Cilka's Journey The Sunday Times bestselling sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz

3.5 stars

A powerful sequel to a powerful book. Cilka endures so many horrific things....will she ever get a happy life? Cilka, sentenced to 15 years hard labor at a Siberian prison. This book is gripping and will leave its mark on its readers.

I enjoyed this book much more than The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The writing was still a little choppy, but I thought Cilka’s character development was more sophisticated than either Lale or Gita’s.

It’s so wrong to rate a book like this one but it was genuinely such a good fucking read. Everyone needs to read this- to be aware and to be empathetic. Oh my god the way Heather Morris explains the most traumatic things a human could possibly be put through in such a captivating and easy to read manner. You can see the dimensions every single character has, ever single word written here was calculated and not a single alphabet remained to be an extra. Cecilia was the kindest purest soul oh my god, too many emotions. Too good of a book.

Absolutely beautiful!

** spoiler alert ** “I dont know what love is, if i was to allow myself to fall in love with someone, i would have to believe there was a future. And there isn’t” — Cilka’s Journey This is incredible story telling, even if heather morris adds some fictional character / story line, this is still an amazing book. We all need her spirit, her braveness, her faith that she have with her all these years innocently imprisoned. I feel the anger, i cry to moments where she have to bid goodbye, i am happy for her journey that she lived her life with her loved one. That’s about it, simple 5 ⭐️ from me

After managing to survive Auschwitz, Cilka is then sentenced to a 15 year sentence in a Soviet prison. This is the inspiring story of one woman doing whatever she can to survive, while still wanting to help all those around her in whatever way she can. I was blown away by this book! What was most shocking to me was that, while this book read like fiction, it was all based off of real-life events. When reading about the traumatic experience that not only Cilka but everyone else in the camp had to endure, it is difficult to imagine these events actually happening to people. It is truly a life-altering book where you wonder what you would do/would be forced to do in that same situation. There were many times when reading this book that I felt the emotions of the characters, and I became very attached to them. To me, this is always a sign of great writing! You root for these women, and especially for Cilka. I never wanted to put my book down because I wanted to keep reading to see Cilka finally get her freedom back. After reading this book I can agree with Lale, the Tattooist of Auschwitz, in that Cilka Klein is an incredibly brave person, and I'm so glad that her story has been shared. **Thank you to BookishFirst and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I honestly think "Cilka's Journey" might have been better than the first in the series. While "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" was an amazing story, "Cilka's Journey" feels better written and more cohesive. Cilka's story tugs at your heart strings and reminds you of the incredible strength people can have in the face of horror and tragedy. Her flashbacks throughout the book are proof that conditions for prisoners after the war were often just as horrifying as some of the conditions faced in the camps. If you enjoyed "The Tattooist of Auschwitz", I highly recommend picking up "Cilka's Journey" for a compelling sequel.

The narration is beautifully done, and the story is moving. I hope to think I'm as brave or strong as Cilka.

I was never interested in researching about the history of Russian gulags up to this book. I could say that is similar with what happened to the Jews but with Russian ideology and weather. Still a history lesson well documented by the writer.

Disclaimer: I received an arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: Cilka’s Journey Author: Heather Morris Book Series: The Tattooist of Auschwitz Book 2 Rating: 5/5 Diversity: Some LGBTQA+ relationships mentioned, Jewish main character and side characters Publication Date: October 1, 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction (based on a true story) Recommended Age: 18+ (TW rape, TW child molestation, TW sexual assault, TW torture, gore, violence, language, childbirth) Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Pages: 352 Amazon Link Synopsis: In this follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the author tells the story, based on a true one, of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again. Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labor camp on charges of having helped the Nazis--with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive. Review: I thought this book was absolutely wonderful. The writing immediately drew me into the book, the story saddened and depressed me, and the main character was very well done. It’s hard to make likeable characters out of characters who do bad things sometimes, but the author did this very well with Cilka. The book was also very well paced and the world building was marvelous. My only issue is that the book time jumps a lot, sometimes with dates at the top, but sometimes not, so you really have to pay attention to the timeline of the book. Verdict: A very well done and beautiful book!

