I had high expectations for this book and unfortunately, it felt too light on the devastation of war and the holocaust and too heavy on the teen angst. Undoubtedly an important read, nevertheless, so that we never forget the devastation that took place.

A book everyone needs to read. It was heartwrenching but very very good. Her sisters parts of the story were sad as well but they added so much to the diary.

This books was phenomenal in a way that was subtle. I found myself thinking about this book a lot, especially in the quiet moments. It really took you along with Renia and made you feel how she might have felt in that time. I connected more with Renia and her story than I could with Anne Frank. This novel is a must read for anyone interested in WWII

The Diary of Renia Spiegel is an intimate firsthand account of one teenage girls experiences living in WW11 era Poland. The diary picks up in 1939 and concludes in 1942 when Renia is rounded up hiding in an attic and executed by the Nazi’s. While Renia’s Diary is a somewhat narrow account of one person’s experience, we are given a wealth of information about who Renia was, and we can see a glimpse of what the world lost with her untimely death. Renia was clearly a gifted poet, who’s insightful poetry readings in her journal are a high point for the reader. Renia clearly did not give herself enough credit for her achievements and her multitude of talents. Renia’s inner insecurities are plainly on display, and is as relatable and relevant now as she was in 1942. Some of the passages can be a little dry because so much of it covers mundane, day to day experiences. It is only for this reason my review is a 3 star. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

Renia Spiegel started to write in her diary when she was a young teen growing up in Poland and experiencing the German invasion during WWII. Being a Jewish girl she lived in constant fear. She was a talented young lady who often expressed herself by writing poetry. In her diary Reina expressed her most private thoughts and emotions about her first love, Zygmunt. In fact about 90% of the diary is about her feelings for him. The remaining 10% is about the war and the Nazi invasion in her community. Most of the historical information comes at the end of the book with information provided by Sygmunt and her sister Elizabeth.
The diary is very personal and at times I felt like a voyeur. The information gleamed at the end of the diary from Sygmunt and Elizabeth brought answers to many questions that I had while reading the diary and it is this piece that provides the most historical information. This is a very personal account of Rena’s feelings and I appreciated the family’s wishes to share it.
I received a copy of this diary from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley. This is my unbiased opinion and my honest thoughts after reading Renia’s diary.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author's sister for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a different book for me and hard to give a rating to; after all, how can you rate the writings of an angst filled teen girl during the war, a girl with hopes and dreams not that different from girls of any era or age, the difference for this girl being that she did not survive the war, that she was brutally shot by the Nazis. Renia Spiegel's diary itself is filled with poetry and writings of her friendships, most notably with her best friend, Nora and her romance with Zygmunt, who turn out to be not only her first love, but her only love, cut down before even getting to enjoy being alive, barely reaching adulthood at 18 but what stood out for me in Renia's writings was her poetry, she told more of her story and of the war through her poetry, which was so advanced and profound for her age. The diary suddenly cuts off and then Zygmunt writes the last few entries, telling of her death and giving us a sad ending to a promising life. How hard it must have been for him to make these entries and you can see the love between them as he kept the diary throughout the rest of his war, putting it in safekeeping before he was sent to Auschwitz and then finding and taking it to Renia's mother and sister. I wonder to myself if her mother read all of it, it must have been so heartbreaking for her, Renia so missed her mother, not one entry did not touch on how much she missed her. It must have been awful to be separated from her children. Poor Renia, she would never know how much Zygmunt really did love her; in truth, he never stopped loving her.

The intro to the book, and the epilogue as well as Elizabeth's writings, tell the parts of her and Renia's life that make the picture complete. These sections of the book were teary-eyed reading for sure and left me googling pictures of Renia and Zygmunt to bring the story all together and bring faces to these poignant words. In this day and age, where hatred is abundant, it is important for us to read these stories and see where hatred can lead and how it destroys everything.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the authors, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Renia's Diary is a beautiful heartbreaking look into a young woman's life while she is trying to survive WWII and persecution of Jews. A combination of her reflections and her poetry, Renia gives us an extraordinary view of someone trying to live and love in a terrible time.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

The books is a wonderful addition to the diary selection of books from the holocaust. My only problem is the way it has been marketed. It has been marketed as the next Anne Frank, which sets a different expectation of the book then there should be. The book is wonderful on its own merits, but doing that comparison not only pulls you out of the diary as it isn’t what you are expecting but it inadvertently pits the books against each other in a genre where there is no need for that.

Death is always hardest on those you leave behind. Ultimately, it was the pain of the survivors that brought me to tears. Renia did not survive, but she came alive to me as I read the pages of her diary, and I grew to care about her and wish for her happiness. Of course, I knew there would be no HEA, and that knowledge made me so sad as I read her dreams, her hopes, her wishes, and her struggles.

