Not Without My Sister

by Marion Kummerow

Published March 25, 2021 by Bookouture

I sat on this review for a bit because I wanted to be sure I truly disliked the book as much as I did.

2 stars because it was well-researched and a classic Holocaust story relative to its peers in Holocaust literature.

Only 2 stars for 2 main reasons: this story has been told over and over in many books and I had a really hard time reconciling that one of the main characters was 4 years old. While the story was sweet, haunting, and gut wrenching at times, there’s no way a 4 year old had the capacity to think, communicate, or act the way she did throughout the story. I can understand wanting to portray 2 young sisters, but as a mother, I’m familiar with the emotional and intellectual capabilities of a 4 year old and this FAR exceeded that. I found myself getting lost in the story occasionally only to be reminded that I was reading from the perspective of a small child and just couldn’t make myself believe it. We need more stories from the Holocaust, but this isn’t a good one.