The Storyteller

First time I’ve read historical fiction and was shocked how much I’d enjoyed it.

Actual Rating: 3.5 To be honest, I havent read a lot of Holocaust books yet. They scared me a little, and they mad me feel sad and nauseous. When I bought this book, I had no idea what was in store for me. By the time I started, Jodie Picoult already had me hooked and I had no choice but to push onward. The main character of our story is Sage Singer - a young woman who is still reeling from physical and emotional scars. Due to an accident that kills her mother and damages her face, she acquires scars on the left side of her face that does not only lower her self esteem but also reminds her of her mother's death. I love her character. She's the usual damsel in distress, who thinks she deserves the lesser catch. She finds solitude in baking, and the way she describes is is so unique and wonderful. What really caught my interest here was the story her grandmother wrote about a fabled girl, Ania. It was a twisted kind of fairy tale, dark and whimsical. I find it wonderful that a girl from that era would be able to write as well as this. The story was somehow allegorical to the main plot, but I also thought it was too confusing. The flashbacks were also a huge part of the book, one that provided insight on WWII. The detailed and thought out description of the Holocaust, from both the Jew and the Nazi's pov, was gruesome but it also led me to a deeper understanding of it. It was really really sad, and now I look at the Holocaust in a way that I've never seen it before. They deal further more with forgiveness, morality, the FBI, and then a killer plot twist. Highly recommended.

I will be reading this in order to get some promised Chocolate Babka.

Jodi Picoult did it again. That ending! I feel like I can't breath.

Jodi Picoult never disappoints! I was gripped into this book from the very first page. Silly me for thinking it would be a fascinating enjoyable read (which, I guess, it was) but I overlooked how deeply I would wade through the horrors of the holocaust. Overall, I feel like I have been educated greatly on both sides of the event and I'm still in emotional turmoil from the ethical traumas that are so typical of Jodi Picoult's stories!

Wow! Easily in my top 3 of favorite Picoult books. She writes with stunning clarity and real heartache. This is a well-researched take on the holocaust with a narrative that delves into the past and makes us relive it all--a take I wasn't expecting. There are more than a few twists in this story that connect beautifully and give this book intricate layers. I can honestly say I did not predict the enormous twist at the end, but I am thrilled with her choice to do what she did. This story will gut you. It will entertain you. It will stick with you.

"The Storyteller" is Jodi Picoult's attempt to draw out the tropes of the Holocaust. Who is guilty? Can someone who perpetrated atrocity be forgiven? This novel is typical Picoult in that she uses various POVs to navigate difficult subjects and questions which really have no 'right' answer. Generally I enjoy her style, but in this story she completely drowns the atually intriguing part of her tale. I wish Picoult would have spent much more time with Sage Singer, baker, granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, and an accidental 'friend' to an ex-Nazi SS officer who wants her to forgive him for his 'sins' and help him die. Instead Picoult spends the majority of the book with Minka, Sage's grandmother, and her recounting of what happened to her during WWII. While this tale is heart rending and devestating, it merely felt like a regurgitation of every horror tale you've already heard. Of course Minka was involved with every historical aspect of the Nazi genocide machine (Lodz ghetto, Auschwitz, death march). It felt contrived, and overly lengthy. I've read Eli Weisl's "Night," I don't need to have it retold from a woman's POV here. I wish Picoult would have instead focused her energy on the more unique aspects of her story - including the present day struggle Sage goes through when she learns her friend is in fact a monster. Worth a read if you are a WII newbie.

One of the best books i have read in a while, as always Jodi Picoult has out done herself and you see why she is a no 1 best seller! She draws you in from the first sentence, and you feel Minka's pain when she looses friends andnfamily members. This is a must for all!

One of the best fiction books about the Holocaust I've ever read! Jodi Picoult did her research excellent.