling for the characters. From all the rave reviews I thought this would be unputdownable. Wrong!":)
The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "I got this as a KU offering, for free. My time, however, is quite valuable, so I deleted it at roughly 35%. At that point it was a solid two stars, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the plethora..."If it had been library, I would have bailed fairly early. Books from the Vine program, I try to give them my best to finish unless they're excruciatingly bad. Vine has a 100% review policy on any items received, and DNF reviews aren't always well received on Amazon from the author pets.
The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "Damn, I wish I cared. "No, you don't ;)
Alexandra aka Auntie J wrote: "The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "Damn, I wish I cared. "No, you don't ;)"
No, she doesn't :)
The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "Apparently I am a well-known Old Bitch. Which is fine, of course, since I've spent decades perfecting that image."I have had that reputation in the past. Then I started reading OOP historical novels with mostly dead authors. Better stories, better writing, no drama. Life was good, then I got sucked into the Bundy saga in January and my reading progress is in the toilet...
I find it flat and it is very hard to get into. And what the heck is the color of an unripe cantaloupe? I'm not rating this novel as highly as you did. It is badly written.
I'm half way through and feeling the same way.
I nearly stopped reading this twice. I agree with others comments about Caroline's chapters, they were difficult to get through. I finally started getting into it about half way through but the end comes so abruptly. Ugh. Not what I was expecting.
I agree with you , Sonia. I completed the book but felt the ending was too quick and too forced.
I agree totally with all that was said here. So wanted to love - definitely, Martha did research but a boring, flat novel!!
Happy to see I'm not the only one.
Cheri wrote: "Happy to see I'm not the only one.":)
completely agree, terrible writing, schoolgirl mistakes and historical howlers......so annoying! Characters were either one dimensional or barking and not likeable. Author never got inside any of them. And it went on and on..... We are a select minority, Misfit!
Deborah wrote: "completely agree, terrible writing, schoolgirl mistakes and historical howlers......so annoying! Characters were either one dimensional or barking and not likeable. Author never got inside any of t..."It's so unfortunate with some promising material.
Exactly how I felt.
Deborah wrote: "Exactly how I felt."Blah.
I agree. It was good to learn about Ravensbruck and that Caroline and Herta were real people, but the writing was like a bad romance novel. Too bad such an important subject was given so bad a treatment.
Lynn wrote: "I agree. It was good to learn about Ravensbruck and that Caroline and Herta were real people, but the writing was like a bad romance novel. Too bad such an important subject was given so bad a trea..."Ravensbruck should have had me an emotional mess at the horror of it all, but no...
I agree with your review. I was not a fan of this book either.
I haven't read this one...but The Nightingale was a fantastic book. That one I would recommend in a heartbeat...I still think of that book today.
I agree 100% with you, Rachel. The Nightingale was wonderful.
This is a heart wrenching story based on true events. 2/3 of the main characters are real people. If you love historical fiction, this book is for you. It's seamless blend of true historical events with a fictional flare.
I completely agree with you on this. I gave the book 4 stars for the writing, but it did not grab me at all, and usually I am huge fan of WWII books. Try Sarah's Key for a good one.
Agree - I am on here seeking out other reviews to reassure me because i too didn't love it as I thought I would. Among other things I found the pacing annoying (too fast then slows down so much), too much history telling, as well as characters I didn't care about. Feels like the author has done masses of research and had great intentions but just not executed well enough.
Caroline wrote: "Agree - I am on here seeking out other reviews to reassure me because i too didn't love it as I thought I would. Among other things I found the pacing annoying (too fast then slows down so much), t..."Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Glad I'm not alone.
