Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros has such a great premise- a Jewish man creates a golem in his daughter’s image after she is murdered by Nazis in WWII Lithuania. The golem’s only purpose is to avenge Chaya’s death and exact retribution on all those that have contributed to the atrocities brought on during the war. Bits of magical realism and Jewish folklore are sprinkled throughout the novel. When Vera wakes after her creation, she has some of Chaya’s memories, but also has to learn to “live” as a human on her own. She quickly meets Akiva, the boy who Chaya was with prior to her murder. Vera and Akiva work together to to destroy the Nazis who patrol and terrorize the lives of innocents caught in the hell surrounding them. Vera discovers that there are those that are trying to harness the powers that allowed her to be created to destroy humanity- and she feels the need to stop them at all cost.

The premise was so interesting; the execution was not. While I understand the book is YA, I felt as though the author wasn’t sure where they wanted to take the story- was it magical realism? Was it romance? Was it folklore? The story just never seemed to find its roots and so it was very disjointed to me. Vera was a golem that did have emotions, but didn’t; she was supposed to be a strong, independent young woman , but she was constantly following around the men. I never felt fully immersed in the story. It was a serious premise that seemed superficial and silly at times. Unfortunately, Wrath Becomes Her is not one I would readily recommend. 2.5/5 for me. This is an honest review and solely my own thoughts and opinions. Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard for the opportunity to read the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy.

A story of self discovery through the eyes of a gollum created for vengeance during WW2. Ezra has made Vera in the image of his daughter, Chaya, after she died in an ambush.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Polydoros has been a favorite author since their debut because the world definitely needs more queer Jewish stories, but every time I tried to read this one I couldn't get past the opening scene. Good chance this is a case of being in the wrong mood for this one, and maybe I'll come back to it when I'm in a better place to handle the violence, but for now this just did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I really liked this historical fantasy, I just think I’m outgrowing YA. Would still reccomend to other readers though.

I love that both of the books I’ve read by Aden Polydoros look at lesser understood parts of major historical events, and makes them Jewish and queer. The other book I read, The City Beautiful, followed a Romanian immigrant during the Chicago World’s Fair, and here we are in Lithuania during WW2.

The concept here is fantastic. The main character is a golem, so you have this whole idea of what is a human and what makes humanity, and you get to see the toll for death and destruction and laser. Focus on vengeance does to people, I think all of the questions Polydoros intended on bringing to this book are fascinating make for great discussion. Yet I didn’t really enjoy this book. I don’t know if it was the execution, or if it was the audiobook narrator, or if I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it, but I found myself quite bored through a lot of this.

I found myself feeling strangely distant from the main character, and that made it hard to be invested in her struggles or the relationships she was developing, and I think, as much as I loved all of the description and the atmosphere, that it held the pacing back which then made the book feel quite long. Ultimately, this was a book that I think relied on the character emotion and connecting to Vera, and because I felt so distant from her I didn’t get the full impact. That being said, I do like a Polydoros’s writing, and I love their concepts, so I am very interested and whatever they write next.

I really enjoyed the incorporation of Jewish folklore with magical realism in this novel. I loved the historical aspect of it. However, the characters were not my cup of tea, they felt too "young" to me. I think the YA genre may just not be for me anymore. Overall this is worth reading!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for an EARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions

I really wanted to like this book however the book doesn't live up to the title. I wanted more wrath and I just didn't get that from the main character. I did like the Jewish representation and the different take on WW2. The book was still enjoyable but just felt very YA at times which made it hard to relate to the main character.

Genre: Fantasy Horror/ Historical Fiction
TW: PLEASE CHECK
Spice: None (YA)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [4/5]
Format: E-Book
Review written by: M

*Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

(Scroll down for rating)

This was a very interesting read. I have never read a historical fiction like this before where it merges historical concepts with fantasy.

This book introduces you to Vera, a Golem, who was created by a grieving father with the sole purpose; to avenge his daughter Chaya’s death by the Nazi. Once Vera awakens, she quickly realizes she has inherited glimpses of Chaya’s memories: of stolen kisses, adventures, and rebellions. As she sets off to avenge Chaya, she begins to encounter the two opposing truths of life, love, and cruelty. She must now battle with the fact that she has a reason not only to fight, but to live.

Aden Polydoros writing is very lyrical. He has a way of describing scenes so vividly and beautifully that it made it quite easy to view the entire book as a movie in my head while I read.

The only reason this book did not get a 5-star rating for me was because I felt the ending was lacking slightly. I expected more from it with such a strong last 1/3 of the book. It felt like the ending was a bit too abrupt and left too much to crave.

I don’t know much about Jewish traditions or their folklore but the incorporations of it within this book was done in such a magical and very educational/entertaining. It was a beautiful balance between fantasy and reality.

