Cover Image: The Book of Lost Names

The Book of Lost Names

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Member Reviews

This book had a super interesting concept but I found it hard to connect with the characters which I think impacted my overall feelings towards the book. I did love the dual timelines and seeing a different perspective of ww2 that I had never heard of before.

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I am so sorry that I am sooo late in giving my review on this but I just finished it late last night. I couldn’t put it down. I devoured this book and when I wasn’t reading it I couldn’t wait to get back to it. It was a tense and intriguing read with some twists I didn’t see coming. I have two other books of hers to read and can’t wait to dive into them

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I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction novel by Kristin Harmel. I was drawn in immediately and read this rather quickly over three days. Another reminder of the horrors during WWII and the brave quiet people who made a difference in so many people’s lives. This was both heartwarming and heart wrenching. Definitely recommend!

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The Book of Lost Names
Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for the gifted copy of this book! {partner}

Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting WWII
Format: 🎧
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆☆☆☆
Pub Date:
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

"We have to save those we can—because we couldn't save the people we loved."

When I think I have exhausted my ability to read novels set during World War II, I discover something that reminds me of the importance of reading books set during this time. There are thousands of stories left to tell, and unfortunately, those who survived the war are few and few between now. We need these books to remember one of the darkest moments in recent history.

The Book of Lost Names was a beautifully written novel that captured my attention from the first page and kept me invested from beginning to end. I loved that the readers were given a chance to see Eva 60 years after the war, but her future self wasn't the book's sole focus. Eva's tenacity and courage are unmatched, and I can't imagine being brave enough to do what she did.

Kristen Harmel is an exquisite writer who always brings life to every page she writes. I can't wait to read more from her!

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This is a powerful historical novel that reveals the terrors of life under the holocaust, as well as the hard work of those who tried to save those in danger. It's a heartwarming and heartbreaking novel.

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Heartbreaking story of WWII in occupied Paris. Shines a light on the painstaking work put into the efforts to help others escape.

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This is a compelling and immersive story that takes place during the Holocaust. The importance of family and identity unfolds in layers throughout the book as you learn about the brave people who put their lives on the line to help others.

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Except for one scene of pre-marital intimacy, this story was right up my alley.

This well-written book featured an aspect of WWII that I had not yet read about in great depth: forging documents. It was fascinating to see how the process worked and how closely watched the forgers were by the authorities, once they were brought onto their radar. The tension in this book was high because the stakes were life and death from so early on in the plot.

I loved that the story featured the goal to save children. That always grabs my heart and interest and refuses to let go. This aspect was exquisitely written.

Eva’s views on faith were skewed, since she “didn’t believe that [Jesus] was the Messiah.” In John 4:25-26, the woman at the well said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” And Jesus Christ responded to her in this way: “I who speak to you am He.” (Quotes from NKJ.) Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Messiah. I don’t remember a moment in The Book of Lost Names where Eva recognized that fact.

The final chapter was an exquisite culmination of the hope of the entire journey. All the pent-up emotions I’d gone through on Eva’s behalf dripped from my eyes, and I could not hold back my sobs. That grand ending for Eva is what kept that fourth star firmly in place.

Content: Catholicism, derogatory terms, brothels, prostitution mentioned, alcohol, profanity, expletives, sensuality, premarital sex, suicide

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The Book of Lost Names
By: Kristin Harmel
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another heartwarming novel by Harmel. A very emotional novel set in Paris in 1942. A young women’s father is arrested, which forces Eva and her mom to flee Paris.
📚
Eva and her mom flee to the free-zone in France. She finds herself hiding out in a church with a fellow forger Remy and a Priest. Eva is very artistic and finds herself forging document to help Jewish children escape to Switzerland. She is now part of the resistant and learning more about the children and the people in the town. Whom does she trust? How many children can she save? Are her documents good enough to fool the Nazi’s?
📚
Eva’s becomes emotional involved and wants there to be a record of all the children with their original names. She hopes they can be reunited after the war with relatives. Hence, The Book of Lost Names. Remy and Eva come up with a code that only a select few know about.
📚
Decades later Eva has a chance to reunite herself with the book she thought was lost forever.

