Lisa Barr's new book, The Goddess of Warsaw, is a historical fiction book that will tell a story from a new perspective and stick in your mind for weeks to come. Lena Browning is a global movie star, and as a modern-day Hollywood star is working to direct a movie about Lena's life, it quickly becomes evident that Lena's true background story needs to be told. Lena actually grew up as Bina Blonski and her family was decimated by the Nazis for being Polish Jews.

Bina's story is one of devastating loss, as well as courage and survival as she becomes a spy and works to help save her fellow Jews. Actions and decisions that she had to make during that time are impossible to imagine. Even more incredible is how the past can always catch up to Lena, and how she had to deal with that, even in her new life.

This was a great historical fiction novel. It had the charm that I enjoyed from Lisa barr. The characters were what I was expecting from this type. And I really felt for the main character of this novel. It uses the historical setting perfectly and sets of a thriller novel. I love the use of Hollywood to tell the story and how it uses the dark time of history. It uses the 2 women's story perfectly and was really well written.

World War II is my most favorite era to read about. Lisa Barr brought me right into the world that Lena Browning had lived in. It was horrific to see what she had to live through but it is a time that should not be forgotten. The details of the ghetto, of the Nazi’s treatment of Jews, of the things that had to be done just to stay alive are what brought this book to life.

Lena Browning (she has many names throughout this book as her life requires it to stay alive) has become a movie star but it is her past that still haunts her. I love that she is willing to share her story as it is an important part of WWII history but also her history. There is an entire part of her life that no one knows and it is not anything that anyone would ever have guessed about her. She knew that telling her story would bring back the horrors of her past but she also knew that it could be healing for her. I was entirely lost in her life, living it right next to her, and feeling her pains and triumphs.

The Goddess of Warsaw is a must-read list for any WWII historical fiction reader. I cannot wait to discuss it with my fellow readers.

Thank you Harper Paperbacks for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Woah. At about 60% read, I had NO IDEA what was going to come next or how Bina would find redemption. This book kept me so much on my toes asking what the heck was going to happen next. There was so much sexual tension, emotional cheating, and physical cheating for my liking, but besides that— really great book!

This beautifully written and well researched books takes the readers back to the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII when the Nazis were determined to rid Warsaw of any Jewish people. After reading the way that the Jewish people were forced to live, it's still hard to imagine a group of people letting this happen.

Los Angeles, 2005. Hollywood’s latest heartthrob wants to make a movie about the life of the famous Golden Age movie star Lena Browning. She quickly finds out how little she knows about Lena's past and that before she was the famous Hollywood star, she was, Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life and family were destroyed by the Nazis.

In 1943, Bina and her husband were sent to the Warsaw ghetto with thousands of other Jewish people. Because Bina was beautiful and blond, she coould pass as an Ayran. She becomes a spy and makes numerous trips outside the ghetto for food and guns and medical supplies. Her husband is content with gathering information about the day to day lives of the people in the ghetto and writing it so that future generations know the truth of what was going on. Bina isn't content with his way of resistance and wants to spend her time actively helping other people right now.

After the war, she makes her way to Hollywood where she becomes a star. Even though it seems as if she has put her past behind her, she still wants revenge on Nazis who escaped justice after the war. She never stops in her pursuit to make sure that they have not really escaped their pasts because she still remembers and will make sure that they receive the punishment that they deserve.

This book is so well written and researched that the reader feels like they knew Bina/Lena and witnessed all that she did to help her fellow members in the Ghetto. We all were taught about the brave men who won WWII but for many years there was very little written about the brave and strong women who did their part and more to bring freedom back into the world. The author gives us one of those strong women who represents countless strong women who worked and died trying to save other people.

If you read WWII fiction, this is a book that you don't want to miss to get a glimpse of what life was really like in the Warsaw Ghetto and to understand how impossible it is to forget your past and to strive to get revenge on the people who hurt you and your family. This was another stellar book by Lisa Barr.

This was an extraordinary book! Posted a full review on Goodreads. This is my first NetGalley ARC. Lisa Barr has done it again and created a compelling story and lead protagonist. All the characters were deeply developed. Cried and gasped and cheered whole way through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Also reviewed on my new Instagram/ Bookstagram @ReadingRedLady

Bina Blonski is a Jew who looks like an Aryan, and this is why she is able to blend in and become a spy while living in the Warsaw Ghetto with her husband, Jakub. While the Nazis are starving them, raping the women and tormenting them in myriad ways, Bina is trading sex for food and supplies. She evolves into an assassin and kills the worst of the Nazis in order to save herself and others from their torment. She sacrificed everything to protect her family and friends.

Years later, after escaping the ghetto, she moves to Hollywood and becomes Lena Browning, a successful movie star. Still, she realizes Nazis are amongst them, and still she feels the need to assassinate them. Her last act as Lena Browning is her curtain call. She has succeeded in her quest and can finally sleep at night.

This book is amazing! It’s heart pounding and illuminating. I strongly urge you to read this if you enjoy historical fiction - you won’t regret it. I rate this 5 big stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial Paperbacks for the eARC.

I liked this one and liked the take of the Hollywood storyline and its WWII . It was well paced and well plotted with an interesting storyline.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

Wow, this book was dark, tenacious, and unlike any WWII thriller I’ve ever read. I saw someone else explained it as Quentin Tarantino-esque and it definitely has many similar plot points and violence as The Inglorious Basterds. Some of the imagery I found tough to get through. It is set in the ghetto during the Holocaust. But if you can slog through the heaviness, the pay off at the end is worth it. I only took off a star because I felt that it was missing more back and forth discourse with the present, which the opening sets up perfectly. I would have really appreciated more of a dual plot with Sienna and Lena, which just speaks volumes to the author’s storytelling abilities. Would definitely recommend!

