Just finished this beautiful tale of a tragic part of the worlds history. Hearing of the true heroes who survived what none of us could even imagine, will change how you look at the small issues we have today. Your heart will break for her. You will be in awe of how she does it. It, being surviving. The strength shown in each other will be what makes you pull for all these characters. It will leave you feeling as if they are your friends that you want to help. Friends you want to see one day in a place hopefully so very different from current circumstances. I loved the Tattooist of Auschwitz and couldn’t wait to hear what Lale said about his friend Cilka. Now I know. Thank you Heather Morris for this very important story.

Having borrowed "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" from the library I was looking forward to reading Heather Morris' new book. The book is written as a stand-a-lone and it goes fully in describing Cilka who was introduced in the first book as part of a group of friends that supported each other in order to survive.
Cilka survived Auschwits-Birkenau for 3 years only to be branded by the Russians as a collaborator and spy. Her sentence is 15 years in Siberia.
It's hard to image that somebody could survive this situation of imprisonment under extreme condition for all those years and still been able to make a go at a normal life afterwards.
This book was a bit of an education for me because I realized how little I knew about the conditions of the prisons and treatment of prisoners in Siberia.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Cilka’s Journey in exchange for an honest review. Heather Morris’ sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz does not disappoint. The second book transports the reader to a Soviet gulag, where Cilka is imprisoned as a result of her “involvement” with the Nazis. Without giving too much away, Cilka survives the gulag, and somehow finds love and hope amid this Arctic desert.

Cilka’s story is an incredible one to be sure, but I did not find it as compelling and riveting as Morris’ first book. Lale and Gita captured my heart, and what made their story so compelling was the constant threat and stench of death around them. I found Cilka’s Journey lacked this edge. Yes, it’s a miracle she somehow survived ten years in this hell and she was a brave woman, but I don’t think her “voice” is heard in this story, not like Lale’s in The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

If you read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you must read Cilka’s Journey! The story focuses on Cilka while intertwining characters and scenes from the Tattooist book. Morris explains how she developed her characters and plot based on actual events and interviews at the end of the book. I highly recommend!

This second novel from Heather Morris is a follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz and while Cilka was introduced in the first book you need not have read it first to be totally consumed by her story.

Cilka's Journey is a magnificent portrayal of strength, courage and humility in some of the horrifying times this world has seen. Cilka is based on a real person who survived Aushwitz-Birkenau and then was imprisoned in the Russian Gulag system for conspiring with the enemy.
I won't say too much about the book because really you have to read it to FEEL Cilka's Journey. The pain, suffering and eventually the love that comes to her even though she doesn't think she deserves it is a true testimony to the human condition. I can't say enough good things about this book and even though it will tear at your heart it is a must read if you like historical books. The section that REALLY brings brought this home for me though was the chapter titled Vorkuta-the White Hell, it's an afterword by Owen Matthews. He provides in-depth research into the Gulags in The USSR under Stalin's rule. It is unbelievable what we are capable of doing to each other in times of war and oppression.

Thanks to St. Martins Press, Heather Morris and NetGalley for this advanced copy of Cilka’s Journey for which I have offered my unbiased review.
#CilkasJourney, #NetGalley

I loved this book! WWII historical fiction always seems to be the era that I'm drawn to, so it's nice to see a different perspective on that. I loved reading about Cilka and her tenacity, but mostly I enjoyed the way this was presented. Since The Tattooist of Auschwitz focused more on the concentration camp, I was happy to see that this focused more on after that period. Although it still wasn't a good time in her life, seeing how Cilka handled what was thrown at her was inspiring. At times I felt that things were oversimplified or glossed over, but I know if those had been explored fully the book would easily be 1000 pages.

Cecilia “Cilka” Klein was sixteen years old when the Nazis sent her to Auschwitz with her sister. Her good looks saved her life, for she became a sexual slave to two senior officers in the camp. In return, Cilka was assigned to oversee the “death block”. Treading a morally compromised line in a world gone mad, Cilka survived three years until the Soviets liberated the camp in 1945. Little did she know that her ordeal was far from over. For collaborating and sleeping with the enemy, the Soviets condemned her to serve fifteen years of forced labor in a Siberian gulag. Once again, her looks would win her “protection”, but it was her undying will to survive that earned her a better place in that community.

