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Broken Angels
A Nazi doctor. A Jewish rebel. A little girl. Each one will fight for freedom—or die trying.
Imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto, Elsi discovers her mother’s desperate attempt to end her pregnancy and comes face-to-face with the impossibility of their situation. Risking her own life, Elsi joins a resistance group to sabotage the regime.
Blonde, blue-eyed Matilda is wrenched from her family in Romania and taken to Germany, where her captors attempt to mold her into the perfect Aryan child. Spirited and brave, she must inspire hope in the other stolen children to make her dreams of escape a reality.
Willem, a high-ranking Nazi doctor, plans to save lives when he takes posts in both the ghetto and Auschwitz. After witnessing unimaginable cruelties, he begins to question his role and the future of those he is ordered to destroy.
While Hitler ransacks Europe in pursuit of a pure German race, the lives of three broken souls—thrown together by chance—intertwine. Only love and sacrifice might make them whole again.
Imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto, Elsi discovers her mother’s desperate attempt to end her pregnancy and comes face-to-face with the impossibility of their situation. Risking her own life, Elsi joins a resistance group to sabotage the regime.
Blonde, blue-eyed Matilda is wrenched from her family in Romania and taken to Germany, where her captors attempt to mold her into the perfect Aryan child. Spirited and brave, she must inspire hope in the other stolen children to make her dreams of escape a reality.
Willem, a high-ranking Nazi doctor, plans to save lives when he takes posts in both the ghetto and Auschwitz. After witnessing unimaginable cruelties, he begins to question his role and the future of those he is ordered to destroy.
While Hitler ransacks Europe in pursuit of a pure German race, the lives of three broken souls—thrown together by chance—intertwine. Only love and sacrifice might make them whole again.
466 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,035 reviews
August 13, 2016
I feel badly not rating this well. I know the stories of these three people were based on experiences that people in the Holocaust actually suffered, but I'm trying to rate this as a work of fiction. And as a work of fiction I struggled to finish. I almost gave up at the 30-40% mark.
The first 30% was almost just building backstory. The book picks up in the middle of the war so Elsi is already in the ghetto and her father is gone and Willem is a high-ranking Nazi officer working as a women's doctor in the ghetto and his wife is about to give birth to their first child. So for 30% we have to get acquainted with our three main characters and their entire life stories and it felt like it went on forever.
Then the storytelling itself was just poor for the most part. Tons of short, choppy sentences just telling one action after another. Also, seemingly important events were often glossed over or only vaguely alluded to. Elsi's involvement in the resistance movement began between one sentence and the next with no explanation as to how it came about. After the war Willem was labeled as a perpetrator of war crimes for his work at Auschwitz even though based on what I read I had thought he's been there for maybe a total of two days and had barely been involved with anything.
The characters felt forced and stilted and there was no emotional connection to any of them because of this. I was not invested in their fates like I should have been because I just didn't think some of the characterizations were consistent. Elsi and Willem were mysteries to me. Their behaviors never felt consistent.
The only reason this isn't a one star is because there were a few occasions where the story was actually engaging and enjoyable. But they were few and far between. I also wasn't aware that places like the Center existed so that was interesting to learn.
The first 30% was almost just building backstory. The book picks up in the middle of the war so Elsi is already in the ghetto and her father is gone and Willem is a high-ranking Nazi officer working as a women's doctor in the ghetto and his wife is about to give birth to their first child. So for 30% we have to get acquainted with our three main characters and their entire life stories and it felt like it went on forever.
Then the storytelling itself was just poor for the most part. Tons of short, choppy sentences just telling one action after another. Also, seemingly important events were often glossed over or only vaguely alluded to. Elsi's involvement in the resistance movement began between one sentence and the next with no explanation as to how it came about. After the war Willem was labeled as a perpetrator of war crimes for his work at Auschwitz even though based on what I read I had thought he's been there for maybe a total of two days and had barely been involved with anything.
The characters felt forced and stilted and there was no emotional connection to any of them because of this. I was not invested in their fates like I should have been because I just didn't think some of the characterizations were consistent. Elsi and Willem were mysteries to me. Their behaviors never felt consistent.
The only reason this isn't a one star is because there were a few occasions where the story was actually engaging and enjoyable. But they were few and far between. I also wasn't aware that places like the Center existed so that was interesting to learn.
March 11, 2017
Another Lake Union winner! I found this book both captivating and emotionally riveting. I listened to it on audio, and the narrators did a fabulous job with the emotion as well as all the different characters. Fans of Lilac Girls, I think you would enjoy this one, too. I would definitely read more from this author.
February 5, 2017
I loved this book! It kept me turning the pages to find out what happened. A story of nazi germany 1 man 1 woman 1 child and their stories Heartbreaking at times but so worth the ending had me crying at the end
October 4, 2016
I loved this book. At some points the subject matter was hard to read, especially the parents where the doctors were subjecting the women to cruel experiments in Auschwitz. How ever awful it was to read, it was worse knowing that this stuff really happened to so many people. By chance, Elsi met Willem when she brought her mother to him in need of medical help. Willem was in no means an angel, but he treated his patients different than the rest of the doctors. He is able to save Elsi when he sees that she is being put on the truck of the dead. Matilda was signed away by her mother so she could go to a training center for Aryan children to become more German. When she gets there, she isn't getting any lessons but instead is teaching younger children German and they must memorize passages from Mein Kampf. Matilda's life becomes interwoven with Willem and Elsi's, when Willem becomes in charge of the training center that Matilda lives at. This was a beautifully written novel and captured the different aspects of the war. I really liked how the book changed narrators from chapter to chapter.