There are some books you read despite knowing they will be difficult, almost as some sort of penance for allowing real-life characters to undergo such hardship. I admit there's a part of me that thinks I owe it to the person who suffered, to hear their story, to feel their pain. I can never erase that pain, but allowing/forcing myself to feel it reminds me of my humanity and my responsibility to ensure nothing like this happens again.

Renia was a surprisingly gifted poet and I had to remind myself of her youth more than once. Even when writing prose, her poetic inclinations were readily apparent, as was her ability to elucidate the worst tendencies of humanity:

All I see is gray, cracked cobblestones and cracked, thirsty lips. I don't see the sky, because the sky is just a moldy, dusty scrap of clouds. All I can see are ashes and soot that choke, that corrode the eyes, that stifle breathing. I can see people in the streets as sharp as stones steadily crushed with pickaxes and ground into sharp, stinging dust in course, rough fingers. No revolution will ever be able to fix this. Nothing will... Because those who have velvety voices and pleasant touch, those who lead silky soft, comfortable lives, they'll always remain.

There's a poem she writes which begins with the phrase, "I will draw two tiny hearts." I found it to be touching and inspiring as it provided a window into Renia's romantic soul. It made me love her.

When she laments the missiles falling from the sky, she says, "These have been horrific days. Why even try to describe them? Words are just words. They can't express what it feels like when your whole soul attaches itself to a whizzing bullet. When your whole will, your whole mind and all your senses cling to the flying missiles and beg, "Not this house!" You're selfish and you forget that the missile that misses you is going to hit someone else." Truly, I have to wonder how many 17 year olds have the wisdom to realize something this profound.

But Renia didn't limit her insights to those affecting other people, mourning the exposure of her secrets, by her own hand (sharing her diary), thusly: "A secret stops being itself when somebody finds it out. My heart is empty, because I said it all." Just a few days later, still feeling vulnerable because she shared her innermost thoughts, she explains the dichotomy within herself that she now feels: "It's about the fact that another 'I' exists, lives. That I'm split in two, that I expelled something and that it now exists." I imagine she felt that she had expressed her feelings in her diary and now that her feelings were "out there" it didn't matter whether she still felt that way. Her words would indicate that she did, and so when her feelings changed (as they surely would), she would now be of two separate minds.

I have one suggestion to improve the readability of this book. Please have numbered footnotes within the ebook link to actual footnotes. As I read, I encountered footnotes, but there was no simple way for me to see what they were.

Renia, as a character, was larger than life and wore her heart on her sleeve, and though knew what would happen to her, I found myself longing to know more about those she loved, particularly Zygmunt Schwarzer (who fills in some of the blanks regarding Renia's premature death at the end of her diary). Fortunately, her younger sister relays some of the details of their lives and who survived at the end of the book. When I learned of Zygmunt's lifelong devotion to Renia, I was brought to tears. It was easy to see how much she loved him, but since the book was entirely from her perspective, it was more difficult to know how he felt about her. I believe they were soulmates, and I'd like to believe they have found one another again. I'm glad I read this. It was an unexpected treasure and I would love to see Renia's poetry get the recognition it deserves.

Renia's Diary is the diary that Renia Spiegel began in 1939 when she was 15. She loyally writes in her diary until the entries end abruptly in July of 1942. Renia is Jewish and lives with her grandparents in Poland. Unlike Anne Frank, Renia is not in hiding. She goes to school, movies and parties while the war rages around her. She is extremely smart and writes beautiful award winning poetry. She is in love and turns to her diary for help in navigating the ups and downs of her relationship. Renia is living without her parents. Although she is strong and mature, Renia longs for her mother. Her surviving sister Elizabeth writes a beautiful afterward describing Renia's fate and how Elizabeth, her mother and Renia's diary survived. Renia's diary is a fascinating memoir and a welcome addition to Holocaust writing.

This book is unique!

It is a personal diary of a Jewish girl (Renia Spiegel) during WWII. She begins writing at age 15 in 1939. She writes all her hopes and disappointments. She writes her daily activities. Here and there are the realities of the war creeping in.

This book is the truth of what it was like for one Jewish teenage girl living during WWII.

She has to move a few times. She is separated from her mom. She is sad, but she is also hopeful. She has a boyfriend, and yes she talks about him a lot, but any teenage girl who keeps a diary would do that.

I was shocked by what she had to endure, because of the war. I doubt I would have survived what she lived through.

At the end of the book, you find out what happened to Renia, her sister, and her boyfriend. They all had different experiences at the end.

The diary was not found for many years, and it was only recently translated into English.

To me “Renia’s Diary” was just as compelling as “The Diary of Ann Frank”. The reality just as stark and personal. Renia’s life is not shut up in hiding though. Her life involves school and work and friends. She sees what is happening to many Jewish people. She fears what will happen to her and her family.