The story of Cilka apparently began in the runaway hit The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which I didn’t read. I don’t know if that affected my perception of this book but it is possible that that was the case. I found Cilka’s Journey very readable, page-turning even, but that element, combined with a third person narration, did not suit the mood, atmosphere, and character development of this story.

I never empathized with Cilka, but it was a moral judgement on my part. I didn’t find her likable enough, despite her efforts to erase the past that was thrown into her, because she chose to survive by witnessing death in a world where millions didn’t have the choice to either live or die. Despite the savagery of her situation—in both camps—, she was in a better place than all the other millions who had no choice at all. I celebrate her will to survive, however, and use her “improved” circumstances for the betterment of others. War can trample morality. The Nazis excelled and exploited that fact to their advantage. Ultimately, it’ll be up to history to restore Cilka’s place among the suffering but I don’t think this book accomplished that end.

Disclaimer: I received from the publisher a free e-book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, this book answers the question “what happened to Cilka?” All we’re told, as Lale remembers it, is that she was tried for collaborating with the Nazis. The story continues here, and as it progressed I hoped for a positive outcome for Cilka the friends she makes in prison. She is ashamed of her past but eventually realizes that she was a victim and did whatever she could to survive. Another great novel by Heather Morris. 4/5 stars.

Cilka’s Journey is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Cilka Klein, one of the real people in Heather Morris’ bestselling book The Tattooist of Auschwitz. If you haven’t read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, this one can certainly be read as a standalone.

In 1942, when Cilka was just 16, she was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp along with her sister. Her beauty draws attention from the highest of Nazi commanders, and she’s subjected to sexual abuse and rape for the three years she’s in the concentration camp just to stay alive all while watching friends and family die and pass through the gas chambers around her. Yet, what choice does she have, a child, if she hopes to survive such an inhumane and barbaric place?

After Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by the Russians, Cilka imagines her freedom as she watches the other women prisoners walk out the gate. Yet, the Russians charge her with being a collaborator for “sleeping” with the enemy and being a spy, so she’s sentenced to 15 years to the Vorkuta prison camp in Siberia near the Arctic Circle.

I can’t imagine going from the horrors of the Nazi’s concentration camps to the Russian gulag, but Morris makes you imagine just that as the story switches back in forth from Cilka’s time in present day Siberia to memories of the horrors of Birkenau. It was emotionally harrowing to read about the two different camps and how each had their own different types of torture. The inhumanities and the horrors done by the Nazis and Stalin, and the experiences of those who endured it, like Cilka, make this novel a worthwhile and most important read because we must not forget the past or become immune to this type of barbarity.

Cilka’s story is one of heartbreak, despair, loss, and unspeakable horror. Yet it’s also one of a remarkable woman who has more courage than I could ever imagine to endure so much evil and abuses. Her will to survive and help others is remarkable, and I found her story to be hopeful, triumphant, and inspiring. I definitely recommend this!

The factual information at the end of the novel about the Vorkuta gulag and the information Morris included that highlighted what was factual about Cilka and what wasn’t, I thought, was excellent additions to the novel. As she made clear in the book, the novel is fiction, based on factual events and a real-life person.

**Thank you Netgalley and Jordan Hanley at St.Martin’s Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.**

“COULD it really be possible that freedom exists? Could this nightmare be over?”
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So starts the story of Cilka (Cecilia Klein) a Czechoslovakian prisoner during world world 2 Nazi Germany. Those familiar with the Tatooist if Auschwitz will remember Cilka from the book as the woman who was in the offices and served as the woman for one of the head officers. The story while sad gives a sharp raw look into what we will do to survive. This was definitely a story of courage a bravery. Her positivity after the war is noble due to the tragedies she’s endured.

While I truly loved the story and reading the account,keeping in mind some may have been added for the book. I did have a hard time keeping interest in the way the story was told. With the previous book I was hooked with Lales story of love and desire to help others. I felt this account was just that. A telling of the story without much else. I would recommend the read due to the history but not sure I’d say its a must read.

