Heather Morris (Screenwriter)

This novel is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews, who survived Auschwitz and eventually made their home in Australia. In that terrible place, Lale was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival.

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz: Based on an Incredible True Story

Nessa Luna

This is a very beautiful book about a terrible thing. Though the writing was very light, I just could not read this book without having to pick up another (happier) book every now and then. If you're interested in reading stories about WWII, especially true stories, I definitely recommend this book!

Lyric Hooey

** spoiler alert **
           3.5 ⭐️ I’ll echo what some others have said... prose not so great, but the story itself is beautiful and based off a real survivors life. Just needed more depth with the storytelling!

Siobhan Graham

Incredible. I couldn’t put it down. So heartbreaking but so beautiful reading the story of Lale and Gita. One of the best books I’ve ever read.

Pippa 

Emelie

Aria <3 

READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. It is not a long book, but it is very powerful. I could not put this book down, and I was on the edge of my seat (as well as on the edge of crying) the entire time. The Tattooist of Auschwitz tells a real story in a fictional narrative, which allows people such as me (who have trouble reading and understanding non-fiction) to learn about what actually happen during World War II. This is an important story to read.

Skye Sherman

A sweet love story set amidst the horrors of one of history’s most atrocious periods. I listened on audio which isn’t my preferred method of reading so I’m afraid I missed some of the beauty of the prose, but this was still a great story. I didn’t expect or realize that it was based on a true story and actually found that quite surprising to learn at the end. I’m in awe that this story really took place. Highly recommended book, especially now that I know it’s true.

Kaytlynn Friesen

Love, love, love this book. This is my second time reading it & I love it just as much as the first time. 

Grace O'Callaghan

CW: Rape, violence, death etc.

I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but I was disappointed. I feel bad for giving such a harrowing story based on Lale’s experience such a bad rating. How can you measure someone’s life on a 1 to 5 scale? The answer is you can’t and the actual plot of the book is not what I had an issue with. You’ll see what I mean.

Firstly, of course this is an important subject. Everyone learns of WW2 in school (at least in England, can’t speak for the rest of the world) and the devastating things the nazis did to Jews and what happened in concentration camps, but it’s all told in facts and numbers and the emotion was taken out of it. I thought by reading this book I’d learn about Lale and read from the perspective of someone who had lived through a concentration camp. Whilst this was technically what I received, there was again no emotion in it.

I think the major downfall of this book was the writing. There was hardly any prose whatsoever and when there was it was like ‘Lale did this. Lale did that.’ There was no emotion to be had. I don’t think the third person narration helped the matter. I just felt so closed off from Lale and how he felt. Of course I sympathised with Lale, but I never empathised with him. 
The dialogue was also very disjointed.

Despite the lack of good writing, I was interested in the story and what was going to happen. Again I sympathised with Lale, but never got a chance to know anything about him really. I learned he was charming? That’s about it. I also couldn’t tell you a single thing about Gita. She had no personality. I’m sure she and Lale had actual personalities in real life. I got more about them in the afterword written by their son than the story itself, which was a shame. 

The romance was also incredibly bland. I’m sure it was great to have found someone in such a dark time in your life, but it didn’t translate well on the page.
I’m so happy that the real Lale found Gita despite being in such a horrible position and glad that they were able to escape and reunite when others did not.

Of course I can’t even begin to imagine what being in a concentration camp was like, but this book didn’t make it seem as inhuman and disgusting as it was. I feel like there was no emotion whenever death was brought up. I feel horrible for saying this, but it didn’t seem like there was enough focus on the hardships of the concentration camp. I feel like it was more about the romance. The Holocaust is a subject that should make you sad and I never really felt that, which is a very big flaw in this book.
 
I do think it’s important to write about this tragic time in history and to never forget. But I cannot give this book higher than one star because the writing was so bad in my opinion.

Natalie Manuel

What a waste of an amazing story on an incapable writer. There is no 'prose', there is really just "he did this, and then he did that". No depth of emotion, no depth of characters, heck - no characters! I couldn't tell you ONE personality trait of Gita's. Lale also, is so thinly drawn I know nothing about him other than he is supposedly charming. 

The dialogue between characters is ridiculously empty and the whole thing feels like the most superficial experience of Auschwitz possible.

The love story, which I'm sure had depth and feeling in real life, is like a disney retelling. 

A sad sad waste :(

Lucy Hacker

Really enjoyed this story - a fascinating tale, and an easy read. It was missing something, but I’m not sure what - perhaps because it’s someone’s personal story narrated by someone else, something is lost? Still worth a read.

Hope Brockway

Bro, Idek how to feel about this book. It's a story about resilience and love and doing whatever it takes to survive. But there is a ton of stuff that I don't like about it. 

First of all, this book reads like a movie. This means you can picture exactly what is happening in your mind. And while this is a wonderful part of the book because it shows how fantastic the writing style is, I'm not sure I wanted it for this book. (Does that make any sense?) Because of the reasons below. 

They talk about sex a lot. And I'm talking about like rape. Cause tons of girls got raped and it made me feel very uncomfortable. I mean, it's a book about Auschwitz you're going to feel uncomfortable. It's filled with death and darkness and I was not in the mood (is there such thing as a "death and darkness" mood??). I just wasn't emotionally prepared for all of that. 

And there was some prostitution at the end of the book. And I hated that. 

And then the "doctor" and his tests. While a lot of that kind of stuff happened behind the scenes, there were still hints and I was heartbroken over all of that. Because medicine is supposed to help people. We, as healthcare professionals, should look through the injury to see the person underneath. I think healthcare is one of the most caring professions. Or it could be. But that's not what we're talking about with this book. We're talking about the sadistic man who tested on people just to see what would happen. Complete debauchery of the healthcare profession. I was sickened at some of the descriptions (though they were brief) of what happened. 

But I do respect Lale for what he did. He took what he had (a somewhat powerful job of tattooist job) and did what he could to help others. He also happened to fall in love along the way. 

I guess I'm not entirely mad at this book. I more mad at what happened in this book. I am revolted at the rape and murder and prostitution. But that did happen and it's not healthy to pretend like it didn't. But I still walked away from this book feeling relief that it was over.

Ciska van Bokhorst

Heel moeilijk om een boek met dit onderwerp deze rating te geven, maar de schrijfstijl stond me enorm tegen. Zo kon ik me niet inleven en voelde ik niet de gruwelijkheden die zich daar afspeelden.

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz: Based on an Incredible True Story

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