July 12, 2021
Elsi lived with her mother and sister in the ghetto. Because of the Nazi war, her mother had to sell her body for money and now she was expecting. Tried to abort the child herself but was bleeding excessively hence Elsi took her to Lilli who had connections with Herr Manz so he arranged a doctor for Elsi's mother. After a minor procedure they are sent back home.
Matilda lives with her mother and brothers, a soldier comes to get her so her mother agrees to let her go instead of her brothers. Their father is already at war, so her mother decided that she was to go with the soldier, Matilda that day lost her mother and became cold towards her.
Willem was the doctor who treated Elsi's mother and other women at the ghetto. His father held a prominent position in the Nazi party hence that allowed them certain privileges over others. Matilda was sent to an orphanage, initially she resisted but for that she was beaten and kept in an outhouse as a prisoner. After she compelled they brought her in the cottage where she was to teach small children German.
Elsi met with Simon who talks about how collectively they can change their situation - the Jews. Willem is sent as a doctor to one of the concentration campaigns, but the inhumanities he sees there infuriates him and he can't take it anymore. Elsi is caught for conspiring against the Germans, Simon is executed while Elsi is sent to the prison. Willem's wife Lena died due to premature delivery. Willem then takes Elsi as his wife just to save her from the execution and takes the position of the Commander at the shelter where Matilda is taken as an orphan.
After seeing all the brutalities he decides to adopt Matilda as his daughter. Willem feels good to retaliate against the rules and for making a difference in his own way. Willem also found out that Matilda was forcibly taken away from her family. Miriam the previous incharge of the Center had filed a complaint against Willem so Willem decides to deport all the children to safer places while risking his job and life. Willem died in the fire just to save the children, Matilda and Elsi.
Elsi was pregnant with Willem's son Nathaniel and moved to another city. Gilda from the agency came to get Matilda to her mother and brothers who were alive and wanted her back. Elsi and Nathaniel left Germany for Australia. Elsi also married an Australian Malcolm who was a school teacher. Elsi died of ovarian cancer while Matilda moved to America with her husband. She wrote a letter to Nathanial when she read his article in a magazine.
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Matilda lives with her mother and brothers, a soldier comes to get her so her mother agrees to let her go instead of her brothers. Their father is already at war, so her mother decided that she was to go with the soldier, Matilda that day lost her mother and became cold towards her.
Willem was the doctor who treated Elsi's mother and other women at the ghetto. His father held a prominent position in the Nazi party hence that allowed them certain privileges over others. Matilda was sent to an orphanage, initially she resisted but for that she was beaten and kept in an outhouse as a prisoner. After she compelled they brought her in the cottage where she was to teach small children German.
Elsi met with Simon who talks about how collectively they can change their situation - the Jews. Willem is sent as a doctor to one of the concentration campaigns, but the inhumanities he sees there infuriates him and he can't take it anymore. Elsi is caught for conspiring against the Germans, Simon is executed while Elsi is sent to the prison. Willem's wife Lena died due to premature delivery. Willem then takes Elsi as his wife just to save her from the execution and takes the position of the Commander at the shelter where Matilda is taken as an orphan.
After seeing all the brutalities he decides to adopt Matilda as his daughter. Willem feels good to retaliate against the rules and for making a difference in his own way. Willem also found out that Matilda was forcibly taken away from her family. Miriam the previous incharge of the Center had filed a complaint against Willem so Willem decides to deport all the children to safer places while risking his job and life. Willem died in the fire just to save the children, Matilda and Elsi.
Elsi was pregnant with Willem's son Nathaniel and moved to another city. Gilda from the agency came to get Matilda to her mother and brothers who were alive and wanted her back. Elsi and Nathaniel left Germany for Australia. Elsi also married an Australian Malcolm who was a school teacher. Elsi died of ovarian cancer while Matilda moved to America with her husband. She wrote a letter to Nathanial when she read his article in a magazine.
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January 3, 2017
Books like these are harder to review because they deal with real events that happened to real humans, there's no beautifying the horrors or romanticizing the hardships that the people of that time had underwent.
That being said, I'm reading a fictional novel not a historical textbook, I'm expecting to find more than mere narration of horror after horror...The beautiful writing and the small nuances that make The Book Thief and The Nightingale beautiful masterpieces even though they deal with the same harsh reality are absent in Broken Angels.
The 3 main characters, even though are all kind, generous and intelligent, seem to just blend together, especially with the constant use of first person speech throughout the whole novel.
Finally, it kept dragging on and on with most of the plot focused on character backstory and reminiscing, while the important events are glossed over or alluded to in passing. This made it very hard for me to get attached to the characters and I was so disinterested that by the 50%, where the action is supposed to begin, I just didn't have much energy in me for more than skim-reading the rest.