I will leave a review of this Oct 1, 2019 on Amazon or B & N

I received the ARC of Cilka's Journey from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my fair and honest review.

Oh my what a truly heartbreaking book, this is the second book in the series and my first book by Heather Morris. Many met Cilka Klein in the first book the Tattoist of Auschwitz, but I wasn't one of those people. There she became the mistress of one of Commander's at the camp, which helped to keep her alive if you could call that life alive. She did what she felt was what she needed to do, but others didnt see things in quite the same way. Most considered that she was colluding with the enemy, and for that action she would face more hardship after her release. Cilka was sentenced to a 15 year sentence is Siberea where once again she endured years of heartache, but this lady was a survivor. She found a way to help people and in her mind a way to redeem herself. This book does a wonderful job of opening our eyes to what people endured during this time frame, I only wish more people followed history and would learn from the mistakes of the past. I didn't find it hard to follow the storyline having not read the first book, this book moved back and forward in a way that helped the reader to understand what had happened in the past. I would definitely recommend this book to others that enjoy reading about this time in history.

Cilka entered Auschwitz-Birkenau as a 16 year old girl, she endured three years there, doing whatever she needed to survive. Upon leaving the camp, she was sent to a Siberian work camp where she continued to struggle to get by. This story is one of the friendships she made, her will to survive, and so much resilience. I’ve read so many Holocaust books and they never get easier. I really enjoyed learning about Cilka and her experience in a work camp. While I’ve read a lot about the Holocaust and concentration camps, I have read very little about hard labor camps. These stories are equally hard to read, but they also show us how hard people had to fight to survive, the horrible indignities that they faced, and how strong these survivors really are. Great read, historically accurate, interesting subject matter, great character development.

Wonderfully moving story. Cilka was such a brave woman, and I admire her strength and determination to survive. Heather Morris definitely did her research, and made Cilka's story come alive.

I would rate this book a solid 5 stars! Magnificent! But ...that being said, I did find this an incredibly hard book to read. My heart broke at the treatment Cilka had to endure from both the Nazi and, later ...the Soviets. The reason for which she was detained just boggled my mind! This was the first I have read about a Soviet gulag and the atrocities that happen within its borders. How Cilka was able to go from Auschwitz to Vorkuta and survive its own brand of horrors left me dumbfounded!

I was profoundly moved from reading the Tattooist of Auschwitz, so I knew I would be in for a treat reading Chilka's Journey. I was not disappointed! I have to commend Ms. Morris for a wonderful telling of this story …she did a beautiful job. I would definitely be looking for more of her work in the future!

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of this novel.

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris follows a young woman who literally goes from one hellish experience directly to another. In brief, Cilka, a young Jewish woman, survived the horrors of Auschwitz only to find herself in the Soviet Gulag prison camps in Siberia. However, she is a survivor and endures all of the mistreatment that is endemic to both camps. As the camps were horrific, hard places, the story is hard. Morris does not sugarcoat these experiences. The language is at times coarse and the book does not hide the frequent instances of rape the women of the hut endure nightly. These items are necessary in order for the reader to fully grip how difficult Cilka's life was.

Cilka's Story is the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I have not yet read the earlier book (although I certainly intend to!) but found I was easily able to jump into the story. Author Heather Morris provides enough background for those who are meeting Cilka for the first time as well as sufficient connections to the earlier book to tie them together. An amazing aspect of this book is that it is based on a true story. Morris provides information on the research she did concerning the real-life Cilka and a brief synopsis of her life after the book. Knowing that this wasn't just fiction but real makes this story even more memorable. Readers who enjoy World War II fiction or other historical fiction will enjoy this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Cilka's Journey via NetGalley.. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.

Wow. This book was much harder to read than the Tattooist of Auschwitz. Lale wasn't wrong when he said Cilka was the bravest person he's ever met.

After Cilka's imprisonment at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp (where she does what she needs to survive), and the camp is freed, Cilka is imprisoned for collaboration with the Nazis and is sent to another camp where she faces similar horrors as she did in Auschwitz.