I learned more about life during the war from Renia. I am glad she wrote it all down. My only complaint is that it is a bit too long, but I was glad I read all the way to the end.

Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager? The drama, the emotions, love, friendship, family! Now layer war over all of that. Renia’s Diary chronicles the ups and downs of a Jewish teenager in Poland during WWII. This is an important book.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book. What follows is my honest review.

First of all, I feel very privileged to have been able to read this book. The author, Renia Spiegel never intended it to be read by the public. It was a deeply personal look at her life and feelings from January 1939 until her death at the hands of the Nazi's just after her 18th birthday in 1942. At times while reading it I felt almost like a voyeur seeing her most private thoughts, especially about her developing love life.

At the beginning of the book there is an excellent preface that explains that diaries differ from memoirs and biographies in that as the author is writing, he or she has no idea how the story is going to turn out. It is purely written in the moment featuring what stood out to the author at the time. Explanations of who is who are not always included because the writer had no need of them. She knew the details that would fill out the story.

After the preface there is an introduction written by Renia’s sister who did survive the Holocaust. She had known of the existence of the diary for many years as she had received it from Renia’s boyfriend after the war but has only read portions of it even to this day as it is too emotionally difficult for her.

Now as to Renia’s writing. She was 15 at the beginning of the journal. I don’t have personal journals from that age, but I do have some from when I was sixteen. Subject matter was similar but Renia included poems that she had written throughout her journal and they were extremely well done and really expressed her emotions and feelings well. Initially as war began her life didn’t change very much. As the part of Poland that she lived in was taken over by the Russians her life changed somewhat but her daily musings were still focused on her interactions with classmates and friends. Much of her writing then would hold little of interest to the average reader and I found it challenging to read and follow what was going on at times. She missed her mother (who was in Warsaw) terribly and had a strong faith in G_d, praying on pretty much a daily basis. When the Germans took over things changed and her focus began to include the ways that the German presence was affecting her life including the fear of the ghetto. The last words in the journal are not hers, but rather the words of her boyfriend written very shortly after her death. Life changed in an instant.

The last part of the book is again told by Renia’s sister. She puts things in their historical perspective, explaining what was going on locally as the journal was actually being written and giving some substance to things that Renia had either inferred or briefly mentioned. I found this part very well written and interesting.

I have seen comparisons of this book to the journal that Anne Frank kept. Each are equally important as they represent a valuable life lived and it is important that their stories speak for them. Having said that, I don’t feel this journal is quite as accessible to the average reader as Anne’s was. Anne’s was primarily written in an enclosed space with a set group of people. Renia had far more freedom of movement throughout most of the journal. I think this made it a little more difficult to follow. I have pondered and pondered over how to rate this book. I have to bear in mind that it as not written to be read by others but purely for herself and rate it more on the importance of the work and on that basis I give this a 5 star rating

Renia’s Diary is the journal entries of Polish born Renia Spiegel from 1939, age 15 until 1942 when she was murdered, at age 18, by the Nazi’s.

Diaries are an important part of holocaust history. They allow us to hear the voice of those that did not survive. The diarist is writing in the present and has no idea what today’s events may have on things to come.

Renia writes in her diary as if talking to a friend. It is filled with teenage angst; first love, first kiss and jealousies.
At times the war takes a back seat to Renia’s self doubt, troubles with friends and talk about boys. Whilst at other times it is the full focus of her entries. A lot of her feelings are reflected through poetry. She really is an amazing poet!

When the German and Soviet armies split Poland into two zones Renia is living in Przemysl, a small city in south-eastern Poland, with her Grandparents and the yearning for her mother is constant and heart-breaking to read.

As you would expect in a young girls diary some of the entries are obscure. She sometimes uses in-jokes or code words and you need to read between the lines.

As Renia ages you can feel a shift in her entries as she moves from the self-centred anguish of a young teen to a those of a mature woman in love.

The diary is published by Renia’s younger sister Elizabeth who escaped due to the help of Renia’s boyfriend, Zygu, and family friends. Elizabeth fills in a lot of the blanks that are left by the diary.

A must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I'm not quite sure what i was expecting with regards to this book but I found this book to be an okay read. Although I knew it was about a teenager in the holocaust time period I suppose I wasn't thinking about normal teenage boy crushes, school drama, etc. . I'm not big on reading diaries, etc. I think that that is someones innermost thoughts and not certain about such things being published.