That being said, I'm reading a fictional novel not a historical textbook, I'm expecting to find more than mere narration of horror after horror...The beautiful writing and the small nuances that make The Book Thief and The Nightingale beautiful masterpieces even though they deal with the same harsh reality are absent in Broken Angels.
The 3 main characters, even though are all kind, generous and intelligent, seem to just blend together, especially with the constant use of first person speech throughout the whole novel.
Finally, it kept dragging on and on with most of the plot focused on character backstory and reminiscing, while the important events are glossed over or alluded to in passing. This made it very hard for me to get attached to the characters and I was so disinterested that by the 50%, where the action is supposed to begin, I just didn't have much energy in me for more than skim-reading the rest.
December 24, 2016
4.44 stars
I waffled between giving this novel a "4" or "5" star rating. A year ago, I would have probably given it a full five. However, as I've become more active here on GR this year, etc., I have also grown more discerning with my ratings. Just a short explanation/update. :)
'Broken Angels' is a beautiful book, and it is written in such a hopeful light.
I waffled between giving this novel a "4" or "5" star rating. A year ago, I would have probably given it a full five. However, as I've become more active here on GR this year, etc., I have also grown more discerning with my ratings. Just a short explanation/update. :)
'Broken Angels' is a beautiful book, and it is written in such a hopeful light.
February 19, 2018
Three different characters from different countries with different beliefs whose lives come together in 1942, who manage to find solace through hope and love. 15-year old Elsi, barely surviving in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz, with her mother and sister, scared of betrayal and being sent to "work" camp, like her father. Her mother has sold herself to the German masters to keep her family safe, becoming pregnant and trying to self-terminate the pregnancy. Elsi takes to the medical center where she meets a caring Nazi doctor, Willem, whose father is a senior Nazi official. Willem raised in a home without love, has married Lena, who has helped him find a purpose in life. Finally, 9-year old blonde-haired, blue-eyed Matilda is taken from her family in Romania by the Nazis, to be "Germanized," subjected to horrors in a German orphanage, with younger children and older girls, impregnated by German soldiers. Heart-rending. The second half was better than the first.
April 10, 2016
4.5 stars easily. Almost 5.
I often read in short snatches, while I'm cooking or waiting in line, in short intervals between other tasks or activities. I find that many books can't hold my attention for long periods of time. But last night I was reading Broken Angels on the bus home from work, a 30-minute trip I didn't notice any of. I almost missed my stop. I held my Kindle up to the streetlights as I walked the rest of the way home. When I got in, I didn't turn on music. I didn't change clothes or get a snack or anything. I just lay down on the couch and read for an hour, straight through to the end. I cried.
That is one of the signs of a good book.
Occasionally the dialogue feels written, the narration a bit too "told," and this distanced me from the characters at first, but overall the writing is clear and powerful, getting better and better as the novel goes on.
Liviero tells the story from the perspectives of three people experiencing different aspects of the horrors of the holocaust. This gives the story both depth and breadth. And the way their lives weave together is both tragic and beautiful.
Before reading this, I knew about the Nazi program of taking Aryan-looking children and Germanizing them, but I hadn't read much about it, and this made it very real.
The dehumanization of people in a Polish Ghetto is also very emotional. And this is the ghetto, not even the concentration camps.
The German doctor, Willem, struggles with what's happening, struggling even to let himself fully realize what his country is doing, and that is perhaps the most powerful aspect of the book.
It was a sick, sick time in history, and I think books like this are important, because history does repeat itself. The more people who are horrified by the hatred, racism, and resulting unbelievable cruelty and disregard for human life…the more people who are aware of how one thing leads to another…the more people who recognize the humanity in all…the more people there will be who will try to break the cycle of history.
I will definitely read more of Gemma Liviero.
*I received an advanced copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review*
I often read in short snatches, while I'm cooking or waiting in line, in short intervals between other tasks or activities. I find that many books can't hold my attention for long periods of time. But last night I was reading Broken Angels on the bus home from work, a 30-minute trip I didn't notice any of. I almost missed my stop. I held my Kindle up to the streetlights as I walked the rest of the way home. When I got in, I didn't turn on music. I didn't change clothes or get a snack or anything. I just lay down on the couch and read for an hour, straight through to the end. I cried.
That is one of the signs of a good book.
Occasionally the dialogue feels written, the narration a bit too "told," and this distanced me from the characters at first, but overall the writing is clear and powerful, getting better and better as the novel goes on.
Liviero tells the story from the perspectives of three people experiencing different aspects of the horrors of the holocaust. This gives the story both depth and breadth. And the way their lives weave together is both tragic and beautiful.
Before reading this, I knew about the Nazi program of taking Aryan-looking children and Germanizing them, but I hadn't read much about it, and this made it very real.
The dehumanization of people in a Polish Ghetto is also very emotional. And this is the ghetto, not even the concentration camps.
The German doctor, Willem, struggles with what's happening, struggling even to let himself fully realize what his country is doing, and that is perhaps the most powerful aspect of the book.
It was a sick, sick time in history, and I think books like this are important, because history does repeat itself. The more people who are horrified by the hatred, racism, and resulting unbelievable cruelty and disregard for human life…the more people who are aware of how one thing leads to another…the more people who recognize the humanity in all…the more people there will be who will try to break the cycle of history.
