Set during the era before Hitler 's regime would start their eradication of Jewish people, Roberta Kagan gives us a glimpse of Jewish life in Poland. As the main characters see visions of the holocaust before them, they make decisions that will affect their futures. A good book for those, like me, who are interested in the WWs.

I continued to wait till something happened and in the last few pages of the book is when something actually did. The beginning of the book started off very strong with a horrific nightmare and it set the stage for what I would call a good historical fiction book that details the horrific time when Germany invaded Poland. However, the entirety of the book actually talked about a woman cheating on her husband. It seemed like it was setting the stage for the next book, but when you titled a book, The Children’s Dream (Auschwitz Twins #1), one may assume the book occurs during that time, but this one in fact did not. I would say it was an okay book, not horrible, but I was just expecting more out of it.

2.5 ⭐️

The writing style was not towards my liking. The premise of the story was good, but the style was not for me. I liked the idea of twins running in a family and one female twin would have premonitions in her dreams. Some of the descriptions in the book turned my stomach. I wasn’t fond of Hershel or her father but I liked Naomi, her twin sister Miriam, and her daughters.

The Children’s Dream is the first book in a new series by Roberta Karen.

Naomi and her young daughter Perle are both twins. They come from a long line of twins in which one twin has an ability to experience prophetic dreams. Both Naomi and Perle begin having foreboding dreams about flags with spider like creatures on them, and large chimney stacks, but it’s difficult for them to make sense of what the dreams mean, or to convince others that something bad is coming, until the very end of the story, when the dreams start to become a nightmare reality.

I have read other books by this author and this one was a bit disappointing. The premise was good, but the story lacked flow and was redundant in parts. Quite a lot of story building takes place, I suspect to set things up for tue second book, but the plot rested too heavily on the forbidden love between Naomi and Eli, the man she had fallen in love with before her arranged marriage to Herschel took place, and Herschel’s affair. What drew me to this story, the premise of prophetic dreams, somewhat took a back seat. The story takes place before the onset of WW2 and ends just as the Nazis March into Poland. While not really enjoying much of the storyline in this installment, it does end in a cliff hanger that enticed me enough to want to continue on with the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy. This is my honest review and the opinions above are my own.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This book takes place in a small Jewish shtetl (village) in Poland in the years before World War II. The vivid descriptions of life and customs in the village help the reader understand the dynamics of the time. We learn about arranged marriages, the roles of women and children, dietary and religious observances.

Through chilling dreams, we foresee the coming of the Nazi invasion that will change this town and its people forever!

I look forward to the next 2 books in the Auschwitz Twins series.

This was a very unique storyline that was intertwined with traditional depictions of WWII. I really enjoyed Kagans story telling and the way she drew me in as a reader. If you’re a WWII book lover, add this to your list!

Well... I'm a little bit confused, the book was supposed to be about a Jewish family going through the crimes and pogroms of WWII, so i thought the beginning would be describing their life pre-war and then we see how the dynamic changes when the Nazis enter Poland.
This obviously didn't happen, it was all about Naomi, the mother, from her early years and then with more focus about her life as a married Jewish woman, maybe because this is book 1 in the series, the author wanted to give us more insight into the story for us to form kind of connection with the characters, which she managed to do.
The storyline wasn't an original one, it felt like reading a women's fiction book from the 1960s, but that said though, it wasn't bad, it started a little bit rocky, but after the first few chapters i was really invested in the plot.
The characters were ones you could Invision clearly in your mind, sometimes the writing was a little bit basic on how their thoughts were shown, but that didn't take from the essence of the story.
I quite enjoyed it.
* I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher*

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read The Children’s Dream by Roberta Kagan in exchange for my honest feedback.
From the first page of this book I was captured and could not put it down! Twins share everything except the dreams that soon become reality. This was a great historical fiction book amazingly written. Surprises, love, cheating and lies. My first Roberta Kagan book and already on to the next in the series!

A very interesting read but heartbreaking at some points. The characters are well defined and I look forward to reading more about them.
Many thanks to The Book Whisperer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have to admit that by the book cover and title we would be reading about the two on the cover and their dreams at Auschwitz. However, it technically is about children's dreams but in different generations of this family. It is also set in the early 1930's before the invasion.

