ARC review; thanks to NetGalley, Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House, and Rider for the access to this ebook. 

I decided a while back I wouldn't rate nonfiction and memoirs anymore, so I'll skip the rating, here are my thoughts. I've read a few memoirs from holocaust survivors and I always appreciate their strength in sharing their stories with such detail about the horrors they endured and survived. 

According to the author's note, this is a retelling of her memoir "The Choice," geared towards a wider audience. Apparently, most of this book is quite different from "The Choice" and a lot more personal. I haven't read "The Choice" so I can't compare, but this felt indeed very personal and open. I also appreciate the author's intentions in revisiting this story and her message of resilience and hope. 

One thing I have to say is that Palestine is mentioned as an escape route Jews considered during the holocaust, and the author provides no thoughts or opinions about her views on Palestine or what's currently happening. I found this a little odd because she inserts current thoughts and opinions about the things she's writing about from her past. So it stands out to me that there's no reflection about or condemnation of the current genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Perhaps this retelling was written long before October 7th, but this genocide started long before then and I believe the author would've known that, so, I don't know... In the author's note, the author also mentions a lot of the issues that plague the world today, like suicide, depression, etc., but genocide isn't included in that list, and I would say it's definitely a big issue that's affecting a lot of people. 

I feel some type of way about that, but it doesn't take away from how powerful I think this short book was.