Engaging, captivating and beautifully written, The Girl with the Diary is a dual timeline story about forbidden love, sacrifice, secrets, bravery, hope and love. I really enjoyed the historical thread that slowly unraveled as the contents of an old diary were revealed. It touched on all my emotions. The present day contemporary romance thread wasn’t as compelling, although I did feel that the author did a good job in melding the two threads and I enjoyed the relationship shared between Amelia (grams) and Emma.

I love when an author shares their inspiration for a story and found the author’s afterward moving.

This is the first book in the Last Word series. I look forward to reading the next in the series. 3.5 stars from me for this one.

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

This story will definitely stay with me for quite some time. Beautifully written I didn’t want it to end.

What I Thought

Historical fiction set around WWII is my favourite genre to read. My dad was 10 when the war started and I used to love hearing his stories as a 10 year old during that time. The times when he and his sister used to hide in the back kitchen when they heard the sirens and planes overhead. But luckily down here in Cornwall, they were away from the bombings and the full truth of what was happening around the world. Reading stories like The Girl with the Diary gives you an awareness of what happened during these times.

The Girl with the Diary is a forbidden love story between a German soldier and a Jew. An old diary is given to Emma by her dying grandmother Amelia. Now begins the story of two love stories set in the past and the present, told through two different points of view, Emma and Amelia’s. I preferred reading the story from Amelia’s past, rather than the present day. But that’s just my preference.

It’s wonderfully written and unputdownable! it will make you cry, and also horrified. It’s one of the better WWII historical novels I’ve read and I can’t wait to read the next two.

This was an amazingly beautiful book So well written. Involving and the characters are amazing. Every Shelf needs this book.

A thought provoking WW2 novel which was very emotional due to the connection between a German soldier and a young Jewish girl. Loved the present and past entwining. Will be reading others in the series. I don’t like giving storylines away but it puts prejudice aside and shows the power of love and caring that comes from within.

I found this book so moving. I couldn’t put it down and I wanted to learn more about Amelia, Emma, Jackson and Charlie.

From an early age, I’ve always wanted to know more and more about the Holocaust. It is something that should be learned about and never forgotten. The atrocities that happened are beyond shocking but the stories still need to be told.

This book, although hard to read in some parts, highlighted some of the most shocking behaviour by the Nazi’s. A work of fiction maybe but I’m sure I’m sure these exact things did happen during the nightmare of WWII.

Powerful yet heartbreaking story of forbidden and lost love. Just brilliant, I can't wait to read the other 2 books in the series.

1942: Jewish Amelia is sent to a concentration camp and she begins an unlikely romance with a guard, Charlie, which endangers them both. Present day: Amelia is in her nineties and her health is failing. She gives her diary to her granddaughter Emma...
The Girl With The Diary is the first book in a trilogy of historical novels set in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
This book is written in the present day as well as during WW2. The two timelines alternate every chapter and are given equal weighting. However, it is the young Amelia's story that really gripped me. Her heartbreaking experience glimmers with the tiny hope of her new found love.
The brutality of the camp is explicitly described which is upsetting but adds an authenticity to the plot. Love in unlikely situations is present in both timelines and shows the strength of the human spirit. There is plenty of emotion so be warned that you may need tissues!
Initially I felt a little impatient as I wanted to find out Amelia's past quicker. However, Emma's character in the present day is easy to identify with. I loved being taken on the journey along with her as she reads the diary, discovering the awful things that her grandmother experienced.
The Girl With The Diary is a completely captivating novel and I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

This is the first in the Last Words series about a young jewish woman and a young Nazi guard.
Amelia is over 90 years old and her heart is failing. After ending up in the hospital having had an episode she has her granddaughter retrieve her diary containing parts of her life she has kept secret for over 70 years. She bids Emma to read her story after Emma overhears Amelia calling for someone named Charlie in her sleep. She tells Emma to keep the diary's contents secret from Emma's mother and aunt
As Emma reads she is transported back in time to a concentration camp in WWII and discovers Charlie was a Nazi, a guard at the camp,but Charlie was not like the other Nazis, Charlie had a heart and he did not hate, although Germany's programs like the Hitler Youth tried it's best to condition him to do so from a very early age. What develops between Amelia and Charlie is a sorrowful, beautiful story of love being found amongst so much evil and destruction. A story of hope and faith in humanity restored after the horrors of the war.
I loved this book, the lessons we learn from Amelia and Charlie are priceless. Emma learns those lessons throughout the story which allow her to find her own true love story.
I would highly recommend this book along with the two others of this series. I have read all three and they are all wonderful.
Thank you to Bookouture and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

A book to finally break my current reading slump...

