Let me just start by setting the stage for this gorgeous book: A Polish family has managed to flee the Nazis and land safely in what has become a haven for Jewish refugees - Shanghai, China.

Sixteen year old Liliia grew up in the circus, her mother and father a talented dancer and acrobat. Lillia also learned how to dance and perform some of the acrobatic feats, while her little sister Naomi, painfully slow to develop even as a toddler, observed. Lillia, Naomi and her father make it safely to Shanghai. Her mother, who went missing in a raid just days before they were to leave, doesn't.

As with so many stories of refugees, Lillia is forced to grow up fast. Lillia is desperately missing her mother, of and from whom they've had no word at all, and she's faced with hunger and longing and the striking contrasts not only between her life in Poland to her life in Shanghai, but between her life and that of others around her - the Chinese, her classmates, even other refugees. And she's thrown into roles she never had to or wanted to play, especially as the war begins to change Shanghai, too.

Lillia's story is so rich and multidimensional (and so masterfully told). Her thoughts, her dreams, her frustrations, and her struggles with trying to both survive and do what's right were so honest. I was completely drawn into her world, both fascinated by and in awe of how she carried on. It was heartbreaking, beautiful, and often both. I loved it.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Viking Books. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: January 22, 2019

Genre: Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: 16 (trigger warnings for sex trafficking/abandonment)

Publisher: Viking Books

Pages: 320

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Warsaw, Poland. The year is 1940 and Lillia is 15 when her mother, Alenka, disappears and her father flees with Lillia and her younger sister, Naomi, to Shanghai, one of the few places that will accept Jews without visas. There they struggle to make a life; they have no money, there is little work, no decent place to live, a culture that doesn’t understand them. And always the worry about Alenka. How will she find them? Is she still alive?

Meanwhile Lillia is growing up, trying to care for Naomi, whose development is frighteningly slow, in part from malnourishment. Lillia finds an outlet for her artistic talent by making puppets, remembering the happy days in Warsaw when they were circus performers. She attends school sporadically, makes friends with Wei, a Chinese boy, and finds work as a performer at a “gentlemen’s club” without her father’s knowledge.

But meanwhile the conflict grows more intense as the Americans declare war and the Japanese force the Americans in Shanghai into camps. More bombing, more death. Can they survive, caught in the crossfire?

I thought the book was really good overall. I enjoy WWII books and this one was interesting. I’ve not had time to do all the research into it, but it seems solid from what I can recall from history books. I liked the characters and thought they were well developed and I thought that the writing was really good. I didn’t realize the extent of WWII and I didn’t know that Jews were sent to Shanghai. I thought that it was really interesting how the author crafted this story and I was intrigued by all of it.

However, I do think that the plot was too much for the book. Like, it might have been better in a series or duology where the author can expand and slow down the book more so the reader isn’t flung every which way while reading the book, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Verdict: A high-flying book!

It was new territory, as this was an element of World War 2 we knew nothing about...a completely new setting. However, the book was kind of all over the place and difficult to follow at times. The circus element ties both settings together, and it's interesting to 'people watch' some of the minor characters in the book, but there are too many underlying plots...kidnapping, overcoming grief, flight of the refugees, the missing mother...it all sort of becomes too much for the reader. If you're interested in learning Mandarin, there are several phrases and such that you can use as a starting point!