Many books about the Holocaust are very interesting to read and help gain an understanding about people's experiences during this horrific time in our history. I had high hopes for this book as well, especially given it was an actual person's diary that was kept during the time rather than someone recollecting events well after the fact. This book, however, left me disappointed. The first half of the book was nothing more than a diary about daily school life, drama with friends, and romantic interests of a teenage girl. There is little mention about the broader world other than missing her mom and a few scares of the war. The latter half of the book has more entries pertaining to the World War and Holocaust itself, but still far less than I expected. I appreciate her sister's desire to share this diary with the world, however it doesn't give the reader a great understanding of what it was really like to live through the context of this time. There are much better books written by Holocaust survivors about what is was like to live through this time.

I'm very interested in all things Holocaust having already visited three former concentration camps but it is the personal elements of this harrowing time that really gets to me. I have read several books containing first hand accounts of what happened to them but these have been written many years later and so have a completely different feeling to what I read in this book. As a diary, the incidents are recorded at the time (or soon after) they occur. This means that they are more raw and the feelings are not diluted. As a diary, it also contains much that is, relatively speaking, normal every day stuff and to read about these hand in hand with the other highlights the fact that this is a young girl going through what every young girls does, just in a very difficult time. To be brutally honest, and I have to be in my reviews, I found the mundane things a bit boring to read about. That said, their inclusion spoke volumes to what was, originally, just the normal (?) life of a young Polish girl just trying to grow up and find her place in life. The parts that speak to the occupation and her missing and being worried about her family and being scared for her own life were far more interesting to me.
As others have mentioned, the afterword is probably the most important part of the book. Written by her sister it puts what has gone before into better context. As someone else said, maybe it's best to read this first. I didn't but I probably wish that I had in hindsight.
All in all, although not as readable as other first hand accounts of the Holocaust, this is an important story and one worth reading. As with everything war related, the survivors with first hand knowledge are dying off and soon it will only be through books that their stories will survive. And survive they must as this period in history should never be forgotten.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Whoever composed the marketing introduction for this book did a great job but unfortunately the book doesn’t measure up to the hype. It’s a noble endeavor for an 80 year old sister to want to publish a diary written by her sister who was murdered at 19 by the Nazis, but this publication falls flat.

Here are a few things to consider before reading this book. 1. It is a rambling, scattered daily diary of a teenage girl, it could be any teenage girl anywhere, with writings about school, friends, love, attractions. As expected of any diary the writing and thoughts are incomplete and scattered. It’s clear at the end she is terrified and asks God constantly for protection. 2. Many people are mentioned in the diary that the reader has no background or familiarity with so makes it a frustrating read. Again this would happen with any diary not intended for publication by the author. 3. The Epilogue at the end of the book written by the sister adds some value.

For me, the poetry (a lot of poetry) was just more rambling, scattered thoughts, but only in rhyme.

I was completely disappointed and would not recommend this book.

Renia Spiegel was born in Poland and at the age of 18 died by a gunshot to the head for being Jewish. She died a victim of the Holocaust. Between the ages of 15 to 18, Renia kept a diary. It took over 50 years for her 700 pages of diary to find its way to her sister Ariana (Elizabeth as she is now known as). And now it has found its way to us.

In her diary Renia not only chronicles her struggles, but the helplessness of her family and friends who endured as well. Renia kept a record of her daily activities, going to school, arguments with friends, parties, types of stories written by any teenager, but she also kept her deepest secrets, her thoughts, her prayers, her loves, her fears and her dreams for the future in there as well. She called her diary her best friend.

She chronicles the beginning of the German's and Russian's taking over Poland. She writes about her mother who is in Warsaw and is unable to be with her. She heartbreakingly to ends her passages with words to her mother. She desperately held on to thoughts of seeing her again and hoping she was still alive. She writes about her one and only love Zygmund. In one passage she dreams of having children with her future husband and how God has been so good to her. She is such an old soul who witnessed horror no one. let alone a child should see and hear.

Renia writes about hearing gunshots outside and knowing someone has died, of hearing bombs, of her house being raided by the Nazi's and her grandfather paying them off to give them a little more time...

Her diary is also filled with beautiful poems. She wrote incredible prose for such a young age they could rival any adult author's compositions of today.

Her words are so profound and meaningful. One can only wonder who Renia would have become if she had lived. I must say I was honored to read this diary which I believe is an incredible historical document.

I am so grateful to #NetGalley #St.Martin'sPress #Renia'sDiary for the advanced copy. The book will be out on September 24.

The story of Renia Spiegel's life in WWII Poland is stark, sweet, and heartbreaking. We are lucky to have this glimpse into her world, like we did Anne Frank. Like many young girls, Renia's diary is full of teen friendships, school, and gossip. She also spends a lot of time on her dear love, Zygmunt. There's another level to her diary though, one of fear and loss. She spends most of her time living with extended family, away from her parents and sister. While her life comes to a tragic end, readers can learn about living in the moment, about gratitude, about grace. Fans of history and memoir will enjoy this book.