This is the story of a woman in a Nazi concentration camp, who has a slowly growing relationship with a Nazi guard. How is this possible? The author does a great job of making you believe it.

This story is told from the current time and the past - and I am a sucker for the dual timelines.

You have the grandaughter. Can you imagine if your grandmother is dying in the hospital, and asks you to read her diary. You read about her relationship with the Nazi guard. And there are multiple secrets in this diary! Now while you are reading this, you are spending time in the hospital , and there you meet a handsome doctor who becomes equally interested in the story.

The grandmother of course has the better story. As you read about her time in the camp, and the decisions that she made, your heart just breaks.

There were some flaws in this book. The romance with the grandaughter and the doctor - too sweet and too quick for me. And the horrors of the concentration camp are somehow told, but not dwelled on with all the details. It almost felt superficial.

However, even with the flaws I am giving it 5 stars. Why? because i coudnt stop turning the pages. Then when I found out that there are other books with characters from this story, I couldn't download fast enough!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Wow this was such a moving historical fiction novel. Rarely dose a historical fiction novel make me cry but this one did. It was such a powerful and moving story. A lot of times books set in World War 2 feel the same. But this book felt different. The characters were strongly written and the plot was just so good. I highly suggest this one.

From the first page i was gripped, i will never never understand what could make people kill, murder millions of people like what happened in the Holocaust, this book is a love story in what would of been unbelievable times, I didn't want it to end.

Ok all I can say is WOW! This book was amazing! Shari J. Ryan has a way of taking a story and not only captivating the reader but will also break your heart and put you back together again.

Prague 1942 is where this story begins when decades later a diary is found and the entirety of the story is revealed.

This is a MUST read. Shari J Ryan will take your breath away with this beautifully written story.

Thank you to #netgalley and #bookouture for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Grandmothers & granddaughters ~ Love ~ World War 2 ~ Hospitals ~ Theresienstadt concentration camp ~ Horror ~ Forbidden love ~ Secrets ~ Cute cardiologist ~ Breakups ~ Death ~ Daughters ~ Reunion ~ Heartwarming ~ Highly recommended ~ Great characters

*This book, previously published in 2017 with the title - Last Words - is the first book in this newly re-published “Last Words” series.

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The girl with the diary by Shari J. Ryan.
“What if you never come back?” I asked.
“I will find you, Amelia. I promise I will find you.”
“What if you die trying?”
Nazi-occupied Prague, 1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet when flashlights blind her and she’s captured by the SS. Out on the cobblestone street, she is shoved onto a freight train with hundreds of others. Hours pass as they travel in darkness.
A good read. Little slow but readable. 3*.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Girl With The Diary ' by Shari J Ryan.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Shari J Ryan, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 24th May 2022.

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'Last Words' series and was previously titled 'Last Words'.

I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching unique cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Orphan Train will be totally swept away by this World War Two heartbreaker which shows that, even in hell, love can bloom.' I am a huge fan of 'The Tattooist Of Aushcwitz' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of a prologue, 26 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in the Theresienstadt Ghetto Nazi concentration camp, Czech Republic 🇨🇿 and the USA 🇺🇸.

This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonist is Amelia and Emma. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. The fact there are multiple protagonists is even better as it increases the readers knowledge of what more characters are doing and feeling.

'The Girl With The Diary' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Shari discusses/includes violence, persecution of the Jews, murder and death.

Well, what can I say but wow!!! This story is definitely not going to leave my head anytime soon. Firstly I must congratulate Shari J Ryan for an absolutely extraordinary novel that seriously needs to be made into a movie which I assure would be best selling!!!