The Aizenberg family, Herschel an Naomi, the parents, Shoshana, the eldest daughter and Perle and Pluma, the twins, are living the life they are given. You marry who you've been chosen for and have a family. Naomi has dreams/premonitions of soldiers and red flags with a black spider. Herschel doesn't believe her and all this is going to scare the children. Then Perle starts having those dreams also.

The book mainly focuses on things with Naomi, Eli, Herschel, and his secretary (I have forgotten her name) and another woman. As time goes on, dreams become closer together until they seem to start coming true.

You do learn a lot of the Jewish ways, if you are unfamiliar with them.

Thank you Whisper Room and NetGalley for allowing me to read it for and honest review.

This was a very well written book with a great storyline, now it wasn’t for me but it is so well written that I have to mark it on that and I did enjoy this story as I do like historical genre..

I love historical fiction related to Auschwitz and the other camps during World War 2, so I pick up this book without hesitation.
I expected something different from the book, according to its cover and description, and I was hooked from the first page, but as I continued reading the story seemed to me was getting slower and slower.
As this book is the first of the series I really hope that the second one will be more enthralling.
Thank you very much, Roberta Kagan, The Book Whisperer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Excellent read. Can’t wait for the next in the series to come out. Her writing style transform you into the story it’s amazing.

I didn’t know that this was part of a series. I like to read a book and finish it. Story was good, but too long.

I always find books set during WWII and the holocaust interesting even though difficult to read at times. Considering the cover I was expecting this story to take place at Auschwitz or another concentration camp. This book mainly takes place in Poland about 15 years before the Nazi takeover. It does a little jumping back and forth between times in Naomi's life, which got a little confusing at some points. It also jumps perspectives to different characters, I really liked the aspect. It's mostly a love story at this point and an introduction to the family along with their way of life in their small Jewish town. I really liked the dream premonitions aspect I just wish they had taken them more seriously. I'm assuming since this is the first in the series the next book will be more centered around the twins. It is well written and kept me interested throughout. I look forward to continuing with the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

One of the twins in Naomi’s family always has had prophetic dreams. Naomi has them and so does her daughter Perle. But when they both start dreaming about German soldiers coming to their town and hauling them away, they become very concerned. However nothing happens and life continues on as normal for a long time, and they almost forget about the dreams they had. Until the bombing of Warsaw

This was my first ARC and I was so excited for it. The premise was amazing and the plot itself was very interesting.

But I found the writing to quite juvenile. It lacked flow and was redundant and over explanatory. Kagan has a lot of potential but I feel missed the mark on this one.

this book was hard to follow to be honest. It was all over the place and really had nothing to do with the children as much as it did the mother.

oh my gosh! what an intriguing book! interesting characters and a story that captures you on the very first page! Intense and unsettling. A real page turner and a must must read

Set in an Orthodox Jewish community in 1930s Warsaw, this book features a mother, Naomi and her daughter Perle, who have terrible dreams that are premonitions. During the lead up to WWII, both suffer from nightmares that foreshadow the coming Nazi invasion. This book provides insight into life in the sheltered Jewish communities of Poland and their religious customs. Naomi and Miriam are twin sisters. Miriam’s arranged marriage ended in love. Unfortunately, Naomi lives with her grim husband Hershel, to whom appearance, reputation and financial comfort mean everything. Though blessed with three daughters and a nice home she is unhappy in her arranged marriage and seeks affection in another man. Her guilt is overwhelming, and she believes her hardships are an atonement for her sins. She and daughter Perle are burdened with foreboding and very lucid dreams about spidery flags, blood and smokestacks. But Herschel has secrets too.

With her way of writing Roberta Kagan makes you feel like you are part of the story, living what her characters are going thru, and you do feel the dreams and premonitions on this book, the pain, fear, apprehension, love and yearning.

It is especially poignant, especially on the first pages to see the future that awaits the family thru the dreams of Naomi, because in them we see the horrors of Auschwitz and what will happen to them over there. We know that Naomi doesn't understand exactly what these dreams mean, but we as vessels of knowledge of history do know, and makes us the more terrified for them.

Naomi has these dreams as well as one of her twin girls, and that's when she realized that the visions are more than dreams, but can predict the future.

Full of details about pre World War II Jewish Polish life we get a full view of the Orthodox Jewish life and feel part of it.

Even though this book deals mostly with Naomi, the mother's dreams, I assume that the following two books will give us more of the children's dreams.

This book is Book Number One of a new trilogy by Roberta Kagan and can't wait to read the next one.