This book may be triggering for many, and the TW should be read. It is quite gory and does not shy away from the cruelty of humanity with a strong focus on the suffering that the Jewish community has endured throughout the years. It really makes you question what empathy is and how we as humans, have the free will to be as gentle or as cruel as we wish.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this read and can’t wait to see what else has been written by Aden Polydoros.

I loved the mix of fantasy and history. You could also feel the wrath so well. A great take on Jewish people fighting back in World War Two.

Wrath Becomes Her took me an absurdly long amount of time to read (3 months) and NOT because I didn't enjoy it! In fact I thought it was pretty good, it is just not physically possible for me to read one book at a time and I kept picking up books that I was more excited to read and then would forget that I was reading it…

Anyway, this book follows Vera, a golem created for only one purpose - revenge. After losing his daughter, Chaya, Ezra uses ancient magic and Chaya’s remains to create Vera in her image. But when Vera awakens she learns that she has fragments of Chaya’s memories and emotions from when she was alive, including feelings for Chaya’s former lover. She knows her sole purpose is to kill Nazis, but the story also shows her inner conflict of having human feelings but not being human herself.

I struggled with connecting to Vera. I know her not being human is part of the character, but the title is Wrath Becomes Her, and I figured that she would be just like… a little angrier? She is very disconnected from most of her actions for most of the book, seeming apathetic towards her entire goal.

I liked the supporting characters. They were well-written and complex. Both Ezra and Akiva’s grief over the many losses they’d faced felt so real.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and fantasy, or both at the same time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this title.

I really loved this story.

Polydoros presents an alternate history, one that should never be forgotten. This novel is the perfect addition to a classroom study of the Holocaust, but is also a great pairing with Frankenstein.
More importantly, the layered symbolism of the golem and what the creature allows us to understand about humanity and how we destroy ourselves and others.
I truly loved the imagery in this novel, and the fact that the main character, the golem, Vera, is as much on a quest for revenge as she is on a quest to find herself, and to become human.

During WWII, a grieving father creates a golum in his daughter's image. Vera- who was created for vengeance - wakes with one purpose...find the men who killed her and end them as well.
Although the magical realism was a little hard for me to follow at times, I liked that this book was written about and during WWII, but it was really focused more on the motivations of family and the relationships we make that sometimes cause us to act out of character. This wasn't my favorite book, but I definitely have students who will love it.

Wrath Becomes Her was equal parts heartbreaking, horrifying, and unforgettable. Polydoros' writing is so beautiful, and I felt like I could clearly see every bleak winter landscape. I loved the way the themes and imagery of Frankenstein were so deftly woven into Polydoro's story, enriching it without feeling like a direct adapatation. Honestly, everything about this book was so beautiful even when it was at its most terrifying.

I really liked this novel. I felt like it had an interesting premise that I’ve truly never heard of before and it was simply unique.
While there are definitely some trigger warnings that I would inform my patrons before check out, I feel like this book was beautifully written but also easily digestible for new hobby readers.

And the cover is gorgeous.

I was only able to get a few chapters in before the book was archived, but that's all I needed in order to add this book to an upcoming order for my library. The premise is intriguing, the writing is compelling, and the emotions are raw. I will be recommending this through reader's advisory.

I'll be honest, I really loved this book, but I feel like it still had a lot of issues, mainly the characterization, which is one of the most important things for me to read about. Vera says she is made for vengance and that she is filled with rage, but the writing style was so somber and melancholy that I never got that sense at all. Also I'm fully aware I have an anxiety disorder, but I did not expect to have genuine anxiety over a golem eating food despite being made of solid clay, I have no idea what happened to the food and it never gets explained, and they even comment on this multiple times I'm sorry but if you didn't want us to ask uncomfortable questions don't bring up the basis for the question to be asked so many times. If anything Akiva had much more rage and he was supposed to be the broken human one, and truly, he was flawed but I loved his character so much. I felt so much for him, his characterization was so strong, especially the saving the baby scene where he considers the danger an infant Jew would be in during the holocaust, and how everyone reacts to him explaining why he doesn't keep kosher or believe in g-d. The layers and themes explored in this one character were phenomenal, but it makes it more sad to see this wasn't explored in Vera. I think if it were written in third perspective it would've helped. I also wish this were a series since I feel like there was a lot of potential that wasn't fully explored that one hundred percent could be. I also feel like I expected more of an ending and when it ended I was surprised the book wasn't 50 pages longer. Overall the writing and themes and using Jewish mysticism as a magic system were amazing, the emotional beats were great and I loved the character Akiva so much, I just felt the tone and main character's description were more consistent, as well as the weird food stuff to be fixed.

Suspenseful, terrific, and engaging. A "you won't be able to put it down" book, Wrath Becomes Her is an engrossing tale of revenge and the fine line between humanity and monstrosity. A definite addition to our collection!