DNF: I’ve been listening to the audiobook and I never quite got the big climax or big plot. It came across as a description of a traditional Jewish persons life before the holocaust and I’m not sure I understand the fictional part of the story. It’s well written and the lifestyle is important for historical contexts but I just couldn’t stay involved in the story

This was more a romance than historical fiction novel. I don’t like romance.
How many times and in how many different ways can you say the same thing? Herschel and Naomi’s marriage is terrible, Naomi and Eli are in love.
What about the dreams / premonitions? They were only mentioned a couple of times.
The first chapter was the best, and it was all downhill from there.
Not sure why this is the first in a trilogy. It could have been written in one if it wasn’t so repetitive.

The first page is a glimpse into the future and the rest of book builds up to that future. Twin sisters run in the family and the older twin has dreams that show the future. This book is part of a series and it does a wonderful job of setting the stage for future books. It is not a WWII book, but a book about the family in the 17 years leading up to WWII. I was very intrigued with the Jewish customs as I’m not familiar with them. It is a story of love and family obligations and how they do not always point you in the same direction. I can’t wait to read more books in this series.

Audiobook- Roberta’s books are so easy to listen to. Will need to continue this series…

I always find books set during WWII and the holocaust interesting even though difficult to read at times. Considering the cover I was expecting this story to take place at Auschwitz or another concentration camp. This book mainly takes place in Poland about 15 years before the Nazi takeover. It does a little jumping back and forth between times in Naomi's life, which got a little confusing at some points. It also jumps perspectives to different characters, I really liked the aspect. It's mostly a love story at this point and an introduction to the family along with their way of life in their small Jewish town. I really liked the dream premonitions aspect I just wish they had taken them more seriously. I'm assuming since this is the first in the series the next book will be more centered around the twins. It is well written and kept me interested throughout. I look forward to continuing with the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought this book was going to be more about what the twins go through during the Nazi takeover. Though that will all be in the second book. This book is mostly about Naomi, her family, her growing up and getting married and her relationship with Eli. It's all just story building which ends with the actual start of the Nazi invasion. It's a quick read but I was expecting more than just the building of the story.

Title: The Children's Dream
Author: Roberta Kagan
Release Date: March 1st, 2022
Page Count: 256
Start Date: September 2nd, 2022
Finish Date: September 10th, 2022

Review:
Story: I was expecting a build-up with this story. Especially with it being a series. I was NOT expecting to be thrown into the series from the very first page. I wasn't expecting my emotions to be thrown all over the place with every chapter. This is definitely going to be a series that will stick with me. I will need to get physical copies of every book in this series. Right now, there are only three. I know that I've only read one of them, but I just KNOW that I will love the rest of the books in the series. I know that any book that comes from this series will become an auto-buy for me. I am even interested in trying to read other books by this author outside of this series. Her writing style is amazing.
Characters: This story is told from multiple points of view. Some were characters that you can't help but to just adore. Even with their flaws. Like Naomi. She's just such an amazing woman. I'd of loved to see more from her three girls. I would have liked to have seen less of the father's point of view. However, I do understand the need to see his point of view. That's all I can say without spoilers.
Critiques: None. Unless you count it being an emotional roller coaster!
Final Thoughts: I really do recommend this book. Not only is it a very powerful story, but it helps understand how things were during that time from a Jewish point of view. The writing style is also very incredible. I am so looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I just know that I'm going to be emotionally wrung out by the time it's over. It's worth it though.

Well... I'm a little bit confused, the book was supposed to be about a Jewish family going through the crimes and pogroms of WWII, so i thought the beginning would be describing their life pre-war and then we see how the dynamic changes when the Nazis enter Poland.
This obviously didn't happen, it was all about Naomi, the mother, from her early years and then with more focus about her life as a married Jewish woman, maybe because this is book 1 in the series, the author wanted to give us more insight into the story for us to form kind of connection with the characters, which she managed to do.
The storyline wasn't an original one, it felt like reading a women's fiction book from the 1960s, but that said though, it wasn't bad, it started a little bit rocky, but after the first few chapters i was really invested in the plot.
The characters were ones you could Invision clearly in your mind, sometimes the writing was a little bit basic on how their thoughts were shown, but that didn't take from the essence of the story.
I quite enjoyed it.
* I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher*