Hmmmm...I don't know. I felt like this book fell flat for me. The writing and plot weren't bad but they didn't really...work? The content itself was interesting and I'll always advocate for victim stories to be shared and read.

What an incredibly moving story of love and survival! It is a heartbreaking, but beautiful story of Lale and Gita and the horrors they faced in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. But also of their undying love for each other that was born out of such an awful time and place. I have read quite a bit of historical fiction about the Holocaust, but never a true story told with so much detail and raw emotion. It's so important that this story is told, painful as it may be to read, in order for us to understand what the prisoners in those camps endured in order to survive so that history may never be repeated. I urge everyone to move this book to the top of your reading stack and share it with others.

What' a phenomenal book. It is well written, and I couldn't put it down. I can't believe the horrific things that were done to people. By the end I was bawling my eyes out. I voluntarily read and reviewed and advanced reader copy of this book from netgalley.

A very moving story covering a period in history that must always be remembered. How one person makes a determined decision to survive in a death camp by doing whatever he needs to do. Yet, despite the horrors that are going on around him, in a place devoid of emotion, he manages to fall in love. His fight for survival now has even more reason. To save himself and the girl that he loves. Sounds crazy, but it's true.

They stood in a line for it was their only means of escape. Those that didn’t make the line, their fate was sealed. There were rules for those who stood in line and rules for those who processed these selected few. The room was quiet as these individuals stood waiting for their turn in front of the official table. The tattooist looked at each wrist and at the new number which would become the new identity of the individual who stood standing in front of him and he would begin his job of scratching the wrist of Auschwitz’s newest prisoner. There would be no eye contact and no words spoken. Wrist, number and scratching; all day long until the last person in the line was marked.

Papan chose Lale to assist him. Papan needed to move the line along quicker so he asked the guard if he could get an assistant. Lale was hesitate to accept the position as he didn’t want to cause any more pain to the prisoners. Papan chose Lale because he knew Lale had a soul and would cause the prisoners less pain. When children and women began to join the line, Lale discomfort grew even more. One day, Papan doesn’t show up for work and Lale becomes the head Tattooist. This responsibility comes with benefits and the considerate and clever Lale immediately jumps into action. This respectable responsibility comes with extra rations, nice sleeping quarters, and others within the camp respect him more even though he is still a prisoner. Lale immediately asks for a assistant and Leon is assigned the position. Lale takes chances, he takes risks that are for the benefits of other prisoners and for himself. I feared for the day that Lale’s actions would be discovered but, in the meantime, I was cheering him on. There were a few close calls and things gets dicey but to Lale, it is all worth it and he gets dangerous. It becomes a business affair to Lale, a trade, and his job becomes a front, as he tries to make life inside the prison camp tolerable to those who matter to him.

I liked the idea of the novel, I like how Lale used his position to benefit others and himself and to make the life inside the death camp bearable. I enjoyed the relationships in this novel especially the one that Lale had with his guard and the one that he had with his girlfriend. I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it if you enjoy reading novels based on this time period. 4.5 stars

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Bonnier Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

This book grabs you from the first page. The plot just keeps your attention as well as wanting to read more.

I was so interested in the premise of the book. The real life aspect reminded me of the Liberian of Auschwitz and it was such an interesting story. I was gripped from the first page and the way the plot continued throughout was done really well. I'm really glad i picked this up and will look forward to similar texts in the future.

Wow, this one was so hard to put down! The author does such a great job in balancing the horrors of concentration camps with giving the people a sense of identity. I feel in a lot of things I’ve read about World War II, it’s always been in the viewpoint of overall horrors of the events that took place during that time. What was different here was that it gives the readers an insight that there was some hope and even romance during this terrible, terrible time.

While reading, I feel in love with Lale and Gita’s relationship and how it grew over time. Though we don’t learn too much about Gita and just some of Lale’s background, I found that this worked. Identity is such a major theme here, so it makes sense if we don’t learn a lot about of their backgrounds since they felt such a loss of identity during the Holocaust. Of course this relationship was real, but the words on the pages made it seem more real and so sweet. My appreciation of their romance grew even more so when I read the “Afterword” from the author and how she sat with Lale over a few years to learn about his experience.