I will definitely read more of Gemma Liviero.
*I received an advanced copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review*
May 25, 2017
As I was halfway through I thought I'd end up rating this a 4 star or a 4.5 star but then as I was finishing up I couldn't put this book down. My initial hesitation was based on a personal wanting to see more emotion from the characters but at the conclusion I got it: the only way all 3 of the main characters could endure what they had to do and survive the horrors of WWII was to distant themselves emotionally. And Ms. Liviero did this wonderfully, showing, I believe, how these people might have indeed felt and reacted outside of fictional realms. And the author accomplished this without making the story dull or the characters boring. Just the opposite.
A strong story. I recommend it to anyone who likes to read WWII fiction. It's definitely a story that makes you think a lot about the characters and want to see what happens after the story's ending.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
A strong story. I recommend it to anyone who likes to read WWII fiction. It's definitely a story that makes you think a lot about the characters and want to see what happens after the story's ending.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
February 2, 2021
Yes, I did enjoy this story very much indeed!!!
First of all let me say that Gemma Liviero has done a great job describing and bringing to life a world so strange and difficult to understand for us, that it needed a gifted writter like Liviero to do so..
It's the time of WWII, Nazi Germany drunken and intoxicated with the blood of the innocent and a deceitful and morderous ideology!!
Nazi fantasy and occult dreams materialized in such madness like "Lebensborn"..
"Lebensborn" is another word for sufferings..
In this case children, young girls misused as breeding machines for the nazis..
Europe, all the countries invaded and dominated by Nazi Germany is the hunting ground!!
Young girls with blond hair and blue eyes to increase the so called "Herren Rasse"..
A nightmare becoming reality!!!
Matilda, one of the girls suffering the absence and bereave of her family and kept with other children to be adopted by germans..
Elsi, a jewish girl..she try to help victims of the Nazi Regime, only to witness how her own mother is murdered before her eyes, shot in the head..
And finally finding herself in a concentration camp or "Todeslager"!!
Character driven and well written, a hunting and riveting story full of sufferings but also the power of love!!!
Self sacrifice as redemption and the meaning of forgiveness!!!
Recommendation if you are fond of Holocaust stories and WWII novels..
Also a very good character development and a clear and powerful writting!!
Dean;)
First of all let me say that Gemma Liviero has done a great job describing and bringing to life a world so strange and difficult to understand for us, that it needed a gifted writter like Liviero to do so..
It's the time of WWII, Nazi Germany drunken and intoxicated with the blood of the innocent and a deceitful and morderous ideology!!
Nazi fantasy and occult dreams materialized in such madness like "Lebensborn"..
"Lebensborn" is another word for sufferings..
In this case children, young girls misused as breeding machines for the nazis..
Europe, all the countries invaded and dominated by Nazi Germany is the hunting ground!!
Young girls with blond hair and blue eyes to increase the so called "Herren Rasse"..
A nightmare becoming reality!!!
Matilda, one of the girls suffering the absence and bereave of her family and kept with other children to be adopted by germans..
Elsi, a jewish girl..she try to help victims of the Nazi Regime, only to witness how her own mother is murdered before her eyes, shot in the head..
And finally finding herself in a concentration camp or "Todeslager"!!
Character driven and well written, a hunting and riveting story full of sufferings but also the power of love!!!
Self sacrifice as redemption and the meaning of forgiveness!!!
Recommendation if you are fond of Holocaust stories and WWII novels..
Also a very good character development and a clear and powerful writting!!
Dean;)
August 4, 2017
This book started well and I enjoyed how the narrative was shared between Elsi, Willem and Matilda. They were all intelligent, generous people who came from vastly different backgrounds, but fate and the horrors of the Nazi regime brought them, unexpectedly, together. Whilst I found Elsi and Matilda's stories interesting, it was Willem's that really captured my attention. He was a complex character and even though, as a high ranking Nazi doctor, he took part in the medical sterilisations at Auschwitz, he was basically a kind man with a conscience, and tried to atone for his mistakes.
I was enjoying Broken Angels until about three-quarters of the way through when the characters who I had regarded as broken angels became avengers, seeking their own justice. The ending was rushed and too tidy. However, I did like Matilda's final letter. Overall, a good, but not great, novel set against the backdrop of World War II.
I was enjoying Broken Angels until about three-quarters of the way through when the characters who I had regarded as broken angels became avengers, seeking their own justice. The ending was rushed and too tidy. However, I did like Matilda's final letter. Overall, a good, but not great, novel set against the backdrop of World War II.
April 13, 2016
This absolutely riveting, character-driven novel presents us with three views of Nazi Europe that are simply breathtaking. This is not your usual Holocaust novel which focuses on the prisoners in the death camps. I was near tears several times as I read of Elsi's fight for survival in the Lodz ghetto in Poland, of the doctor who performs experiments in Auschwitz, and of Matilda's mother in Romania who was forced by SS soldiers to sign papers relinquishing her blonde, blue eyed 9-year-old daughter to the "cause".
This novel will help all of us be thankful for the lives we live in a free society.
I read this DARC courtesy of NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. pub date: 04/16/16
This novel will help all of us be thankful for the lives we live in a free society.
