I am drawn to historical fiction, particularly as it relates to WWll era and I read as much of it as I can get my hands on. Harmel’s tale was unique and powerful, and interesting from page one. I loved Yona and her fearless survival instincts. Kidnapped at a young age and growing up in the seclusion of the forest, she learned to live off the land. During WWll many Jews hid in the forest to escape the Nazis and when Yona’s world intersects with theirs the story comes alive. That this fictional book was based on true events makes it all the more powerful. Very well done.

First off I have to say that I always appreciate WW2 fiction that is set in Eastern Europe, and especially in rural Poland, or any of the rural USSR areas that were overrun by the Nazis at the time. The Nazis were brutal in any country they occupied, but they were exceptionally brutal in the east, rounding up thousands of Jewish people at a time, leaving mass graves all over the countryside, and would kill anyone else who crossed their paths too. There are many, many fictional stories based in France or the UK during the war, many stories of the French Resistance, but less based in the east. For this reason alone I was really excited to read Kristin Harmel’s The Forest of Vanishing Stars.

Yona was kidnapped from her German family home in Berlin at the age of two, by an old woman named Jerusza. They lived a solitary, roaming life, living in forests in Poland and the Soviet Union. Jerusza had taken Yona based on one of her premonitions, premonitions that had never failed her before, and taught her everything she knew about survival in the world: languages, foraging, fighting, hunting, building etc. She even taught her to read and write, as well as all of the typical subjects one would learn at school. But when Jerusza dies in 1941, Yona is left to figure out her own place in life. When she comes across a group of Jewish people fleeing the Nazis she has to make a decision that will possibly change her future, and her own ability to survive.

I loved Yona, this wild but loving character who knows how to kill a man with her bare hands, feed a group of starving humans with berries and fish, but has never experienced life in a community. I also loved how the author describes life in the forest: I literally felt like I was there myself, imagining the small huts they created to sleep in the summer, and the bunkers they dug in the winter, the way they foraged for food and herbs, and how Yona uses her knowledge of the forest to help others survive.

So many people hid in forests in the east during WW2, many of them urban dwellers who had never spent more than a holiday or a few days at a time in the countryside. I think these stories are really important to tell, especially now as most of the people who survived being persecuted by the Nazis are no longer here. Kristin Harmel does a fantastic job of telling a story that is fictional, but entirely based on fact, and I was really happy to read her detailed note at the end of the research that she did, and how she created the narrative. I am usually not a huge fan of love stories within war stories, unless they happen organically, and I feel like Yona’s journey into love and betrayal bonded perfectly with the rest of the narrative.

If you are an avid reader of historical fiction and WW2 fiction I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful book that weaves together nature and humanity during WWII. It was such an intriguing concept from the get go. I only wish we had been told more of Yona’s great destiny, the build up did not match the outcome. Still a great read. Love everything Harmel has written!

My apologies to Kristin Harmel, whom I’ve enjoyed many other reads from, but this was just a bore to me. I appreciate the historical premise (the hiding out and survival of Jews in the forest during WWII) on which the novel is based, but its folklore premise and fairytale setting were not juxtaposed well with the historical context. I skipped through most of the novel and found the whole thing strange. I received an advanced copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars
By Kristen Harmel

Buckle up for a truly spectacular journey of historical fiction that will stay with you for a long period of time. Isn’t that what we should get from a truly well-written novel. Take time out for yourself to expand your mind and be transformed. This is a story of survival, perseverance, triumph over evil, and love. This is a novel that I highly recommend. I will be reading the author's other stories in the future. What a talented artist!


I love a book with strong female characters and this book had two (2). The author does a wonderful job of presenting a vivid depiction of the forest. Yona, the main character is a special person with two (2) unique markings, one is a tattoo of a dove on her wrist and the other is her two (2) different colored eyes. Yona, who was stolen from her parents at a young age perhaps because of a secret about her father that her abductor- Jeruza knew? The mystical Jeruza teaches Yona about survival in the forest and all the secrets of it. After Jeruza passes on at the ripe age of 102, Yona can still hear her whispering in the wind from time to time. Yona then goes on to be a teacher herself for all the people that enter her life. She teaches people how to hunt without weapons, which wild animals provide the most nutrients, which herbs could be picked to help treat ailments, how to build winter shelters and catch fish through ice ponds. Along the way, Yona finds love and heartbreak for herself and sees it in others she meets. One of her emotional voyages is with Aleksander, who proclaims, “I don’t want to disappear, I want to survive, so we can tell the world what has happened.” One of the most important messages of the Holocaust, which has helped people to endure the atrocities that were brought upon them for despicable reasons. At one point, Yona herself questions what is happening in the world, why would G-D let such terrible things happened to his earth? She hears Jeruza answer her through the wind and say, “One must never question G-D, it’s our job on earth to seek to understand him, never doubt his will.” “The universe is always in balance, summer and winter, day and night, sustenance and poison, good and evil. To know the light, you must also know the darkness.”

