The Forest of Vanishing Stars A Novel

Kristin Harmel — 2021

Indie Next List pick for July 2021 * Parade “Best Books of Summer” pick * Real Simple summer reading pick * SheReads “Best WWII Fiction of Summer 2021” pick The New York Times bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” (People) The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything. After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything. Inspired by incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, and suffused with the journey-from-the-wilderness elements that made Where the Crawdads Sing a worldwide phenomenon, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author whose writing has been hailed as “sweeping and magnificent” (Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author), “immersive and evocative” (Publishers Weekly), and “gripping” (Tampa Bay Times).

Reviews

Melissa Palmer@melissapalmer404

Nov 5, 2023

This book could be brutal to read at times but was extremely well written. Well researched and based on true events, it tells of a group of Jews from Poland who hides in the forest to escape being killed by the Nazis. I love the writing of this author and I recommend this one.

Bethany Williamson@readingandrelaxing

Apr 1, 2023

I loved it!!! Some of my favorite historical fiction books are set during the world war 2 era. Kristin harmel is a fantastic writer. I love Yona the main character and was very happy with the ending of the book!!

Lacy W@aravenclawlibrary

Feb 22, 2023

Title: The Forest of Vanishing Stars Author: Kristin Harmel Genre: Adult Historical Fiction Format: library hardback book Star Rating: 4 stars tw: kidnapping, mentions of murder, death, graphic infant death, antisemitism, infidelity, holocaust horrors This book was different than I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be one of those books where Yona, the main character, would spend the whole book attempting to find her family after being kidnapped. Serves me right for not reading the synopsis right away. This book was very slow as it’s very character driven. We get to watch Yona grow as she helps a Jewish group avoid Nazi detection. It was frustrating at times to see her so socially stunted. I suppose living in the woods with nothing but an elderly lady for company, you are bound to not be socially adept. It was refreshing, though, watching Yona grow up essentially. Even though she was taught to not trust any other humans, I’m glad she learned to care for people. I’m just such a sucker for character-driven books. I felt a lot of different emotions while reading this book. It was different than other Holocaust books, which was nice. Sometimes it’s rough to read about concentration camps all the time. This was such a refreshing breath of fresh air from all the other Holocaust books. Don’t get me wrong, those books are very important but sometimes, I just need a break from all the horror of the Holocaust. Also, look up the forest mentioned in this book. I was sitting here thinking how in the world could the Nazis not find these people? I looked up the forest, which is called the Nalibocka or Nalibocki, and I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than Iowa, the state in the United States where I live. I’m used to tiny forests where you have to try and get lost. I think my local forest is just about 5 miles, probably even less than that. Overall, this was a great book and I’m very happy I read it. I found out that it’s loosely based on true events, which is even better. I took some time after reading the book to do some research on it and it’s pretty interesting. I recommend looking it up yourself. It’s mentioned at the end of the book. Anyway, if you enjoy character-driven novels, this is the book for you.

Karen Shimek@karenreads

Jan 7, 2022

4.5 - great historical fiction with an element of the fantastical.

Dani Mitchell@dani_awesome

Sep 12, 2021

So intriguing and heart wrenching. We all should know some basic history about WWII and this brings a terrifying piece of that history to life. Highly recommend!!!