The plot flowed well and was fast-paced. I appreciated that the author gave some realities of the cruelty done against the Jewish and Gypsy communities, but not too much that could deter a lot of people. This would be great for those who would like to read about the realities of concentration camps, but cannot stomach too much. The scenes aren’t too graphic or drawn out.

I did find the ending to be a bit quick, but that also could have been how Lale felt during that time. Because of this, I am okay with the slightly faster pace.

Overall, I really liked reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I appreciate that it was written and given the opportunity to read it. I would highly recommend this to those who would enjoy reading a sweet romance during the Holocaust. Also, for those who would like to learn a bit more about the Holocaust without many graphic scenes, The Tattooist of Auschwitz would be a great one to read.

After reading this, I don't even know what to write. Not many books are as big of a punch to the gut as this one is. I've read a substantial amount of literature, both fiction and non-fiction regarding the Shoah. Heather Morris was chosen by a survivor of the Shoah to tell his story, and the story set forth in this novel is one of the most nuanced books I have read.

While the book is categorized as fiction, it is based on the real experiences of Lale and Gita Sokolov. Lale was taken from Slovakia to Auschwitz and Birkenau and through a series of circumstance became the man who tattooed all of those who were transported to Auschwitz and Birkenau. Rarely do books discuss the fact that some of those in the camps were forced to make horrible decisions for survival in which they had to cooperate with the Nazis. Many in this novel sacrificed a huge part of themselves participating in the positions the Nazis requested of them so that someone with malicious intent would not reign down even worse actions on those in the camps. It's hard to understand the actions, especially in situations where it may involve killing another, but there were mercies and many took actions that would help the greater good.

While many Germans plead that they had no idea what was happening in the camps, this book shows that people from the community were actively involved in the camps. I feel like I need someone else to read this novel just to digest and talk through so much of what happened. It's hard enough reading this book, I can't imagine living through the events of the Shoah and then having to return to a "normal life." There's just no way. The trauma of the Shoah did not end with those who lived through it, and there is new research that shows that trauma such as this can actually change the genetics that are passed down to the new generation. We cannot look at the Shoah as an event that happened in the past, it is an event that is still impacting new generations every day.

Emotionally, I am wrecked after reading this book. This is a personal opinion, but books like this MUST be read by everyone. We cannot forget what has happened in the recent past as people like the ones who committed atrocities in the Shoah were regular people. In the U.S. more and more people who would commit the same horrible acts are being given a platform and treated as if their points are valid. The systematic destruction of whole communities and populations as happened in the Shoah people would like to say could never happen again, however there have been multiple genocides in the decades since World War II. There are lessons to be learned still even decades later. Our generations will be judged by if we chose to learn from them or continue to make the same horrendous decisions. I could continue writing a lot more about this novel, but I encourage readers to pick up the book and then reach out if they would like to have a discussion.

Please be advised that I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Any opinions expressed are that of my own and not a reflection of anyone else.

I cannot remember the last time I read a better combination of history and story telling. Heather Morris does an amazing job in relaying the story of Lale, the man who was responsible for tattooing the numbers on prisoners entering Auschwitz, as well as the how he comes to meet the love of his life inside the camp. There are times throughout the book where a reader could easily think of it as a fictional story, that is how well Morris's writing flows.
The story itself is one of perseverance in the face of impossible odds. Of doing what one must to survive, no matter the costs. And also how little acts of kindness are never forgotten in moments of true pain and anguish, and can change the course of one's life.
While this is not a book I would typically be drawn to, I am so pleased I decided to read it.

Even to those closest to him, Lale had never revealed the whole story of his time in Birkenau and Auschwitz, believing people might regard him as a collaborator, due to his ‘privileged’ position as the tattooist. But, after his wife passed away, he decided the truth should be told.

Originally from Slovakia, where one male from each Jewish family was forced to surrender to the work camps, Lale had been a bit of a man about town, ladies’ man with the golden tongue, with the taste for the good life. In the camp he continues to use his smooth ways to ensure he, and many others, stay alive.

