If you love historical fiction that takes a close look at the suffering and tragedies of WWII, this is the book for you. Monica Hasse did an amazing job bringing this harrowing historical period to life, pulling at your heartstring and inviting you to further explore the details of these heart-breaking events on your own.

Essentially, this is a story of a girl desperately trying to locate her brother after the Holocaust. Zofia and her younger brother, Abek, were both sent right, which was away from the gas chambers. The rest of her family was sent to the left, towards Auschwitz-Birkenau, were they lost their lives. The story is set during the post-war (reconstruction) period, and really focuses on the aftermath of the War. It's a harrowing and deeply affecting tale, that also shows the incredible resilience and perseverance of those affected by the War. I highly recommend this read.

Heartwrenching, haunting, and hopeful!

They Went Left is a poignant, compelling tale that sweeps you away to post-war Germany and into the life of Zofia Lederman, a young Jewish girl who after being liberated from a Nazi concentration camp and with a mind traumatized by cruelty and violence travels from her home town in Poland to the Foehrenwald Displaced Persons Camp to search for the one family member who may not be lost forever and that she swore to protect, her younger brother, Abek.

The war may be over, but for many people, the war still haunts them. Zofia Lederman's body has begun healing. She worries that her mind will never heal. She feels that her life is shattered and doesn't feel she is qualified to pick up the pieces. Her brother is missing. She has no idea where to begin finding him. Journeying out on her own to find him, she soon discovers that just because the war is over doesn't mean that the hate and discrimination is. She also discovers that she is not the only one suffering and looking for loved ones.
I want to start by saying that this is not a book to pick up if you're looking for a light-hearted and fluffy read. It's very intense. It's deep. It's a book that has the power to stick with you and truly makes you think of how things were for Jews back then. Most people think that just because the war was over that everybody got a happily ever after. That's very far from the truth. This book demonstrates that. It's dramatic. It's raw. It's true. It's captivating and well worth the read.
I read somewhere a criticism that Zofia was a very unreliable narrator. I disagree with this statement for the grounds that it's written from her point of view. It wouldn't be authentic if you weren't following the story as if you were her. I do want to say that I'd of liked to see another point of view here. Or maybe flashbacks splashed in for context. I really enjoyed hearing Zofia's story. Don't get me wrong. I just wish that some things were from another perspective. Other than that, I can't think of anything I disliked about this book.
This book is narrated by Caitlin Davies. She did a beautiful job. I'm curious to know how many times she had to set it aside because the emotions were so overwhelming. She really stepped into Zofia's role. She became Zofia so much. It made the story even more intense and emotional than it already was. I feel like it connected me to the story. Well more so than I already was.
I really enjoyed this story so much. It really hit me in the feels so much. I know that this will be a book that sticks with me for a long time. I'll most likely end up reading it a few more times as well. This book is very deep and thought-provoking. It inspires you to truly think and experience how life was like for those who survived. It also shows that there will always be tragedy and fortune. Sometimes they interconnect so much that it's hard to fully see what's what. I whole-heartedly recommend this novel.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I knew I had to read this book the minute I finished that synopsis. And can you blame me? Okay, first, I am absolute trash for any book that takes place during World War II, because apparently I hate myself and love watching my feels wither and crumble until I’m a mere husk of a person. But second … this takes place after the war, which is such a novel idea.

They Went Left is a poignant, heartwrenching exploration into how one carries on living when everything has been taken from them. It’ll unapologetically destroy your feels on one page, and give you something to hope for on the next.

This one’s a hard book to review, for several reasons. Since the narrator is an unreliable one, this story has to be experienced, because there are so many ways to potentially step in spoilers here. It’s also not a light book by any means, but it is what I would call uplifting, despite everything.

My Thoughts:

- Rather than focusing on the concentration camps, like so much historical fiction set during World War II, Hesse explores the aftermath of the war. And wow have I wanted this for a long time and felt like it was so overdue. Hesse doesn’t shy away from the hard-hitting emotions that still crop up: the obvious PTSD, the nightmares, the little remnants of life in a concentration camp that are hard to shake. I loved everything about this approach, because picking up the pieces in the aftermath is still hard. It’s not like flipping a switch, and I think it’s easy to forget that. There were so many poignant scenes where Zofia had a flashback to a camp. More than just the emotions, though, the reality for the survivors is bleak, a lot of times. This was such a stark, much needed reminder of the effects of wars and atrocities and the way they perpetuate long after they officially “end.”

