Cilka's Journey, the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, is a heartbreaking story that follows Cilka Klein's (a secondary character in Tattooist) life after being released from Auschwitz. Accused of aiding the Nazis Cilka, a beautiful young women, is sentenced to a long prison term in a Siberian Gulag. Possessed of a strong character and amazing kindness and selflessness, Cilka navigates horrible conditions, treacherous fellow prisoners, and punishing winters. Cilka finds the good in all people and when a kind doctor takes Cilka under her wing, thought still hauted, Cilka sees a light at the end of the tunnel. The book shows how the kindness of some people can overcome the evil of others. Cilka is a wonderful character and her story is one the reader won't soon forget.

My Thoughts
This book is a spinoff of The Tattoist of Auschwitz. I have not read The Tattoist of Auschwitz so I can confirm that this book can be read as a standalone. Here are my pros and cons for Cilka’s Journey:

Pros

- I thought it was interesting that this story takes place (for the most part) after the war is over. Cilka is in a prison camp in Siberia for the majority of the book, not a concentration camp. This was a perspective I haven’t read about before… and I have read a lot of WWII fiction and non-fiction.
- I love that this novel was based – at least loosely – on a real person.
- Cilka is a strong, determined and hopeful woman. Even when she is discouraged or feels helpless, she still perseveres. She is well-written and likeable.
- Dr. Yelena is a hero. I don’t know if she exists as a real individual or if she is an amalgamation of several people that helped Cilka during her imprisonment – either way, the characterization of Dr. Yelena and how she treated and trusted and trained Cilka was refreshing and hopeful.
- I loved the interaction between the women in the prison camp. How they helped one another get through day by day felt honest and real.
- The writing is top-notch and engaging.
- This book is full of powerful themes – survival, hope, love, friendship, respect, fear, abuse, determination and perseverance – and you will feel each one of them strongly when you read the book.

Cons

- Some of the hospital scenes got a little boring for me. They just became a tad repetitive.
- We never found out what happened to Natalya and that drove me nuts.
- Some of the circumstances that happened to Cilka were amazingly fortunate… and maybe just a tad too fortunate for it to be believable to me. My summary below talks about how this book has been questioned regarding its “facts” and I understand that historical fiction often interweaves fact and fiction in order to provide a comprehensive story… but I think the author may have gone just a tad overboard in some respects regarding Cilka’s remarkable advantages during her imprisonment.

Summary
I read an article in The Guardian (Feb 1, 2019) that stated the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center identified many errors and misinformation in The Tattoist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey. The author has stated that she “decided to honor Cilka by using her life as an inspiration for a novel” and that it would be “obvious what parts of the story are factual”. The author did interview some people that knew Cilka personally (i.e., Lale from The Tattoist of Auschwitz) but Cilka herself was deceased at the writing of this book. I often find it sad that we learn about awesome people like Cilka too late… how awesome would it have been to chat with her and get her real story?

Even if some of Cilka’s story was made up for the book, I still can’t imagine even an iota of what she must have really gone through. I kept thinking that even one of the terrible things she endured would have done me in almost immediately. Then again, I guess we never really know our strengths until they are tested, right?

This is a great story and I would recommend it to anyone interested in WWII novels, post-war prison camps, or just books about strong women in general.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an emotional read! This book covered a part of history that most people are not aware of ... Siberian Gulags. The relationships that develop or the conflicts that arise are both touching and angering. You will travel back and forth in time through Cilka's memories. There are no words strong enough to describe the hardships, the abuse, the brutality that individuals endured, but Cilka and so many others demonstrated an amazing level of strength and determination.

The author does a great job of bringing you into the story, developing the characters, making you feel their pain and hope, and holding your breath as your endure their daily existence.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have not read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and I didn't realize this was a companion novel when I started it. But I don't think you have to have read Tattooist to fully enjoy this heartbreaking novel about a young Hungarian woman named Cilka who has just been released from a Nazi concentration camp and is immediately transported to a prison camp in Siberia. While she was a prisoner in in Auschwitz, she gave "sexual favors" to the Nazi guards in order to survive. Anyone today would understand that this was rape, plain and simple, as Cilka had no choice but to give in if she wanted to live. But Stalinist Russia is not so forgiving of anyone who consorted with the Nazis, and they exhibit their own brand of evil when they imprison Cilka in the Siberian prison camp, where she is subjected to many of the same tortures that she experienced under the Nazis.

This is a story about survival, though, and while the story exposes all the atrocities of the Russian prison camp, readers will find that there is also compassion in the camp. A female doctor takes Cilka under her wing and helps her to discover meaningful work in the hospital, and Cilka uses the position to help the other prisoners.