I read this DARC courtesy of NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. pub date: 04/16/16
July 2, 2016
The most heinous crimes of these times: promotion of one race at the annihilation of another. How 3 Broken Angels balanced the evil that surrounded them. That in pain, they knew love.
I was captivated and my heart thru the ringer. Three so different characters; on different sides with different backgrounds but with one heart that survived because of hope. Their lives collide against all odds. Elsi-who finds herself with her mother and sister in the control the Germans living in the Jewish slums, fearful of being sent to the camps. Elsi's mother has sold herself to the Germans to keep her daughters alive. She becomes pregnant and in desperation tries to abort. Elsi finding her takes to the medical center where she meets Willem, a high-ranking Nazi doctor. He is in a prison of his own with his father's ambitious making. Married and looking forward to starting a family, he is forced to face the evil of the Nazi reign. Blonde, blue-eyed Matilda is taken from her family, with her mother's prompting to a German orphanage where she is brutally abused to become the new German race.
This story is made of the evil of the worlds history. How can this happen? With fear and oppression. It still happens. Why do some survive and others fight? These are the questions that this story leaves me. Each character does not give up and faces the reality of the human condition. It draws from hope and love and the fight to survive. It left me in tears and to keep the fight in me. It reminded me of the movie Life is Beautiful which I only could only watch once because it is sacred to me. It left me sobbing. This book rings true to that movie. It has depth and heart.
A Special Thank You to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
I was captivated and my heart thru the ringer. Three so different characters; on different sides with different backgrounds but with one heart that survived because of hope. Their lives collide against all odds. Elsi-who finds herself with her mother and sister in the control the Germans living in the Jewish slums, fearful of being sent to the camps. Elsi's mother has sold herself to the Germans to keep her daughters alive. She becomes pregnant and in desperation tries to abort. Elsi finding her takes to the medical center where she meets Willem, a high-ranking Nazi doctor. He is in a prison of his own with his father's ambitious making. Married and looking forward to starting a family, he is forced to face the evil of the Nazi reign. Blonde, blue-eyed Matilda is taken from her family, with her mother's prompting to a German orphanage where she is brutally abused to become the new German race.
This story is made of the evil of the worlds history. How can this happen? With fear and oppression. It still happens. Why do some survive and others fight? These are the questions that this story leaves me. Each character does not give up and faces the reality of the human condition. It draws from hope and love and the fight to survive. It left me in tears and to keep the fight in me. It reminded me of the movie Life is Beautiful which I only could only watch once because it is sacred to me. It left me sobbing. This book rings true to that movie. It has depth and heart.
A Special Thank You to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
July 10, 2016
I purchased this book because it was on sale as a Kindle book with Audible narration at a very low price, even before Amazon Prime Day had come. Sounded perfect for me. Low price, very low cost Audible narration, apparently recommended to me by Amazon because it bore a similarity to a another book I'd recently read and loved, namely, All The Light We Cannot See. As I said, sounded perfect for me. Boy, was I wrong! Broken Angels by Gemma Liviero, does bear a similarity to All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, because both books deal with happenings in Germany during the Nazi Regime. Unfortunately, while I loved the sensitivity and exquisite beauty of All The Light We Cannot See, the content of Broken Angels was way too dark for me. The latter book (the one I'm reviewing here) goes into too much (excruciating) detail, unwanted by me, about the horrific experiments on women's bodies on the part of sadistic German gynecologists or doctors who may have been kindly inclined toward the women they treated, but were forced into compliance by Dr. Mendel or whomever was in charge of directing these sadistic experiments. I should have seen it coming, but since the book was very well-written, well-narrated, I just kept reading/listening along, charmed by the wonderful writing and narration, until I realized what was really in store for the poor Ghetto women and the poor doctors who were obliged to follow orders, no matter how horrible. I could not finish reading this book. I did not have the courage to wait for a happy ending, if one were in the offing. I just could not read this book, but had to put it down / turn it off (since it was an Audible book). Dear reader,if you are half as sensitive as I am, I warn you not to read this book! You will not like it. Broken Angels is too gruesome to read.
April 21, 2016
There seems to be a plethora of this genre of fictional books being written lately but this one really stands out for its cast of characters. They are eclectic and would be enemies but they all come together in an unimaginable way. Willem is a German doctor who treats the Polish women in the ghetto for a myriad of female ailments. He meets Elsi who is a Jewis Polish girl, when she brings him her mother, who is suffering the effects of a botched abortion. He is also a doctor who performs unthinkable treatments on women at Auschwitz. Matilda is a young German girl of nine who is forced into a home for children by the Third Reich as they try to create the perfect race. Her family is poor and her mother signs the papers for food on the table. Their lives intersect and the story is heartbreaking but page turning!!!
The author did a wonderful job with her method of storytelling. Although is begins being told by Elsi’s son, when it goes back to the past, each character’s story is told in the first person. This brings each person’s tale to life, you feel like you are sitting in a room with them and hearing it. As with each one’s story, the characters are fully developed. Although there are numerous stories about this subject, this one has a different twist that is unexpected and moving.
I highly recommend this book. The story is fast paced and engrossing. You will not want to put it down. I don’t recommend this for younger readers as some of the subject matter is disturbing.
