To survive Auschwitz is one thing, but to then be charged with a crime due to your means of survival and sentenced to another work camp. For Cilka, this is her reality. Seen once as an enemy by birth and then as enemy by action of survival, Cilka is plagued to suffer. She suffers at the mercy of those who see her as the enemy and at the mercy of her own mind, the guilt and the loss she has endured.

Cilka’s story is devastating and encouraging all at once. This novel is filled with the heartbreak of World War II, showing not only the aftermath, but flashbacks to Cilka’s experiences at Auschwitz-Birkenau. While many see her as a traitor, Cilka is anything but. Time and time again, Cilka shows the depth of her selflessness. She is an admirable individual who endured atrocities beyond comprehension.

While the story focuses on the plight of Cilka, it is about the survival of many and the amount of sacrifice that goes into anyone’s will to survive. It touches on aspects of survival that are not always considered when you read of WWII. The lengths to which people are willing to go to to survive, to protect oneself above anything else.

A beautifully written story of survival and all of the ugliness that follows this catastrophic time in world history. Heather Morris has once again weaved together a solid historical fiction, grounded in the realities of one woman’s story brought to life through vivid details, Cilka’s Journey is a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I hadn't read the Tattooist of Auschwitz and hadn't realized that Cilka's Journey is technically a sequel. Thankfully, it stands on its own. I'm glad I read it, I learned about the gulags and I'm ashamed at how little I knew going in. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.

This book was phenomenal. It gave me all the feels, and was written beautifully. The flashbacks gave the absolute perfect window into both places, and truly let me see how/what Cilka was thinking or feeling in any given moment. I loved this book, truly a 5 star!

Cilka's Journey is an amazing story of survival and resilience. Cilka is a teenager when she was imprisoned for 3 years in Auschwitz, only to be sent to a gulag in Vorkutlag for a 15 year sentence. While Cilka must have been an amazing woman and I'm so thankful to have been made aware of her, I unfortunately could not connect with the book. The writing felt clinical to me, I never felt any emotional connection to Cilka. I'm not sure if it was because the author only heard about her through a few second hand accounts and didn't have a whole lot of research on her, but everything just felt like it was being told at an arm's length. I never felt like we got to dive deep into Cilka. She also seemed to manage to have a selfless, giving countenance and never seemed to feel conflicted about anything. I think this is another symptom of not having any interviews from her or other people who were very close to her, surely she must have had moments of human weakness but we never get to really see that. I really wish I would have loved this book, but the novel was just so-so for me.

Beautiful work!

From the author of The Tatooist if Auschwitz comes another heart rendering story based on the true story of Cilka Klein, an 18 year old survivor of the holocaust.

Her struggles don’t end when the labor camp is liberated however. Her strength, intelligence and charm are needed to survive.

It’s at once tragic and haunting and inspiring.

Another gem!

4.5 stars

Cilka Klein was introduced to us in The Tattooist of Auschwitz as a 16 year old Jewish girl who survives the camp by tolerating the German Kommandant raping her and keeping her alive for that very purpose. I will not say she prostituted herself, because she was raped, repeatedly, and was used for other tasks that went against her own morality. When the war ended and other prisoners were freed, Cilka was considered a collaborator in Stalin's eyes and sent to a Siberian Gulag with other war "criminals" to serve even more time in horrid conditions. Cilka was sentenced to 15 years, and time there moved very slowly. She continued to be judged by her fellow prisoners as to whether she was a whore, a traitor, or merely a survivor. But she proved herself a remarkable young woman with many talents and friends.

Please don't judge me or the book by the fact that I took several weeks to get through it. I had difficulty reading more than a couple chapters in a sitting due to the troubling subject matter, it's true, but there was also this thing called a Netflix 30-day free trial causing me daily distractions. This book could not go ignored for long, however. The writing flows effortlessly and the story itself is captivating. Heather Morris found a wonderful character and turned her into a work of art. I loved it all and recommend it highly. The author even gives more history of the gulags and of Cilka's family in the Afterword. It is obvious how meticulous her research was, how devoted to Cilka's story she remains.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advance copy.