As the tattooist he gets to move about a little more freely than the rest of the prisoners. Using this to his advantage, he quickly devises a system for trading jewels and money (which were taken from the Jews entering the camp) for medicine and extra food. He falls head over heels for one woman he helps in particular -- Gita -- and essentially the book was written as a gift of love for Gita.

What happened to people during the Holocaust is always shocking, no matter how much you know and how many times you read about it, and this book is no exception. The history of the many and varied ways the Jews suffered through this period needs to always be retold.

Lale's (and Gita's) story definitely needed to be told. His depressing and heartbreaking story of finding the love of his life whilst surviving Hitler’s death camps is without doubt mesmerising. From this viewpoint The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a 5 out of 5 read. Unfortunately, I did not completely connect with Morris’s writing style.

Morris basically stated what was happening with the characters and her prose lacked some of the emotion and depth I would expect from an author tackling such a story. She has readily admitted this was originally written as a screenplay and I think it shows.

In my opinion Morris seemed to struggle with creating tension. So many situations Lale finds himself in were (obviously) fraught with danger yet I never had that fear gripping my insides as I turned the page as I imagined I should. I also didn’t completely feel the romance, which I think also lacked a little from the basic prose.

The gas chambers, the crematorium, the medical experiments: Morris seemed to skim over these horrors. In fact, the way it was written assumes the reader knows all the details surrounding the camps. This is probably true for most mature readers but I wouldn’t think the book is a good starting point to learn about the Holocaust for young adult readers.

Morris also wraps up the book a little too quickly for my liking. Lale and Gita’s stories after the camps were liberated is just as fascinating and harrowing as their time behind the barbed wire. I would have liked this to have been written in more detail instead of a few chapters and an epilogue providing me with a recap. There was so much storyline that I think there could have been almost a second book of Lale and Gita’s life after the camp.

I recently saw an interview on The Project (Australian TV show) of Lale’s son and Morris. There, a fellow survivor who ended up also immigrating to Australia talked about how she had known Lale prior to the war and her tattooed number is particularly larger than the other prisoners as they had chatted for so long while he inked the numbers on her arm. They also mentioned that Lale and Gita were among the survivors who provided Spielberg with information for Schindler’s List. I was disappointed when neither of these interesting pieces of information were included in the book.

I still highly recommend the book but need to take a star off as I think this is a great book but not the important piece of literature it could have become with another writer. It is blatantly obvious, however, that Morris and Lale shared a bond. Lale trusted Morris with his story and I must respect the decision he made even if it caused me to not add the book onto my favourites list.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy.

4 out of 5

A resounding 4.5 stars.

This is the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian prisoners of Auschwitz.

This is their story of how they met, fell in loved, and survived against all odds. It is a story of loss and grief but even more a story about the tenacity of the human spirit. I could not help but to be caught up in their story. I love Lale, his character and who he was as a person.

I equally love that I never felt like it was a story told from the authors pov, if that makes sense. It was very clearly Lale's story that was told, and I truly appreciated that.

**A free arc was provided to me by Netgalley for an honest review**

This is a beautifully written, wonderfully researched novel about a Jewish man during WWII. The historical fiction novel is based on a real person who told his story to the author. He and his wife had kept their lives private after they moved to Australia after the war but after his wife died after over 50 years of marriage, he felt the need to share their story with the world.

Lale Sokolov was a young man when he decided to go to a work camp to save the rest of his family. He finds out later that this was a lie and most of the rest of his family didn't survive. He was given the role at a tattooist - the person who tattooed the numbers on the arms of the prisoners. Because he had a bit more freedom that most, he was able to get extra food to share with other people. One day he saw Gita and knew that he had to get to know her. The next several years were terrible for both of them and the atrocities that went on were horrendous. He managed to find her again after the war and they immigrated to Australia.

This is a beautifully written, wonderfully researched novel about a Jewish man during WWII. The historical fiction novel is based on a real person who told his story to the author. He and his wife had kept their lives private after they moved to Australia after the war but after his wife died after over 50 years of marriage, he felt the need to share their story with the world.