- Zofia is a brilliant example of an unintentionally unreliable narrator, as she struggles with memory gaps and PTSD. She doesn’t mean to be an unreliable narrator, but her brain refuses to cooperate and sometimes withholds information and sometimes gets caught in an information loop. Zofia’s arc is a wonderful one, as she goes from someone with a tenuous grasp on reality to a woman who would do anything to find her brother, whatever it takes. Really, she’s growing back into it, back into herself, and it was such a beautiful transformation. She’s relearning what it means to be Zofia, and it was so powerful to read.

- At the heart of this book is a really touching tale of sibling bonds, and gosh how I love this trope. Especially given the dark, grim backdrop of World War II and concentration camps, it means that much more to have this sort of sibling bond. The sort that transcends pretty much everything else. Zofia promised Abek she would find him. The only problem is she doesn’t remember the last time she saw him, and she doesn’t know where to look, but she knows that she won’t be able to move forward with life until she’s reunited with her brother. The story of these siblings both broke my heart and gave me hope, and that’s pretty much the theme of this whole dang book.

- There’s little shadows of a romance in this that made my heart absolutely melt … and then callously yanked it out and stomped all over it. First, it’s amazing that they can find romance and live and love again so soon after everything, and it’s not without reservations. But as one woman says (paraphrasing, of course), you have to take the joy that’s in front of you. It’s very much a “carpe diem” sort of mantra, which allowed for some really sweet moments in between everything else. I won’t say too much about the romance, but I do appreciate how it was handled. There’s often a desire to view romance through rose glasses, and this wasn’t it. This was tentative and unsure, paying homage to the scars (mental, physical, and emotional) that all the characters went through. It’s fragile, and it’s beautiful, and it’s for sure not always easy, which made me appreciate it more.

- Despite the dark cloud overhanging the book, there’s surprising levity and joy filling the pages. The sort that sneaks you up and catches you completely off-guard with its absurdity, because how can people possibly go through so much and still come out the other end and laugh? Yet, they do. At their core, people want to be happy, and what this book does especially well is not only remind us of that, but show how these characters reclaim little bits of joy in quotidien things. For many of them, it’s just finding camaraderie among people who understand and who went through the same sorts of things. This story isn’t inherently funny, but it is about learning to laugh again, even if it felt like you never would again.

This book was absolutely incredible. From the first chapter, I was hooked. I felt like I was part of Zofia’s search for her brother from the beginning.

As someone who’s own family history mimics parts of Zofia’s, I was totally enthralled. It was eye opening to learn how difficult and complicated it could be for family to have been reunited after the war.

This book was moving, heartbreaking, and in the end full of hope and I highly recommend it.

When Zofia is released from a hospital, where she was recovering from her traumatic experience in a concentration camp, she returns to her home to look for her younger brother. However, she quickly discovers that her brother, Abek, is not at their home and has not returned since the war. She then goes on a journey across the country to follow hints of where her brother could have ended up.

This was a different kind of book about WWII because it takes place during the weeks following the war. Most books about that time period talk about events during the war, but they usually end when the war ends. This story shows the trauma that everyone felt following the war. Even though the war was over, people like Zofia couldn’t just return to their homes and their regular lives because there wasn’t anything left there for them.

This story was so suspenseful. There were ups and downs, when Zofia would find a clue to where her brother could be, and when she figured out that he wasn’t there. There were also gaps in Zofia’s memory, which made her unreliable at times. There were some parts of her past that she couldn’t remember, such as the last time she saw her brother. This appeared to be a form of PTSD where she had blocked out painful moments, like saying goodbye to her family. This increased the tension, because she couldn’t give a reliable account of her history.

This was an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Thank you Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One day in Sosnowiec, with the war still in place, an announcement was made for families to report to the soccer stadium for a new identification system. But that was a lie. They weren't given new ids; they were brought to concentration camps to either get killed or work like a slave. Zofia and her brother, Abek, were sorted to the right. But the rest of their family, they went left -- they were killed right then and there.