I really liked her first book so I was excited to read this sequel of sorts.

This was the first novel I've read based on the prison camps post WWII. In this fictional account they seem to have been basically as bad as the death camps.

I appreciated getting more of Cilka's story, but unfortunately this book moved very slowly and I had trouble staying engaged.

The research into this book and the character it was based off of was great though.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I had really enjoyed the first book in this series when I read it earlier this year. This book was very informational on what went on in the protagonist's life, but it was a hard read. It was hard because of everything the protagonist went through and having to go through it twice. It might have been due to reading it around Christmas time, but it was too much for me at the moment.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy. I look forward to reading more from this author.

With this book unlike, Morris’ first I had a better sense whether it was fiction or fact. As with the first, the quality of plot development and writing is good, the characters are well developed and the landscape of Siberian labor camp life is presented believably, as a fictional story, I enjoyed it.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Cilka’s Journey is a new historical novel by Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It tells the story of one of the characters from The Tattooist: Cecelia Klein, known as Cilka. At the age of sixteen, Cilka was sent to Auschwitz with her mother and sister. Young and pretty, she was singled out by men in charge at the camps and repeatedly raped. If that wasn’t traumatic enough, she was then put in charge of the female prisoners who were sent to the gas chambers.

Cilka survived the experience riddled with guilt and shame.

After the concentration camp was liberated by Russian soldiers, Cilka was accused of collaboration--sleeping with the enemy--and sent to Vorkuta Gulag in Siberia.

Once again, Cilka was sexually abused. She was chosen by one of the soldiers to be his exclusive “mistress,” and was housed in a hut full of women who were visited regularly by guards who assaulted them.

Cilka was a survivor. She developed bonds with other women in her hut. She found her way into the camp hospital where she was trained as a nurse, working in the medical ward, then in the obstetric ward, and finally accompanying ambulances to accident sites. This was a privileged position. She worked in relative warmth and had access to better food which she shared with the women in her hut. Yet she lived in constant fear that her friends would discover why she had been sentenced to the Gulag–that she had been in charge of the “death block” at Auschwitz–and that her friends would shun her.

Cilka’s suffering and struggle to survive makes for difficult reading. (Perhaps not the best choice for Christmas season.) Yet, like all books in the WWII/Holocaust genre, it’s important. What makes this story unique is its focus on the war’s aftermath--the prison camps in Siberia. A caveat is that the prose is a bit plodding at times and the dialogues are sometimes stilted. Nevertheless, like The Tattooist, Cilka’s Journey is based on a real person. It’s a compelling story that should be heard.

Heather Morris has done it again. I absolutely loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz and loved Cilka's Journey just as much. I love the way she brings real-life stories into fiction. Cilka's story was heartbreaking and often difficult to read however I seem to learn something new. I look forward to Heather Morris's next book and would recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction. Great read!

This was a hard book to read and even harder to formulate a response/review on. The sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey also deals with some very heavy themes. While there is hope throughout the novel, I was nauseous during the majority of reading it, imagining what it must have been like. I think novels like these are very important reads for our day, to remember what happens when we judge others for not being like us, and to remind us what humanity is capable of–both in terms of harming others and of having a will to survive.
Cilka’s Journey continues the story of Cilka–a real-life person, I might add–from her life in Auschwitz (woven throughout the previous book) to a Siberian prison camp. From the age of sixteen until she was in her thirties, Cilka lived through the unimaginable. Her life story was so inspiring and inconceivable to me, and definitely made me grateful for my own life. Both of these books are books I’d recommend highly, but it should be noted that you must not read them lightly. Maybe I’m just an empath, an emotional creature, but I felt physically sick reading both books, and was in a heavy, dark mood during and after the reading. Don’t read these in like January, when it’s dark and gloomy and you’re already down (unless you live in Australia). 🙂 Definitely try and surround yourself with light and love when you read it, because it’s easy to get sucked into the horrors of it, and you cannot affect change today when you’re stuck in the depression of yesterday. On the flip side, Cilka’s absolutely incredible courage and love for those around her when she easily could’ve given up hope and faith in humanity were so inspiring. These books reinforced my desire to champion those stuck in modern-day slavery and bring hope to places of darkness, and I am grateful for the perspectives and stories shared in them.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book to read and review.