Lale Sokolov was a young man when he decided to go to a work camp to save the rest of his family. He finds out later that this was a lie and most of the rest of his family didn't survive. He was given the role at a tattooist - the person who tattooed the numbers on the arms of the prisoners. Because he had a bit more freedom that most, he was able to get extra food to share with other people. One day he saw Gita and knew that he had to get to know her. The next several years were terrible for both of them and the atrocities that went on were horrendous. He managed to find her again after the war and they immigrated to Australia.

This is a difficult story to read due to the horrible things that were going on in the camps but Lale had decided early on that he would survive and that thought kept him alive every day. So even though it's a very sad story - it's also very uplifting and shows the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This is a beautifully written, wonderfully researched novel about a Jewish man during WWII. The historical fiction novel is based on a real person who told his story to the author. He and his wife had kept their lives private after they moved to Australia after the war but after his wife died after over 50 years of marriage, he felt the need to share their story with the world.

Lale Sokolov was a young man when he decided to go to a work camp to save the rest of his family. He finds out later that this was a lie and most of the rest of his family didn't survive. He was given the role at a tattooist - the person who tattooed the numbers on the arms of the prisoners. Because he had a bit more freedom that most, he was able to get extra food to share with other people. One day he saw Gita and knew that he had to get to know her. The next several years were terrible for both of them and the atrocities that went on were horrendous. He managed to find her again after the war and they immigrated to Australia.

This is a difficult story to read due to the horrible things that were going on in the camps but Lale had decided early on that he would survive and that thought kept him alive every day. So even though it's a very sad story - it's also very uplifting and shows the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
TThis is a beautifully written, wonderfully researched novel about a Jewish man during WWII. The historical fiction novel is based on a real person who told his story to the author. He and his wife had kept their lives private after they moved to Australia after the war but after his wife died after over 50 years of marriage, he felt the need to share their story with the world.

Lale Sokolov was a young man when he decided to go to a work camp to save the rest of his family. He finds out later that this was a lie and most of the rest of his family didn't survive. He was given the role at a tattooist - the person who tattooed the numbers on the arms of the prisoners. Because he had a bit more freedom that most, he was able to get extra food to share with other people. One day he saw Gita and knew that he had to get to know her. The next several years were terrible for both of them and the atrocities that went on were horrendous. He managed to find her again after the war and they immigrated to Australia.

This is a difficult story to read due to the horrible things that were going on in the camps but Lale had decided early on that he would survive and that thought kept him alive every day. So even though it's a very sad story - it's also very uplifting and shows the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
his is a difficult story to read due to the horrible things that were going on in the camps but Lale had decided early on that he would survive and that thought kept him alive every day. So even though it's a very sad story - it's also very uplifting and shows the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Touching story, but seems more fiction than factual. Too many "coincidences" to seem real. I got the feeling that the facts were greatly embellished. The story was beautiful, though, a sweet love story in the midst of horror.

This amazing story of Lale Sokolov, the tattooist of Auschwitz has been wonderfully retold by Heather Morris. It must have been heart wrenching for her to interview him in his later years, after the death of Gita, the woman he met and loved in Aushwitz and later married.

A Slovakian Jew, Lale answered the German's call for each Jewish Slovakian family to volunteer one healthy member of the family to work for Germany in exchange for protection for the rest of the family; needless to say the Germans' promise was not kept. Lale was transported to Auschwitz where something about his innate charm and hopefulness inspired the incumbent tattooist to take him on as his apprentice. After the resident tattooist disappeared, Lale took over his role and privileges with a room to himself, more food and greater freedom to talk to others including external Polish bricklayers who brought in food and medicine for him in exchange for money or jewels smuggled out by crematorium workers.

I have read other books on the atrocities of Aushwitz which were more graphically horrendous but instead of dwelling on the horror of Auschwitz, Lale's story concentrates on what it was like to be a prisoner working for the Germans and to do whatever it took to survive while somehow maintaining his humanity. Through all the horrors of watching daily torture, cremations and abuse by the German guards Lale always did what he could to make friends, share around extra food and protect those less fortunate. His efforts to look after Gita, a girl he loved at first sight when asked to refresh her tattoo, were ultimately responsible for her eventual survival. This is a wonderful story; definitely worth telling and compelling to reading.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a very beautiful but haunting story. I have always been interested in learning more about WWII, and this one is certainly a 'good' book to read. I loved the simplicity of the writing because it made reading about the horrible conditions a bit better. Let's all just hope this never EVER happens again.