Now that the war is over, Zofia is looking earnestly for her brother. Before they got separated, she promised him that they will meet again and complete their alphabet -- A to Z, Abek to Zofia. But when she comes back to Sosnowiec with the help of a Russian soldier, Abek is not there, contrary to what they have agreed on. She then receives some news that she might find him in a resettlement camp in Germany. That same night, she steals money from the same soldier who helped her and hops on a train from Poland to Germany, with high hopes of finding Abek and finally bringing him home.

I was disappointed in this book. I wasn't able to finish reading it so I switched to an audio version. I was thinking, maybe if I shake things up, I might appreciate it more. Still, that was not enough for me. The story is okay; it was Zofia's character that irritated me. She's just too much -- too naive, too stubborn, too hopeful. I've read several books before with young female leads and they have just the right amount of everything, not like this. I was trying to admire her fighting spirit, but it was overflowing that I found it to be some kind of toxic positivity. The book was not terrible though; it was just not for me.

There are so many books that chronicle the heartbreaking and absolutely gut wrenching conditions of humans and what they did that made them into monsters; but I have rarely found any book that chronicles the journey AFTER the war ends (if you have any such recommendations, please do not hesitate to comment/message/email me about it!).

Zofia Lederman is a young girl recently liberated from the concentration camps in Germany when the WWII ended - and the only thing that's on her mind is to find her younger brother, Abek Lederman.

Zofia and Abek were separated when Abek was 12 years old, when theirs and other Jews were being separated by the Nazis to be sent to different camps. It was the promise that she made to her brother that keeps Zofia going, during and then after the war ends!

With the help of a Russian Soldier, Dima; who fancies himself as her protector, she travels back to their family home, where she expects her brother to be waiting for her. And is absolutely heartbroken when that hope shatters when she finds her family apartment desolate and sans her brother!

It's easy to see that the author has actually done her research well - not just into the places and timeline; but also on the psyche of the humans and the condition of the country after their whole world is turned upside down - and this, while absolutely commendable does tend to work into the narration of the plot; more than it was needed.

Zofia, with her mental issues, is a protagonist whose version of the past and the present, in fact cannot be trusted; but her emotional affect just practically leaps out of the pages! And it is THAT reason why, if you are a fan of this genre; then you definitely NEED to pick up this book!

It used to be that I sought out gut-wrenching narratives about WWII, fervently combed through shelves at bookstores or libraries for the trendy covers and titles that meant I'd find a specific type of loss within. It started with the horrors depicted in Night by Eli Wiesel, and continued with fictional 'imaginings' like Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and most recently, The Huntress by Kate Quinn. Every single one left me gutted, so much so that I needed a break, I needed to move on to happier occurrences. I decided that They Went Left would be my cautious return to the sub-genre; I would let it quietly guide me back into a space that had previously annihilated my heart. What a fool I was. To think that stories like this could be anything but loud, and all-consuming, and unimaginably important. They Went Left was all of those things, it was all of those things written in one of the most absolutely beautiful ways that I have EVER seen it written.

It begins with a family torn apart. Zofia recalls the moment she loses her family to Nazi control in her small Polish town. Her parents, aunt and grandmother are sent to their deaths, and she's separated from her brother as they continue, alive, on to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. Now it's 1945, Zofia's camp has been liberated by the allies, and there's nothing else she wants more than to be reunited with her brother. Unlike hundreds of others searching for loved ones, Zofia refuses to stay put and write letters to various organizations and camps, and instead follows a blind lead to Germany. Propelled by faulty memories and a fierce love, her search leads to an unlikely place, and some unexpected truths.

Every single word in this book held purpose. Every moment was one torn straight from the desperate and irreparably damaged hearts of real-life survivors, from the very souls of the those who found luck on their side but also permanent pain as it's consequence. Hesse's characters were, without a doubt, some of the most real and well-depicted characters I've ever read. Not just in a WWII narrative, but ever. She touched on the harsh realities of the camps, but They Went Left focused mainly on the few months following liberation, and what it meant to search for normalcy in the midst of a still-lingering chaos. Zofia's character never felt forced, or sensationalized. Her thoughts, her feelings, her actions, it was raw and honest to the point of feeling unbearable, to where I literally felt transported to her place of urgency, her desperation. Even the conclusion, with all of the possible ways for it to feel gimmicky, and contrived, was executed with a hand that sought only to shed light on very likely realities. It was done with grace and with care.

