I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t know much about this book when I started reading it other than it was the same author who wrote The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I remember Cilka was involved in that book, but it was interesting to read more of her story—both a glimpse of her life inside Auschwitz and her story at the Siberian prison camp.

Sixteen year old Cilka, sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, is so beautiful that she is spared hard labor with her fellow captives, only to suffer in an even more humiliating manner. Somehow, she finds the courage to use her beauty and sexuality to her favor, surviving until the camp is liberated. Full of relief and hope and a life of freedom, she is 'condemned' again as a collaborator and sent to a prison camp in Siberia. Based on a true story, Cilka's Journey is affirmation of the strength of individual spirit and strength and even love through the most horrific of circumstances.

This was another five star read by Heather Morris! If you read and enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, this one is a must read!

The opening pages of this book had me angry. Actually most of the book had me angry and happy and sad and full of all kinds of emotions. I could not believe where Cilka headed after her time in Birkenau. I almost threw my Kindle across the room after the first few pages, but I just had to know how Cilka ended up. She is an extremely strong character.

Heather Morris has quickly became one of my top favorites. She conveys the emotions so well with her words, and everything just seems to flow together and make you want to never stop reading. After finishing the story I kept going to read the acknowledgments and other things at the back of the book to see what else she had to say. I usually never read those, but I just couldn't make myself put this book down. The research and thought that went into this book is amazing.

Hands down my favorite Historical Fiction of the year! Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for an early copy of #CilkasJourney to review!

Cecilia Klein was just sixteen when she was sent to Auschwitz and nineteen when she was sent to Vorkuta Gulag in Siberia. This book haunted my dreams and kept me awake at night. Definitely a book that I did not want to read, but a book that I needed to read and once I started reading I could not put the book down. I simply had to know what happened to her. The fact that such a young girl could survive so much brutality and still able to care deeply for others.
A brilliant book that broke my heart.

I gave this book 5 stars, it deserves them and more!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the uncorrected digital copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review

An excellent book giving us Cilka's story. Even better than The Tattooist of Auschwitz. A must read for lovers of historical fiction with basis in fact.

Another harrowing tale of the horrors of the holocaust and a 16-year-old girl, Cilka, who struggles through it. This is a fiction account of Cilka, a real life person who lived through WWII. I loved how the characters were portrayed, and the courage and strength that Cilka had. While this story is well told, it is a hard and emotional story to read.

This book really touched me. I felt the main characters were multi-dimensional and really cared about their fate. Very well written and insightful.

Another heart-wrenching but heroic story of survival during WW2 and the Holocaust. Based on a true story, Cilka survived Auschwitz to be sent to the gulag - Siberian hard labor camp. She again needs to survive, and protect the friends in her hut, sacrificing herself time and again to make sure her friends stay safe. There are many unsung heroes, and Cilka's story helps remind us all that to have hope even in the darkest times.

This is a wonderful book. I found Cilka’s character more realistic than most wartime books seem to be. She made the best of her situation and did what she could to help others without making too many waves. I think we’d all like to believe we’d be brave and defiant and stand up to the captors in situations like Cilka’s, but I think our self preservation instincts keep us from committing fully to that ideal. Cilka’s goal of survival was very relatable in that context, and she did it well. This was well written and engaging. I couldn’t put it down. It made me smile. It made me cry. Highly recommend.

This book is a continuation of the stories told in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, however it is not necessary to read the other book prior to this one. It is the story of Cilka Klein, who was first imprisoned and endured abuse in Auschwitz, only to find herself swept up in the terrifying gulag system post war. It's a story of a survivor, which can be gutwrenching at times. Please note- if you are a survivor of abuse, this may be a challenging book for you. Ms Morris did a wonderful job of weaving fact and fiction together. I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to future books by this author as well.

A fantastic follow-up to the Tattooist of Auschwitz. (Reading that one prior to Cilka's Journey is helpful but not necessary). A beautifully written, well researched story of survival and bravery against all odds.

Who could not love this novel? I was worried as I had not read the first one, but there was plenty of background given so I didn't feel like I missed anything. And as always, books about this time period just blow me away as I had friends when we visited my grandparents in Indiana (I was probably 8 or so) whose own parents had survived the Holocaust. Of course I didn't understand it then, but I figured something was strange when I saw the ink on their wrists and my girlfriends had to study Hebrew and couldn't see me on the weekend. Now as an adult, I am shocked and so saddened to realize what their lives were like. So Cilka's "journey" was both heartbreaking and heartwarming as we see her resilience and hope in undergoing and overcoming the horrors that plagued that era. Get the tissues ready!

I've read many stories through the years about conditions in the concentration camps during the Holocaust but I have to admit I was totally unaware of the horrible treatment some of the women received AFTER surviving the concentration camps. This story is horrifying, dark, and sad - yet inspirational to see how Cilka came through the terrible conditions she had to endure.

