I think The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington could have been a great book, unfortunately it felt as though the author wasn't exactly sure where she intended to take the story. It ended up coming off quite disjointed which is such a shame as the premise sounded incredibly promising.
Firstly, I'd like to confess that I don't quite understand why Adlington decided to refer to Auschwitz-Birkenau as Birchwood. Perhaps it's because it's a book aimed at a younger audience? Even so, I think it was an odd choice to change the name.
I found the protagonist, Ella, to be a bit too optimistic considering she was quite literally forced to work for her life in an extermination camp. While her determination is admirable, I felt as though it took away some of the seriousness that a book tackling a topic such as the Holocaust should have. It felt at times a bit distracting.
Ella's friendship with Rose, though, was rather well written and quite optimistic! And I suppose that term could be used to describe the book as a whole: Optimistic. The ending surely felt a bit fake and too-good-to-be-true, so I'm not sure I'd ever read another book by this author.
Firstly, I'd like to confess that I don't quite understand why Adlington decided to refer to Auschwitz-Birkenau as Birchwood. Perhaps it's because it's a book aimed at a younger audience? Even so, I think it was an odd choice to change the name.
I found the protagonist, Ella, to be a bit too optimistic considering she was quite literally forced to work for her life in an extermination camp. While her determination is admirable, I felt as though it took away some of the seriousness that a book tackling a topic such as the Holocaust should have. It felt at times a bit distracting.
Ella's friendship with Rose, though, was rather well written and quite optimistic! And I suppose that term could be used to describe the book as a whole: Optimistic. The ending surely felt a bit fake and too-good-to-be-true, so I'm not sure I'd ever read another book by this author.