Cilka's whole journey and story is incredibly moving. My initial thoughts after finishing the book was that the love story between Cilka and a man was a bit lacking, then thought that really, the true love story in this book is between Cilka and her friends. The selfless acts that Cilka does for her friends and is literally unbelievable. Cilka is a true heroine and deserves to be celebrated; and light needs to be shone on the horrors of the post-liberation camps (as this was something I wasn't really familiar with before reading the book).

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

Well, I have a new literary heroine to worship. It’s possible that this book was even harder to read then The Tattooist of Auschwitz.. mainly because Cilka left one hell and became prisoner of another.

After the war is over, Cilka is seemingly rescued by the Russian Army. Unfortunately for her, due to her role within Auschwitz and her skills with languages, she is deemed a spy and sent to a gulag in Siberia. What follows is another harrowing journey for Cilka trying to do what she does best. Survive.

This book dove so deep into Cilkas pain that I had a very hard time getting through it. While she was at Auschwitz for years (considered a miracle in itself for surviving) we now see her in another horrible place and instead of her as a secondary character this story is all about her. We go back and forth through the timelines of Cilkas life; from before she went to Auschwitz, to when she was there, and finally to present day at the gulag.

There was a little more romance to cling to in the Tattooist of Auschwitz but here Heather Morris focuses on Cilkas friendships. The bond Cilka has with some of the woman she meets at the camp in a place like Vorkuta Gulag is nothing short of amazing. It’s a different kind of hope her story brings us and I loved it.

Morris at the end of the book tells us this story was made more of fiction then her previous novel, but she also tells us exactly what facts she did find regarding Cilka.

All in all it’s hard to read about the injustices and horrors Cilka faced, but it’s also important for us to bear witness none the less. She had to show real resiliency and bravery in order to survive and that is why this book is amazing.

I got an ARC of this book.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book due to some of the controversies that have come up since it was published. When I heard there was going to be a sequel it called to me like a siren. I knew I was going to regret it, but I couldn't stop myself. I needed to see what would happen and see if maybe my issues would be addressed. 

Well, my issues were addressed, but in this way that said that my issues did not matter at all. The further I read into this book, the more it felt like a cash cow situation. There are flashbacks to the other story she told. Yet most of the flashbacks just felt like they were forced into the story to explain what was currently happening so real writing skill wasn't required. I do have to admit that Morris has improved since the last book. This book actually read like a book. There were clear jumps in time. It was just a better book technically over all. Everything else is worse. 

I really can't think of anything nice to say about this book. By the end I was reading it just to see how much worse everything could get. This story at least felt more believable, but that is also because I know a lot less about the prison camps of Russia. So she could have done absolutely no research and it still would have felt more believable than her first book. I am concerned, seeing how the first book went, that this book is also filled with things that are drastically untrue and fly in the face of thousands of other accounts of what happened, but this time I have no proof so I am going to just enjoy it as the story instead of being any form of reality. Not having to go "wait a second" every few pages, because of history issues was nice. The story flowed better, but it still wasn't what I would call an enjoyable read. There was no character development. There were very few feelings. It was just "Cilka did this" and "this happened to Cilka". I wanted it to be more fleshed out. Considering Morris admits some of the characters are 100% made up, I was hoping for more fleshed out characters. There were no fully fleshed out characters. Every character was clearly good or bad. Everyone was run by one character trait. 

The love plot is so basic and dull. They fall in love from a distance. Cilka is in love before she even meets him. There is no reason why the relationship would have been one to root for. The only thing I can see bonding them together is trauma. This probably would have been addressed with more fleshed out characters. If the characters felt real, then maybe emotions would have been possible. 

At one point, while I was reading I got this feeling that Morris thought, "How can I make the Holocaust sadder? More rape on page!" and so this book was created.

