“The Forest will always protect you.”

In a genre that can get over saturated with WWII stories, @kristinharmel always comes with a unique perspective. Her newest, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, was just that- unique and so incredibly powerful. I learned a lot about Jewish families and how they escaped into the forest to live to escape persecution during the war. It was fascinating and heartbreaking, but filled with hope. This was an atmospheric historical fiction with a lot of depth. I loved the characters and the setting. This was loosely based on true events and I loved the author notes at the end and the sheer amount of research that went into this. It was a powerful story that captured my heart. 5⭐️ My thanks to @gallerybooks for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED this one!

I loved that this was a different side to WWII. I have never heard the story before of people living in the forest. Kristin Harmel did an amazing job bringing their story to light. I love how she writes and how she captures the essence of each character. I adored Yona and was very invested in her life and heartbreaks and successes. (I also really liked Jerusza's character! I would totally read a magical realism story from her POV lol)

I definitely recommend this book, as well as this author!

Kristin Harmel is magic when she writes. She has this power of bringing her stories to life, making the reader feel as though they are involved in the story, and writes such beautiful tales of woe and love.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars is no exception. I felt everything Yona was feeling - from the isolation, to love, to betrayal. I cannot imagine all she endured. I appreciated the view into her life during this time, the small acts that allowed her to survive, and the constant faith.

A must read !
Thank you very much for a copy of this amazing book. A very interesting story of jewish survivors hiding in the woods during WW II to escape cocentration camps. And death

This is exactly the kind of story that many of our visitors want to read. Looking forward to sharing the story with them. Thank you for the ARC!

What an absolutely fabulous book! I have never read anything by this author but will be looking for more by her for sure.

This was a very unique and interesting aspect of WWII. Very well written and enjoyable historical fiction. This is the second book which I have read by this author and look forward to reading more by her. A young woman who grows up in the forest and learns how to live off the land. She uses her knowledge and experience to help Jews. I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction.

This is the third book about WWII written by Kristin Harmel, while each tells a story of the horrors faced by the Jewish people, each also is a triumph of perseverance and survival. This chronicles those that sought refuge in the forest, led by a young woman who was stolen from her family at the age of 2 and raised by an elderly woman in the forest and has become one with the forest. She teaches them the tools necessary to survive and finds love and betrayal along the way. Truly an amazing story.

#Review ⭐️✨💫 ⁣
THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel ⁣
⁣
Description: “…an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.”⁣
⁣
This one is hard for me to give a star rating to. The first 55% was sloooow and hard for me to get into, containing a lot of detail about surviving in the forest. After it picked up, I liked it a lot. The gem of this one, for me, was the character development. “In moments like this, it doesn’t matter what you were born to be. It matters what you choose to become.” ⬆️ That quote from a later chapter perfectly describes our main character Yona’s journey as she unlearns the ways of her birth parents and her adoptive mother. ⁣
⁣
There’s also some really great insight into Judaism. I loved how this was a WW2 story with a Jewish cast of characters that actually had the characters practicing their religion; I feel like I haven’t seen that much. ⁣
⁣
Overall, this was a solid historical fiction from one of my favorite authors in the genre. Highly recommend if you like good, strong characters with great development and a unique WW2 perspective.

On Yona's second birthday she was "saved" by an elderly lady who came to Berlin to take her from her not so good parents. Over the next twenty years she is raised in a forest in Poland where she learns how to survive in the forest and avoid people. In the midst of WWII Yona finds herself alone after the woman's death and is not sure what to do next. Then one day she finds a little girl lost in the forest. This is just the beginning of people coming into her forest to escape the horrors of WWII. What will Yona do? Does she help these new people or let them try and survive on their own.
This is a story of self discovery and the connections we can make in uncertain times. While the world is filled with the horrors of the Nazis the people in the forest find out the true meaning of family and that it is not just about blood but more about those who help us without a reason to do so. Kristin Harmel writes these strong female leads who just make us want to follow their story and see what happens next. I highly recommend this novel for fans of women's lit or historical fiction.

A powerful well written historical story that encompasses the horrors faced by Jews during the war. Yona was a strong character that followed her heart along with the teachings by the woman who raised her. The setting and writing style totally immerses you in the forest. An good book club title and would recommend this for those interested in a new take on this time period. Be sure and read the author’s notes at the end.

This is a great historical fiction if you’re looking for something TOTALLY different than any other WW read. Harmel delivers another unique WW2 story, with a strong heroine and an undiscovered setting. Great descriptions of both nature & human emotion to help immerse the reader in the story.

Kristin Harmel is a favorite author of mine I appreciate the depth of her research and her choice of unique topics. Based on Truth during WWII, This book strongly fulfills these requirements. Image a baby being stolen from a family in Berlin and raised in a forest by an old crone who believes this is her destiny. Fortunately, Our heroine uses her incredible survival skill to help run-a-way Jews escape certain death by the Nazi’s. She teaches them how to survive through all four seasons against terrible odds. She also struggles to understand her true identity which results in answers she may have best not know. Lots of tension and surprises! My only difficulty was the length where details were frequently repeated. Sharper editing would have greatly helped this story. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book given for an honest review.

Gorgeous cover, beautiful title, incredible story! I absolutely loved this engaging coming-of-age World War ll novel.

Kristin Harmel brings to life a colorful cast of characters that are hiding deep in the forests of Poland from the Nazi’s. Survival, female strength and human connection are amazingly portrayed, as are heart-wrenching moments and glimpses of hope as seen through the eyes of it’s characters.

The story follows Yona, born in Berlin to Germans, who was stolen as a baby and raised in the forest by her captor. The story is written with a unique twist which sets it apart from other historical fiction novels. Cheers to Kristin Harmel for writing, yet another, unputdownable and gripping read that I highly recommend.

I read a lot of historical fiction and found the premise of this one was good and a little different from the usual ww2 fiction. I found the writing to be a little simple.. I did like the character development of the main characters but the rest were pretty flat. There were several parts where you are just left wondering what happened.
I was very disappointed in the ending, even with an epilogue, I felt she should have given the reader more of what happened in the forest than just skipping ahead to an epilogue years in the future.

This is another great read by Kristin Harmel. I enjoyed all of the descriptive language and the story was beautifully told. I love the tenaciousness and bravery shown by the main character. I also appreciated the author's note at the end and learning more about the real-life events that helped form this story.

This book was everything and than I expected! Heartbreaking and Beautiful my heart was pounding as I was on the edge of my seat. As a lover of historical reads this was perfection in every way. I loved it so much it leftie with a book hangover after that I even bought the audio book! A must read!

I really enjoy historical fiction and I have read a LOT of WWII books. So many that I have to take a break sometimes, I'm so glad I decided it was time to read this book. Because most of the book takes place in the forests of Poland it is unlike any other WWII book I have read. Are there bad Germans and Jewish people in ghettos? Yes, but that is not the main focus of the book. The majority takes place in the forest and deals with how this one young woman who was kidnaped at the age of two and raised in the forest is able to help Jewish people who are running from the Nazis.

Young Yona also has to deal with who she is and who she was born to be. She is not the person she would have been if she hadn't been kidnapped and when she comes face to face with her past she has a hard time with it.

A very character driven novel which I truly appreciate. Kudos to Kristin Harmel for writing an outstanding book and highlighting a different view of WWII.

I tried to read this book a few times but just found I wasn’t able to get into it. I really wanted to read it, but it’s not for me. I know there’s a bunch of great reviews out there, so I do recommend checking those out!

Yonna was stolen as an infant and was taught to survive using her wits and by foraging in the woods for food. As an adult she is able to use her skills to help others survive in the forest during the Holocaust.