I look forward to reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz after reading this novel. While I'm very familiar with the horror of the Nazi concentration camps, I did not know as much about Siberia, and now I'm interested in discovering more information about this very dark chapter in the twentieth century.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could not stop reading this book. It is so mesmerizing and thought-provoking.
Cilka, a Jew who was imprisoned in Auschwitz during World War II, is convicted as a collaborator with the enemy after the War. She is sent to the Vorkuta Gulag by the Russians. What's especially interesting in this book is what happened in the Gulag. The description of the hardships and torment will add more definition and understanding of what people suffered there. It's written by the author of "The Tattoist of Auschwitz," so try to read it first. This book builds upon the previous one. Both are necessary reads.

Chilka's Journey was an amazing read. I am a huge fan of historical fiction set during World War I and II and this is one of the best historical fiction books I have read in a while. Already a fan of the Tattooist of Auschwitz, Chilka's Journey brought more of the heartbreaking struggles endured during World War II to life. Chilka's Journey was an gut wrenching story of one woman's perseverance to survive.

Cilka's Journey follows a character first introduced in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. You do not need to have read The Tattooist of Auschwitz to read and understand Cilka's Journey. It is a heartbreak story of a woman during WWII.

It gets 4 stars from me. I couldn't give it the 5 stars I wanted to because at some points the writing fell flat and felt disconnected from the character. Other than those few minor spots it was an amazing story that enthralled me from beginning to end. I would recommend it.

The living situation is horrible. However learning of Cilka's journey and how she survived is a story worth knowing.. At sixteen Clika's life takes a turn no teenager should live. Her story is told in present day and then some flash backs so we get to know and understand her very well.. The living conditions in the prison camps are unthinkable. Her family becomes the women she is living with and the lengths she goes to protect them.
The story is not without hope, but a strong historical fiction of a woman's quest to survive.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review from Net Galley.

Cilka's Journey is a harrowing story of a young woman imprisoned after World War II for her actions in Auschwitz

Cilka's Journey was a fantastic look into another character from The Tattooist from Auschwitz book. I'm glad that I read these books back to back, or I likely would've needed a reminder of which character Cilka was. Cilka's character is the definition of persistent, strong, independent woman. However Cilka's inability to accept help became frustrating throughout the book. While I understand that Cilka's character was based off a true character, I did think that a lot of the book was Cilka just slogging through going to work, working (with minimal detail) and then returning to her hut again. While it made the book drag, I'm sure in a real situation, it would've been similar (dragging, repetitive, cold, etc). After the depressing topic and theme of Cilka's Journey, in a labor camp near the Arctic Circle, I was so glad that things finally ended better for Cilka. This book was eye opening for me to think about how/where people really did go, if they survived concentration camps.

This review is so hard to write. The story is unbelievable. Sad, horendous, but full of hope and love, just like the Tattooist was.
I loved reading Cilka's story - it is such an important part of history that is not told in many books. Not her story personally, but that of women and how they were treated and degraded not just during the WW2 but after. The note of the author afterwards, that so many women kept the secrets of their sexual abuse in those horendous camps is just unbelievable. I'm sad, and disappointed with people who would judge such women.

That said, why can't I give this book a higher rating. I was really really disappointed in the writing. It felt very detached. It is written in third outside person, not from the perspective of the MC herself. It's always she is feeling this, Cilka is acting this way, etc etc. It almost felt like the feelings of the character had to be explained, not explored in a beautiful writing. The feelings that are so obvious were not reactive, they were factoids in the story. It just took away for me from the character and the story. The afterword was more beautifully written than the whole book. It almost felt like a report. Even the conversations seemed very clip and almost like a translation. There's something lost and missing.

I really don't want to make anyone not read the story. It is such an important one - it's part of history, even if it's somewhat fictional. There's a lot of truth to it, and everyone needs to know the abuse these people had to go through even after the war was over. The Soviet rule wasn't any better, and it is just as important to know that part of history too.

This historical novel is engaging. It is graphic and horrifying but somehow also brings out hope.. I felt so connected to the characters and story. The page turner cliché is true here, it was a page turner.

I do recommend people to read this. It is a sequel to the Taoist, but I read this first and had no trouble. I think that a g0od story is good even without the order being followed.

I was so excited for this book since I am a big fan of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. However, this fell flat for me, and I had trouble connecting with Cilka's character. I didn't feel that drawn or compelled to read her story and I kept picking up other books to read instead of this one.