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Kristin Hammel is one of my go to historical fiction authors, she has a true gift in this genre. I am a sucker for dual timeline historical fiction, and that was done exquisitely throughout this book . This is one of my favorite historical fiction books I have read and one that won't soon be forgotten.

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This book was captivating!
I've read several books set during WWII that focus on aspects of the resistance movement in Europe; they were really good but none of them captured the spirit and had me rooting for the characters like this one did.

Eva, a young Jewish woman who manages to escape with her mother to the French countryside, wants to somehow rescue her father who was taken by the Germans before escaping to Switzerland. Her efforts fail but introduce her to a forgery network that she reluctantly joins. As she works to save Jewish children, she grapples with appeasing her mother while working tirelessly in what she realizes is a calling that she cannot turn away from. Remy, another forger who captures her heart, loves Eva but can not deny his efforts to fight for France. They are both motivated by love: for their country, for thier family (both living and departed) and for the future they desperately want together. Their love story was pure and hopeful and achingly tragic.
The contrast of those who were willing to risk nothing to help to those who would risk a little to those who willingly risked it all was a powerful theme in the book.

I received a dARC from the publisher via Netgally; this is my honest review. (Note: A personal copy will be added to my library, I loved this book that much!)

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The amount of research that went into writing this book is astonishing. With every new detail revealed I learned something new about that time period.

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Review published on Goodreads, 18 February 2021:

I find World War II endlessly fascinating, so I've read tons of novels set during that time period. I'm always on the look-out for one that brings something new to the genre. THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES has been getting so much buzz that I hoped it would fit the bill. And it does. Sorta. I haven't read many WWII stories set in France, so the book's setting was new for me. The forgery angle was also a fresh one as I haven't read anything on the role of forgers during the war. Both of those things made the novel interesting for me.

The rest of the book doesn't provide much originality, however. The characters are pretty cliché and there are no surprises in the plot. It's a very run-of-the-mill story, really, and one that is made even more stale with simplistic prose (I felt at times like I was reading a YA novel, sometimes even a MG one) and a predictable storyline (I saw the traitor coming from a mile away and the book's final scene was pretty obvious from the get-go). The characters are likable because, for the most part, they're good people doing good things, but none of them are developed enough to feel like real human beings. Eva drove me a little nuts because she doesn't really DO anything. Yes, she risks her life by creating forged documents, but it's all very benign—she's in no real danger until the very end of the book. For a war story, THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES is actually fairly dull, with not a lot of action to keep it exciting. It's really more of a romance than anything. Since I never felt any real sparks between Eva and Remy anyway, I didn't care all that much about the love story. I wanted more derring-do, more action, more suspense.

Overall, THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES isn't a bad book. It kept my attention enough that I read to the end. It's also cleaner than most adult novels, which I appreciate. My problem is I just wanted a lot more from it—more originality, more character development, more emotion, more excitement, etc. In the end, unfortunately, it was just an average read for me.

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Great historical fiction read. Took a bit to get into, but very interesting and overall enjoyed. Would definitely recommend!

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Another well-written book about WWII and the tenacious women who fought, usually indirectly, against the Nazis!

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This is a really fascinating historical fiction book about Eva, a Jewish girl who lived in Paris, when the German forces moved in to take over. The Book of Lost Names becomes the focal point of the story, as it is what Eva creates to keep track of all the children’s names that she helped to escape to safety. She kept this book to remember their real names since she’d had to give false names in order to protect their identity. Eva was a gutsy, courageous, and brave woman. She was in constant jeopardy of being caught for being part of an underground network that forged documents. I loved this book so much and found new aspects of the war I hadn’t previously known.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion which I have given.

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I enjoyed this book. The historical wartime setting was immersive and the story was engaging. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened at the end.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kristin Harmel just truly never disappoints. Her books always seem to be absolutely breathtaking in their prose and plot. I'm eager and excited to get to read more books by her in the future. She has easily become an auto-buy author for me.

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Great read. Took me a bit to get into in it but ended up really liking it. I would recommend it to others for reading.

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This book was powerful. I devoured it in one sitting. Excellent writing and compelling! The description of the town helped me visualize it in my mind.

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