I don't think I'll stop thinking about this book for a very long time, and I'll be hard-pressed to find anything that comes close to it.

Eighteen-year old Zofia Lederman has been liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp and has finally recovered enough to leave the hospital. Zofia has been confused, she is forgetting things and has false memories. Zofia desperately wants to find who she believes is the last living member of her family, her younger brother Abek. Zofia promised Abek that she would find him after everything and that is exactly what she plans to do. Upon returning to her home, Zofia finds it empty, looted with no sign of Abek. Zofia learns that many people from concentration camps went to displaced persons camps, so Zofia makes her way to the camp her brother would most likely be in, Foehrenwald. In Foehrenwald, Zofia meets many others just like her, confused and looking for lost family members. Zofia connects with Josef, who seems as damaged as her and with a secret. As Zofia gets closer to finding Abek, her memories of the last time she saw him form.

They Went Left is a poignant and heartfelt look at what happened to those who were liberated after World War II. Often when I read books about World War II, the end of the book corresponds to the end of the War. However, that was not the end of the hardship and suffering for anybody involved. Zofia's story highlights the unique struggles that someone liberated from a concentration camp went through: displacement, searching for loved ones who may or may not be alive, not knowing who to trust including yourself and continued hatred. The writing deftly conveys the dual feelings of hopefulness and sadness, uncertainty and confidence, bravery and fearfulness that people had in this time. Through Zofia, Josef, Abek and the many people in Foehrenwald, the variety of trials and triumphs of the time are highlighted. The story is told entirely through Zofia's point of view and is absolutely absorbing and fascinating to see her slowly transition from confused but committed to finding her brother to more sure of herself and accepting of what has happened. I loved the device of the family alphabet that Zofia created in order to help her brother remember. It served as a great way to get to know Zofia's family before the War. Overall, They Went Left is a genuine and deeply affecting story of the world people faced after World War II.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

This book is amazing. Incredible. Fantastic. Astounding. Heartbreaking, but still remarkable. Really. They Went Left, by Monica Hesse is one of the best books that I have ever read.

I have read a lot of books about world war two, and the holocaust, and they all take place during the war. Every single one. They Went Left shows that while the war officially ended in September 2, 1945, the horrors did not go away. Jews that had survived the camps returned to find their homes taken over, or destroyed, and returned to find themselves alone, the rest of their family killed, or that they’d been separated.

The entire premise for this book was enough to pull me in, and once I’d started the book, I couldn’t stop reading until I’d finished. The plot was so interesting, and complicated, and I could never have imagined how the story would end, and definitely not how it would get to the ending. It wasn’t a book where less than halfway through I’m like; oh, I know whats going to happen, then at the end, I’m like ‘called it’.

This book was more of a ‘what in the world just happened there, and how could the author do this to me and make me suffer such pain on the way to the ending’. In a good way, of course.

The dialogue, the description, the structure in this book, is, incredibly done. When I was reading the book, I felt like I was literally there with the characters, and that I knew them, and that I was witnessing the events in person.

Reading a book where the writing is that good is an incredible experience, and just overall fantastic. I felt as if I was was really experiencing and feeling all of Zofia’s adventures, hopes, and dreams as if they were my own.

Abek to Zofia, A to Z, and every person in between, amazing. Zofia especially was an incredible character to read about. Zofia is the narrator throughout this book, and is somewhat unreliable. A survivor of unimaginable horrors, all she wants to do is find her brother, and it is really interesting to see how her character changes and develops throughout the book, while her main goal stays the same.

Have you ever read a book where you by the end feel really connected to the main character? Or three of them? In They Went Left, you are introduced to so many new characters, and they are marvelously detailed and described.

Overall, I loved this book. I am so happy that I was able to read an advance reader copy, because it is an amazing work of historical fiction, and I definitely recommend it.

It’s definitely not a light and fluffy novel, however, it is a hopeful novel, and one that is really incredible to read.