I really enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, so I was thrilled to hear there would be a book about what happened to Cilka after the liberation of the concentration camps. It is astounding what she went through at the camps, only to be shipped to Siberia to be subject to even more inhumane treatment. Cilka's resiliency throughout the whole ordeal was inspiring, and I am grateful to Morris for sharing her story. My only slight criticism is that I didn't really like how they treated the flashbacks to her time in the concentration camps. The way things were mentioned offhandedly without much explanation made it feel like the reader was expected to read Tattooist before reading this book. There should have been a general summary in the beginning describing why Gita and Lale meant so much to her, or a little more fleshed out descriptions whenever flashbacks occurred. I had read Tattooist so I was fine, but I would recommend to someone else to read it first, even though it's technically a stand alone book

I admit, I came to this book pretty nervous. I was in the minority about The Tattooist of Auschwitz, I really did not like that book. But I decided to give Cilka’s Journey a chance, and I’m glad I did! The writing was much better for this book, the plot was able to thicken, and everything wasn’t solved perfectly right away. This was an interesting perspective, post WWII Russia gulag.
Trigger warnings: Rape, death, self-harm, stillbirth, abuse.

I absolutely loved The Tattooist Of Auschwitz so to read this book was a bonus for me. To give a name and face to another victim of the Holocaust is something I cherish. This is such a moving story, even if the author had to make it up. This truly is a moving story. I don’t think any of us, today, could survive what the victims of the Holocaust did.

It took me a while to read this book because of the trauma that the characters, most especially Cilka, endured. I can only read in small chunks of time. Ms. Morris did a superb job of depicting Cilka and the atrocities the characters endured during World War II. Reading about their survival and life after the war brought the story to the perfect end. This story was well written and worth the time and effort it took to read. I liked the author’s note on how Cilka’s story came about.

When I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz last year, I was blown away by Lale and Gita’s incredible story and the harrowing ordeal they endured during their 3 years at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. As I mentioned in my review of that book, stories about the Holocaust continue to be extremely important given the world we live in – whether through fictionalized or non-fiction accounts, these are stories that absolutely need to be told, no matter how difficult and heartbreaking it may be to hear such unthinkable atrocities being recounted. With Cilka’s Journey, the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris gives us the story of Cecilia “Cilka” Klein, a woman we first met during Lale’s recounting of his story, whom he described as “the bravest person [he] ever met” and whom he credited with saving his life. When she was just sixteen years old, Cilka was forcibly separated from her family and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp where, on the first day, she was immediately singled out for her beauty. In order to stay alive, Cilka had no choice but to endure repeated sexual abuse from the Commandant (and other men in power), but what weighed on her soul the most was the role she was forced into -- the unspeakable role of being the one to send hundreds of women to their horrific deaths in the camp’s gas chambers. After suffering 3 years of pain and torture, freedom finally comes when the camp is liberated, but unfathomably not for Cilka, as she ends up being charged as a collaborator for “sleeping with the enemy” and sentenced to 15 years in a Siberian prison camp. In the gulags, Cilka encounters horrors both new and familiar, once again finding herself at the center of unwanted attention despite her best efforts to go unnoticed. Placed under such circumstances, Cilka must reach within herself to find the strength to not only survive, but also help others in the process. In a narrative that jumps back and forth in time, between memories of her time at Auschwitz and the realities of her present situation, Cilka shows her remarkable will to endure and confront the daily terrors with courage.

Through Cilka’s story, Morris once again presents us with an impactful tale of survival, resilience, and true love’s ability to overcome hardship. For someone so young to have to endure so much, it was heart-rending to read, yet at the same time, it humbled me and reminded me how much there truly is to be grateful for. The Author’s Note at the end of the book as well as the Afterword give keen insight into Cilka’s real-life story and the conditions those interned in the camps were subjected to — both these narratives supplement the story and should not be missed. I’m keeping this review deliberately short, as this book is a necessary read as well as a timely one and it is my hope that more people will read it. Thank you to Heather Morris for bringing us Cilka’s story as well as that of Lale and Gita and helping us better understand this important piece of our society’s history.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley and direct from publisher.

Well researched and authentic, with the potential to be emotional, provoking and poignant. However, it fell a little flat for me and I felt like I really struggled to get through it. While I loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz, I felt like this was one of those books you could just skip three chapters and feel like you hadn't missed anything. Still, a lot of excellent research was apparent in the writing.

A beautiful, tragic, engrossing story. This book had me captivated from the very beginning! This is the story of Cilka and her imprisonment following Auschwitz. This is a story based on true events...events that I never knew occured. I had no idea that so many people were imprisoned again after being liberated from the concentration camps. I read this novel in one weekend because I simply couldn't put it down. It is a story of friendships forged despite unthinkable conditions and ultimately love and the triumph of the human spirit. At time, Heather Morris dramatizes the story, but she is is clearly based on extensive research, making it highly worthwhile reading. You do not have to read The Tattooist of Auschwitz first in order to enjoy this one. Thank you for giving me the privilege to enjoy and share my opinions on this story. I couldn't recommend it more!