"She was the bravest person I ever met." —Lale Sokolov on Cilka Klein, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I agree 100% with Lale. Cilka's Journey isn't easy to read because of all the evil and horrific acts of violence and torture. I can't read a lot of books that are based on true stories set in the war because it just emotionally drains me completely. However, I think it is very important to read the stories of these brave and resilient people who have survived or have tried to. I have read The Tattooist of Auschwitz and enjoyed it, but I loved Cilka's Journey. Cilka was brave and strong, but she had her moments that some things were just too much for her. Her past that came to haunt her in her dreams, and she also suffered from survivor guilt. In this book she did everything in her power to help the people she cared for and also for complete strangers. I was in complete awe of her and fell in love with her character.

The title of this book is perfect. This book is about Cilka and her journey to freedom and forgiving herself for everything that happened. There was so much more I would've loved to know about her, so I am sad that she wasn't alive to tell the story herself. However, Heather Morris did an incredible job in bringing Cilka's story to life and I am very happy that she decided to write it. This book was heartbreaking and I just couldn't contain my tears. It also had very beautiful moments that brought a smile to my face, and I am happy that Cilka created her own family that loved her back. These type of stories need to be continued to be written down and passed along, because we should never forget what happened and do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't ever happen again. I am a fan of Heather Morris' writing and beautiful story-telling abilities, and I very much look forward to what she will write next.

Thanks #netgalley #stmartinspress for the free e copy of #cilkasjourney by Heather Morris in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Cilka’s Journey is a companion read (or spin-off) of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and can be read as a stand-alone. Cilka was sent to Auschwitz when she was sixteen years old and because of her beauty, she was singled out to sleep with the Commandant. This assured her survival, but when she was liberated from Auschwitz, the Russians charged her with sleeping with the enemy and collaborating with them. Cilka tried explaining that she was forced into that impossible situation at sixteen and she certainly didn’t collaborate with them. Nevertheless, she was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor and sent to Siberia. Above all else, Cilka is a survivor and at the camp, she gains the attention of a female doctor who takes Cilka under her wing and teaches her nursing skills. Even though conditions are brutal, Cilka finds a way to survive and even discovers that there is room in her damaged and broken heart for love.

If you read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you will recognize certain characters as Cilka remembers (in flashbacks) her experiences and friendships with Lale and others while detained at Auschwitz. However, if you haven’t read Tattooist, Cilka’s Journey can be read as a stand-alone. Cilka’s beauty most likely saves her life, but it also puts her in a position to be noticed and used by powerful men. She survives continuous sexual abuse by shutting herself off from feeling anything (through disassociation) and allowing her mind to go into a blank and dark space. Cilka has a strong sense that no matter how difficult the circumstances, she will eventually survive. This doesn’t minimize the fact that she faces occasional periods of hopelessness and discouragement. She has the strength, determination, and grit to pull herself through again and again and again. At one point she acknowledges that she is “exhausted by hope.” During the years she is used sexually by a powerful man, she meets a woman doctor whom she admires and trusts. This doctor helps Cilka gain some nursing skills and also offers Cilka hope and encouragement that her life will not always be like this. I loved the doctor and the risks she took to make a difference in Cilka’s life. I loved the trust that developed and the respectful way in which the doctor offered support to Cilka. It was the most beautiful and touching part of the story. Can you imagine surviving Auschwitz for years and then at your liberation facing another trial and further imprisonment? For a young girl to survive this, absolutely wrecked me.

I read this engaging, pageturner in two days. For me, it was unputdownable. I have also read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and it’s my opinion that the writing in Cilka’s Journey is stronger. The writing is also informative as I was unaware that some prisoners liberated from Auschwitz faced trials and additional punishment. Heather Morris did not interview Cilka the way she did Lale for the Tattooist of Auschwitz, but she did gather some first-hand accounts of Cilka from Lale and from a few neighbors and friends. The remainder of Cilka’s story is imagined from historical accounts of others in similar circumstances.

As in most WW11 histfic, there are powerful themes of hope, determination, grit, and survival. Other beautiful themes include finding love amidst the brutal conditions and building caring friendships in dangerous circumstances.

I wholeheartedly recommend Cilka’s Journey for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, for readers who appreciate the themes found in WW11 histfic, for those who look for stories about inspirational and strong women, and for book clubs because of the various discussion topics.