This book is extremely powerful and extremely well written. It is devastatingly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The storyline of this book is based on what Shari has learned about the Holocaust from personal experiences andwhich is another thing that drew me to read it. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry and laugh on the roller-coaster ride to hell that is the Holocaust. Nothing is left out and the author has done an immense amount of research and brings Amelia and Charlie's story to life. .

This book did not disappoint. Some people believe that these stories should not be written but I am a strong believer that these victims earned the right for their stories to be told and to not be forgotten and this book does just that. I loved discovering not just Amelia and Charlie's stories but also Emma's. I absolutely LOVED how this book was composed of two stories perfectly intertwined together to make one of the most emotional reads I have ever read!!! The fact that Shari has written a story about a diary filled with loss, death, hate and love being read during a lifetime of sadness, family, romance just takes the reader on an absolute rollercoaster rider of emotions. It is great when you come along an absolute gem like this as normally you would expect a book about a holocaust story to be dark and horrific throughout but Shari manages to show the horrors while lightening up the reading tone during every other chapter. This book was very hard to read during Amelia's story but there were certain parts that will stay with me for a very long time and that were soul destroying which is why Emma's story mixed in is so important. It helps give the reader light hearted breaks between. What the Nazi's did to these innocent people makes me absolutely sick to my soul. The poor children and parents watching each other suffering especially. However, one of the most important points of this story is thay they weren't all bad, some did it as they were brought up to know only to follow orders but hated every second while sadly others enjoyed what they were doing. My heart screamed out to Leah for what she went through along with Amelia and Charlie. I absolutely loved how this book ended and it was exactly what was needed. I was also shocked by the unexpected twist. A huge congratulations Shari, it is getting harder and harder to surprise me but you managed to catch me completely unawares twice!! Amelia and Emma are such amazingly strong women who I absolutely loved and Charlie and Jackson are absolutely amazing gentlemen that are such a rare breed. I was completely invested in all their stories and lives. I am sad to say goodbye to them and they will live in my mind for a very long time!!!

It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture. I loved the modern day chapters as well as the historical ones and felt like I was being told the story over a cup of tea.

Clear your schedules and grab your tissues as you will not be able to put this book down or stop the tears from streaming!!!

Again congratulations Shari on an absolutely stunning emotional rollercoaster ride of a book!! I would say this book is on par with the likes of 'The' diary of Anne Frank' which left me with the same feelings your novel has of not even more emotional. I cannot wait to read the best of your books and I would like to welcome you to my favourite 3 historical author list!!!

Overall a heart wrenching, absolutely beautifully devastating story filled with love, loss, hope and so, so much more!!!

Genres covered in this book include Historical Fiction, Women's Saga, Women's Historical Fiction, Women's Literary Fiction and War Story amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz', 'Orphan Train',Ellie Midwood, The Tattooist of Aushcwitz, The Librarian of Aushcwitz and anyone interested in the Holocaust and its history.


331 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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As I didn’t have time to read and review all three books in this resissued trilogy from Shari J. Ryan which all follow a similar storyline with the exception that each book is told from a different character’s perspective, I decided to read the first book -The Girl With The Diary. I read it in one sitting as it is a quick read and my immediate thoughts after finishing it were it is a good read with a unique concept overall, writing three books from a different viewpoint. The themes are ones which I have read an awful lot about in books set during World War Two. Still it never gets any easier to read of the atrocities that took place and the suffering, humiliation, degradation and terror inflicted on so many simply because of their religion.

The author has a warning before the story begins that this read is incredibly graphic regarding the experiences the characters endure during the Holocaust. To be honest and this is not to take away from what so many people went through, but yes what I read was horrific and hard to read at times but I have read other books which have been far more graphic in detail and which left me open mouthed in shock. It’s not that I have become hardened to what I read given I have read endless amounts of books in this genre it’s just I felt the warning was unnecessary and in fact the author could have gone into even more detail as to what the main character Amelia tolerated when she was imprisoned in Theresienstadt. Casting this issue aside this is a story of one woman reliving her experiences during the war. A war which her family did not survive. Amelia has kept a secret for 74 years. It’s a secret which brings forbidden love to another level and it makes this book a divisive read and one which would inspire much debate.