My rating: ★★★★★

Recommendable: Yes

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

My eyes are still the color of empty.

I feel like this line was where I knew that things were going to be different. Different from other WWII novels that I read, I mean. A lot of the WWII books out there take place in the midst of the war, in Europe, sometime before the war was over and things were getting bad. Honestly I feel like WWII should have its own genre because there are so. many. books. that deal with that topic, from the eyes of someone in Europe as someone affected by the war but not one of the main players in the war. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s been done. a. lot.

So imagine my surprise when I saw that this novel was more on the aftermath of the war, after Germany surrendered and Europe is trying to somehow get back to how things were. Well they will never be how things were, but try to somehow heal from all of the pain, death, and destruction that they had to endure during both wars. Yes, I say both wars because I’m pretty sure things weren’t at a copacetic level completely after WWI.

All our main character Zofia wants to do is to find her brother Abek since they were separated three years ago in Birkenau. He is the only family he would have left because everyone else was sent to the gas chambers. They made a promise to one another when they were separated, that no matter what, they would find each other again, and now that the war is considered over and Zofia is finally able to go back to her home, she’s hoping that he will have made it back home too.

“Abek to Zofia,” I told him. “A to Z,” he said back. “When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. And we will be whole, and everything will be fine. I promise I will find you.”

But a lot can happen in three years, especially during times of war. Will Zofia be able to find her brother again? Is it even possible to find one person amidst thousands of displaced people trying to reunite their families? Is he even still alive? It has been three years since she last saw him and knew of his wellbeing. Who’s to say that something didn’t happen to him in between that time?

This story was one that was filled with a character trying to figure out how she can deal with the traumas that she endured for three years alone, in a world where all she wants to do is find the one family member she has left. The reader is pulled on an emotional roller coaster in a world that not many people ever talk about in literature, and it gives a new perspective on what actually happens after the “liberation” of those that were under the control of the Nazi regime for years. It shows that someone can’t just say the war is “over” without putting things into place, and that putting things into place to make lives better than their current circumstances is not as simple as saying “you’re free to go.”

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from the publisher.**

Title They Went Left

Author Monica Hesse

Release Date April 7, 2020

Publisher Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Description from Amazon

Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else–her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja–they went left.

Zofia’s last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her–or help her rebuild her world.

Initial Thoughts

I really enjoy historical fiction so this book sounded right up my alley. Also, major points for the author’s first name – I always want to support a fellow Monica. That aside, the synopsis of this story really spoke to me. I remember reading Night by Elie Wiesel in middle school and that book has stayed with me for close to 15 years (and I don’t think the emotions it stirred are going anywhere any time soon). The Holocaust is a subject not often touched upon in YA literature and I loved that this book was going to tackle such an emotional topic.

Some Things I Liked

The chapter headers. I loved that the author literally led the reader through the entire alphabet. I also loved that it wasn’t the english alphabet (it was, but there were more letters). As Zofia remembered more of her story, I enjoyed learning my own alphabet of her life.
No sugar coating. This book had some dark topics. But, they were the reality of the time period and situation. Monica Hesse did an excellent job of describing the horrors that Zofia and family experienced without making this book too graphic or morbid. She struck a perfect balance between accurate historical representation and writing for her audience, YA readers.
The romance. Both Dima and Josef represented different aspects of romance, post-war, for Zofia and I loved the way both relationships developed.
Zofia’s European travels. Once again, I commend the fact that this was not sugar coated in the least. Zofia’s journey was hard, and honestly, awful, in many ways. But, she persevered to find Abek. I really loved her strength of character as well as the descriptions of post-war Europe.

Series Value

I would really enjoy more stories about these characters. Zofia’s journey in Canada would be a great story as well as her friends in their new home. I’d also like to see more about a certain character, no spoilers, who didn’t get a full ending (but I definitely saw why).

Final Thoughts

This book was different than anything else I had read this year. It was emotional, raw, and made me think about a time in history that I don’t reflect on often enough. It’s a must read for any fans of historical fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick – if you liked the emotional, historical fiction aspects of this book, definitely try Serena Burdick’s latest release.
Spectacle and Sensational by Jodie Lynn Zdrok – if you enjoyed the historical fiction aspects of this book but are looking for a bit of magic / fantasy, try this duology.