I requested and received this book for review from NetGalley.
The author did a wonderful job with her method of storytelling. Although is begins being told by Elsi’s son, when it goes back to the past, each character’s story is told in the first person. This brings each person’s tale to life, you feel like you are sitting in a room with them and hearing it. As with each one’s story, the characters are fully developed. Although there are numerous stories about this subject, this one has a different twist that is unexpected and moving.
I highly recommend this book. The story is fast paced and engrossing. You will not want to put it down. I don’t recommend this for younger readers as some of the subject matter is disturbing.
I requested and received this book for review from NetGalley.
August 15, 2016
This book is a relatively new historical fiction novel set during the Holocaust. There are three main characters, and their stories are presented in alternating chapters in each individual voice and point of view. Elsie, a young woman who is half Jewish, is living with her mother and disabled younger sister; her father has disappeared and her mother has been sleeping with a German officer in an attempt to keep her family safe. Dr. Willem Gerhardt, the son of a high ranking member of the Nazi Party, is running a clinic in the ghetto, anticipating the birth of his first child, and confronting the questionable practices and surgeries he is being directed to perform. Lastly, Matilda, a spirited nine year old girl from Romania is taken, with her mother's approval, to a German "orphanage" where she is to be prepared for a life as a superior German woman in a program of Germanization. The chapters and sections of the novel proceed chronologically and excruciatingly towards the inevitable challenges and traumatic events faced by each individual. The author depicts the brutality of this war realistically with vivid description and detail. Each character faces different types of hardships, and through a series of twists and turns, their lives become interconnected in ways that the reader does not expect. The prologue and epilogue tie up all the loose ends and unanswered questions from the main body of the novel, and although the ending may not be what the reader hopes or expects, it is realistic, appropriate and conforming to history. A very good piece of Holocaust fiction, very realistic, at times difficult to read but nevertheless, riveting and emotional.
April 18, 2020
I just finished listening to Broken Angels by Gemma Liviero and am still feeling the full impact of feelings this book instilled in me. It was read by Nicro Evers-Swindell and Emily Foster and it moved me greatly. Gemma Liviero brilliantly interwove the stories of three different characters and how each one them separately and then together experienced the effects and horrors of World War II, the Nazi invasion and the consequences that had upon their lives and the Holocaust. Broken Angels focused on life within the walls of the Jewish ghetto, kidnapping young Aryian looking children with the sole purpose of Germanizing them so that they could be adopted by good German families and the experiments that were performed by Nazi doctors on Jewish females usually against their will and without full understanding of what was being done to them. This powerful story portrayed the horrors of the Holocaust in a very real and believable way. Since there have been many reviews written about Broken Angels I am not going to recount the specifics of the plot. Just be prepared to witness how the lives of the three main characters, Dr. Willem Garhardt, Elsi and Matilda collided and became interconnected and how together and separately they brought some hope and love into a very dark and scary time in history. Broken Angels was a very character driven novel. I was able to feel the loathing, loss, horrors, despair, fear, loneliness, love and hope that were apparent throughout the story. This was another book that had been on my bookshelf for a long time. I am so glad that I read Broken Angels and recommend it very highly.
June 30, 2018
WWII based novels are hard for me to evaluate fairly. I may change my mind as this one percolates over the next few days. The content and topic pull at my heart even if there are things I disagree with or didn’t like about the book. This book was no exception. I loved the title and its meanings to this storyline. The tribute to the character’s mom at the beginning is beautiful - I love seeing resilience in times of struggle. I found myself wondering how many people were like these characters- trying to stand up in such difficult times.
Cons - I felt like there were some major gaps where the story skipped details and only alluded to them with one or two sentences. I also feel like the prologue and the ending chapter are too disconnected from the rest of the book. And so much is summed up in the last few chapters, where the rest took so long to develop.
Cons - I felt like there were some major gaps where the story skipped details and only alluded to them with one or two sentences. I also feel like the prologue and the ending chapter are too disconnected from the rest of the book. And so much is summed up in the last few chapters, where the rest took so long to develop.
April 19, 2017
4.5 stars. Maybe it's because I entered reading this book with such low expectations (I'm not into heavy, WWII books), but I loved the characters and the story! It was sad, but heartwarming.
June 10, 2016
I received a free copy through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
A solid 5 stars!
If I didn't had to work and you know, live, I'd probably would have finished this in one sitting. Maybe pausing to eat and sleep.
When I saw this book on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. I had to have a copy of it, and I'm so glad I received one.
So, I went into this one with high expectations. And man, it delivered!
Placed in World War II, this story is touching, to say the least.
I do not read many World War stories, but when I do, they get to me. Sure, it hits close to home, my grandparents lived through number II, and so I've heard many stories throughout my childhood (thank goodness nothing on concentration camps), but to have it written on a paper in front of you... It strikes you to the core.
So, lovely and touching book, wonderful characters, enjoyable writing style. I can recommend it to everyone!
A solid 5 stars!
If I didn't had to work and you know, live, I'd probably would have finished this in one sitting. Maybe pausing to eat and sleep.
When I saw this book on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. I had to have a copy of it, and I'm so glad I received one.
So, I went into this one with high expectations. And man, it delivered!