Amelia is now 92 and living in Boston, having arrived in America when the war ended. Her story has remained hidden deep in the corners of her mind and like anyone who has suffered trauma she has blacked things out as she can’t imagine the consequences if her secret was revealed. The effects it would have on her family don’t bare thinking about. As a survivor, Amelia feels a numbness inside that she uses to protect her from the pain of the memories that have lasted a lifetime. She made a life for herself in America with her husband and two daughters Annie and Clara and in turn she loved her granddaughter Emma. But now she is nearing the end of her life. She feels uneasy that something is wrong that she hasn’t much time left.

Emma calls to her house as she does daily and Amelia falls ill. She is rushed to hospital having suffered a stroke. The doctor Jackson Beck saves her in time but warns her heart is weak and she needs an operation. Amelia is confused and talking about the past asking for a man called Charlie. Nobody knows who she is talking about as Amelia has never opened up about her past. Emma is urged to find a diary where Amelia has written down her life story. She locates the book and from that point on we move back and forth between the war years and the present day as Emma reads of Amelia’s life story which is harrowing and shocking but also a story of unimaginable strength and resilience.

I love dual timeline books, that’s if the two stories merge together perfectly but here weaving back and forth between the past and the present it felt as if I was reading two separate stories and at times two separate genres. In the present day it was like I was reading a romance story as Amelia despite how ill she is tries to get Emma together with Jackson. It just felt so out of pace in a book of this nature. One minute I was reading about the ghetto and the illness, starvation and danger Amelia and her fellow inmates were experiencing and the next chapter was all laughing and joking over Emma’s love life. It was like a total disconnect existed between the two strands of the story. I wasn’t interested in Emma and Jackson and there was far too much detail of should they go out on a date and let it develop into something more?

Emma literally stepped out of one relationship and within hours was in another. Nearing the end I realised why Amelia pressured Emma so much regarding love but still overall the way it was developed wasn’t right for me. The chapters from Emma’s perspective were far too long and I just wanted to get back to Amelia’s story. To be honest, I found myself rushing through Emma’s chapters as quickly as possible in order to return to Amelia and Charlie in the past. It’s only in the last few chapters from Emma’s perspective that things got interesting and focused more on linking the past with the present regarding Amelia. The modern day strand wasn’t badly written it’s just there should have been less of it and even more of a focus on Amelia than was given to her which was a lot I know but I wanted much more.

So to Amelia’s story which was the strongest element in this book and I know loved is the wrong word to use but I did love her as a character and yes she is divisive in her actions but that’s what makes you keep reading wanting to find out more about her and what she does during the war. Before everything changed, Amelia lived in colour. Her heart was protected. She was surrounded by love and brightness but that all altered and turned to grey and dark. ‘Raindrops that once fell from the sky bled into the tears that burned down my cheeks’. Amelia loses everything and everyone she has ever known. Germans arrive to her home knowing the family is Jewish and despite hiding, they are caught. Her mother is murdered in cold blood in the street and Amelia and her brother and father are taken away. They travel with many others in deplorable conditions and once they have arrived at Theresienstadt they are separated. As Amelia says, a ghetto was formerly defined as a ‘place where segregated religions would gather and live in a communal area’ whereas now they are ‘a place where prisoners were kept against their will behind barbed fences’.

Amelia is imprisoned in barracks with numerous other women. They are left to starve more or less as rations are not sufficient. Disease, illness, hunger and the stench of death and decay and pain and fear surround her. She wants to live on for the mother who left her but she doesn’t know how she can exist and survive to make it out of this hell hole. Being one of the slighter fitter women she is given a job in the medical quarters cataloguing those who are ill. Here she tries to take things that will help those in the barracks suffering but the person she wishes to help the most, well she is not successful in that regard. Amelia is wasting away but there is someone who has had their eye on her ever since her family was torn apart. Charlie is his name. He is a German soldier and instantly you feel as if danger is around the corner. But Charlie is different he has been forced to enlist. He does not have the same mindset as all the others. He has been told what way to feel and act towards Jews but deep down he is of the opposite belief. Of course, in the open he must act like a loyal and dedicated serving member of the German army but secretly he starts to help Amelia, slipping food to her whenever he can.