Once Yona is reunited with her father, it’s an emotional voyage. She cannot fathom who he is. At one point, her father understands her confusion with him and tells her, “You were a victim, as was I.” We are all victims of our circumstances to some degree. Yona has a very hard time accepting her father, who is on the opposite side of all the people she is helping in the forest. One of the other characters who Yona falls for in this story is Zus. He tries to help her through her state of confusion. He tells her, “Your identity isn’t determined by your birth. All that matters is what we make ourselves into, what we choose to do with our lives.” The book is filled with so many life lessons/ quotes like that one, that should make the reader stop and contemplate each message. It’s truly a marvel to read.

Yona was stolen from her parents as a toddler, she has lived in the forest her whole life. She knows how to survive in the forest but has been taught that humans are bad and evil. Jewish people flee their homes to live in the forest. This is a wonderful story of hope. I have read other Kristen Harmel books and would highly recommend this one.

I received a free ARC ebook of The Forest of Vanishing Stars from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Reminiscent of Alice Hoffman's The World that We Knew, Harmel combines a bit of the fantastical with the all-too-real story of the Nazi attempt to obliterate Jews in Europe. As a toddler, Yona is kidnapped from her bed by a mystic of a woman. Her kidnapper knows the horrors to come and believes that Yona has an important role to play in the future. For two decades the two wander in the woods and live a solitary existence. Yona learns survival skills and is educated about languages, religion, and the complexities of mankind. When her kidnapper dies, Yona slowly makes inroads toward other people who are fleeing into the woods from Jewish ghettos and Nazi brutality.

Yona's experiences - surviving winters in the woods and eating what nature provides - make her a valued member of the small group of Jews. For the first time in her life, Yona has a family and experiences love. Her past, however, is not totally obliterated. What the group endures is based on real experiences during the war.

Harmel's characters are well-drawn and their experiences, both joyous and terrifying, ring true. The cover, however, is misleading and too similar to other titles about World War II.

#TheForestofVanishingStars #NetGalley

I loved this book. I was sucked into the story from the beginning.. This is another version of the awful atrocities that occurred to the Jewish and Polish people by the German and Russian people. I was on the edge of my seat off and on throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book to all.

Unique is how I would describe this WWII Historical Fiction book because it is certainly not your typical run-of-the-mill WWII story. When Inge was 2 years old, she was kidnapped by Jerusza, renamed Yona, and taken to the forest to live. Jerusza taught her survival skills and also educated her very well. They lived in the forest and eventually Jerusza dies when Yona is a young woman. Yona continues to live in the woods and then one day discovers a group of people who are trying to survive. They are Jews and Yona is horrified to learn what is happening in the outside world and decides to teach them survival skills. There are lots of different emotions in this very suspenseful story about love, betrayal, friendship and survival.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC of this very unique story and I really enjoyed.

This is a fascinating story of survival with vivid characters.. Based on true accounts, it is a different and welcome addition to Holocaust literature.

Yona is kidnapped from her German parents just before her 2nd birthday and raised by her kidnapper, Jerusza to live off the land in the remote areas of Germany and Poland, isolated from the modern world. In 1941, Jerusza passes away, just before she breaths her last, she reveals Yona's past and true identity.

Reeling from the loss and the betrayal of the only person she's known, she wanders the forest in isolation. Yona begins to encounter Polish Jews fleeing from Russian and Nazi genocide in their villages. After hearing the stories they tell and seeing the horror of them being hunted down like animals, Yona vows to use her survival skills to help the fleeing Jews survive. She discovers friendship, love, betrayal, her deep-rooted faith, and the truth about the parents she was taken from.

Kirstin Harmel quickly became one of my favorite authors following her release of The Book of Lost Names. The Forest of Vanishing Stars is yet another incredible master recounting of the painstaking research and interviews she did to tell this story. I was invested in Yona's life, her self-awareness, her willingness to care for those she'd just met or barely knew, and her self-sacrifice in the face of the genocide that plagued the towns surrounding her forest during World War II. Kristin has paid great homage to those who lived through the real-life horrors of WWII, in this unique retelling.

Truly riveting historical fiction, The Forest of Vanishing Stars tells a story of survival in the forest while hiding out from the Nazis during WWII.

There is a bit of magical realism as we meet Yona, a young girl raised in the forest and taught to forage for food, shelter, and medicinal plants. Then, in 1942, Yona encounters a group of Jews who have fled the ghettos in Poland in the hopes of survival. While horrified by what she realizes is happening outside the forest, Yona decides that she has much to teach this group of survivors about how best to use the forest’s resources. In turn, she learns about social interactions and human relationships. At some point, however, she leaves the group and learns first-hand of Nazi atrocities. Finding out about impending disaster, Yona returns to the forest to warn her friends.