Lisa Barr is back with another winner full of Jewish representation and badass female characters. With powerful scenes set during the Holocaust as well as a more modern timeline in Hollywood, this book is Barr at her best and will capture your attention from start to finish.

5 Huge Stars for The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr! WWII historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this novel now ranks up there with one of my all-time favorites.
Told from a dual timeline perspective and brilliantly narrated from the sassy protagonist, Bina Blonski (aka Hollywood starlet Lena Browning). From the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto under Nazi occupation of Poland to the glitter of post-war Hollywood, the reader is taken on Bina's life journey as she battles for her life and her freedom.
Bina is forced into the Warsaw Jewish ghetto when her family is murdered by Nazi's and Polish collaborators. She learns to use her looks (blonde hair, blue eyes) to gain access to much needed supplies and information helpful to the Polish resistance. Bina is one strong heroine and willing to do anything to save herself and those she loves. I thoroughly enjoyed the spellbinding intelligent protagonist Bina and her narrative voice and introspective thoughts.
Thank you to HarperCollins, NetGalley, and Lisa Barr for the opportunity to read the complimentary copy of the novel. I loved it so much I pre-ordered a copy for my own library.

I'm a sucker for WWII novels with strong female MCs and The Goddess of Warsaw did not disappoint. Lisa Barr writes incredible historical fiction; she crafts incredible plots and her characters have such amazing arcs.

This book touches on the lengths people will go to in order to survive, reminds us that there are somethings you can never forgive or forget, and the need for revenge doesn't lessen overtime.

A chilling and thought provoking story of the hardships and moral challenges a determined young woman encounters as Warsaw is occupied by the Nazi regime and her quest to survive. Dark at times, the main character becomes a master of disguise and reinvention. Necessity dictates the partnerships of Jews from varying (previous) socio economic backgrounds work together to do anything and everything to try to survive when no one can *really* trust another. If this novel reminds us of anything, it’s to never underestimate the desperation and will to survive or the profound desire for retribution.

ARC copy provided courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

This A-MAY-ZING historical, page-turner of a novel, the latest from the endlessly talented Barr, starts with the glamor of a legendary star in the Golden Age of Hollywood and then throws us back in time to her secret past as a Jewish assassin and Warsaw Ghetto survivor.

Before becoming Lena Browning in America, Bina Blonski is a beautiful, talented, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed star actress whose Aryan looks conceal her Jewish identity. The daughter of privilege, she grows up in an ultra-wealthy, cultured family who considered themselves more German than Jewish. She’s a rising star in Poland theatre – until in 1943 she’s outed as a Jew by the fanatical Nazi-supporting Polish father of her best friend. Bina along with her husband Jakub get sent to the crumbling, crowded, decrepit Warsaw Ghetto – where the Nazi’s are starving Jews before gunning them down or shipping them off to concentration camps. Lena starts as a smuggler via the sewers, trading sexual favors for food, medicine, and basic supplies for the camp. She evolves into both an assassin and resistance fighter from there. Lisa Barr brilliantly spins an edge-of-your-seat tale as she goes back in time.

Barr brings WWII in Poland so alive that you become deeply immersed and deeply vested in people from the Warsaw Ghetto. The main characters range from the woman leader of the resistance movement against the Nazis, the intellectual husband trying to record it all for history, his smoldering handsome and brave younger brother who lost both his wife and daughter to the Nazis, the young orphan of a leading musical family, and preteen girls being targeted for a brothel to serve German soldiers. All this culminates in the true story of the Warsaw Ghetto’s heroic stand-off with the Nazi’s using smuggled in weapons – choosing to bravely fight the Nazi’s to death rather than be shipped off to by murdered in prison camps.

Fast forward to the present where Sienna Hayes, the latest young rising star in Hollywood wants to direct and star in a film about Lena’s legendary life as a movie star. But Lena sets her own demands as she agrees, and these involve revealing the highly guarded secret of her past, as well as the fury that continues to burn bright within her towards surviving Nazi’s.

This must read for 2024 will inspire you, if you haven’t already, to go back and read Lisa’s other scintillating works including Woman on Fire and The Unbreakables.

Thanks to Lisa Barr, Harper and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Amazing novel! This book has it all and then some.
I have to read more from this author.

This was my first book by this author and I was hooked from the first page! Intense, heartbreaking and so suspenseful! Loved every word! Highly highly recommend!

This book was PHENOMENALLY done.
The writing is beautiful and the character arcs are incredible.
I read a lot of historical fiction, especially WWII, but have never read a book quite like this one before.
Without a doubt a 5 star read.

Thank you Harper Perennial for the chance to read the ARC!

This was an amazing historical book. The book was very well researched and I could not put it down. Would recommend!

I devoured this book in a single day; I was absolutely captivated by it. If it weren't for the profanity, I would have given it a five-star rating. The writing, plot, and storyline were truly enthralling. Lena, the main character, was a complex and imperfect figure, making her feel incredibly authentic, much like real people.

Initially, the constant shifts in timeframes were a bit distracting, but as the story unfolded, it took on a life of its own. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates well-crafted historical fiction. Personally, I prefer not to encounter explicit language and detailed sexual content in my reading, especially in the specific context presented in this book, but I understand that this is a matter of personal preference.

One minor issue I noticed was the mention of antibiotics being available in the Ghetto and elsewhere in Poland in 1943. This seems historically inaccurate, as antibiotics like penicillin were not widely accessible, even by the end of World War II.

Wow Oh Wow! The ultimate revenge story that is based on true events with a fight-back twist. The story follows Bina as she loses everything during the atrocities of WWII and rebuilds herself to become a true femme fatale. I could not put this book down!