The reader can clearly see that Charlie develops deep feelings for Amelia as they steal time together whenever they can despite the danger surrounding them. Amelia never ever confesses her love for Charlie and there are a multitude of reasons why. First, you wonder does she love him at all or is she just using him to try and survive day by day and make it through to the end which seems so far away. Secondly as she says ‘some would consider what I did as wrong and equally horrendous, as what heartless ones did to my whole race’. This is the crux of the matter and what makes the story so divisive. Would you have done the same as Amelia? Engaging with the enemy? Was it genuine or fake?
She shared a love with someone she shouldn’t have as ‘through a cloud of dust and despair, I found a glimmer hope, a smile amongst the sunken cheeks and rotten corpses’. It makes you question what you would have done in the same situation? Amelia, stands by her actions and beliefs because the heart wants what the heart wants but at the age of 92 she still has one major regret. Is love stronger than hate? If what Amelia did comes out into the open how will her daughters react? As Emma reads further through the diary her opinion of her grandmother changes and she wonders what happened to separate Charlie and Amelia? They were ‘each other’s hopes and dreams amidst the horror and destruction around us’.

The Girl in the Diary is a very good read. Amelia in the past makes for riveting reading but as mentioned up above I rather glossed over Emma and her romance in the present day. Will Amelia’s story change people’s way of thinking? Well, it would certainly provide plenty of debate if you were to read this as a book club choice. I know I was of one firm viewpoint before beginning this book and now honestly I am caught right in the middle. When time allows I will definitely read The Prison Child which follows Annie’s journey and The Soldiers Letters which details Charlie’s perspective. This is a remarkable story of survival but also one of heartbreak and sacrifice.

Prague, 1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet, the only place she knew to be safe until she is found and captured by the SS. Amelia lives through the horror of witnessing the death of her mother and is shoved onto a train packed with hundreds of people. The train travels for what seemed like days, before it arrives at a concentration camp. Amelia fears that her life is over as she is led to a block. But one of the soldiers gives her a piece of bread she thinks that maybe there is hope. Charlie, the soldier meant to be an enemy, is actually the one that helps so many prisoners from being deported. He falls in love with Amelia and will do anything in his power to save her. The only way for them to survive is for them to keep their love a secret. This emotionally gripping and amazingly beautiful story was heart wrenching. I couldn’t put this book down until I finished it. I was completely taken back by how real this story was. I wish I could give ten stars because five just doesn’t seem like enough. Absolutely must read.

Thank you Shari J. Ryan for such a wonderful, gripping and fascinating story of never giving up hope in the worst of times. I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend this book.

In this first book in the Lost Words trilogy, Emma is tasked to find her grandmother's diary. Her grandmother Amelia has suffered a stroke and almost immediately begins asking for "Charlie". Emma is with her at the hospital and that is when Emma honors her request by looking for the journal.

We have two stories in this book - that of Amelia's loss of her family as her once-happy life quickly turned into living in a concentration camp. We also have Emma's story and as to what happened with Amelia's cardiologist Dr. Jackson Beck. I loved watching both stories develop. For one thing, I knew going in that this trilogy would have three different perspectives, so seeing Amelia's point of view, but through the eyes of Emma as she read the diary from cover-to-cover was just so heartbreaking, especially as we see Emma struggling after having a stroke.

Back in 1942, Amelia is in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, and a soldier does more than offer her a piece of bread. In fact, he ultimately saves her life, and makes an impact on her that proves a miracle, especially since she was a Jew and he was an SS Soldier. In present day, Amelia's diary recounts her experiences and reveals secrets she has held onto for decades.

This book takes a tragic story, tragic experiences and heartbreaking memories and turns it all into a story of hope. All while readers are led to see what ultimately happened to Amelia and the soldier, they also see Emma's life take a delightful turn. This was a wonderful first book in a great series that I had the privilege of reading back-to-back. Although saddened more than once while reading, I was able to find hope and inspiration and I love that this book gave me that.

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review of all three books in this series, including The Prison Child and The Soldier's Letters - https://youtu.be/IuTTqiXMFGo