Following the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp many were freed only to be sentenced to hard labor or even worse for allegedly collaborating for the enemy. Cilka’s story is one full with sadness and hardship. She was the bravest woman Lale Sokolov ever knew and we come to understand why. She was sent to the gulag in Siberia where she learns quickly that this new place is not so different from the previous one. She’s given once again a position of power that leaves her with a long list of jealous people behind. She made it her job to help those she could and at least try to do some good while she was there. This Historical Fiction book was made to move your heartstrings and break your emotion into a million pieces. I am conflicted, my friends. From the fiction point of view I could truly enjoy this book from the beginning to the end with nothing bad to say about it. It’s beautifully written and just moves the stone heart that 2020 gave you. It is so sad to think the outrageous reasons people were incarcerated in the past. No one would listen to reason. They couldn’t understand that she didn’t have another choice. It was either that or death. She was only 16 years old when she went into Auschwitz. What else could she do if she didn’t want to die? What would you do in her shoes? No one can predict that. Now, when you look at the reality of her story... I do not appreciate the liberties Morris took while writing this story to make it more appealing for the public. This book has hurt her remaining family in multiple ways and has tarnished the memory of Cilka. Telling her real story is the right thing to do but it is not okay to make things up just for sales. If you’re making up a story from beginning to end with made up characters inspired by real people, it’s okay but when you decide to retell someone’s story and half of it’s a lie... it’s just not okay. To me it doesn’t matter if on the author’s note said.

Just as with the first book in this duology, I'm taken aback by all the things described. Yes, some of it is fictional, but still most of it is based on accounts of survivors (or others). And even if only half of it was real (which it's not, more than that is) I still can't imagine going through all of it and actually surviving.

I usually do not read books that are based on real events. I have found that my knowledge of the event overshadowed the book. I couldn’t help but compare what happened to what was going on in the book. I would almost always end up disappointed in the book. Then I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which is the first book in this series. I was taken away by Lale’s story. Cilka was introduced in this book. She was a mysterious and enigmatic character. I wondered what happened to her at the end of the book. What I read in Cilka’s Journey broke my heart. Cilka was a child when she caught the attention of The Commandant. Which sickened me in the first book. In this book, I was still sickened. What he did to Cilka in those years was heartbreaking. But, it was what happened after Auschwitz was released that broke my heart. Cilka was found to be a Nazi collaborator because the Russian Army found out that she was sleeping with The Commandant. Instead of earning her freedom, she was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in Siberia. I was outraged when I read that. She was traumatized at a young age, forced to watch friends and family die/killed, and then, instead of being able to heal, she was retraumatized on top of that. I know that I am making a big deal about Cilka’s age in this book. She was 16 when she was sent to Auschwitz. She was around 20 when she was sent to Siberia. She suffered trauma after trauma in Auschwitz. So, yes, I was shocked when the Russian Army sent her to Siberia. She was forced to do what she had to survive, which mean becoming a camp wife of a soldier. I can’t tell you how that affected me. The abuse shook me. She suffered in both places. There were points where I wanted to hug her, take her away, and get her therapy. The prison camp in Siberia was as bad as Auschwitz. But, and stress this, the prisoners could leave, if they survived to the end of the sentences. It was an awful place to live. Disease and violence were rampant. To my knowledge, I don’t think that I have read a book that takes place in one. I have heard of them and have seen them mentioned in books. Cilka’s Journey was not an easy read. There were times I had to put the book down and walk away because I was that disturbed by it. The emotional impact that it had on me lasted days after I read it. The end of Cilka’s Journey was informative. The author included a note about Cilka and her life after the prison camp. While the characters portrayed in the prison camp were fictional, the camp itself wasn’t. The author explained what happened to it and when it closed down.

I had actually forgotten that I had checked this book out until Libby told me I had three days before I had to return it. Since I got through The Tattooist of Auschwitz pretty quickly, I figured this one would be no problem and dove right in. I actually think I liked this sequel about Cilka more. Part of it I think are the characters - we have a group of women at the centre of the story with a wide variety of backgrounds and histories. I could identify more with Cilka than with Lale based on our shared gender alone, but just by personality as well. Her story also has so much gravitas when you consider her age, her past, her meek future, and the sacrifices she has to make to survive in the middle of Siberia. In comparison to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the author wasn't able to interview Cilka as she had Lale, so the story is put together by research and source material alone. A lot of the reviews of this book find issue with that, and Cilka's real stepson also had an issue with the story and treatment of his father. While I do understand their perspectives and criticisms, I still enjoyed this book and Cilka immensely.

** spoiler alert ** In contrast with its prequel Tattooist Of Auschwitz, Heather Morris doesn't write this story in the first person. In that aspect, it feels odd and is sometimes hard to follow who is speaking. The story highlights a story of Holocaust survivors that as a historian, I find exciting and different. I found the storyline hard to get into, but the story grew, and I was hooked. While I enjoyed the story, I did have some problems with the character development.