Zofia is finally feeling good enough to be discharged from the concentration camp, post world war 2, and visits her hometown in hopes of finding her little brother who got separated by Nazis. But after reaching there she realizes that she has pretty much lost her family, her memory and finding her brother becomes even more important.

Let's talk about the set-up. There are books about WW2 but we hardly ever see the post WW2 world. It was fascinating and harrowing but I loved it because it was detailed and very well portrayed. Zofia is a complex character. Her memories are wrapped and blurry, so she can't be trusted as a source. I don't want to give spoilers but it's definitely a lot more than what it seems at first glance. Her blurry memories hint at PTSD, though I'm not sure. When I first read it it was a 4 star read because I felt it was slow at first. But as each day passed I realized how great the narration, set-ups, the world and characters were. So I'm gonna rate it 5. It's historical fiction but has a very classic feel to it, if that makes sense. I never read historical fiction but I'm glad I read this. I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

I admit, I’m not exactly in the right mood for Holocaust fiction at this point in 2020, but I went into this book for a specific reason: I wanted something hopeful. Something about finding light at the end of a tunnel and holding onto it, despite how easier it might be to turn and walk right back in. Nothing blindingly happy. Just reaffirming.

And that’s what I got. A story set right after the end of WW2, during its first few months of tentative chaos, with people trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. It’s not a healing story, exactly, but it is a story about healing and the complications that come with such a journey. Zofia's mental state--her looping thoughts and fears, her gaps in memory, her disassociation-- are presented with such great care and lyricism. There just aren't a lot of WW2 stories out there that focus on the camp survivors after they're liberated, and I really appreciate Hesse for shining a light on the topic. Because while there's strength in surviving, I think there's even greater strength in living. In moving forward with your life, carrying all the horrors you experienced, and choosing to embrace love and laughter in spite of the pain. It's a kind of courage that deserves to be highlighted more in narratives.

"Today I am choosing to love the person in front of me. Do you understand? Because he's here, I'm here, and we're ready to not be lonely together."

I was also anticipating a good mystery, though (I mean, the blurbs and synopsis lean heavily on it) but that I didn't get at all. What little mystery there is predictable and rushed and its conclusion left me feeling underwhelmed. And "rushed" is more or less my biggest complaint about the whole thing. The story throws a handful of plot threads at you--a slice-of-life story focusing on the refugees in the displaced person camp; a romantic subplot between Zofia and Josef; a search for Zofia's brother--and while their skeletal structure is interesting, the execution needs a lot more fleshing out. More development of the characters at the camp, better exploration of the romance.

Right now it feels more like an abridged book, and while I loved the prose and the themes presented, I can't help but dream longingly for the unabridged story that never existed.

Wow, talk about complete emotional devastation! I'm so glad this was put on my radar through the Fantastic Flying Book Club blog tour because otherwise I would've missed out on a powerful and heartbreaking read that is different to most WWII historical fictions that are my usual picks. Rather than following characters during the actual Holocaust period, we learn about the aftermath of the liberation. I'm ashamed to admit that I never considered what happened after they were "free" to return home or if they even had homes to return to; I certainly didn't know that refugee camps even existed! It's clear to me that the author has really done her research and it shows in the details of this well-crafted story that packs a very strong punch to the feels. I really appreciated the author's explanation of her research process and how this book came to life.

I don't know why I thought a post-war story would be less emotionally wrecking, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I think the only regret I have in reading this book was doing so in public because I couldn't let myself ugly cry like I wanted to -- and believe me, I really wanted to. My eyes were constantly filling to the brim and the dams were always *this* close to breaking! There were many incidents that take place in this story that I had never heard of before and it was certainly shocking. This was an easy but difficult read. The writing is raw and the author doesn't hold anything back, and this history deserves that. The story sucks you right in and doesn't spit you out until the very end. It's horrifying and uncomfortable, and makes you think about humanity, compassion, trauma and recovery.