The novel provides a realistic portrayal of the many heartbreaking aspects of war, the cruel actions of the Nazis, and the risks for those seeking to survive by hiding out in the forest. There is danger, illness, death, love, jealousy, self-sacrifice, and so much more as we follow this group of survivors through the war years of 1942 to 1945 followed by what life was like for those Jews who survived when their families did not. The narrative drew me in from the beginning and kept me reading almost non-stop. The Author's Note at the end provides additional background information about Jews and partisans who survived the war years in the forests. I highly recommend this upcoming novel by Kristin Harmel.

Read this book if you: want all the feels, like detailed descriptions, and like enjoy powerful scenes that will stay with you forever.

This book is not your typical WW2 historical fiction, I feel like it hits a lot of tough and different subjects, which I really appreciated.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars will stick with me for a long time.

Fascinating! I appreciate NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel. Yona is a young girl who is being raised in the forest by an old woman who is not a relative. She's not really sure where she belongs, but Jerusza is intent on teaching her how to survive and to use her "gift" of recognizing danger before it happens. After Jerusza dies, Yona is alone until she meets a group of Jews hiding in the forest trying to avoid the Nazis. She experiences love and loss, while finding herself along the way. This was a wonderful book and sure to be a favorite of historical fiction readers.

As a fan of Kristin Harmel books, I was excited to read The Forest of Vanishing Stars. I love reading historical fiction especially WWII novels. This novel begins in an unusual story but progresses into a heart wrenching story of the Jewish people in Poland. Yona who believes she isn't Jewish but believes her life goal is to protect them living in the forest by teaching them survival skills. The book has a surprise ending and is based on a lot of facts of that time period.

What an amazing and well written story! I did not want to put this book down. I look forward to reading more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This was a whole different take on the World War II novel!

The book is centered around Yona, who is brought up in the forest, surviving on the land. During World War II she finds refugees in the previously unoccupied forest, and the story revolves around her interaction with these refugees.

I appreciated the different approach and the opportunity to learn about an element of World War II that I had not read about before (and I read quite a few WWII novels). This, however, is probably my least favorite book I've read by the author. I just did not feel as connected to the characters as I have in her other books. I wanted to keep reading because the concept was so different and I wanted to see where the story went, but I did not feel emotionally invested.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars - 4.5 stars/5

Reading about WWII and the Nazi treatment of the Jewish people is gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and guaranteed to make you sick to your stomach. While the characters in The Forest of Vanishing Stars are fictional, they are based on real people and real events making the story even more difficult to read at times. But Kristin Harmel has a knack for kindling glimmers of hope through the darkest of moments. She artfully weaves a tale of perseverance through hardship, loss, and unthinkable horrors. This novel is beautifully written, impeccably researched, and will leave you with tears in your eyes and profound gratitude for the brave souls that paid the ultimate sacrifice and those who put their lives on the line to save not only families—but generations—from pure evil.

THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel is a beautifully-written and compelling work of historical fiction that was impossible to put down. I have read a lot of historical fiction set during World War II, but this story was very different from anything I’ve come across before and I’m always grateful when I get to learn something new about this devastating time period. The book is inspired by true stories of bravery and survival under the most unthinkable conditions imaginable. The main character, Yona, is stolen from her German parents at the age of two by an old woman who raises her deep in the forests of Eastern Europe. Over the years, she is kept isolated from all other people, but she is taught everything she needs to know to survive in the wilderness by her kidnapper, Jerusza. When Jerusza dies at age 102, Yona finds herself now alone in the forest, unaware of the atrocities taking place in the outside world. In the spring of 1942, Yona encounters a group of Jews fleeing the Nazis and she must decide whether to remain alone or join this group and teach them the skills they will need to survive in the forest. What follows is a stunning and suspenseful story of the hardship and loss the refugees faced, but also the depths of the relationships the characters developed during their time together. While there are many examples of the cruelty, devastation and horror they experienced, there are also the moments of faith and hope that kept them going beyond what would seem to be humanly possible. I really enjoyed this powerful book and highly recommend it. Do not miss the Author’s Note at the end which gives more detail on the background for the story and the extensive research and interviews she conducted. Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

This is one of the stories that will be imprinted deep within me for a long, long time. Just when you think that there is not room for one more “ Nazi novel” Kristen Harmel’s book comes along and shatters all my “ been there, read that” thoughts.

I raced through this historical, deeply invested in the story and characters. The forest WAS alive, and the strength and generosity of the characters genuinely moved me. In general, I avoid books that I perceive to be “ dark,” but this story of determination and courage was so uplifting that although I repeatedly cried as I read the book, I emerged from it with nothing but respect for the characters ( and author) and awe regarding the fact that this novel was rooted in historic facts.

This was a memorable reading experience and a tribute to the lives lost in the Holocaust, and the bravery of those who fought to survive.

Many thanks to netgalley for providing me with an electronic copy of the book in exchange for a candid review.