Excellent writing!

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris came out on October 1st and I was blessed to receive an advanced copy from @stmartinspress.
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I loved the Tattooist of Auschwitz and was desperately anticipating the arrival of Cilka’s Journey and was not disappointed. While Lale and Gita’s story was filled with love and finding hope in an incredibly awful situation, Cilka’s story was filled with unbearable pain.
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Cilka’s Journey starts as the Second World War is ending and Cilka is being tried for sympathizing with the Nazis. She is sentenced to fifteen years in a Soviet Gulag and made to work in dangerous conditions in a prison setting. Rape, starvation, and unsanitary conditions become a muted everyday occurrence while Cilka tries to find ways to stay alive. She hesitates in telling people she arrived from Auschwitz and never gets a chance to fully heal since she is dragged from one terrible situation to another.
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This story is based on a true person but the story particulars are pieced together by Morris’ research on Soviet Gulags.
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Overall, I LOVED this story. And I want to share it with you all!!!

I could not stop reading this book. I was mesmerized at what Cilka endured and kept going. Her life was unimaginable to me. It just proves how a person’s will to live can overcome anything. I hope this author continues to write more from this time period. I’ll be anxiously waiting.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Heather Morris, Bonnier Books UK, and St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Cilka's Journey of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am so pleased to recommend this novel to friends and family. Heather Morris is an awesome author, bringing us indelible histories to add to our memory banks. It is only by understanding our history that we can avoid repeating it.

Cilka's Journey is a hard book to absorb, as are most WWII survivor stories based on historical fact, as this is. The human spirit is unstoppable in some, and those are the people we read about. Most of us are fairly certain we are not unstoppable. Simply surviving both Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and the Soviet Gulag at Vorkuta would be rare enough to be considered a miracle. Cilka managed to do it - with warmth and class. I was completely wrapped up in her story from beginning to end. She was a remarkable woman, and her journey is a story well told.

Heather Morris shares with us in her afterward research notes and interview stories. The parts of this journey that touch your heart are based on the reality of Cilka's life. That feels good. She was a stalwart survivalist of the best kind. I can't wait to read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and anything else Heather Morris has written.

I was interested in this book because the Tattooist of Auschwitz has been on my list of must reads for some time now. I haven’t had the time to get to it yet, but when this came up from the same author, I had to give it a go. The story does not disappoint. It is a roller coaster of emotional extremes as we ride along on this journey with Cilka Klein.
Cilka Klein is a Jewish teenager during WW11. Without anywhere to turn, her family is interred at Aushwitz-Berkinau. Cilka does whatever she needs to survive, including sleeping with high ranking German officers in return for a certain level of protection. When the death camps are freed by the Russians in 1945, Cilka assumes she will be freed at some point. Reality comes crashing down when Cilka is sentenced to 15 years in a labor camp for sleeping with the enemy. Forced to live in the freezing huts Cilka perseveres. Cilka spends 10 years in the camp. She makes new friends, old and new enemies, finds love and through it all continues to be surrounded by the ugliest human nature has to offer. Through it all Cilka carries the shame of her years in Aushwitz and the things she needed to do to survive the three years she spent there. The story is all the more heartbreaking and inspiring knowing that Cilka was a real person, who’s family went through unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Nazis. Strongly recommended for fans of the genre and for fans of this authors works. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced galley.

This book will stay with me for a very long time. A difficult story to read, but definitely one that needs to be told and never forgotten. Cilka's harrowing ordeal of rape and imprisonment, first at the hands of the Nazi's and then at the hands of the Russian is horrible to imagine. That she managed to survive and thrive after all those years of living in terror and fear was a testament to her strength and courage.

Thanks to this author for making us remember what so many brave souls went through during a very difficult time in history.

This book is a sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Cilka managed to survive Aushwitz by allowing powerful men to take advantage of her. Accordingly. after the war, she is branded a collaborator and sent to to a Siberian gulag. There Cilka somehow manages not only to survive and thrive herself but at every possible opportunity she is always helping others as well. This is a very inspirational story about a woman who is always thinking about and taking care of others before herself even after the terrible things she has been through and continues to go through. Even though Cillka feels like she has no hope, she still manages to spread hope to those around her. Cilka's journey is a deeply touching one, and you will definitely want to go along for the ride.

This is the sequel to The Tattoist of Auschwitz which changed my world and many others. It was beautifully written and touching as was the first book. I am a JWOC and maybe a bit biased but historical novels in this period always make me feel seen. Like all is not lost.

This book is the story of Cilka and all that she was and all that she survived. It is based upon the true story of Cecilia Klein. While the author does take liberty with how she thinks she thought and felt as a fictional novel it is deeply emotional and one worth reading.