Zofia is a very unreliable narrator and at first this made me unsure about how I'd like the story. I think Hesse does a really good job in developing Zofia's character, who has suffered extreme mental trauma and resulting memory loss/gaps and periods of disorientation and confusion. Although the way Zofia's narrative is written does take time to get used to, it paints a very clear picture of her struggle and stresses how deeply war leaves mental wounds as much as physical wounds. Zofia's desperation to find her brother Abek, the only family she had left, was palpable. Her growing distress with each moment that she spent separated from him, unable to find clues of his whereabouts, was an almost tangible thing. She's such a strong and driven character, and oftentimes her feisty attitude would come through to highlight her personality from "before", especially when she was interacting with Josef!

Although this recounts horrendous events through Zofia's flashbacks and dreams, there's also hope introduced through the characters and life in the refugee camp. I think that life in the camps is testament to the resilience of the human spirit because despite the years of torture, suffering and death that these people endured, they are still full of kindness and experience happiness even through the simplest of things. Yes, life isn't without fear, sadness and sometimes continued suffering, but there's also so much positivity that can be found. I loved the characters we meet at the camp: Breine, Esther, Miriam, Chaim and especially Josef. The fast friendship that was formed between Breine, Esther and Zofia was heartwarming and their happiness was infectious and really warmed my heart. They each suffered such loss to varying degrees, but they all had strong spirits and personalities that filled the story with joy and hope.

I found myself wanting so desperately for all the good things to happen to the characters in this book and while the ending wasn't necessarily sad, it wasn't all HEA rainbows either. I don't think there's any possibility of walking away from a book like this feeling completely light-hearted but it's certainly an important read, and a powerful reminder of one of the world's most devastating periods of history that we should never forget. I'd highly recommend it for everyone!

WOW

They Went Left was a study in opposites: the despair of war and the hopefulness when it’s over, the love and hatred for oneself as well as for family and those survivors. It was was heavy stuff.

Taking place during, right before and immediately after the Holocaust, They Went Left is a story about a young Jewish Polish woman named Zofia Lederman trying to reconstruct her family and her world after leaving the famed concentration camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau and Gross-Rosen. The story gets harsh. It gets graphic. It gets terrible.

But it also gets beautiful. It gets hopeful. It goes forward.

The Holocaust is an event that is terrifyingly hard to write and read about. So many atrocities and crimes and unnecessary death all because of prejudice. The torture and unimaginable things that actually, factually occurred to so many children, women and men fill up an entire building in Washington, D.C. But that’s still not enough.

They Went Left, while being fictional, was supremely accurate in it’s details of the camps, both the concentration and death camps as well as the refugee. Monica Hesse went to great lengths to make sure details were correct and that kind of made reading it worse. I wish that none of that had happened. Especially the last chapter before the epilogue. Let me just warn you right now, a whole freaking box of kleenex. Like all of it. They Went Left touches mainly on the immediate aftermath of WWII, the going back home and trying to rebuild. Throughout the book, however, the characters never speak about those tattoos or really much of anything that happened during the war. It’s all about trying to move forward.

The characters were amazingly portrayed and the PTSD signs that were exhibited were just wow. I mean it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. If you are a history buff, I fully recommend this one. It is fictional but at times you completely forget that part. The imagery and emotions were so raw and real and at times uplifting. I absolutely loved it.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher and fantastic flying book club! Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: They Went Left

Author: Monica Hesse

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Jewish main characters!

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 384

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, violence, death, TW for Holocaust mentioning)

Synopsis: Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else--her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja--they went left.

Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her--or help her rebuild her world.

Review: This book is equal parts heartbreaking and equal parts inspiring. The character development is amazing, I absolutely loved our main character and I loved how she wasn't cookie cutter, she had flaws as well. I loved the world building, it's hard to realize how devastating a place can be after a war. I am fortunate enough to not live with destruction like that and to see life go on as normal. I think books like this are very important because we only learn about the during and we don't get to hear a lot about the after.

However, I did think the pacing was hit or miss. Sometimes we were sailing through and others we were at a standstill.

Verdict: a marvelous book! Definitely recommend!

I want to say thank you to netgalley and Little Brown Books for my advanced copy of this book. At this time I am going to DNF this one as it is not engaging me right now. The writing style is very good and the characters seemed likable but I am just not in a place where I can finish this one right now.