Placed in World War II, this story is touching, to say the least.
I do not read many World War stories, but when I do, they get to me. Sure, it hits close to home, my grandparents lived through number II, and so I've heard many stories throughout my childhood (thank goodness nothing on concentration camps), but to have it written on a paper in front of you... It strikes you to the core.
So, lovely and touching book, wonderful characters, enjoyable writing style. I can recommend it to everyone!
February 14, 2018
I finished reading this book just now and wanted to write a review before the atmosphere it created, left me.
This is a powerful, moving, heartbreaking, inspiring and very well researched novel. The characters, locations and historical references come to life in the writer’s capable hands.
The author deftly intertwines several specific events from WWII, with characters that are completely believable. She provides the reader with just enough backstory and then allows the reader, through the progressive tale to make their own judgements.
I was concerned, three quarters of the way through the book, that it might take the reader to a trite, convenient ending. I need not have been concerned, the ending was as plausible as the rest of the story.
Readers that have an interest in this period in history shouldn’t miss this one.
This is a powerful, moving, heartbreaking, inspiring and very well researched novel. The characters, locations and historical references come to life in the writer’s capable hands.
The author deftly intertwines several specific events from WWII, with characters that are completely believable. She provides the reader with just enough backstory and then allows the reader, through the progressive tale to make their own judgements.
I was concerned, three quarters of the way through the book, that it might take the reader to a trite, convenient ending. I need not have been concerned, the ending was as plausible as the rest of the story.
Readers that have an interest in this period in history shouldn’t miss this one.
April 26, 2017
I wanted so badly to like this book. I loved the story, the characters themselves, and the subject is so heavy but yet so beautiful at the same time. but, but there was something about her style of writing that detached me from all emotions that I could have felt. of course, I'm going to compare this to "the nightingale" or "all the light we cannot see", which were crafted and engaging literary masterpieces... whereas this one, I struggled to get into and appreciate.
February 23, 2023
This is such an amazing book! I couldn't put it down for the life of me. The authors descriptions of the war, the people, the horrible things, and three different characters who come from completely different lives. It made me tears at the end. I wish it went on a bit longer.
July 22, 2018
Pôvodne som si túto knihu nechcela prečítať no som rada že som knihe dala šancu lebo je úžasná.S postavami prežijeme niekoľko rokov čo mám v knihách veľmi rada.Príbeh ktorý ukrýva tato kniha je silný a doteraz nad postavami premýšľam.Kniha ma dostala a bude vo mne doznievať ešte dlho.
December 12, 2016
Three different people in very different circumstances come together to try to survive the war. Well told, and well written.
November 26, 2019
Un roman emotionant în care se împletesc destinele a trei ființe atât de diferite, care totuși își găsesc liniștea una lângă cealaltă. Matilda este o fetiță săracă, ce provine dintr-un sat din ...România. Tatăl ei e plecat la război, iar ea lucuiește cu mama și frații ei și trăiesc de pe o zi pe alta. Mama ei o vinde însă unui program de instruire în Germania, program menit să le educe pe fete și să le găsească o familie bună care să le crească în spirit german. Ce pare pentru Catarina o salvare se dovedește a fi pentru Matilda un adevărat iad. Fetița ajunge la un cămin de orfani, unde e tratată îngrozitor și pregătită pentru adopție la o familie bogată din Germania.
În Polonia, Elsi și familia ei ajung să locuiască într-un ghetou și, prin intermediul unor împrejurări nefericite, îl întâlnesc pe doctorul nazist Willem, doctor ce îi va schimba lui Elsi viața.
Matilda, Elsi și Willem se întâlnesc neașteptat, în circumstanțe teribile, fiecare cu proprii demoni și frici și ajung să se salveze reciproc într-o poveste atât de tristă despre umanitate și dragoste, într-un secol pătat de sânge și suferință. E o poveste ce merită descoperită, cu atât mai mult cu cât reliefează și o parte din povestea tăranilor români și a participării lor în campania nazistă și a bieților copii din întreaga Europa, ce au fost rupți din sânul familiei și aruncați într-o Germanie lipsită parcă de rațiune. Merită citită!
În Polonia, Elsi și familia ei ajung să locuiască într-un ghetou și, prin intermediul unor împrejurări nefericite, îl întâlnesc pe doctorul nazist Willem, doctor ce îi va schimba lui Elsi viața.
Matilda, Elsi și Willem se întâlnesc neașteptat, în circumstanțe teribile, fiecare cu proprii demoni și frici și ajung să se salveze reciproc într-o poveste atât de tristă despre umanitate și dragoste, într-un secol pătat de sânge și suferință. E o poveste ce merită descoperită, cu atât mai mult cu cât reliefează și o parte din povestea tăranilor români și a participării lor în campania nazistă și a bieților copii din întreaga Europa, ce au fost rupți din sânul familiei și aruncați într-o Germanie lipsită parcă de rațiune. Merită citită!
April 10, 2023
Matilda é retirada à sua família e levada para um Centro para ser germanizada.
Elsi, uma rapariga polaca que mora no gueto, vê como a guerra destrói a sua família e tenta fazer algo para mudar a sua vida.
