This was a strange mixture of a book for me. In some moments i really enjoyed the book, the writing and the characters and then something happened and i didn't have a good time anymore.

Overall it isn't a bad book but its also one of those books that not everyone -sadly myself included- will not connect with because of the writing and characters. I would recommend trying a chapter or two before getting it to see which side you fall on before getting this book.

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

A beautiful collection of flawed characters and the one of the most important things in life: trust. The writing will keep you captivated, the descriptions of both New York and Berlin are magnificent. I found myself not wanting it to end, the last pages flew like the wind...

I wanted to love this book but sadly I was unable to connect with this story.

Among the Survivors is a story about identity and belonging. It is a story about the importance of family, loyalty and trust. What happens if you are raised to always fear what might happen next? What happens if your mother is not who she says she is? Can you still learn to be a trusting, confident person, prepared to take the kinds of risks which lead to a fulfilling life? An interesting and entertaining read. Thanks to She Writes Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

I don’t mind unlikeable characters. As long as I can understand their actions, I can keep reading. The characters who frustrate me are the ones who do the opposite of what I would have or who make what I consider stupid choices. This was my problem with Among the Survivors, by Ann Z. Leventhal. Karla Most, the protagonist, is a woman with extraordinary lucky but who is completely clueless about what she wants out of life and who she wants to be. What made Karla incomprehensible to me is her passivity, especially as it comes to taking care of herself.

Karla was, perhaps, not destined for a life of self-actualization. Her mother dressed her in black from the very beginning, even to the point of dying her diapers black. After her mother dies—a mother who trained to always worry about the Gestapo breaking down her door—Karla is supported by her paternal grandparents. Still, she decides to work as a house cleaner while auditing courses at NYU. She’s on the job one day in the late 1970s, when she becomes transfixed by a Modigliani painting in a client’s bedroom. She is caught looking at the painting by the client, Sax, and the two immediately begin an affair that lasts more than a decade. (I’m really not kidding about the immediate part. They go to bed the very day they meet.)

Karla spends the next decade as Sax’s lover, supported by his largesse and basically continuing her aimless life. Later, she develops a yen to discover what really happened to her mother during the war after she re-discovers a picture of her mother as a young girl standing next to her swastika-wearing father. For me, the book got much more interesting at this point as Karla uncovers her mother’s lifelong secret.

I suppose what frustrates me most about Karla is that she never grows over the course of the novel. She ages from 21 to 37, but only takes a few steps towards finding a life path. Perhaps I didn’t understand her because there’s a lot more telling than showing in Among the Survivors. Perhaps I was annoyed because I kept fining other characters’ stories much more interesting than Karla’s. I’m not sure who I’d recommend this book to, to be honest.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGallery for review consideration. It will be released 22 August 2017.

I read this book enjoying it and yet constantly waiting for a climax or at least more shades of colour in the story. There were times that I thought I wouldn't finish it and then found myself going back to the book to see if it would develop.