I received a copy of this book for free. I was not required to post a positive review and the views and opinions expressed are my own.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion – which I’ve done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

I was a huge fan of The Tatooist, and this book was equally as good. The characters & the setting were so well done. The story goes into horrible places that you can’t even imagine, and yet gives you hope. Amazing storytelling, and Love that it’s based on a real person.

5 Incredible, Heart-Wrenching, Tear-filled Stars.

When I started “Cilka’s Journey” I didn't think it possible for me to like it as much as its predecessor, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” In truth, like doesn’t begin to describe my feelings for this book. I loved the story of Lale and Gita and yet, I adored “Cilka’s Journey” - such that I loved it with every cell in my body and every emotion I can possibly muster. If I had to give you one reason why I loved this novel more than Lale and Gita’s, I’d have to say that I loved Cilka’s story perhaps because it wasn’t a love story, unlike that of Lale and Gita.

“Cilka’s Journey” broke me. This is Cilka’s story of survival during the absolute worst of times. Any other person would not have survived and yet she did. First, she survived Auschwitz-Birkenau, only to be liberated and then sentenced by the Soviets to 15 years in Vorkuta gulag in Siberia. It is unthinkable and yet, for Cilka, it was her penance, for doing what she had to do, sleep with the enemy to make it through.

Cilka always put everyone else first, including the girls in her hut and her closest friend Josie, even during times of adversity. I have no words for how selfless Cilka was and for what she went through. Her relationship with Josie was such a blessing and yet it tore at my heart. Tears fell many a time while reading this novel, but none more during her time with Josie. I love how the story is told in the present day and through flashbacks while Cilka was at Auschwitz-Birkenau, it brought such realism to the story and really helped me feel Cilka’s strength.

What more can I say except that I love Cilka Klein. Her strength of character, her determination, her kindness and her selflessness. Your story will stay with me for a long time.

Heather Morris - your ability to weave this story from research, from interviews and from facts and use some artistic license, it is a work of art. The author’s note at the end of this novel captivated me. Thank you for bringing “Cilka’s Journey” to life. This is a haunting portrayal of a young girl’s ability to not only survive but thrive during what was the most horrific of times and to do what must be done.

A huge thank you goes out to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a galley of this novel to cherish always.

Published on Goodreads and Amazon on 12.8.19.

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris was amazing! A powerful, emotional, heart-wrenching read that follows Cilka's bravery as she survives and fights through prison after already spending 3 years in Auschwitz. I was moved by Cilka's thought-process, her strength, and her actions to do what is right. I recommend this read to all!

This book was okay. It wasn't as good as The Tattooist of Auschwitz, but it did keep me turning pages. A lot of it is hard to believe, and honestly, mostly made up. The character who the story is about is real, but very little is actually known of her fate.

A nicely done continuation of The Tattoist of Auschwitz; this time featuring Cilka's character. Disturbing due to the graphic violence these women endurd but still a very good book.

I Read this right after reading first book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. This was so sad and so beautifully written.
I have read many books set in this time fame and it never gets easier. I feel reading about the Holocaust history is a way of paying respect to those who were lost and those that survived this awful time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author and publisher for a copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

First and foremost, Cilka's Journey is a well-written novel which is the sequel to Tattooist of Auschwitz. This novel can be read without reading the previous book.
Cilka's Journey is based on a true story of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again. Cilka uses her wit, charm, and beauty to survive. It's a story that is full of emotion. A truly amazing and touching story.
I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction based on true events, women's survival in WWII, and anyone who enjoyed the Tattooist of Auschwitz.
Special Thanks to Netgalley, Heather Morris, and the Publisher for giving me a chance to read this book in exchange for my free review.

Wow. Heather Morris has given a great follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The things that Cilka and the other women endure are beyond mind boggling, but to not only to be locked away once but twice and still have the strength that Cilka had shown is something to be in awe of. Very well written and a must read.