Wilhem, um médico alemão, tenta encontrar no seu trabalho uma maneira de ser fiel às suas convicções.
De alguma maneira, a vida dos três cruza-se, mudando-os para sempre.
Às vezes, esperar na sombra pelo momento certo é o melhor a fazer.
Entregar-se ao presente, sobreviver, mesmo que isso signifique obedecer, sem perder as suas crenças.
Nos momentos de aflição, na altura de escolher fazer aquilo que nos permite dormir à noite, é quando a nossa verdadeira essência é revelada.
As pessoas que conhecemos, as suas histórias e ações, influenciam o nosso pensamento, a nossa vida, o nosso futuro. Tal como os livros que lemos.
Elsi, uma rapariga polaca que mora no gueto, vê como a guerra destrói a sua família e tenta fazer algo para mudar a sua vida.
Wilhem, um médico alemão, tenta encontrar no seu trabalho uma maneira de ser fiel às suas convicções.
De alguma maneira, a vida dos três cruza-se, mudando-os para sempre.
Às vezes, esperar na sombra pelo momento certo é o melhor a fazer.
Entregar-se ao presente, sobreviver, mesmo que isso signifique obedecer, sem perder as suas crenças.
Nos momentos de aflição, na altura de escolher fazer aquilo que nos permite dormir à noite, é quando a nossa verdadeira essência é revelada.
As pessoas que conhecemos, as suas histórias e ações, influenciam o nosso pensamento, a nossa vida, o nosso futuro. Tal como os livros que lemos.
January 3, 2020
4.25
Loved how the characters and the story came together. Bittersweet ending.
Loved how the characters and the story came together. Bittersweet ending.
May 3, 2016
Broken Angels is not only a novel of the war waged by Adolf Hitler against the world and his race for Aryan dominance, it is first and foremost a story of humanity. It is a story of a Nazi officer who strives to come to terms with who he truly is against the backdrop of Auschwitz and the clinics for women in the Jewish ghettos. It is the story of a Jewish girl who fights for what is right and finds herself in a prison for her actions. It is a story of a fair haired little girl torn from her home and brought to Germany so that she can be brought up to respect the Fuhrer and learn to be a good German. It is the story of these unlikely allies who come together during the most turbulent and dangerous time in history and strive to build a life filled with love and hope.
Willem, to all outward appearances, is a steadfast Nazi officer. He does as his very powerful, politically connected father tells him to do because he sees no choice. But as he witnesses atrocities that turn his stomach he decides he must be true to himself and he risks it all to do what he considers the right and honorable thing. The recently widowed Willem has met Elsi only once, but when he sees her dying in prison, on the verge of being carted off to be exterminated, he makes a bold move that changes his life forever.
Willem’s father is frustrated with his son and his apparent inability to conform to Nazi rules and regulations. He finds an assignment for his son where he imagines he will not be able to do further damage to his reputation. He becomes director of a home for children who are being indoctrinated in German ways. They must first pass the Aryan testing before being allowed to stay. When they do not, they are taken to the camps. Willem knows what happens at the camps, so he begins to pass all the children as they come through. His assistant is suspicious and becomes an ever increasing source of anxiety for Willem as he attempts to save as many children as he can. Matilda is one of those children, one he takes into his home and his heart.
This is a story of enduring love and the quest for trust and hope in a dark and dismal world. These three characters are the narrators of the story and at first it was hard for me to follow along, but once the story got going I was engrossed and couldn’t put the book down. They are well developed and likable people. You will find yourself alternately crying and cheering along-side these unlikely heroes. Each has a story to tell, and you will be transported effortlessly into their ever crumbling world. This is a must read for all those who seek to put a face on the terrible atrocities that occurred under the Nazi regime. It brings history to life and that’s really what a good historical novel does. Bravo!
Willem, to all outward appearances, is a steadfast Nazi officer. He does as his very powerful, politically connected father tells him to do because he sees no choice. But as he witnesses atrocities that turn his stomach he decides he must be true to himself and he risks it all to do what he considers the right and honorable thing. The recently widowed Willem has met Elsi only once, but when he sees her dying in prison, on the verge of being carted off to be exterminated, he makes a bold move that changes his life forever.
Willem’s father is frustrated with his son and his apparent inability to conform to Nazi rules and regulations. He finds an assignment for his son where he imagines he will not be able to do further damage to his reputation. He becomes director of a home for children who are being indoctrinated in German ways. They must first pass the Aryan testing before being allowed to stay. When they do not, they are taken to the camps. Willem knows what happens at the camps, so he begins to pass all the children as they come through. His assistant is suspicious and becomes an ever increasing source of anxiety for Willem as he attempts to save as many children as he can. Matilda is one of those children, one he takes into his home and his heart.
This is a story of enduring love and the quest for trust and hope in a dark and dismal world. These three characters are the narrators of the story and at first it was hard for me to follow along, but once the story got going I was engrossed and couldn’t put the book down. They are well developed and likable people. You will find yourself alternately crying and cheering along-side these unlikely heroes. Each has a story to tell, and you will be transported effortlessly into their ever crumbling world. This is a must read for all those who seek to put a face on the terrible atrocities that occurred under the Nazi regime. It brings history to life and that’s really what a good historical novel does. Bravo!
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