After reading the excerpt, I'm very much looking forward to reading the whole book. Lale seems like a different kind of character, especially for a Holocaust story and I enjoyed that the story has a male protagonist. Many similar stories that I've read are female perspectives. I also felt immediately drawn into what will obviously be a melancholy landscape.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

This was an incredible story, one that was extremely heartbreaking yet also hopeful and inspiring. Based on the real-life experiences of Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov, who wanted his story recorded prior to his death so that the harrowing events he went through “would never happen again”, this is a fictionalized account of the 3 years he spent at the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland during World War II. After being saved from sure death upon arriving at the camp, Lale becomes the tattooist responsible for marking each of his fellow prisoners’ arms with the numbers used to identify them – a position that allowed more freedom and privileges than other prisoners though not immune to punishment and suffering. Lale does the best he can to survive while also using his position to help others, whether it’s sneaking food and medicine to other prisoners or helping to better the plight of others where he can. In the process, he meets the love of his life, Gita, a fellow prisoner in the women’s camp, and his devotion to her strengthens his resolve to survive the horrors in the hopes of building a future life together. Lale’s story is one of courage, resilience, unwavering resolve and endurance in the face of terrible suffering, loss, death, and the unimaginable horrors and atrocities that went on in those camps. As is always the case when we read these types of stories, we will never truly understand what these survivors went through, the extent of the pain and suffering they had to endure at the hands of other human beings, the price they had to pay – physically, mentally, emotionally – for survival, but we can be grateful, we can read and remember, reach out and get these stories out there, hope and encourage one another to learn from history and prevent these horrors from ever being repeated. In the years since that horrific time period, we have come a long way, yet in many ways, we also have haven’t, which is why stories like these are SO IMPORTANT!

For me, the experience reading this book brought me back to the semester in high school when we studied the Holocaust in-depth in one of my history classes. Despite the more than 2 decades that have passed, the memories came flooding back vividly as though it was just yesterday -- the memories of reading numerous stories and testimonies from survivors, watching countless interviews of survivors and their family members, reading and analyzing The Diary of Anne Frank, attending a special screening of Schindler’s List back when the movie first came out, culminating our studies with a visit to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles where we were given an immersive history lesson on the Holocaust and got to hear first-hand, several real-life survivors tell their stories. The impact of those studies was powerful and I am grateful I went to a school that cared enough to truly educate and make learning about the Holocaust a necessary part of the regular class curriculum. Sadly, these types of experiences in our schools are less and less common, and during a time when we as a society need it most, so it’s good to see informative books such as this one help bridge the gap somewhat.

I don’t think there is much else I can say except read this book (and definitely read the Author’s Note in the back that explains how this book came to be)! Lale’s story is unforgettable and one that I know will stay with me for a long time to come!

Received ARC from Bonnier Publishing / Ecco via NetGalley

The Prologue is a reminder that there can be humanity even in the darkest of circumstances.
This book's being told from a male perspective is different from many others. These young men
had volunteered in order to save their families, little realising they would all pay the price anyway.
A very simple writing style disguises extremely disturbing details : not the sort of thing one would
ordinarily choose to read, but because these are real people we owe it to them. The indomitableness
of the human spirit, the power of belief - even the most unthinkable can be endured.
Thankyou, Heather Morris, for your part in sharing this testament with the rest of the world - it cannot
have been easy, but it is so important.
The theme 'if you can't help everyone, help one' is a lesson we can all carry into our own lives.

I read about this book first on a BBC feature of the same name, and I couldn't wait to pick it up. No matter how many stories you read about this particular subject matter, you never stop being appalled at the horrors that transpired in these horrible places, what man is ready to do another of his kind in the name of, well, anything. A harrowing piece of work, very well written !