Review: Not Without My Sister by Marion Kummerow

Not Without My Sister

by Marion Kummerow

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 259

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  1944, Germany. Two sisters seek to overcome impossible odds to be reunited, in this utterly devastating and unforgettable novel about sisterhood, courage and survival.

All they had left was each other. Until the Nazis tore them apart.

After years of hiding from the Nazis, Rachel Epstein and her little sister Mindel are captured by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. The only ray of light for either girl is that they are together.

But on arrival they are separated. As she’s seventeen and deemed an adult, Rachel is sent to work in a brutal factory whilst four-year-old Mindel is sent into the so-called “star” camp for Jewish prisoners. All on her own, Rachel knows her sister will have no chance of survival—unless she can find someone to take care of her.

Working in the windowless, airless factory—filling munitions casings with chemicals that burn her fingers and make her eyes sting—the only thing that keeps Rachel going is the thought of her little sister. Because if there’s even a chance Mindel is alive, Rachel knows she must try to save her.

But, separated by barbed wire, and treated brutally by SS guards who do not even see them as human beings, can either of the orphaned sisters ever dare to hope that they’ll find their way back to each other? And to freedom?

Kritters Thoughts:  An extremely hard read.  A set of sisters are separated on their way to a Nazi concentration camp and they must hold onto the dream of reconciliation to get them through the hardest of the days.  At four and seventeen years old they have very different experiences and the book switches between their points of view to show two different sides of survival in a concentration camp.

I have read a lot of World War II books and even some that take place in a concentration camp, but for some reason this one was harder to read than most.  I think I can contribute the heaviness of the book due to the fact that it is through a child's eyes.  Mindel who is four is experiencing things no one should and at such a young age without a family member nearby, that is beyond anyone's imagination.  It was a bit easier to read Rachel's story, but to watch her bounce between handling it and almost losing it - I was thankful this one was short.  

I would add this to your reading list if you feel as though you have read all the books in the World War II genre and are ready for this one, but this is worth the read if you can handle it.   

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 28 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.